ExPat Archives : New Nomads

Blood, Sweat and Tears

A few years back, when we were staying in Mazatlán, I contracted dengue fever from one of a seemingly insignificant series of mosquito bites. In my life, I have been lucky enough to have only endured a few medical conditions of this type, food poisoning, valley fever, stomach flu, etc. Dengue is another level of misery. It makes all of the others pale by comparison. Living on the Caribbean, we take great pains to ensure we reduce the number of times we get bitten by mosquitos. Of course you can’t totally eliminate bites, so lowering your chances is the best…

I read lots and lots of blogs about how you should ‘travel while you’re young’, which implies that traveling as an older person is not something that most folks can (or should) do. It logically follows that traveling young is what you do ‘before life starts’. As the typical Western narrative tells it, “be crazy and adventurous when you are young, then settle down to a ‘normal’ life, raise a family and perhaps squeeze in some time near the end for a last chance at reliving your ‘glory days’.” To a certain extent, that’s a true story – if you believe…

Over the past few days, I have been reading and reviewing many different travel blogs, vlogs, and sites. One thing is for certain, there are A LOT of folks out there doing this. I did notice that there was a thread through them all that targeted specific audiences. Few, if any of the millennial readers of vagabrothers, or Hey Nadine are going to care about my perspective on the world. Likewise, the adventure tour folks who seem to run from adrenaline rush to adrenaline rush like Expert Vagabond share little of the same audience a middle aged couple that lives and works…

Early this morning, I made the short trip downtown to pay the water bill. At 352 pesos ($22.30 USD), we had moved into the second tier pricing (more expensive) because of our late dry season lawn watering. Prior to June 1st, it had not rained significantly in over 70 days, so everything had dried to a crisp – even here in the Caribbean. Of course, the proto-Tropical Storm Bill dumped 10.5 inches of rain on us in 24 hours, so our water levels returned to somewhat normal. The Cancun water authority – AguaKan – is one of the more interesting…

It is rare to have a day pass that someone does not say “oh, you’re so lucky” or “livin’ the dream” to us. Typically, we nod and acknowledge their compliment with a mock toast or a knowing grin. It is only when we get the ‘Oh I wish I could do that, but…” that I generally answer with one short, somewhat terse response, “Then do”. What follows is a litany of reasons that justify why they are trapped in their world. In the past, I have tried to give a few words of wisdom to help those few who actually…

One of my long lost quests has finally come to fruition! I bought a VW Bug. Down here, they are referred to a ‘Vochos’ – the origins of which, no one can seem to agree upon. Google translate, my trusty companion, fails me in a quite amusing way though! It turns heads! Last night, as we were sitting at dinner, a little boy from a Canadian family stopped to make a photo. I ran across the road and opened the door so his father could make a shot of him at the steering wheel. He was grinning from ear-to-ear! On…

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Travel When You’re Old

Now is the Future

AguaKan

Not Lucky

Bought a Bug

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