Mexico 2019 Finance and Picture Recap

Our recent trip to Mexico was quite wonderful. It was relaxing, adventurous, warm(!), much-needed, and varied. It almost felt like 4 trips in 1: beach time with my dad in Zipolite, urban adventuring in Mexico city, lazy resort time in Puerto Vallarta, and off the beaten path time in Yelapa. And as is my wont, I wanted to summarize costs and post a few random pictures so that this fun adventure (and its details) won't be lost.

Finances
The total trip, including airfare, hotels, food, in-country transportation, lots of ice cream, and all entertainment came to $2360 which covers both me and Della. We were gone 15.5-ish days* That makes the per day per person cost to $76. With the amount that we did and saw, this is a number that we are both rather proud of. It's nice to know that travel doesn't have to be crazy expensive.

Flights$778YVR->HUX, HUX->MEX, MEX->PVR, PVR->SEA*
All-inclusive resort$8505 nights. This was a timeshare deal. Included in this money is supposedly a cruise and additional resort stay. I'm somewhat skeptical, but we'll see.
Everything else$732Food and hotels for the other 9 days, museum entrances, subways, etc.

We have a breakdown of every penny we spent (tracking that is kind of our hobby), but I won't subject you to that. But having this rough idea helps us contextualize the trip and plan for future trips! Next winter is going to be a big one!! :-)

Pictures
Click on each photo to read the caption for context.

Saturday April 6 2019File under: Mexico, pictures

comment?

Losing a Phone In Puerto Vallarta

You know that sinking feeling when you reach for your phone in your pocket and it's not there? Imagine that feeling, but while being in a foreign country where you rely on said phone for not getting lost, figuring out what it is you're eating, and getting access to your plane tickets. Not to be overdramatic, but it can be a bit of a heart stopper. It was exactly this feeling I had yesterday as Della and I hustled off the crowded public bus in Puerto Vallarta on our way to see a two-bit (but still very enjoyable) Mexican circus*.

"Maybe I left it in the room..." [Nervous two hours of trying to ignore possibility of phone loss, search room top to bottom, ask hotel staff where bus lost and found is, enjoy staff's laughter at this concept, lose hope]

"Didn't I hear a podcast about an online way that can help you track where your phone is?" [Google "find my phone", log in, see blinking red dot a map nearby(!), hustle out on the street, get lost finding intersection, find intersection, don't find phone, return to hotel]

"Oh hey, the blinking dot moved!" [Internet sleuth everything possible about new blinking dot location, grow disheartened by very rural location, enlist friends' help to call phone, remotely lock down phone and prepare my goodbyes, search for phone replacement costs]

"The dot moved again!!" [Put on Sherlock hat, start spreadsheet of GPS coords with time of observation, frantically refresh website until bedtime, sleep fitfully]

"I think the phone is still on the bus!!" [Continue to track route, convert spreadsheet of GPS coords into map, develop a plan to find this bus out of the 100s of public Puerto Vallarta buses.]

"The buses seem to be laying over in this abandoned field. We should go there and search every bus we find!" [Jump through hoops to get internet on Della's phone, hop a bus that looks like it's going that direction, hop off bus once it diverts, see intermittently updated blinking dot pass us, furiously speculate, hop on new bus, bounce our way to the "station"]

"Yesterday he/she/it lose thing phone in bus please us look for"* [Start searching buses, try to connect via Della's phone to make it ring, no ringing, see dancing Della with phone in her hand, jump for joy, many self congratuations]

With a successful completion of the mission, we felt like badasses. From the get go, we felt like our chances were slim. But for a few pesos for bus fare and international data charges and a bit of ingenuity and persistance, we triumphed. In fact, it was a better adventure than the overpriced omni-present snorkeling excursions the resort keeps trying to pitch us. Adventure, badassery, frugality: that's the way we roll!
Thursday March 7 2019File under: travel, mexico

Toggle Comments (3)comment?

