I stepped outside the gate of my Airbnb apartment complex and looked both ways.
Some cars, taxis, some brown people. All going about their business. The sun had almost cleared the horizon and the morning was promising heat and humidity.
The guard closed the gate behind me.
Nothing imminently threatening appeared as I left the gated sanctity of the apartment property, and none of the pedestrians, despite being brown, had attempted to wound me. In fact, most of them appeared intent on their destinations, and were not looking at me at all.
I shrugged and crossed the street. I had a good four-mile walk to the Princess Mundo Imperial, and it was already getting hot…
The Princess. Grand. Majestic. Full of anarchists. Non-aggression permeated the air and stained it with good intentions.
No speakers this first day, so I just explored and talked to some fellow attendees. Several restaurants, three pools, swans and flamingos in the pond.
I went down to find the conference room. It was a massive room, in the process of being outfitted to handle at least 1,500 people. I met two guys there, Okey and Bill, who had questions about Bitcoin wallets that I could answer. We chatted crypto while we admired the room from inside the doorway.
Nathan Freeman, whom I recognized as the Chief Cat-Herder of the event, took a special break from his responsibilities to join our conversation for a few moments, and then kicked us out.
“We’re setting up the room and we can’t distract the chair-placers,” he said, or something like that.
The next day the speakers began. Each was just as entertaining and informative as I knew they would be.
Jeff Berwick the Dollar Vigilante himself, Benny Wills of JoyCamp, Roger Ver the Bitcoin Jesus, Ron Paul, Adam Kokesh (#AdamKokeshforNotPresident).
Mark Passio, who wasn’t out to make friends with passive armchair voluntarists.
Ernie Hancock, Larken Rose vs. Lauren Southern (do we really need borders?), Sasha Daygame the Infinite Man, Vit Jedlicka the President of Liberland, G. Edward Griffin author of The Creature From Jekyll Island.
Terry Brock (Don’t do selling. Do helping.)
David Rodriguez (The World is your School—if you’re reading this David, Freedom Worldwide bro!).
A plethora of others, talking about homeschooling, the benefits for living in Puerto Rico, self-improvement, Steemit, cryptocurrencies, principles, exponential innovation, private cities.
The mind was expanded, the heart opened, and one was left considering the rapidly increasing possibilities and opportunities available to us humans in the world today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~
Acapulco.
Hot. Humid. Tropical. Good beaches, usually not very crowded. A couple of good surfing spots. Good nightclubs, if the one I went to (Palladium) is any indication. And if you’re into that kind of thing.
The beach in the Bonfil area is full of French Canadians, many of whom told me that a three to six month winter vacation to Acapulco has been their tradition for fifteen to forty years.
Some news outlets have reported shootings, stabbings, kidnappings, beheadings, and other such excitement in recent years. In January, the US government declared Guerrero state a do-not-travel zone for Americans. According to @jeffberwick, they do it every year around the time of Anarchapulco. That’s why the plane tickets were so cheap.
“You know,” I commented to Franco, a French Canadian who helps run a restaurant a few months of the year in the Bonfil area, “the US lists Acapulco as a do-not-travel zone right now.”
He shrugged and gestured to our surroundings with his beer—the massage tables and diners, the grass-roofed shade stands and Europeans lounging on the sweltering beach. “Do we really care?” he said.
I’ll let you do your own research and see how likely you are to get hurt in your own city vs. Acapulco.
For me, I stayed for two weeks. Mainly on the tourist strip near the beach. I walked every morning from my Airbnb to the Princess, four miles, and never felt even remotely uncomfortable. Everyone had their own thing to do, and few wasted any attention on me.
When they did waste attention on me, it was because I asked for directions. Every person I met was extremely accommodating and helpful.
On several occasions, the person I asked went out of their way to help me, going so far as to walk down the street with me ask several other people where to find my next Airbnb. They asked for nothing in return, only smiled and said “buenas dias” as they returned to whatever they had been doing before I interrupted them.
Heavily armed federales and cops patrol the tourist strip all day, every day, sporting heavy artillery on the tops of their vehicles and M-16s strapped to their chests, looking bored for the most part.
At night, I took a taxi back to my apartment from the Princess. I’m sure I would’ve been fine walking back on the tourist strip, but after a long day at the conference, I really didn’t feel like it.
Would I go back? Yes. No-brainer. Met some great folks at the conference, that alone was worth it. The speeches, informative, entertaining, and stimulating.
The parties rocked.
Jeff Berwick, with the help of Nathan Freeman, Avi Esther, and David Rodriguez, put on an exceptional event.
Acapulco itself? Pretty much fine. Watch where you go, and what time of day. Common sense. Nothing too technical. Those places you would avoid in your own town? Avoid the same kind of places in Aca.
The rest is beaches and sunshine.
