Boondocking Across Mexico

Years ago I fantasized about driving across the United States in a nice, comfortable motorhome visiting all the sites we have never seen, travelling slowly and aimlessly to wherever the winds blew us. Alas, there was very little time, with busy careers, to nourish this fantasy and it eventually died. This was, of course, all pre-Mexico.  I never really considered us to be "RV" people, but the thought of an extended trip exploring all the nooks and crannies seemed like a nice adventure, if a bit unrealistic for two people who, shall we say, favor slightly posher accommodations.  We went through a phase of tent camping a few years back and I must say that I love a campfire, but sleeping on hard, cold, damp earth is not for me. A nice little cabin in the woods with a decent bed is somewhat better, but a slick hotel or interesting B & B with unlimited restaurants nearby is supreme. No worry of ticks and chiggers which are rampant in our neck of the woods.

Now, remember how Alan and I (well.... mostly I) have anguished over how we will get ourselves and our animals to Mérida? Problem solved. No more relying on the empty promise of a Tampa ferry. No more dreading the thought of transporting our "kids" in a cargo hold that would probably take a year off their already short lives. Well, we still dread driving through the border area, but I've read all the RV forums and it seems that dozens of people do it every day with no problems. I figure having two dogs, who can be aggressive when they perceive that we are being threatened, can't hurt.

The solution? Well, I have to take credit for this brilliant idea. When thinking of driving with our two dogs and the cat in our Ford Escape, with a minimum of eight days on the road, it just seemed impossible without keeping them all heavily sedated. I started reading an RV forum and had the idea that a Class B motorhome would be ideal. They are fully contained, with two captain's chairs, an enclosed toilet and shower, a kitchen area with sink,  small refrigerator,  space for an induction cooktop, and a sleeping area with two twins which can fold out to a King bed. All this is on a gas-guzzling Ford E-350 Van chassis, that is only 20 feet long and fits in most any parking space. It doesn't need to be leveled, and can be hooked up to a campground's electricity when not using the generator fueled by the 35-gallon gas tank.

2004 Pleasure-Way

When Alan came on board with the idea, we started looking online and were flabbergasted by the sticker price. We soon found that there is a market for used Class B's, which is what most people can afford. We tried E-Bay, Craigslist, and for sale by owner. Most used units are well maintained because anyone who can afford a new one is going to take care of it. We finally found one we liked, and last Wednesday I flew to Gainesville, FL and drove it home. It's a 2004, with only 31,000 miles and looks brand new inside and out. We are thrilled - the dogs could not care less, but they will learn that it is just another of our homes, albeit a small one.

Within a few months after we arrive in Mérida, the vehicle will be 10 years old and, if we were told correctly by Girl Friday, we should be able to nationalize it with our FM3's. If anyone can verify this, we would appreciate a comment. Other's have said we need the FM2.

Also, we will be able to make short boondocking trips ( check out  this blog - I met Chris through the RV forum and have had a few nice e-mail chats with him) throughout Yucatán and southern Mexico and we won't have to board the dogs. Here's hoping we can find a good, secure spot to park it. It's a tad too large for our garage.

Stepping Up the Timeline II

One day, in the not too distant future, this blog will originate in Mérida, not southeastern Virginia.

A major step was taken this past weekend, when our home in Norfolk was opened to scores of people searching for antiques and other assorted housewares at bargain prices. We just ended a three day estate sale and I can tell you this... it's a lot of work and we are exhausted. We contracted with an estate sale company because we read that it is not advisable to do this on your own. It does seem, though, that we did most of the work and paid them a hefty fee to collect the money.  That being said, the sale went very well and we are now living in an almost empty house. There are still a few items remaining that will go to a local auction house and we will have a yard sale to get rid of the remaining junk. Was it an emotional experience?  Not in the least.  We have been told that letting go of material possessions can be very freeing and that is exactly the case. The moment we made a decision to purchase a home in the Yucatán we began a gradual detachment from all that we have accumulated over a lifetime. Other than a very few small items that will fit in our luggage or vehicle, everything is going.  It feels really good to have most of the furniture gone. The house is almost empty open and less cluttered and it will be much easier to keep clean once it goes on the market.

That's the next step.

