Mexico

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A Little Cultural Research

I’ve done a lot of research about Mexico over the years, confident in my belief that I’d eventually live there, if only as a snowbird. But now that it’s really real, I’m having a burst of panic thinking that I really need to know things I take for granted in Canada and the US, like tipping and how the currency works, never mind all the cultural etiquette!

My only experience traveling in a country that doesn’t use dollars was a month-long trip to Scotland in 1998. I remember my first night in Edinburgh (third night in Scotland) like it was yesterday. A fellow backpacker, Michael, and I decided to go have dinner together. I ordered penne in a rosé sauce and was shocked to find meat in it (I was a vegetarian back then). But even more clearly than that I remember paying the bill and Michael asking me three times if I really mean to tip what I was tipping. It was only later that night that I realised I’d given a nearly 30% tip on a mediocre meal with poor service! I had a good laugh at myself about it.

This is how I’m going to approach my first trip into Mexico proper (I’m not counting the two trips I’ve taken to border towns). I am going to make mistakes. I will likely get scammed more than once. It’s just part of the experience and I will do my best to keep my sense of humour!

Living in another country that does not use dollars and whose primary language is not French or English has been a major dream of mine. I can’t believe it’s about to come true!

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Mexican Apartment!

Whew! I just cold called a lady in Mexico and between her English and my Spanish, we made sense of what I wanted and worked out a deal of sorts for a two-bedroom apartment on Isla Piedra (Stone Island) near Mazatlan.

I’ll be paying 5,500 pesos per month, which is about 450CAD. I have seen pictures, but don’t have permission to share them, so you’ll have to wait till I get there. 🙂

Reader Contessa is the one who told me about the apartment. THANK YOU. I am super happy — the place is fairly new, right near the beach, in a non-gringo community, HUGE, and the price is right. We haven’t sorted out internet, but I will have a mobile plan to tide me over.

I’m expected around November 5th. I promised to touch base with her at the end of October when I have a better idea of what date I’m arriving, and then when I’m in MX so she can meet me and show me where the place is.

Wow, this is really starting to feel real!

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Settled On a Route

With fall coming so fast this year, I’ve decided that a westerly route through Utah would be my safest bet. There are a lot of things I want to see on my way down in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota, but I will be coming north quite late next year and better able to take time off to have a proper vacation (I’ve been taking too much time off lately!).

The route through Utah will serve a greater purpose. There isn’t much left on my North American bucket list. Off the top of my head, there’s only L’anse aux meadows, Yellowknife, and Zion National Park. Guess which one is directly en route between Haven and Nogales?

final route This route has me off highways all the way to Nogales and will let me see a good part of western Wyoming, quite a bit of Utah and Arizona. I’d like to drive pretty hard to Springdale and then stop there for a week or so to work and explore Zion State Park.

I’ve routed myself through Billings rather than Great Falls, which is a more direct route, for two reasons. First, I haven’t been to Billings. Second, going through Billings will have me cross at Scobey rather than Opheim. I haven’t had good experiences crossing at Opheim just to get packages, but I had a very good experience at Scobey last time.

Now, I need to sort out accommodations along the way. I really do want to sleep in my truck for the first few days before taking a hotel for four days or so, but I’m struggling with having enough room in the truck to both sleep and carry everything I want to bring. Moreover, the bed setup I’ve been using for camping just isn’t going to work for this trip.

I bought an inexpensive cot at Cabela’s in Regina that I was hoping would work well, but it’s two inches too long for the bed of the truck and a bit of a pain to set up and take down. I’m rather disappointed. I’m going to take it apart again today and see if taking a hack saw to it could help solve the length issue. If so, that’s what I’m going to do and just store stuff on top of it while I’m traveling (it has a weight rating of something like 200lbs, so it can definitely handle a few totes) and store the stuff on top of it in the cab of the truck at night.

Besides working out the bed issue, today’s plan is to get the front room all packed up and clean. Somewhere in all of that, I am going to drive up the hill to better cell reception so I can make a Skype call to Mexico about an apartment that would be perfect if it’s still available. All appendages crossed!

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A Right Proper October

Oh, it’s so good to be looking at maps again! 🙂

Thanks to Croft, I’ve made the decision to cross into Mexico at Nogales so I can take highway 15 all the way to Mazatlan. The more direct route would have me going straight down through Texas and crossing near Juarez, but that’s not a good route for someone not experienced with Mexico. I’m better sticking to the main tourist path for now and Nogales isn’t a huge detour.

I have the choice of three major routes:

to nogales

The westernmost one through Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona doesn’t appeal to me because I really have my heart set on seeing Wyoming. The middle route would have me go into northern Wyoming and then through Utah and Arizona. I haven’t been to Utah yet, either, so this is pretty appealing. The easternmost route has me going through all of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, before veering west to Arizona. This is also an appealing route because I haven’t been to New Mexico (I have been to Colorado).

