This time, our road trip lasted 120 days.
Our daily spending average for the full 4 months was $40 USD a day. Pretty incredible, considering most of our hotels were centrally located, had swimming pools, volcano or ocean views, and included WiFi in the price of the room. Our expenses covered transportation, food, lodging, fun, and both exit and entry visas.
This beats our 105 Day Adventure average by $13 a day.
How did we do it?
We focused on affordable, clean, friendly lodging, local means of transport and ate native cuisine.
Arriving in Colonial Merida, in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, we then ventured into the ancient Pirate territory of the city of Campeche located on a bay of the same name. Over the centuries, this principal Maya town was captured by the Spanish, pillaged and burned by pirates, and filled with European settlers who built Renaissance buildings and horrifying prisons.
Shiver me timbers!
The mysteries of Maya ruins drew us to Palenque, but a dental emergency forced a detour to San Cristobal - not a bad place to hang out if you need medical attention.
The tiny, clean, bonnie-weather town of Comitan located near the Guatemala border captured our attention before, and could be the next Expat safe haven.
We hung out with the Maya for months in Panajachel at Lago de Atitlan, and nightly enjoyed the healing volcano-heated waters at a neighboring spa. The Maya are a welcoming, independent people with an authentic culture that dates back centuries.
Visiting their many villages all around the Lago, we saw the devastation that hurricane Agatha wrought the year before, their private shrines to a favored Saint, Max Simon, and marveled at the quality of weaving they continue to produce today.
We finished up our trip by returning to a favorite surfer's paradise, Zicatela Beach in Puerto Escondido. Here we escaped from the oppressive heat of the tropics by jumping in the pounding surf and drinking ice cold fresh coconut juice straight from the coconut!
There are a variety of spectacular beaches and cloistered coves in this area and we made efforts to visit every one.
Financial markets gyrated, headlines screamed and we caught it all through real time internet news. Then we would walk out our hotel door into another Maya village, visit centuries old buccaneer hangouts or stroll along a beach in a tropical Eden.
We saved money, not spent more by living this National Geographic lifestyle. And we added memories and experiences not commonly encountered in a conventional life.
Are you dreaming your life or living your dreams?
Tags: International travel, early retirement living, budget travel, living overse
