garthmonroe

Tepoztlán Morelos:

On Sunday, took the subway (blue line | linea 2) from Hidalgo station at 7:00am, when it opened, to its terminus at Tasquena. Once the subway clears centro, most of the line is above ground. The southern bus terminal is located at its terminus, which takes passengers to destinations south of Mexico City. Arrived at 7:30am, and purchased a bus ticket, departing at 7:45am for Tepoztlán, Morelos, fifty miles southeast of Mexico City.

It was a first class bus ($8 USD), and the trip took an hour; was dropped off at a small concrete block building, which is the central bus station. I wondered if this was a mistake, or if I was being stranded, but indeed, this was the correct stop.

It was a 90-minute walk to the AirBnB; Apple maps didn’t have the correct location, so more than once, I was scolded in Spanish for knocking on the wrong door. Tepoztlán is a fairly expensive town to visit, but refreshing, because its scale is so much smaller than the colonial cities that I visited. For example, the egg torta that I purchased in Mexico City cost ten pesos ($0.50 USD); that same torta cost forty pesos in Tepoztlán ($2 USD). That being said, the lodging in town is not inexpensive, so I found a reasonably-priced hostel to stay. Turns out that there was a jazz fest on the weekend, and the hostel was crowded with musicians. The upside, is that I received a nice breakfast of chilaquiles. This is a simple meal, tortilla chips, marinated in green or red salsa, topped with black beans, queso, crema, and chopped onion. There is a peacock next door; periodically, you may hear its unique cry.

Feeling re-charged, I went back to explore the city without my backpack. It was a busy church day, being Palm Sunday, and certainly, in a country that is predominantly Catholic. As I walked the streets, was surprised by the amount of street drinking and bars, that I hadn’t seen in previous cities, in this case, serving mojitos or mezcal; I didn’t imbibe.

When I woke up Monday morning, went to the bathroom to insert my contact lenses, and surprised to see an enormous lump (egg) on my forehead; wondered if perhaps I fell out of the upper bunk in the middle of the night. Guess that I was bitten by chiggers, and because I’m allergic to certain stinging insects (yellow jackets and white-faced hornets), I tend to have a more pronounced allergic reaction to various insects. The swelling took a couple of days to subside; looked like Frankenstein.

Cuernavaca Morelos:

Made coffee and breakfast before departing Tepoztlán. Walked to city center, and took local bus to Cuernavaca ($2 USD), located 50-miles south of Mexico City, arriving in less than an hour. Bus dropped me off at the large mercado, and it was a short walk to the AirBnB. I was invited to have coffee with the host, and after dropping off my backpack, explored the city. Ate a huevo torta, made fresh, with tomato and avocado; the vendor was kind, too.

I was going to make dinner, but for some reason, the propane was cut off to the apartment building. In four months, I’ve had no water, no electricity, no WiFi, and now, no propane. Not the end of the world, but likely inconveniences that one wouldn’t experience in the US.

Taxco Guerrero:

Taxco de Alarcon is a small town in Guerrero state, located 100-miles southwest of Mexico City. Tourism replaces silver mining as its economic engine. Holy Week (semana santa) in Taxco involves elaborate Christ processions and ceremonies, dating back to 1622. Between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, there are ten, one-mile processions, six during the evening, and four during the day.

Took 9:00am bus from Cuernavaca, and arrived at 11:00am. Lodging in Taxco, similar to lodging in Tepoztlán, is also expensive, so I stayed at a hostel. I was allowed to drop off my backpack before exploring the town. The showers at the hostel were nice; they had river rock in the bottom, which provided my feet a wonderful message. The hostel also had a rooftop patio, providing a unique view of the skyline.

I hiked the long walk to the Cristo monument, which looks down upon the city. It was hot, and according to my iPhone, climbed more than 70 stories.