Out of clutter find simplicity; from discord find harmony; in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” ~Einstein

House Hunting in Mérida

A post I read earlier today by Lee from Imagine Mérida got me to thinking. What kind of people are actually moving here? Well, actually all kinds, but from what I have seen, there are scores of people who have retired and are financially secure enough to purchase a home and make the transition. Many stay for years or decades and others find that life in a noisy, hot and humid city is just too much or they miss their families back in the States. There are the younger folks who have internet businesses that can be based anywhere in the world. How lucky to be able to work and live in any place you choose. Then there are the brave entrepreneurs, young and older, who come to this tropical city to start up a new business -art galleries, hair salons, video production companies. I truly admire these brave and successful adventurers.

All of these expats live in homes that run the gamut from modest to extravagant, with most somewhere in the middle, all beautiful in their individual styles. Many of us fall in love with Mérida after seeing it for the very first time on House Hunters International. For us, it was the episode with two guys, Erich and Rob, just returning from working in Japan, ready to purchase a colonial style home in the Centro. I don't remember the exact budget, but I know that it was less than 200K. We thought, Gee, all that style and a pool for that amount of money? For the next year, we spent hours and hours checking the real estate sites and dreaming of owning one of those beautiful old homes. Our first trip to Mérida was in January, 2010. We were going to see if the city really suited us and if we thought that we could move there permanently. Despite all the advice we had read that said 'rent for a year before you buy', we found a house, perfectly located, that had recently been renovated and was just waiting for us. We ignored the advice and have not regretted our purchase one bit. No, it was not the Ponce masterpiece we had longed for, but we found out rather quickly that those were not in our price range. Sure, we could have bought a ruin and possibly renovated it for a little less than what we paid, but we decided early on that a long distance project in a foreign country would not work for us. Instead, we found a Victor Cruz designed home in Santa Ana that was perfect for us.

Which brings me to this. There are still houses on the market in the Centro that have style, are architect designed, and affordable. They are not huge homes, but how much space does one couple and a pet or two need?  Here are five such homes, two of which are Victor Cruz renovations.

1.  http://www.mexintl.com/property/003540 

2.  http://www.mexintl.com/property/003795

3.  http://www.mexintl.com/property/003304

4.  http://www.mexintl.com/property/003536

5.  http://www.mexintl.com/property/002465

These five homes range in price from $124,500 to $159,000 and all have been tastefully renovated.

CAPTCHA

My blog gets a reasonable amount of traffic, especially for someone who blogs much less frequently than before. I started out authorizing each comment as they were submitted, just in case I received one that was offensive in nature. In all this time, I have received only one inappropriate comment that was directed at someone I had mentioned in a post. The comment was rude and not relevant to my post and was therefore deleted. Most of the comments on my site are from other Mérida bloggers or an occasional guest responding to the post. My posts don't always generate a lot of comments, even though I can see that  there are quite a number of  "lookers." I can't say "readers" because I don't know if everyone actually reads the posts.  Once I decided that I needed to get my ego out of the process,  I relaxed and simply became pleased that I've managed to keep it going since January 3, 2011.

Anyway,  at some point I just decided to open the comments to anyone without having to verify the comment. It just made sense that comments could be posted as they come in without my having to be physically present at a computer. There was the other option of requiring word verification  (CAPTCHA), but I always found those to be a bit tedious. Some are relatively easy, but lately I've found some sites that seem to have initiated a level of security that I find baffling. I'm curious. Is there a way to set the level of difficulty on word verification? Like adding numbers and a line of letters in Gothic script with caps and lower case and curlicues that all run together and are next to impossible to decipher? Just wondering. I even have two new lenses in my eyes that are getting me close to 20/20 vision for the first time in 24 years. I tried the Captcha "sound" option that resulted in a warbled robotic tone that I couldn't understand and that made me want to smash my keypad.

Here's what I've decided. If I encounter a site with a CAPTCHA security, I'll give it the old college try. If I miss the first go, I might try a second time if I really want to leave a comment. If I miss on the second try, I'm likely to stop at that point.  No offense to those who use this type of security measure, but it's more likely to prevent me from commenting than a bot.

This from Wikipedia:

Due to the sound distortion present in audio CAPTCHAs and visual distortion present in visual CAPTCHAs, offering one as an alternative to the other does not help people with impairments in both areas. While deafblind is a small group, having some degree of impairment in both areas is actually common, and very common amongst older people.

Well, there you have it folks.  I'm now relegated to the "older people" category. Good thing I'm still young at heart...

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