The weather and road conditions are going to dictate which route I take. Since I’ll be in the truck, which is more manoeuverable and less of a gas hog, I could decide to go take the middle route and then detour back to New Mexico, or vice versa. I’d really like to add Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico to my visited states map! That would leave just Ohio, Tennessee, Hawaii, Arkansas, and Rhode Island!

I’m getting quite excited about going, especially since we’re in a bit of a cold snap right now. I’m hoping to leave between the 7th and the 10th. The RM (rural municipality) checked in with me about water and I said that they can turn it off as of the 10th, but to give me a heads up in case I’m still here so I can make sure the holding tank is full for my last few days. But I really don’t plan to be here that much later. I’m going to wait for my September payments to come in and pay all my October bills so I can take off and not worry about budgetary matters for the first couple of weeks.

I’ve inquired about a couple of apartments and am waiting to hear back, have requested a quote for Mexican liability insurance for my truck, and have advised SK health that I’m leaving for longer than six months. Things are moving forward, even if the state of my packing is dismal! Work is slow, so I’m going to try to kick start packing and closing up in the next couple of days. I am going, no question about that. Mexico ho!

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A Tad Run Down

After a few glorious days that should have rightly belonged to summer, southern Saskatchewan is settling back into more seasonal, and wet, temperatures. I’m starting to dream of a second warm winter by  the ocean…

Unfortunately, the cold I picked up in Quebec is persistent and I haven’t had the energy to do much more than just work. I can’t believe I lived most of my life feeling like this, as though everything I do is akin to swimming through molasses. I’ve just been so healthy the last year and a bit that this slow down right before the start of an adventure is quite a shock!

I am making some progress at getting on the road, though. No, I still haven’t lined up my apartment in Mexico. I’m sure my options have considerably narrowed by now. But my budget is so much better than it was a few months ago that leaving without something secured doesn’t worry me, if it comes to that.

My friend Croft has confirmed the paperwork I’ll need at the Mexican border. I’m going to be wintering near Mazatlan, which is well past the ‘paperwork free zone’, so I will need to get a tourist visa and temporary import certificate for my truck. The list includes originals and copies of my birth certificate, passport, driver’s license, truck registration, and proof of ownership of the truck and that there is no debt outstanding on it (otherwise, I could be asked to provide a letter from a lender giving me permission to take the truck to Mexico). I’ll also be getting Mexican liability insurance through the company Croft has used for years.

The next step will be to visit my local SaskTel dealer to have my cell phone unlocked for a fee of $50. This will allow me to get a US SIM card and then one in Mexico. I will also be allowed to suspend service for the first three months I will be away. It would have been nice to be able to suspend it for the full eight months, but three is better than none! I’m going to keep the Bell (Mifi) account active since it’s just $10.50 per month and the contract will be done when I get back next May. And then I can throw the last Mifi off a tall cliff!

Other things that need to be done before I leave, once I have a better idea of my departure date:

– secure health insurance for my time in the States (I do that through my bank when it’s just for a short period of time);

– advise SK health that I’ll be away for more than six months;

– inform my bank of my travel plans so they don’t put a hold, or worse, cancel my cards!

– call SaskPower to inform them that I’m shutting down power at Haven for the winter (by turning off the main breaker and locking the box) and asking them for the procedure to send the last metre reading;

I’ve already advised SGI (SK DMV) that my truck is leaving the province for an extended period of time and the RM (rural municipality) knows not to bill me for water and garbage pickup as of October 1st. It won’t be a problem if I’m here a week to ten days longer, but water is going to be shut off October 15thish (I’m on a public hydrant), so that’s really the latest I am going to want to leave!

My clients are also aware that October is going to be a trying month for availability. I’m going to focus on my law enforcement contract and will probably not do anything else. The plan at this point is still to travel Mondays and Tuesdays (my slowest days) and find a m/hotel or some other suitable location to get work done the other days. There’s really no reason I can’t travel and earn a full-time income in October if I put my mind to it. I’m just going to miss my office very much!

I’m now narrowing down my packing list. My truck really isn’t that big, especially since I am rather counting on being able to sleep in it quite a bit on the way down (weather permitting) and the bed is going to take up lots of room. This is probably not a bad thing! I know that I really won’t need that much and that there are stores in Mexico if I forget anything. 🙂

I’ve got quite a bit of typing to do in the next few days, ending September off with a bang, income-wise, and then I’m going to focus on closing up Miranda and Haven. I’ve decided that departure will be a day or two after I get my cheque for the September law enforcement work, so probably October 10th(ish). I have the funds to leave before, of course, but if I get asked to produce bank statements at either (or both!) borders, the balances will be better! 🙂

Yes, I’m terrified about the changes coming up in the next weeks. Gloriously, thrillingly terrified. I haven’t said it recently, but it’s still true: I love my life!!!