Liz: Hola Mexico!

Day One: Our trip started out early with a 2:30 am wakeup. Our airport shuttle was great (the Hillsboro Airporter) and the kids chattered away on the ride. They were both a little nervous about their first plane ride but both ended up LOVING riding the plane. After a long, exhausting day of waiting in lines and sitting on planes we have to say that ages 6 and 8 are great ages for travel. They did so well. We had one small problem upon arrival. The stewardess on the plane had told us all that we only needed to fill out the green section on our travel papers, when in actuality you are supposed to fill out the entire form. We were one of the later groups off the plane and by the time we got up to the guy stamping passports, he was so frustrated that he threw our passports back at us and left the booth. That was a little embarrassing. We felt like noobie travelers, which after ten years, we kind of are. When we arrived at the hotel we were so tired that we ordered room service, watched cartoons and crashed at about 8pm. So we haven't actually seen much of Mexico yet except for all the beautiful brightly colored flowers and lush green plants on the side of the road from the airport to our hotel.

This morning the birds are chirping and it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. The girls are up and awake trying to be quiet and the boys are still sleeping.

Patrick: Week 1: The Siesta

We finally finished the marathon holiday season and have made it safely to Cancun.  This week we're easing into Mexico with Cancun.  The pool looks delightful and I have already tested out the Quesadilla from room service (which did taste pretty darn good after a long day of flying.)  We're going to just veg for a day and then get started on some more serious touristing (laying on the beach, snorkeling, chocolate factory tours, margarita testing, etc...)

Getting Ready

I can't believe we are three months away. We have our passports and our plane tickets, a dog sitter, a housesitter (and goldfish minder), about half our hotel reservations made and lots of research done.

Next up on our list of things to do:
Figure out bags/luggage. I have received several recommendations to go the backpack route and NOT the suitcase with wheels route, as they are hard to maneuver and inconvenient. Many of the roads where we are going are not paved. I'm going to let each of the kids carry their own backpack on the plane with a spare set of clothes, basic necessities, snacks and activities.
Figure out clothes. The kids grow so fast (and I am working on going the opposite direction) that we need to buy our travel clothes later rather than sooner. We're going to try to keep it light and buy whatever extras we need over there. (sunhats, t-shirts, shorts, skirts, jewelry, etc) We are considering taking snorkel masks with us to save rental fees. Also, we need to figure out what shoes to take. Hiking boots for the rain forest? The guide books say tennis shoes are very American Tourist. It's pretty much guaranteed that we're going to stand out in the Yucatan anyways as we're all very tall, blonde and blue eyed so maybe tennis shoes aren't a big deal?
Learn Spanish. We are just getting going with this. In Belize, English is the official language, so we won't have as much of a chance to practice Spanish there, but that might be a nice break after five weeks in Mexico.
Save More Money. We'll be giving each other travel related gifts for Christmas this year, let's just put it that way.

Violence In Guatemala

This was a tough decision to make but we have decided not to go to Guatemala on this trip. There have been many attacks against tourists this year, including shooting deaths in a grocery store, sexual assaults, forcing a tourist to strip naked on a bus to take their hidden money and most recently a handful of stabbings of tourists in Antigua to steal their bags/purses,etc. That's a short list of everything that has happened this year and doesn't include kidnappings, extreme levels of theft, etc. Even the Guatemalan government has put out a travel warning saying they don't recommend travel to Tikal/Flores and the US won't let it's employees travel in parts of Guatemala. SOOOOO...bummer! I was looking forward to traveling there, especially to Lake Atitlan.

As a result, we have decided to just stick to two countries and spend a month in each country: the Yucatan/ Mexico and Belize. I feel relieved about this decision. It will give us more time to see the Yucatan and Belize and we won't have to be on hyperalert or worrying (more than usual) about safety.

A couple places we're going to visit...

This makes me get excited all over again! Above is the beach at Tulum, near Cancun in Mexico. We'll spend at least a week between Cancun and Cozumel and probably our last week as well, when we're all worn out from riding buses and experiencing different cultures. An unplanned week on the beach sounds like a nice way to wrap things up.
This (above) is Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Part of the time we're going to relax in the hotel pictured and for a week we're going to live with a local family and take Spanish language classes.
This is the Tranquility Bay Resort in Belize where we'll be living it up and relaxing for several days and taking a Caribbean vacation from our vacation. This resort is located near a beautiful marine reserve and there is lots of snorkeling/ scuba/ fish and turtle viewing.

We are also going to spend a week or more in Merida, Mexico and Antigua, Guatemala, as well as hopefully a couple weeks in El Salvador. Not sure where yet!

Sabbatical "Practice" Trip

We've finally set a date, bought airline tickets and made (some) hotel reservations for our first international family trip. It is a nine week trip to Central America, including Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and possibly El Salvador.

I've been searching the web for information on families traveling in Central America but haven't found much yet.

We're going to be blogging through the trip and so it's about time to get this blog up and going again!