Driving Through Mexico

For Keith and I to start our 15 month journey, we needed to drive 4 days through Mexico back to the US. We were both a bit nervous of the unknown as we've heard good and bad reports from friends who have done the drive before. I was most worried about being pulled over by the police and shaken down for money. I prepped for the worst and I am happy to report, we had zero issues. When we do this again, we will do exactly what we did, drive over the weekend and leave super early in the mornings and be done by 4pm.

We started in Akumal and drove the first day for about 10 hours. After seeing thousands of animals (dogs, goats, bulls, monkeys...), an encounter with 2 street dogs that I lured away from us with milk bones, many cenote sized potholes, overcast skies, lots of rain, 4 security checkpoints (none of which made us stop. They loved the dogs though!), tons of street side food vendors, 2 cappuccinos, crazy drivers and great tunes, we made it to Villahermosa in 9 hours and 40 minutes. We went straight to our hotel and decided to just relax in our room due to the dogs and being exhausted. I ordered a domino's pizza, with the help of the front desk, and it was a lazy night of TV. 

We woke up early to get on the road to Puebla, which was over 7 hours. The day seemed so much longer longer than the day before, even though it wasn’t. We drove on a very long boring highway that was only country side, gas stations and fruit stands. No small towns to see. We saw parrots on sticks for sale, the car was X-rayed 3 times, we went through 2 checkpoints, 8 tolls with the most expensive one being $213 pesos. There was more traffic due to construction. Our day started with horrible drivers in Villahermosa and ended with horrible drivers in Puebla. We did manage to get a Starbucks before we started today and that was good - no coffee crankies for us! Our hotel was cute but it was the WORST bed we have ever slept in. 

The next morning we woke up early so we could get on the road to drive around Mexico City (around, not through) on our way to Saltillo. We made it to Saltillo safe and sound - I think this was the day we were most worried about due to having to find Arco Norte and just not sure what driving around Mexico City would be like. The trip included our first train sighting, many many MANY factories, only 2 checkpoints, a ton of police on the roads, the biggest toll at $355 pesos 1 birthday froofroo coffee drink (I turned 42!), a buffet dinner sign for 65 pesos ($3.42), 1 discussion on cacti vs cactus's, donkeys and goats, the many “cafes” along the highway and several highway fires... 8.5 hours down. 

The border was just 3 hours from Saltillo! The drive was a boring drive with lots of mountains and desert, Saltillo is a cute town but there is NO booze on Sunday and most restaurants were closed. We had 1 checkpoint with no one really manning it, we saw 1 dead horse on the side of the road 24 miles from the border (that was a horrific sight!!), the final cost for all tolls was $113.62 USD, at immigration we were the only people there, and we were never asked to see any of the dogs paperwork... 

32 hours and 35 minutes later, we arrived! The whole trip was 2,780 kilometers! 

Would we do it again - YES. It really wasn't as bad as we had expected at all. IF you have any questions on the drive, tolls, where to stay, etc... Just ask!

We Had a Photoshoot for Our Home

Since we plan to rent our home while we are traveling, we asked to have a photoshoot done of our home versus using the photos we were taking from our cell phones. 

I spent most of yesterday cleaning and getting everything put away. We even packed the car a day ahead of time.

Early this morning our property managers came along with the photographer. They brought flowers, wine, food to make it look as if you were setting up for breakfast... It looked a lot better than what we had done. Hoping these new photos help entice people to want to say in our luxurious home in the Riviera Maya. 

Once we get our hands on the new photos, I will post them. For now, here are the old ones... The photos shown here are still from our phones but of the nice style touches they added to make it more "homey". What do you think?

My DNA Results

I found the results to be pretty interesting. It also appears they have identified 279 genetic variants that can be traced to the Neanderthals. 

Not sure how I feel about that...

Gas Shortage in Mexico Could Affect Our Drive

A friend of mine recently reached out about a friend of hers who was driving through Mexico on his motorcycle and ran out of gas due to the gas shortage in Mexico happening now. Since Keith and I plan to drive for 4 days through Mexico I started searching for way to know who does and does not have gas on our route. 

Thankfully, Google to the rescue. It seems Google has added a feature to their maps where you just type in “¿Dónde hay gasolina?,” “¿dónde no hay gasolina?” and it will show you who does or does not have gas. I tried it and it's pretty cool!

There are also 4 apps that can also help with this and this article tells you all about it - I downloaded two of the 4 (Gasoapp and Gasolina MX), so here's hoping that we don't run into any issues along the way. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we are a bit nervous of the unknown.

Have You Looked at Your DNA?

