I Survived Anarchapulco!

(Just look at this chaos and mayhem!)

So I spent a couple of weeks in Mexico rushing around, stressfully trying to prepare to give half a dozen different talks, presentations and performances, while trying to give a zillion different people my time and attention, while not getting nearly enough sleep, until my immune system finally fell apart … and it was awesome!

This year’s Anarchapulco had around 1,700 people in attendence, and the event is likely to keep growing by leaps and bounds, like it has for the last few years. In between trying to get ready for our own stuff (including putting on a two-day “Candles in the Dark” seminar, giving two other talks, doing a debate, and doing two musical performances), Amanda and I talked to dozens of really cool people, while wishing we had time for another few thousand hours of discussion with at least a few hundred more people who were there.

After most of our stuff was done, Amanda and I hung out at the Princess Hotel, to chat with whoever happened to stop by. Before we knew it, we had spent seven and a half hours straight talking to people. And that was the “relaxing” day. Oh, and that included a few impromptu interviews we did with various people.

(One amusing event—I won’t mention names, in order to avoid undue embarrassment—was Amanda and I hanging out with someone who, before now, had kind of decided that I was the root of all evil, and told me so online. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but only slight. We ended up having lots of cool discussions and getting along great.)

Another high point was at the end of our “Candles in the Dark” seminar, when, at the behest of Nathan Freeman (Chief Cat-Herder for Anarchapulco), we got to have the general manager of the Princess (the huge, grandiose resort hotel) be the last guinea pig, and I got to demonstrate the techniques we teach in the seminar. After fifteen minutes of very pleasant, friendly conversation, you could see that the guy was already on the brink of giving up his statism. (We’ll have to check in with him at next year’s Anarchapulco.)

Oh, and by the way, Acapulco is stupidly cheap compared to almost anywhere in the U.S. We got a tenth floor glorious room with balcony view overlooking downtown Acapulco for the equivalent of $40 a night. I can’t even find a Motel 6 in the U.S. for that cheap. Oh, and in the same hotel there is a sushi restaurant where an actual meal costs the equivalent of $4 or $5.

There is talk of Anarchapulco renting out the entire Princess Hotel for next year, so we literally own the place. And I wouldn’t at all be surprised if three or four thousand people attend that one. (I think they will be capping the number of tickets at 4,000.) So, although I realize it’s a long way off, you might want to start thinking about the possibility of getting your butt there next year. Having been to more “freedom events” than I can count at this point, I can tell you that there is nothing else like Anarchapulco.

Now pardon me while I go recover some more.