When I first decided to learn Spanish, it was because I wanted to say “thank you.” I had arrived, sleeping bag in hand, at Blanca’s door just moments earlier.  I would be staying in the cinder-block house of this family of maquiladora workers in Nogales, Mexico, as part of a trip for...

Being such a big advocate of responsible travel, I decided to try taking the most carbon-efficient mode of travel to get back to GDL from Vermont after xmas: long-distance bus.  More than anything, I wanted to prove that it`s doable, if not enjoyable. I was tired of the hypocritical dissonance...

Editors note:  The following is an entry from Randy’s Oaxaca travel journal.  This is the first in a number of posts that will detail our trip to the Mexican state for El Día de los Muertos or All Soul’s Day.

Somewhere In Time is a weekly post featuring photos from around the world. Enjoy!

Mother and daughter walk past fair vendors in Oaxaca, Mx during the Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations in the city.

Friday, November 6: The alarm clock inadvertently set to go off by the housekeeper when cleaning the room yesterday blows us out of bed at 0700. It's a good thing; the week is catching up with us and we're totally zonked out. We have planned to meet our driver, Adrian Ibarra at 9:30...

Thursday, November 5: We spoke to our hotel's bell service crew who hand picked a taxi driver to take us to Sayulita. 45 minutes and we were there, the trip costing us $45 USD. We had been in to Sayulita on Monday for a short while and that wasn't nearly enough; I had a real need to go spend more time...

Wednesday, November 4: It's a definite routine now; up at 7:00 for morning coffee on the balcony; too much later and the sun is blasting over a palm tree and it's too hot. I see two cruise ships come in this morning, the port of PV is jumping. The swine flu ban for cruise ships is over; that has...

Tuesday, November 3: Up at 7:00 to put the coffee on, shower, and slip out onto the balcony while Adolfo slumbers on. Another cruise ship glides in to the Bahia de Banderas. Time to get my crew member up to get ready for our trip in to downtown PV for a 10:00 meeting I have with Pam Thompson, RN of HealthCare...

Monday, November 2:  A 7 A.M. wake up call rings as requested. We have a day trip planned up the north coast in to Nayarit to visit San Pancho, Sayulita, Bucerias and whatever else we can squeeze in. We've found a private tour driver through a friend met online, Paco Ojeda (www.paco-ojeda.com),...

Sunday, November 1: Beginning Dia de los Muertos festivities.

The guys in the room next to ours have been celebrating in their room since 3 A.M.  I'd be happy to show them to the cemetery. 

My husband and I finally give up the thought of sleeping late and go down for breakfast. After eating...

Saturday, October 31: The sun is blasting through the sliding doors from the balcony as we roll over and see we've actually slept until 8:15, late for us. Having a coffee maker in the room is a blessing and we take our mugs of coffee out on the balcony to enjoy the spectacular view of the pool, the bay,...

Friday, October 30: The cab ride from the airport to the CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta is a short one. We see glimpses of a shopping center, restaurants, condos and lots of cars. It's 7:30 P.M. and we're exhausted from the day's travel. We're greeted curbside by hotel bell staff who take a few bits...

Whoever said getting there is half the fun should have been with us the day we left for Puerto Vallarta. 
I was up at 4:30 A.M.. to be ready for our 8:50 A.M. flight out of Sacramento.
My cell phone rang at 5:20 A.M. A call from American Airlines letting me know our flight to Puerto Vallarta would...

October 11, 2009

I have nine days left until my flight takes off and I head back home to Michigan. As a person who has become so acustom to living on my own for the past six years in Mexico, I can't say that I'm proud to go back and have to live with my parents again. I was never planning on staying...

[This was supposed to be a response to Get Your pen Moving: Animal Encounters, which as usual, I got to too late to turn in.]

There is a photo in my album of me standing next to a horse. I have a smile on my face, but the look is more exasperated than happy. The caption reads: Yo y mi pinche...

I'm Mexican, love to travel and meet people that vist Mexico.

I love my country and I think it has a very rich culture and it's a good destination

to visit. When I hear and read news about how dangerous and horrible is my country

I get really disappointed, that's why I want a start a kind of...

The grand finale. The cherry on top. The end of all ends.

Albertian and I were the only members of our clan willing to fork out the moolah to swim with the dolphins. I was hesitant at first, mostly because the idea of those creatures in confinement was bothersome, but I did some background research...

On my second morning of being sober, the girls and I decided to do something cultural and check out Chichen Itza. Our jolly, chubby guide gave us a lecture on Mayan culture (who know that the Mayan language is the 5^th most spoken language in North America?) and the history of Chichen Itza, and then offered...

Catamaran day. I woke up with my stomach searing and my head cracking. The photographers on our boat were smokin’ hot, and I wanted to rub oil all over their bodies. Instead, the girls and I pushed other tourists out of the way to get the best seat on the boat, right on top of the world. Good thing...

On Sunday, we hauled ourselves out of bed with hangovers of death to spend another lazy day at the beach. Surprisingly, the glaring sun and salt water seemed to be the cure. Until THE INCIDENT.