Toluca Mexico:

Toluca is the capital of Mexico state, located 40-miles west of Mexico City. At an elevation of 8,800 feet, the city has the coolest climate of any major city in Mexico, often experiencing sub-freezing temperatures during the winter.

I was concerned with crowded buses due to Easter weekend, so I work up early, and took the first bus at 6:00am. While only 80-miles south of Toluca, the trip took two and a half hours, due to sharp, hairpin turns.

I was surprised on Easter Sunday that most stores were open, given that 83% of the Mexican population practices Catholicism. That said, many families were out shopping.

Visited the Cosmovitral, a stained glass mural and botanical garden, designed by the notable local artisan, Leopoldo Flores. The garden contains over 500 plant species from both Mexico State and around the world.

Ciudad de Mexico:

I woke up early on Monday, and walked 1.5-miles to the bus station; the city was quiet, which sometimes is good, and sometimes, is not a good omen. Took the 5:00am bus to Mexico City’s western bus terminal, with 6:00am subway into the Escandón section of the city, southwest of centro. Now familiar with the city, I didn’t feel that it was necessary to stay in the historical section. I visited the local Starbucks at 7:00am, and got some work done before checking into my last AirBnB before mid-day.

Visited Museo Soumaya, located in Polanco section of CDMX; museum is named after Soumaya Domit, the wife of Carlos Slim, who died in 1999. Slim is the museum’s founder, and one of the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth in excess of $16-billion. Museum opened in 2011, is free to the public; pieces include, Rodin’s bronze, the Thinker.

Visited Jardin Botanico, located inside Bosque Chapultepec, not an unreasonable walk from the AirBnB. The park and the garden are free; both were quite crowded. Botanical garden has a variety of plants native to Mexico; nothing particularly outstanding, but the trees, plants, and shade, were a welcome break from steel, glass, concrete, and asphalt.

On Thursday, didn’t have much that I wanted to do; fatigued, despite retiring early the night before, and anxious about taking the COVID test on Friday. Looped the subway (clockwise); opportunity to “people watch,” and because some of the metro lines are above ground, see different parts of the city. Departed from Tacubaya station, southwest corner of CDMX, traveled north (orange | Linea 7); changed trains at El Rosario station, traveled east (red | Linea 6); changed trains at Martin Carrera station, traveled south (aqua | Linea 4); changed trains at Jamaica (brown | Linea 9), departed at Patriotismo station, and walked home.

It wasn’t rush hour, so generally a “slow” time to ride the metro without a crush of people; observed families with young children, and senior citizens. Watched one person come onto the train car to sell gum; another person got on the train car to sell pens, and a blind person got on the train car with his begging cup. While not statistically significant, noticed that many of the metro “drivers” were women.

Slept poorly Thursday night, anxious about COVID test. There were times during the past four months where I felt “under the weather.” Is this attributed to stress, fatigue, air pollution, or COVID. What happens if I test positive? Can I “buy” a fake certificate? I didn’t have a back-up plan.

Most stressful day in Mexico, was my last day in country. Confirmed COVID lab location and price a week in advance. Arrived at the lab at 8:30am, before the lab opened at 9:00am, to be first in line. Lab attendant never showed up. At 9:30am, a manager came out and said that the lab attendant would arrive at 10:00am. At 10:15am, still no lab attendant. There was an American couple behind me, waiting in line; I followed them to another lab, and completed the test ($17 USD); waited twenty minutes for the results, NEGATIVE.

The test certificate has my name and passport number; I uploaded the certificate to the United Airlines app to complete check-in and obtain my boarding pass. At the bottom of the test certificate it states “this does not mean that you don’t have COVID.”

Stayed at twenty AirBnB over four months in Mexico. This last AirBnB was very nice; perhaps lucky. It’s located in the Escandón section, southeast of Bosque Chapultepec. Mattress is comfortable; clean, white, soft sheets; shower has hot water with adequate water pressure. Living room has a nice couch. Rather than use a five-gallon garrafon for drinking water, the host provides a clay, ceramic water filter (treated with colloidal silver), about the size of a flower pot. US Centers for Disease Control (which likely lacks credibility at this time), notes that this is an effective filtration method, and also highlights the Potters for Peace initiative.

