Trust

“I may not make it out of this.” I think to myself. I’m hurtling down a dry, broken road in back of an SUV, an hour outside of Mexico City with two Mexican men that I met one hour previously.  My traveling partner and I are in back, and we have no idea where we are or where […]

San Christobal, Chiapa De Corzo, and the Sumidero Canyon

“Yeah man, but it’s a DRY heat!” – Private William Hudson Actually, its anything but a dry heat. Many towns in Mexico (most that I’ve seen) have a very run-down feel to them. There’s a lack of care and maintenance to houses, streets, and yards. If something doesn’t HAVE to be done, it doesn’t get […]

Chasing waterfalls

The shortest line between two points is always a straight (boring) line. From Palenque, the next destination is San Christobal, high in the mountains of Mexico (yes Mexico has mountains, who knew?).  Now, you’ve got options: get on a bus that takes you up the winding path directly to the destination, or opt for the slower […]

Palenque

It all starts with a bus. 12 hours on a bus. However, for you folks in the States, you might be picturing a nasty, dank, Greyhound bus. Filled with disreputable characters and the stench of failure in the air. If there’s one thing that Mexico does better than the US (other than Tequila, of course) […]

The Garden of Eden

Genesis 2:15, … The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. The day is beautiful; blue skies, slight breeze, cloudless, sunny and warm.  Every day is like this.  It’s easy to take it for granted. I walk to school every day […]

A day in ruins

The plan: visit the Mayan ruins of Coba. The method: roughin’ it. Meaning, don’t do a tour or anything like that, just go. First off: the pronunciation is “co-BA”, accent on the end, which helps you keep things straight when you talk about Cuba and Coba in the same sentence using your heavy American accent. Three […]

Finances and footwear

Often heard: Man I wish I could just quit my job and travel. I’m incredibly lucky to be able to do this vacation / trip / sabbatical / Walkabout (shall we just call it a “sabbabout”?).  I’m constantly aware of this and thankful. However, when I talk to people who want to do this about what […]

PDC Security, and more about towels

PDC is a generally happy, content kind of place.  However, you will also often see trucks of “Policia Nationalidad” patrolling the streets, especially the tourist areas, with full automatic weapons and body armor.  It’s a little disconcerting. Also, while the people are very open and inviting, and the town feels very safe and friendly, if […]

Sian Ka’an

The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. The road to Sian Ka’an, is paved with rocks, dust, potholes and pain.  The plan was made after class on Friday.  There were to be six of us: Red, the organizer (Germany) Fran, Red’s friend from PDC last year (San Francisco) Mars (Brazil) Paparazzi […]

Living in PDC – random facts

A few assorted things I’ve gathered while living in PDC: Water First, let’s address the water situation.  It’s pretty much common accepted fact that NOBODY DRINKS TAP WATER IN MEXICO.  Accepted wisdom goes that if you happen to get a bit of the tap water in your body, you will be reenacting scenes from the […]