Now that the renovation of our home in Merida is (almost) complete and we’re (almost) completely settled in, I’m looking for my next project, much to my husband Dan’s chagrin.
“Can’t we just stay home and enjoy the house,” he asks, “and do… nothing?”
“Actually…no,” I tell him. “We moved here to immerse ourselves in the local culture…to enjoy the weather, the food, and the low-cost lifestyle and activities here, and by God, we’re going to enjoy it all…”
Remember, this is a man who could live in a cardboard box (or so he says) and happily do nothing but strum his guitar all day. (The latter I know is true.)
In the interest of marital harmony, though, I’ve promised him that 2009 will be the “Year of Our Leisurely Pursuits.” Instead of supervising a construction crew and shopping for household goods like linens, appliances, and furniture, we’ll do the things we came here to do. We’ll have some fun.
Your travel dollar will go further in 2009
The economic crisis means less people are traveling, so travel service providers are cutting their rates. Online travel agencies Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz all recently reported an unprecedented drop in traffic during the fourth quarter of 2008. Bucking this trend were Priceline and Kayak, two travel websites that help budget-minded travelers drive better deals. Both report a recent increase in traffic. Watch for airfare and hotel deals to be announced this month. Be prepared to act quickly as most will be time sensitive. Don’t forget that favorable exchange rates in countries like Mexico can help your travel dollar go further than ever.
www.expedia.com;
www.travelocity.com;
www.orbitz.com;
www.priceline.com;
www.kayak.com
Every night in Merida you can find something interesting to do, and usually for free—from concerts and recitals to art films and dances in the parks. The events we do pay for are often inexpensive…from $3.65 for a live tango show to $22 for a touring Broadway production.
A weak peso helps. As I write this, the exchange rate is 13.7 pesos to the dollar—a good time to be changing dollars into pesos in Mexico. When we go out to dinner, for instance, a meal that cost us $50 a few months ago costs us just $38 today. So we’ll be dining out more frequently. And we’ll be entertaining and visiting with friends more often, too. Just this week, we’ve received invitations to a chocolate tasting, a sangria tasting, an art gallery opening, a bullfight, and a lecture by an archaeologist with a specialty in Mayan hieroglyphs.
We’ve hired a Spanish instructor to come to the house and tutor us privately. For less than $7.50 we get an hour’s worth of one-on-one attention.
We’re also planning more weekend getaways. A few hours’ drive in any direction from our home in Merida takes us to some of the world’s most extraordinary historical, archaeological, and tourist destinations. When we have guests we often make the 90-minute drive to tour the ancient Mayan cities of Chichen Itza or Uxmal. Another favorite excursion is to one of the nearby cenotes–subterranean stalactite- and stalagmite-filled caverns that connect the Yucatan’s underground water source. Our favorites are the three at Cuzama. They’re austere and mysterious and perfect for a refreshing swim. For less than $15 you can hire a horse-drawn cart to spend the day shuttling you from one to the next. Four people can ride comfortably in one cart.
On long weekends, we’ll head for the Caribbean coast—to the Riviera Maya, the Costa Maya, or even to Belize. All are just a quick and easy drive away. We’re scuba divers, and we can leave our home in Merida at 9 a.m. and be in the water off the coast of Cozumel Island just a few hours later.
Our last trip to Cozumel in December was so inexpensive. I’ll do the currency conversions to make this simple: The ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel costs $9. A two-tank dive costs $60 or less, depending on what company you use. A bucket of beer (six full-size bottles) at a sidewalk café on the town’s main plaza costs $4, and our comfortable and well-appointed hotel room overlooking the Caribbean is $70 per night. (See: www.hotelvistadelmar.com.) To park our car on the mainland for three days just three blocks from the ferry dock cost us $22.
Closer to home, we can be at the Yucatan coast beach in about 30 minutes. There, we can sit on the beach under an umbrella in a chaise lounge or at a table and enjoy a delicious shrimp cocktail, a huge portion of yummy ceviche, or a full meal of fresh fish, cooked any way we like it, for just a couple of bucks.
I’m not sure life can get much better, but we’ll see if we can take it up a notch even further in 2009. We’ve tapped this as our year to live life to its fullest…and we hope you will, too. Make this the year you start living your dreams.
