Why Cabo?
or

How'd I Get Here?

Two friends and I first came to Cabo San Lucas in 1984 for a dental seminar. We were part of a group of eighty..a mix of dentists, technicians, office personnel and a few hangers on. At that time there was no airport terminal in Los Cabos and no marina…and no car rental agencies. We collected our luggage and waited under a palapa for our two chartered busses. The road was only two lanes and not a stoplight to be seen.

Very few of the restaurants you see today were here in 1984. Oh wait, there was Las Palmas on Medano Beach and the old Trailer Park back in town, but they looked nothing like they do now. We had to search high and low for a place to buy a t-shirt; there was virtually no shopping, jewelry stores were few, and there were no time-shares and no beach vendors.

We ran into a man who was renting a few VW Bugs out of his home. We grabbed one so we could do some exploring and paid cash up front, never having to show a driver’s license. His wife gave us a cooler to take with us.

I returned to Cabo once a year, then twice a year and finally, every 3-day weekend we had in the U.S. In 1994 I bought my home. Phone lines were limited and we communicated via VHF radios. Needless to say, everyone knew your life story and what your daily plans were. No secrets in Cabo! When I was finally able to get a phone line (after a 3 month wait) service was sporadic. If a telephone repairman was working in the neighborhood, I’d stay home and I’d keep testing my phone until he was gone. I can’t tell you how many times my line was disconnected "by accident". Now, I have service with almost no interruptions and fast high speed internet. Hooray!

There was no such thing as one-stop shopping and Aramburos was the only large (?) market in town. For Thanksgiving and Christmas finding a turkey was more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. One Thanksgiving I remember smuggling one into the country inside of a hollowed out stuffed animal. That was the same year that I got the last bunch of apio (celery)...and being the generous person that I am, I gave one stalk to an elderly gringo who said his wife would murder him if he came home without it.  Wow!  What a change now!  Los Cabos has grown up.  In Cabo San Lucas, we now we have Walmart and Costco as well as local chains, Sorianas, CCC and City Club. No more going to  5 stores to find the proper screw you might need..we now have Ace Hardware and Home Depot.  Printer ink?   No problem because we now have Office Depot and Office Max.

Friends who came to visit always knew that in exchange for a place to stay they would be asked to become pack mules, bringing necessities that we just couldn’t get here. I still have friends bring my Diet Cherry Coke from the states.

I give you this information so that you can see how much Cabo has evolved. Yes, we all complain about the growth and traffic, but we NEVER complain about all the conveniences we now have…and did I mention high-speed internet access and reliable phone service?

Now, sixteen years later, I am still enamored with Cabo, loving the dry, warm weather and casual lifestyle with frequent month long trips to Texas. I still go up to shop…hey, my favorite stores are there and I need my shopping fix.  I plan my Cabo time around my client's travel plans but please don't count on me for August and September...the older I get the less heat tolerant I become.  I do work with an associate and she is capable of touring you.  I still do all the searches, follow-up and paperwork drudgery involved in the closing but all that can be done in the comfort of air conditioning.

After thinking about it,  I guess the lifestyle is really the reason I decided to live in Cabo full time. I find that it is much easier to get together with friends. In the U.S. everyone was always so busy that impromptu get-togethers were a rarity. My friends and I had to plan way in advance just to spend a few hours together. Here, I love the fact that I can walk downtown, go to any store, beach, restaurant, etc. etc. and see friends and acquaintances on a daily basis.   After one of my trips to the U.S., I still love it when I fly back and the staff at the airport always greets me with “Welcome home”.