I spent 28 years living in Mexico without ever visiting Nayarit. Like many locals, I was always looking outward, dreaming of distant shores while remaining blind to the paradise at my doorstep. It took returning as a tourist to finally see what I had missed all those years.

The realization hit me during dinner at a small restaurant in Sayulita, a coastal town just north of Puerto Vallarta. As I savored my huachinango (red snapper I'd rarely eaten during my years in Mexico) I watched other diners, mostly tourists, photographing their meals and exclaiming over flavors I'd once taken for granted.

Their enthusiasm made me see my own culture through fresh eyes. I noticed details I'd overlooked countless times before. The way the evening light played on hand-painted tiles, the rhythm of Spanish and English mixing in the warm air, the perfect harmony of lime and chile in dishes I'd dismissed as ordinary.