After four months in Mexico, never experienced diarrhea. Brushed my teeth with tap water, and washed vegetables with tap water, before cooking. Lost between five and ten pounds, despite eating more than 250 eggs, eight pounds of cheese, and four pounds of butter. Was certainly influenced by migraines, where I didn’t eat for at least six days; and also walked between 600 and 700 miles (5-6 miles per day).

After four months in Mexico, it feels a bit surreal to be returning to the United States.

Budget:

Lived in Mexico four months; total trip cost $2700, $22.50 per day; annualized cost $8215.

• Lodging: $1796 total | $15 day (AirBnB)
• Transport: $535 total | $4.50 day (United | train | bus, subway)
• Food: $187 total | $1.50 day (market | groceries | street food | water)
• Other: $183 total | $1.50 day (foreign exchange | tour | gifts)

Learned about Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC); share this information, if its useful for future travel. When payment card information is entered to finalize payment, system can detect home country of the cardholder, and offer the option of paying in home currency.

When DCC is declined, Visa converts currency at wholesale exchange rate and adds 1% fee. When DCC is accepted, banks convert the currency and add a no-ceiling commission. Visa (rule 5.9.8.3 | April 13th 2019) states that ATM customers must be given a clear choice whether to accept or decline DCC.

ATM screens, however, often announce the exchange rate that will be used, and prompts the customer to accept or refuse the exchange rate, “take it or leave it.” There is no explanation that declining will not end the transaction, but rather, means that the exchange will be done without charging the no-ceiling commission.

What I missed:

I missed driving my car; it’s a 2012 Honda Fit with a manual transmission, and steel wheels; nothing fancy; but miss the independence of driving from A to B.

I missed real peanut butter, which I couldn’t find in grocery stores. I’m typically happy to devour a jar of peanut butter with a spoon. One could buy “fake” peanut butter – the kind with hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup – but even that was expensive in Mexico.

I also missed a good cup of coffee or nice shot of espresso. I get the impression that Mexico’s good coffee, from the Chiapas region, north of Guatemala, is exported, and the coffee found in the local grocery store is underwhelming; in terms of flavor, aroma, and caffeine. I did get a “sock” coffee filter, which works well when making “stove-top” coffee, to filter out the grinds, but leaves the volatile oils, which are flavorful. Near the end of the trip, I visited the local Starbucks for a café del día (muy chica), to get work done on my laptop before checking into the AirBnB.

I also missed reading books. I brought one book with me, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (Paul Repps, 1998), a book worthy of reading and re-reading. That said, I typically read one book per week, and so I missed devouring books. I have a Kindle, and I brought it with me, but I really prefer reading with a “real” book in my hands. I ordered four used books from Thriftbooks.com, for summer; they’ve been delivered, and waiting for me to return home.

Safety:

I’m grateful that my travel were safe; there were no material incidents. In Taxco, several locals suggested that Mexico isn’t safe, and that armed military and police closely monitor the tourist cities. To that end, will share a few points that I tried to keep in mind.

• When out walking, didn’t wear earbuds, to ensure that I was aware of my surroundings.
• Often would retire to my AirBnB at or near sunset, rather than remain out after dark.
• If possible, travel with a partner, someone who can look out for you, “eyes in the back of your head.”
• Maintain situational awareness; periodically turn around and look behind you.
• If on the subway, watch the people sitting or standing next to you.
• If you think that someone is following you, change, and walk on the other side of the street or sidewalk
• Be mindful of alcohol use; try not to drink so much that you become an easy target.
• Sometimes, it’s helpful to have a clip of low-value “throw-away money” that may be handed over if you are held-up or mugged.
• Try not to carry any more money than what you need for the day; keep the rest of your money in a safe, secure location.
• When in a crowded location, for example, open market or subway platform, keep your hand on your iPhone at all times; alternatively, use a neck wallet or purse.
• Monitor your energy level, and end your day early before becoming too fatigued. Many people, especially me, often make poor decisions as energy wanes.

