We set out for Mexico from Nuevo Laredo amidst numerous travel warnings from friends and family: Don’t wear t-shirts with English words, wear a hat to hide your blonde hair, wear shades to hide your blue eyes, don’t take your car because you’ll be hijacked. With so many warnings, we were a little anxious (to say the least). My daughter and I joked that we were healthy (hmm . . . thick) Americans and didn’t anticipate being thrown into any black vans (can you say Taken??).
We traveled with friends who were going to visit their family in a small town outside of Tampico. This was a bucket list trip for me. Since watching Globetrekker years ago, I had always wanted to travel from a local perspective.
Our journey started with a 13 hour bus ride (remember personal vehicles lead to hijacking). Surprisingly, the bus trip was comfortable. Comfy, cushioned seats. Movies on demand — in Spanish. Clean bathrooms. Free toilet tissue. Yes, you read that right. Rule numero uno when traveling in Mexico is to keep spare change in your pocket for your bathroom trips. Public restrooms are available (and clean) for free but you have to pay for tissue. There was usually an attendant at the bathroom entrance that would give us a few squares of tissue in exchange for a few pesos. My friend, having the wisdom of previous adventures, eventually passed out travel-sized Kleenex to everyone. Game changer! There is your travel tip for today. Save your pesos by carrying travel-sized Kleenex in your back pocket during your Mexican adventures. 
We made the majority of our bus changes in daylight hours. The last leg of our trip was in darkness. We arrived at the Tampico bus station around midnight and were greeted by a family member. Six people and their luggage (plus the driver) piled into a single-cab pickup. The luggage and the guys were in the back while the women crammed into the front with the driver and set out for Mama’s House.
Mama’s House was a simple three room dwelling. It had two rooms for sleeping, a kitchen (with open-air sides), and a back “patio” that doubled as the laundry room and bathing station. It was too late to do much investigating, and we had been on the road ALL day. Mama had cooked a special meal for us travelers. Her son’s favorite – authentic menudo. I’ve seen menudo before. I’ve even tasted it. Well, not the squishy stuff, but the broth and hominy. This menudo had no hominy. It was brick red broth with squid looking squishy things floating everywhere. The bowl had hot steam rising up from it but the squishies appeared to have goose bumps all over them. At 2AM, after traveling 13 hours, it was too much. I slurped some broth to show my appreciation of her hospitality and asked for my bed. My husband ate every drop. When Mama noticed that Baby wasn’t eating, she fixed her some mac and cheese. ❤️
Over the next four days, we visited several different places — tourist attractions and family homes. I saw families living in city dwellings with no running water due to political corruption. I benefited from the hospitality and generosity of people who had a far simpler life than me. It was enlightening. 
If you are considering a trip to the interior of Mexico, I suggest preparing for conditions by doing some primitive camping. Spend a few days using an outhouse and collecting rainwater for showers, cooking over an open flame, and washing dishes with water heated on that fire.
I’ll allow the pictures to tell the rest of the story . . .
