Thanksgiving has always been about family to our family, celebrating it and knowing our thanks has always been built upon a dependable meal, dinner talk that always reminded me of the events, memories and the feelings that brought us all together.

I always have played my visits, expeditions, adventures safely, with a group of people I knew, or the places I did not know but never venturing further then a gut sense of safety. For the first time this trip, I had decided to go somewhere I only heard about – Chacahua, as well as staying somewhere I did know but on my own.

The results were quite unexpected but priceless.  In meeting the staff of One Love, I was able to find assistance to finding how to get to Chacahua, through several option, which in turn led me to new friends found in Randy and Chris, they led me through a location I never knew existed, and to experience a beauty in nature I had seen in various spots in Mexico, but never knew existed in a place called Chacahua.  I felt more than rewarded in seeing the untouched environment I found in Chacahua – and feeling inside the appreciation of how Chris and Randy respected such experience.  Fishing, seeing the sun kiss the horizon in the morning, the sun kiss the horizon at night, experiencing the naturalness of a lagoon that breathed so much life, words certainly fall short and the memory is the gift that remains and is priceless.

Yet – discovering a new Puerto Escondido was a gift in itself as well.  Meeting Andrea, who had planned on traveling to South America, and then sitting down and discussing how life, the spiritual, and more are all connected on her every day walk in life.  Victor Campos who will turn the ideas of construction, art, and a sense of community on it’s head with his organizational, creative, and innovative approaches.  Nina, who, from Switzerland, did not hesitate to connect me with Victor, as well as talk freely about what the future could indeed hold – then the last evening, were we celebrated the possibilities that were before us, the magic of the air, the sand, the beach, Puerto Escondido – this was what going outside of your circle of comfort, meeting individuals that were unknown to you previously, and experiencing how others can be discovered and added to your own experiences – and sharing these together – Thanksgiving took on a whole new meaning only adding to what the meaning of family meant. 

I only look forward to what all of these individuals together will be able to do with our ideas discovered – and out together, collectively.  The appreciation of what all of the above were able to provide, introduce, and represent is priceless in itself.  Making this experience of Chacahua with flowing beaches until the eye can see, Puerto Escondido represented in a totally different light, and individuals that will go on to make changes that together we have a vision for- Thanksgiving goes on to represent something more than we can recreate, and for that I am thankful.  Little did I know what would be in store for the Christmas holiday.