An Age Milestone

Today, I am exactly half as old as my dad. Or, in other words, I am the age now that my dad was when I was born. This fun milestone was discovered as I was visiting him in Zipolite, Mexico. What an interesting perspective it can give about where I am in my life. But mostly, it was just a fun tidbit to toast over chiliquilis and fresh squeezed orange juice on the beach!

Della and I are on a bit of a Mexico adventure and Zipolite proved the perfect places to start it out: a mile long picturesque beach on which we found a circus hotel for next to nothing price-wise. We played in the surf, we juggled for locals while dad played accordion, and we ate really well for very cheap. As far as a place to relax a bit after a winter of back-to-back-to-back* housesitting and an intense run of Valentine's day circus shows, it can't be beat.

My dad and I have good travel history together. This trip is the third Mexico adventure together (San Cristobal 9 years ago, and San Miguelle de Allende 15 years ago (pre-BdW(!))). While "adventure" might apply less on this trip than it did to the others, easy time over crosswords and good food is an experience I can get behind just as much. I can only hope that when I'm his age, I'll be living as great a life!
Wednesday February 27 2019File under: travel, mexico

Toggle Comments (1)comment?

Rejected Photos From Mex-Guat-Bel















In the course of a trip, there are good pictures that don't make it to the blog, whether because of subject matter (they didn't fit into any post I was making), balance (there were already enough pictures for that post), or timing (someone else took the photo and got it to me after I already made a post on the topic).

These are those photos from the 2010 Mexico/Belize/Guatemala trip. I'm trying something new in terms of displaying them*. I hope you like it (I sure do). (If you are reading via RSS, please do come visit the blog for this one as it is worth it (I hope).)

(If I did things right, you should be able to scroll the photos by clicking through the right hand of each photo once it has enlarged).

Saturday April 3 2010File under: travel, Mexico

Toggle Comments (3)comment?

Financial Breakdown of My Mexico-Belize-Guatemala Trip

A popular topic of conversation for travelers is money. From how you work it to travel (if you are on a longer trip or travel frequently) to daily budgets, it pretty much all gets covered. Luckily for me, instead of feeling like this is an intrusive topic, it is one that really interests me. How do other people find funds to travel? How long with their saving hold out? What do they plan on spending per day and what do they actually spend?

For this last trip, I gathered up all my recipes and compiled them to have a better idea of my travel budget (which could help with future planning). I post them here not only for posterity and for my own reference's sake, but also because the finances of travel are a big part of it all, so it is just another piece of the puzzle.

CountryLength of stayMoney spentDollars per day
Mexico (Yucatan/Quinta roo)8 days$243$31
Belize5 days$217$44
Guatemala2 days$130$65
Mexico (Chiapas)8 days$247$31
Total23 days$837$36

Flights
Portland, OR -> Cancun, Mexico$159
Tuxtla-Gutierez, Mexico -> Seattle, WA$355
Total$514

Overall, this trip cost $1384 (on ground expenses, flights, and getting home from the airport). Not bad for 24 days of adventure. Some interesting observations:
  • in general, the longer time spent in a country, the lower cost per day. I attribute this to transportation costs, mostly, but also getting to know where to eat cheap and learning the ins and outs of cheap travel in that place.
  • Flight costs are more than 1/3 total trip cost, in this case. Again, a longer trip will help offset that and allow for a lower cost per day.
  • Compared with what a person might spend on average during their normal life back home (rent, food, concerts, etc.), these numbers can definitely start to look more doable
  • I know I could bring down the per day costs by staying in sketchier places, eating fewer ice creams, not bringing home one of each bill as a souvenir, etc., but those small additions to the enjoyment of it all totally seem to be worth it when looking at the distribution of it all
  • Next trip, it would be interesting to break down costs even further, maybe into lodging, food, transportation, and entertainment (ruins, circuses, museums, etc.)

Monday March 29 2010File under: travel, Mexico

Toggle Comments (3)comment?

