Seriously. I left Cancun airport, all gleaming and shiny, with super-clean bathrooms, no lines and free ziplock baggies at security, to return to Miami, where I shuffled through gray, low-ceiling halls, past unexplained barriers and into immigration that looked like it had been wedged into a disused room. While I waited for my luggage, I went to a two-stall bathroom where the doors didn’t lock. Heading for my connecting flight, I could tell I was getting close to the security checkpoint because the hall smelled like stinky feet.

If you haven’t left the US in a while, I’ve got some news for you: We’re falling way behind. In Mexico, there’s free wi-fi in the parks. The roads are fabulously smooth. There are bike paths. People are talking about the economic crisis as something that happened months ago, when that whole swine flu thing got a little overhyped in the press, but things are getting back on track now.

And speaking of swine flu, the Mexican government is sure as hell doing a lot more about it than I ever saw in NYC at the peak of the panic. There are public health vans parked at every town plaza in the major affected zones. Everyone’s washing their hands twice as much as they used to. (And even that was twice as much as we do here in the US. In Mexico, the signs in the bathroom advise you to wash your hands after using the bathroom, of course, but also before you eat. Very wise. If more travelers did this, they wouldn’t get so sick.)

If you’re a little scared of going to Mexico because of everything you read in the news, don’t be. It is a huge country. The narco wars are happening in the equivalent of Detroit and Baltimore, which wouldn’t stop you from visiting, say, the Grand Canyon, right? Speaking of which, the Cañon del Sumidero in Chiapas–fantastic.

And speaking of Chiapas–yeah, everything’s fine there. That uprising? It happened in 1994. Same year Kurt Cobain died, just for perspective. Loooong-ass time ago.

Anyway, just had to get that off my chest before I go sort through all my photos. And an apology is due: I spent this whole trip on Facebook, instead of here. But you didn’t miss too much–there were very few ‘wacky hijinks of a guidebook writer’ episodes on this trip. I did realize that whereas I used to hate how hotel owners would chat my ear off, now I have become the annoyingly chatty one. Maybe that’s because I wasn’t funneling enough of my drive-time musing into my blog. Live and learn… And stay tuned for photos.