Thirty, Flirty & Fuego – A Celebration of Life in Puerto Escondido, Mexico (Part 1.)

It took me some time to come around to writing this story, because I truly can’t believe that I am 30. What a blessing it is to have arrived at this grown and sexy age, and an even bigger blessing to celebrate it alongside the people that I love the most.

The birthday tradition has always been to go on a trip, usually with friends, but this year was going to be different! I was finally going to take a trip with my man! My long-distance partner had finally gotten his US Visa and was moving to the US from South Korea, so that we could start a life together. I was overflowing with excitement until the bad news arrived – it just wasn’t going to be possible for him to move to the US in time for my birthday. In fact, it wasn’t going to be possible for him to move for at least another few months.

Crushed, I gave up on celebrating my birthday. What was there to celebrate? I was stepping into a new decade of my life…alone…again. Despite feeling down, how lucky I was to even feel sad about having thirty years of life to celebrate, because life is not promised.

I had been chatting about my birthday woes with my best friend Vanessa. We have been friends for nearly 10-years, thus she knew how much I had been looking forward to spending this milestone birthday with my partner. Refusing to let me ring in this birthday sad and alone, she took it upon herself to organize and orchestrate a beautiful surprise celebration in one of my dream destinations, Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

On the morning of my birthday, I jetted out to join my best friend in Mexico – oh, did I mention she even flew me out! *cries ugly tears* I arrived in Puerto Escondido and a taxi was waiting for me outside of the airport to take me to my mystery hotel. I had no idea where it was or what it looked like. I didn’t even know what we would be doing during our trip!

I arrived to Casa Badu hotel and was greeted with an enormous hug from my best friend and shortly after a Happy Birthday serenade, which randomly turned into a techno dance party. We danced and laughed and once we finally settled down she motioned me over to her computer. There was an open Zoom call, and there, on the screen with a big smiling face, was my lovely partner, Henry.

He wished me the happiest of birthdays and shared that he had been working with Vanessa to plan this special weekend for me. Despite not being able to be there, he wanted me to know that I was loved and that he was looking forward to starting our life together in a few short months.

After crying my eyes out on Zoom. I finally got to admire all of the birthday decor. If there is one thing I can say about my best friend Vanessa, she has spectacular taste. The room had a beautiful boho chic aesthetic and even had a patio with a private pool. An array of balloons filled the bed and floor and a “Feliz Cumpleaños” (Happy Birthday in Spanish) banner was strung on the wall above. A bottle of Prosecco on ice was already set for us to enjoy and get the celebration started.

She motioned again for me to sit on the bed as she fired up the TV. A picture of me appeared on the screen with words that wished me a Happy Birthday and explained that there were some other people who also had some birthday wishes to share. One by one, all of my loved ones, from my family, to my hometown friends, to my students from my youth program in Michigan, all wished me a Happy Birthday and shared their thanks to me for being apart of their lives.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, I ugly cried my eyes out and listened intently. Who knew that all these weeks I was sad about not being able to spend my birthday with my loved one, that I would still end up spending my birthday covered in love. The final message was from my lovely Henry. Again, wishing me the best of birthdays and expressing his excitement for us to start our life together. While there is still so much to share about this birthday trip, I can’t miss a moment to express how grateful I am to my best friend, for making this birthday so special. The birthday video was truly one of the best parts of the trip. Thank you so much! I love you dearly.

After I finished watching the video and crying my lashes off, we headed upstairs to the rooftop pool, where we were welcomed by the owner who offered us some complimentary birthday shots! “Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa’ dentro!” we shouted our favorite Spanish drinking phrase as we chugged our shots. Let the birthday festivities begin!

To be continued…