The Ups and Downs of Disorganization

DISCLAIMER: Another wordy post, I know*, but no attempts at art or style in this one; just a regular, run-of-the-mill travel anecdote.

Sometimes bureaucratic/logistical disorganization can work for you. Sometimes it works against you. Today, while navigating my way back to the good old U.S. of A., I experienced both to a blog-worthy degree.

It all started at the airport in Tuxtla-Guetierez airport at an hour when I would rather be asleep in bed. Small airports have a certain degree of advanrage over their megalith cousins: short lines for both tickets and security. At ticketing, I checked in simply by showing my passport, as always do. I've since done away with even printing my itinerary because it hardly matters anymore. Anyway, with a smile and nod, I was handed my boarding pass and pointed on my way, no exchanged words needed. Only after I had cleared security did I realize that I was only given one boarding pass instead of 3 as I might have expected (being as there were three legs to my flight). A minor detail, I thought, that I could easily work out at the Mexico city airport.

As soon as I stepped off the plane, I realized it wasn't going to be so minor. For one, I didn't know what airline I was transferring. A silly fact, I know, but an important one, it turns out. I knew I started on Mexicana and knew I was continuing on one of the biggies (Delta, American, or Contential) through somewhere in Texas (Houston or Dallas). That array creates an astounding number of permeations, which, when coupled with the two vastly separated terminals of Benito Juarez International Airport sent me on quite a goose chase. Finally, after an hour of roaming around, asking contridicting, but very smiley, information people, I got my boarding passes. Relieved, I asked the counter agent about paying my exit tax*. She vaguely mentions a bank location "somewhere downstairs" and hustles me away. So begins another goose chase.

I can't find a bank and am getting kind of getting tired of looking. Again, many helpful but ultimately uninformed information booth operators point me varoius directions with nothing doing, so I decide that when I need to pay something, I will be more explicitly told. In my experience, this usually happens when you go through pre-security or another ticket checker somewhere in the pipeline, so I proceeded. The ticket/passport checkers for my security checkpoint seemed to be on a gossip break, so I wasn't approached as I headed on my way. Cautious not to let my optimism about saving $25 run wild, I was wary that surely there would be a double check on this down the way. Afterall, didn't I have to let someone know I was leaving the country?

Next onto security*: upside, no lines; downside, over-anxious security personnel. First, they determined my fork to be questionable lethal so set it aside with a rapid Spanish explanation as to why. My broken attempt at conveying that I had already been on a flight that very same day with the very same fork failed to dissuade him. He must be in cahoots with that damn Jamaican that stole Loafy last year. Then they decided my juggling clubs were weapons with which I planned to raise an army against the flight attendents if I didn't get my choice of soda. This I would not stand for. I first attempted to explain the situation in Spanish: "Estos son clavas para hacer malabarismo. Queries una demonstracion? Los tuve en el vuelto esta manana y entrada el pias del avion CON estos. Cual is el problema?" That didn't work, either because I didn't convey myself properly or it wasn't a valid arguement. Next I requested an agent who spoke english so I could more properly explain/vent. He arrives, and, after tossing the club into the air and knocking it experimentally against his palm, he says the same thing in broken english that the woman before said in spanish: no pueden pasar.

I've never actually jumped up and down in frusteration before. Okay, maybe I have, but usually it is in a place where the gesture can be understood to be ironic or funny. Here, not so much. I did, however, manage to convey that I wanted to speak to the manager about this issue. By now, a group was developing. Yeehaw, another showdown.

The manager arrives and I can tell right away by his demeanor that he is on my side. He tosses the club in the air, spins it in his fingers, and jokingly asks something about the circus. Saved. With a nod and smile, he sends me on my way. The others gathered around all smile an apologetic smile and wish me a good trip. As I'm repacking my bag (juggling clubs, computer, pocketables, etc.) I see my fork unattended and grab it. I'm not letting go of Loafy II that easily. As I walk off to find my gate, I smile that knowing that standing up for myself has proven valueable again. Could this become a habit?