When we were in the States, we stopped at Target (oh glorious Target!!!) to pick up some supplies. While wandering around I stumbled upon the 23andMe DNA Test kit. I have seen them online but hadn't ever thought about doing one until recently.

It was very simple to do - you just spit in a tube they supply and then drop it in the mail. Easy!

I am currently awaiting my DNA and ancestral information... I signed up on their website and answered some questions and they have been giving my updates on where and what my DNA is currently doing. 

If you are interested in trying it, use my link and get 10% off your order.

It's Official: I Have Lost My Visa

Don't I look thrilled?

Back in early October, Keith and I applied to renew our temporary resident visa for 3 years. One thing we have found to be consistent in Mexico is nothing is done in a timely manner. My visa is still in process. Keith however managed to get his renewed, a week ago. 

When you have a visa in Mexico you have to fill out exit documentation with immigration every time you leave. Since we have been waiting for ours to be renewed, we have had to buy exit visas every time we left since starting the renewal in October. You can't just leave, you need permission or you risk losing your visa.

Knowing we were leaving for 15 months we were trying to find out if that would affect the process since we wouldn't be in the country. It seems it would have... Apparently they need to take our finger prints again (really? It's not like they change from the last time we did them...) and then have a 2-3 week waiting period to get the card. With us leaving ay a specific date, the timing just didn't work. So, I can't wait any longer as we leave on Friday. So, today, I went and gave it up... 

I was there for 1.5 hours and walked out with a single piece of paper with my photo stating I am giving it up and I have 20 days to leave the country. Adios, Mexico! See ya in 2020!

Our Last Lol-Ha Happy Hour for Awhile

We have only one week before we take off for our big road trip - we are very excited and nervous! 

Since last night was Friday, we decided to visit one of our favorite hangouts, Lol-Ha, for happy hour with many of our expat friends. It was great to see so many familiar faces so we could say good bye for now and not for good.

It was a beautiful night and we opted to have dinner with our friends, Dave and Randi, at Lol-Ha. 

We are really going to miss everyone but we feel this little getaway will be good for us and just make us miss Mexico. Hasta luego, Mexico!

We Are a Family Affected by the Government Shutdown

The Seattle Invasion of Mexico Has Arrived

Two great friends of ours from Seattle, Tommy and Regina, came to visit us and we made sure to try and show them as much as possible in 1 week. Sadly for them, the water here is a bit cold right now as it is "winter" in Mexico. I think the consensus was though that it was still beautiful and much warmer than Seattle.

We managed to hit Xpu-Ha beach in Akumal, explore Playa Del Carmen for a day, drive to Vallodolid to see the city and Chitzen Itza, swim in Ik Kil Cenote, Explore/shop in Tulum, take a Catamaran trip to Isla Mujeres with snorkeling and eat many great meals!

Chitzen Itza was somewhere we hadn't been before so we were very happy to check that off our list of things we should have done but hadn't. 

We stopped at Ik Kil Cenote on the way back from Chitzen Itza and it did not disappoint. It was extremely beautiful but VERY cold. I didn't manage to get any photos but look it up online, it's worth a visit.

We were really happy they loved it here and they say they are planning to come back Summer of 2020 (it will be MUCH WARMER then!). Can't wait!

Safe travels!

Packing for 15 Months isn't Easy

Keith and I have been working on a big trip for 2019/2020 and it has finally come time to start packing and getting ready to leave. Our plan is to leave towards the end of January and drive 4 days across Mexico to the USA.

Chance was NOT having it - clearly he doesn't realize he is going with us on this trip. I can't blame him though, most days we pull out the luggage result in him going to doggie daycare or staying with someone else. He's not a dumb dog.

We have altered our condo to have more storage space for us to lock up anything we plan to keep here. We are hoping to rent our place while gone but HomeExchange has actually resulted in us finding several folks to swap homes with us on our travels. I am kind of obsessed with their website!

We are staying in a home in FL for two weeks, Amsterdam for 1 week and Paris for 2 weeks as of right now. We did find a renter for 7 months and several friends plan to rent our place here and there so we are happy to have it being used by folks we know. If you are interested, let us know. Here's the listing.

As for Mexico - we drive from Akumal to Villahermosa where we stay the night. Then we are on to Puebla for a night. We drive around Mexico City and stop at Saltillo for a night (my birthday!). Then we will drive to Laredo, TX to cross the border and head towards Austin to see friends for a few nights. We hope to see a few more friends on our way to Lake Ozark but will depend on their schedules if they are in town. Should be a fun road trip! (This is ONLY the beginning)

We will try and post about our travels, take lots of pictures and even a few videos. Come back and check it out!