If you travel a lot, there’s usually one place that resonates with you more than all the rest — a place that isn’t home, but it feels like it.

For Canadian literary giant George Bowering that place is Mexico, specifically the small oceanside village of La Manzanilla. In what he calls his final book, Barefoot Gringo, the 90-year-old Bowering spins stories of his many travels, starting in 1963 with his first wife Angela and, after her passing, his partner Jean. Often they are joined by friends old and new, forming their own community within a community.

In this part-travelogue, part-memoir, the path of the telling is not linear. The stories meander through both geography and time. It’s easy to get lost trying to line up the narrative in a chronological fashion — so best to forget about trying to do that. Rather, this book is akin to sitting at a palapa (a Mexican beach bar with a thatched roof), drinking Pacificos (the best Mexican beer) and eating fish tacos while the sun makes a long orange slide into the ocean — all the while listening to an elder spin tales of food, music, birds, art, cribbage and, of course, books.

Food is always in the forefront, and if you’ve ever spent much time in Mexico, you understand why. The author is an adventurous and passionate eater who loves to talk about the bounty of the sea that is cooked and served by the many friends he’s made in La Manz. Bowering makes an interesting distinction between the tourist, or all-inclusive, crowds that visit Mexico, and his own group. He sees himself more as a local, especially on each subsequent trip — but as the title of his book reads, he knows that he is a gringo.

At times the book feels repetitive, like maybe you heard this story before, and you might have. But Barefoot Gringo’s not about being in a hurry to get anywhere. Along the way the reader meets Pedro, the maker of the best fish tacos in Mexico, and a colourful gallery of other locals and ex-pats with names such as Moustache Dave, Happy Hour and Chop-Chop (Junior and Senior).

Jean is ever-present. As Bowering’s health begins to fail, she is instrumental in getting her husband a wheelchair, making sure he gets help boarding planes or buses, and anything he might need to make his travels comfortable.

The couple take side trips to Mexico City and Mérida. They also visit the museum-laden city of Puebla, which Bowering first visited 50 years ago. Those places offer rich food and art-laden experiences, but Bowering always comes back to La Manz.

Other acquaintances — including Canadian literati such as Margaret Atwood or the late Al Purdy — are mentioned, as is the author’s own prolific career. Bowering has written over 100 books of poetry, fiction, essays and history, won the Governor General’s Literary Award twice and was named Canada’s first poet laureate. There is a parallel to Ernest Hemingway’s time on the Left Bank in Paris; Bowering’s mentions of the classic author also draws the similarity.

Choosing Barefoot Gringo to be his final book seems particularly bittersweet, a love letter to a country and its people. The author last visited La Manz shortly before the pandemic. He came back to Canada thinking he was drawing his final breath, but thankfully recovered.

There’s a tinge of sadness amidst the poetry and funny stories, as Bowering looks back adoringly at a place that has meant so much to him. There are times a reader might wish he’d reflect on the lives of the people who inhabit the village, but Bowering knows he’s there as an observer and is happy to be one — deliriously so.

A short passage towards the end of the book paints well Bowering’s time in Mexico: “horses to hear clopping, vanilla ice cream to melt on my tongue, chiles to smell, a sweet wife to look across the table at, and atmosphere music to hear vibrating around us from the pre-Columbian marimba, time disappearing like silent heartbeats.”

Here’s hoping Bowering makes it back to his beloved La Manz one more time.

Winnipeg writer Craig Terlson has his own love affair with Mexico, fish tacos, and Pacifico beers.