Checking in at that gate, the agent asks for my tourist card (the card which I was supposed to get stamped for $25 when I visited immigration to let them know I was leaving the country). I handed her the wad of papers that they handed me down on the Guatemalan border, try to look as innocent as possible. She flipped through it more than she had with other the passengers, but then gave a quick nod. I must not have seen or something because she then glanced up with a look that said you're-still-here? but politely said, "That's all." Now for sure I knew I had dodged the exit fee.

Sometimes disogranization can work for you and sometimes it can work against you. When it works for you, you smile at your triumph. When it works against, you're inclined to deride the lack of logic or effort or discipline that has caused it al. But in either case, looking back you end up with a story and there is definitely value in that.
Wednesday March 24 2010File under: travel, Mexico

Toggle Comments (2)comment?

Panchan

DISCLAIMER: through a combination of randomly reading a novel about writing, wanting to keep blog posts fresh and new, and being rained in for the better part of a day, I found myself writing this. A word of caution to those who didn't like my last foray into prose (Four Nights): you might as well skip this one. Otherwise, if you're up for a little boredom-induced, unedited experimentation, read on.

He could feel the slats on his back through the thin foam of the bed, and thought to himself how it goes perfectly with it all: the partition walls that don't go all the way to the ceiling, allowing him to hear his neighbor turn the pages of her book; the tin roof that magnifies the huge drops of rain that fall after collecting on the massive leaved trees above. As he lay there, instead of seeing these inconveniences as a drawback, an appreciation of the magic that surround him creeps in.

Although his eyes are open, it is the sounds that mesmerize him most. Between that tap tap tap of the rain on the roof, sounds of the jungle permeate—birds, insects of all kinds, and even what sounds like a monkey mix into a soundtrack that reinforces the remoteness of this traveler-hippie community. From down the muddy path outside his door came simple guitar covers of songs that at other times might seem cliche, but something in the singer's voice make him look past that and really see the spirit of the songs. Songs by John Lennon, Simon and Garfunkle, and ones that he even didn't know what language they were being sung in but could feel the spirit creep down the narrow path, all the same.

Occasionally, groups of fellow travelers walk past his window on the way to their own cabanas, their low voices usually in Spanish of which he only caught a word or two. He is glad the brief chunks of conversation didn't make it understandingly to his brain. This way, he can create his own meanings. Maybe it is two strangers who just met, each while reading alone in the tarp-covered restaurant, finding one thing in common, enough to thinly veil the real reason they don't want to say goodnight. Maybe the group's discussion mimmicked the dicussion in his head, marveling at the wonder of all of place, right here, right now.

Closing his eyes, shutting out the tin ceiling and lone bare light bulb hanging from it, he imagines a camera looking directly down from above. The scene starts to zoom out, just like google earth when switching locations or in that movie from science class Powers of 10. As the camera passes through the roof, puddles along a muddy path come in view, quickly followed by more randomly placed cabanas. Streams with simple bridges crossing them mix with meandering trails to create seeming ant paths through the dark lush green. As the camera recedes, one or two larger roofs appear, those of the few restaurants and "real" hotels. But then, other than the one road, no new evidence of man's existence enters the picture. The little village community grows smaller in the middle of the image and jungle fills in all around. The zoom of the camera is fast now and the nearby ruins enter the picture from one side at the same time the lights of Palenque enter from the other, but at this distance, no details can be made out. Other clusters of lights enter the picture and shrink as the surrounding towns fly by. Then, all of the sudden, dark black of the oceans comes into view, the Gulf of Mexico from the top and the Pacific from the lower left. The zooming of the image pauses as he stops to think about how although he is in Mexico, it isn't the North American Mexico of Cabo or Puerta Vallarta. He is in Mayan Mexico, distinctly Central American Mexico.

As the paused satelitte image rests in his mind, he sees his little spot and feels a sense of freedom. This place is any place, and he is here. No one, without considerable effort, could track him down and there is comfort in that. Not that he is running or wants to keep his location a secret, only that right now, the control is all his.

