The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: Ed Mills on February 08, 2014, 08:24:22 AM
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Greetings All,
Yesterday my wife, son and I arrived in Cancun on a one-way ticket. We plan on staying 4 to 8 weeks living our normal low-cost lifestyle. We're getting our budget asses kicked for the time being...poor planning on my part. Going to look for an apartment today and tomorrow.
My son is loving Mexico; my wife and I have always loved it. By the way, it's low 80's here today. I'll try to type more after our beach trip.
Ed
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Cancun doesn't care that you don't have a flight back?
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That's awesome. Good for you. :D
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Cancun doesn't care that you don't have a flight back?
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Not only that, the immigration agent gave me 180 days on a basic tourist visa! We went to the beach today, and we all feel like millionaires. Great day had by all.
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Fun! I'd love to hear more as life goes on!
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Nice! Hope you have found a nice apartment.
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Sounds like you've got a great plan. Hope to read more of your adventures in Mexico.
Best wishes for your ambitious 2014 goals!
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A few observations:
- Cancun can ruin your budget if you're not careful. We spent $150 for our three nights in a hotel and a hostel suite. We now have a studio apartment that cost us $511 for one month. I am going to start exploring to see about other apartment options in the area. I hear that 4,000 to 5,000 pesos will get a furnished apartment with wifi.
- There are lots of shopping options here: Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, and many large Mexican grocery stores. Setting up a kitchen would be a snap here. Food prices at the supermarkets seem comparable to what we pay in the States, but that would not be a problem for most Mustachians. Mercado 23 is where many locals shop and it seems to be the place to get lower priced groceries.
- Box wine aficionados will be glad to hear that a liter of Valle Redondo Califorina vino tinto goes for 37 to 40 pesos. I was pleasantly surprised; it did not have that acidic finish that most inexpensive box wines have.
- The beaches here are unbelievably beautiful. You have to see them with your own eyes. The water is so clear that even up to my neck in the water, I could see my feet on the bottom.
- We are living in town and use public transportation to get to the beaches. Bus fare is 9.5 pesos. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the beach. We are walking a lot more than we do in the States.
- Our son is really enjoying himself. He's practicing his Spanish and learning to eat real Mexican food. Every day he says, "Mexico is awesome!" at least twice.
I'll write more later...
Ed
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How old is your son? I always thought of Cancun as a tourist destination (trap?) It's great that you can start - or even continue - your adventure there.
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A few observations:
- Cancun can ruin your budget if you're not careful. We spent $150 for our three nights in a hotel and a hostel suite. We now have a studio apartment that cost us $511 for one month. I am going to start exploring to see about other apartment options in the area. I hear that 4,000 to 5,000 pesos will get a furnished apartment with wifi.
- There are lots of shopping options here: Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, and many large Mexican grocery stores. Setting up a kitchen would be a snap here. Food prices at the supermarkets seem comparable to what we pay in the States, but that would not be a problem for most Mustachians. Mercado 23 is where many locals shop and it seems to be the place to get lower priced groceries.
- Box wine aficionados will be glad to hear that a liter of Valle Redondo Califorina vino tinto goes for 37 to 40 pesos. I was pleasantly surprised; it did not have that acidic finish that most inexpensive box wines have.
- The beaches here are unbelievably beautiful. You have to see them with your own eyes. The water is so clear that even up to my neck in the water, I could see my feet on the bottom.
- We are living in town and use public transportation to get to the beaches. Bus fare is 9.5 pesos. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the beach. We are walking a lot more than we do in the States.
- Our son is really enjoying himself. He's practicing his Spanish and learning to eat real Mexican food. Every day he says, "Mexico is awesome!" at least twice.
I'll write more later...
Ed
This isn't sounding a lot cheaper than certain parts of the US, say the keys
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Dragoncar, I won't argue with you on the prices. The cost of living seems to really increased since the last time I was here (17 years ago). I still think a frugal lifestyle can be worked here; that would allow us to continue our family adventure. We keep referring to this as our son's home school field trip.
NC_MJ, my son is 8; we arrived on his birthday. It was his first time on a plane and his first trip to Mexico. Obviously, it was an awesome day for him. He is loving this trip.
We hope to take our next adventure in Argentina and Brazil. Not sure when but I'm rapidly building up American Airline frequent flyer miles. (Thanks to articles I read from: Chris Guillebeau and the Mad Fientist.)
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Dragoncar, I won't argue with you on the prices. The cost of living seems to really increased since the last time I was here (17 years ago). I still think a frugal lifestyle can be worked here; that would allow us to continue our family adventure. We keep referring to this as our son's home school field trip.
NC_MJ, my son is 8; we arrived on his birthday. It was his first time on a plane and his first trip to Mexico. Obviously, it was an awesome day for him. He is loving this trip.
We hope to take our next adventure in Argentina and Brazil. Not sure when but I'm rapidly building up American Airline frequent flyer miles. (Thanks to articles I read from: Chris Guillebeau and the Mad Fientist.)
Having lived in Argentina & Brazil (and travelled in Mexico), I would advise you to choose towns that aren't a major tourist draw. That should bring your costs down a lot (Argentina, especially Buenos Aires, can be really expensive). It will also give you a very authentic experience and in many cases will be safer. You can still have unbelievably beautiful beaches, and often all to yourself! They may not have American stores and you'll shop more like locals at lower prices. This sounds like a great trip though, and wonderful for an 8 year-old! Love the Mad Fientist travel tips!
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Good luck, Ed! How did you get so much time off from your teaching gigs? Are you going to update your blog?
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Honest Abe, my wife and I are not teaching this year, so we have plenty of time. She's homeschooling our son, so he has also escaped the confines of the school bell. I'm working on a blog post.
Roses, Argentina and Brazil sounds awesome to us. I love that region of the world; I played hoops in Neuquen about 100 years ago. I have also spent 4 months in Brazil on two different trips there; I'd go back just for the churrascarias and rodizios. My wife and I LOVE Brazil; we plan on using our American Airline miles for that trip sometime in the near future.
Thanks for the interest...gotta finish my blog post.
Ed