Language:

I used the (free) DuoLingo app on a daily basis; it’s better than nothing, but I’m not a huge fan. It’s helpful at increasing vocabulary, verb conjugations, and matching adjectives with nouns; I’m frustrated by imbedded errors, inconsistencies, and odd grammar construction.

I would have benefited from an immersion program; I didn’t want a residential program; likely just two hours in the morning, would have been valuable, given learning fatigue.

I felt that I relied too much on AirBnB’s translate function, or Google translate. Most people tell me to watch Spanish movies with English subtitles, or to watch cartoons. Started watching YouTube videos in Spanish; for example, cartoons, familiar movie clips, and old episodes of Star Trek, etc.

Gratitude:

I’m grateful for the opportunity to travel during the pandemic. Grateful that I remained healthy, with the exception of migraines. Grateful for remaining free from harm during my travels. Recognize that incidents may happen anywhere and anytime; no one is immune.

Long-term Travel:

Long-term travel felt isolating and lonely; often felt irrelevant. Most of my peers are focused on career and family. I’m traveling alone, there are few tourists; 85% of my interactions are in Spanish; my speech is functional, but not fluent.

Prefer hostels to AirBnB; mainly because I appreciate the community interaction. The privacy was nice in AirBnB, with my own room, but often, I was the only guest.

Didn’t find long-term travel to be glamorous; no Instagram pictures eating my way through Mexico. Traveling on such a modest budget, $23 per day, didn’t help.

Wonder if long-term travel is like a bell curve; 80% of the travel is mundane; 10% is exceptional, and 10% is “stuff” going wrong.

Felt that my travel was too safe; that I didn’t push myself. There’s a difference between being reckless, but there’s also something to be said for relying on the kindness of strangers, recognizing that long-term travel may be an exercise in human nature.

Changes:

The best part of long-term travel was disrupting habit, routine, assumptions, and beliefs

The worst part of long-term travel was me; and dealing with the noise in my head.

I recognized that there is value to visiting a town or city for three days, and making the subsequent decision to stay longer or to move on. This isn’t my modus operandi, but likely, will adopt this more flexible strategy going forward.

The trip wasn’t perfect, but I would do it again; likely would spend more time in Oaxaca, which was my favorite destination; favorable weather, affordable, with limited tourist influence. If I were to seasonally retire to Mexico, Oaxaca would be ideal.

The return flight on United, Mexico City to Newark, was free from incident. There was seat back television, and I would occasionally watch the moving map. Realize how large Mexico is, and realize, that I hardly scratched the surface. I likely should have visited coastal communities, and likely northern Mexico, which is discouraged, because of greater danger due to drug-related activity and crime. Perhaps next time, I ignore the travel guidebook.

Other thoughts:

Am I wasting my time. Am I wasting my life. Maybe. It’s interesting to note that traveling through Mexico via bus, wouldn’t be sustainable in the United States. For example, I would never travel the US via Greyhound or Megabus. When a person is honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, you receive a plane ticket to your home of record. When you get dishonorably discharged, you get a bus ticket.

I don’t know what’s next. I don’t have any brilliant insights. I likely will continue to explore and experiment, and find a way to pursue that which I most fear. My concern is that a decade from now, two decades from now, I remain empty handed, with nothing to show.

I don’t know what is the meaning of life. I don’t know what is the purpose of life. With so many conflicting and competing philosophies and religions, there likely is no single answer, to which everyone may agree. And if there is no single answer, there is likely no answer to the question. And if there is no meaning of life, or purpose of life, I’m wondering if I should stop seeking. Why keep seeking something that will never be found.

I will be traveling this summer; will share an update on a subsequent post.

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