The serene nighttime image of Central America from above is shaken from his head by an obnxoius bang bang bang on the neighbor's door, causing his connected walls to shake as well. Excited boys either vying for attention or trying to one-up each other loudly joke, laugh, and beatbox, ruining the magic. At the same time, he notices the live cover songs from the stage down the path have been replaced by AC/DC turned up too loud.

So goes the world of travel, the reality and hardships are never far off, ready to let one taste the magic but only in small doses. Attempting to file the feeling of magic away so that it won't be forgotten, he turns on his side, pulls a pillow over his head, and tries not to wish harmful things for those ruinors of his moment.

Monday March 22 2010File under: travel, Mexico

comment?

Mexico Take Two

For those of you following along at home*, you know that after a brief stint in Belize and Guatemala, I'm back in Mexico—San Cristobal de las Casas to be exact. It is a gorgeous town with lots to do, although I find the majority of my activities involve ice cream, crosswords, and chatting with my dad, with whom I met up a few days ago.

Besides loafing, we've just meandered* around. There is some great architecture to see as well as a church or two. The food, as always, is amazing. Our hotel has a wonderful courtyard with a great bougainvillea. Also, just out of town, there is a great walk up the river, with sketchy suspension bridge included!

Besides loafing/meandering about town, we did a great trip up the Canyon del Sumidero. We saw birds, spider monkeys, and even crocodiles. Besides the fact that it was an organized trip and they shuffled us around like cards and stuffed us in wherever we fit, it was worth it.

Yep, Mexico continues to live up to its reputation for easy, relatively cheap, interesting traveling. So as the end of this adventure draws near, it is comforting to think that I know I will be back someday.
Friday March 19 2010File under: travel, Mexico

Toggle Comments (2)comment?

9016 Words About Chichen Itza





Since a picture is worth 1000 words, here's my wordiest blog post yet. Enjoy. (We did.)

Thursday March 4 2010File under: travel, Mexico

Toggle Comments (1)comment?

Oh Mexico



Oh, Mexico
It sounds so simple I just got to go
The sun's so hot I forgot to go home
Guess I'll have to go now

Tuesday March 2 2010File under: travel, Mexico

Toggle Comments (2)comment?

   < Previous Page  Next Page >
 
1 2 3
Recent Comments:
*Mom on Mother Wrenger in the Nutcracker
*Horge on Malta Bene!
*Millionaire Quiz Game on I Wanted To Be a Millionaire
*Deanna on Malta Bene!
*Mom on 2023 Performance Review

Recent Content:
*Mother Wrenger in the Nutcracker
*Malta Bene!
*2023 Performance Review
*Twas the Night 2023
*Recycled Plastic Christmas Ornaments
*Halloween Act 2023 - Dueling Banjos
*Walk Like MADD 2023
*New Stilting Costume
*Sleeping Around 2022-2023
*Project Hotdog Halfway Complete
*Giant Juggling Club

Websites du Friends:
* Wren the Juggler
My I-guess-I'm-a-Professional-Juggler juggling website
* Wren and Della
Della and my juggling website
* The Real Food Show
A circus-inspired elementary assembly show to teach kids about healthy eating
* Della Moustachella
Della's performance website
* The Fun Bags
Della and Sadye's Performance Troupe


Tags
Anacortes (39)
Cambodia (5)
China (14)
Korea (1)
Macau (1)
Mexico (13)
New Zealand (1)
Seattle (2)
Thailand (18)
USA (11)
Vietnam (5)
beard (5)
blog (8)
books (1)
coding (15)
comic (45)
contest (4)
environment (9)
events (12)
food (22)
games (15)
geocaching (4)
holidays (13)
juggling (8)
links (9)
meet-ups (1)
mexico (1)
misc (54)
movies (5)
open letter (2)
participation (1)
pics (39)
poetry (6)
poll (1)
quote (6)
road trip (25)
stats (1)
transportation (14)
travel (136)
video (6)
work (8)