Why we want to travel

Why we want to travel

First and foremost, for the life experience. We want need a moment to step away from reality and indulge in the beauty of the unknown. Traveling gives you a chance to explore a different culture, meet and learn from all sorts of amazing people, see things you thought you would only ever dream about, and to try something new. We want to become educated through our own experiences.

What we expect to get from it

I defiantly expect to get a traveling bug from it. This trip may be different from the rest, but I plan to save every nickel and dime when we get back to plan our next adventure. We haven't even left yet and I already feel more alive. I think it will build our confidence in ourselves and hopefully help us get a better grip on what makes us happy and how we can find that same feeling in our day to day life when we return home.

An interesting blog I found some fun and inspiring articles on:
Why You Should Quit Your Job And Travel Around The World
I am unfortunately not planning a trip around the world (yet) but I am open to the idea and insight on how to make it happen. :) For now the Yucatan sounds amazing!

And So It Begins...

Yesterday the boyfriend put in his 2 week notice at work! It's both nerve racking and thrilling all at once. He has to leave in advance because it takes a month before you can cash out your 401k. I am still going to wait until the end of next month or beginning of October to put in mine. I am more then ready to get there... Also, I talked to a good friend of mine yesterday ,who I had not had a chance to fill in on anything until then, and it was crazy when I realized how fast this all came together. At the beginning of this month I was just day dreaming of a life changing move, and now it has become reality. I am so happy I started this blog! It was originally a way to force myself to look into taking a trip, and now it's becoming a way to plan, share, and get feed back from everyone.

Please feel free to give feedback. If you have questions ask because I know I skipped a few things along the way. :)

On Vacation related subjects:
I am really excited to be in Mexico for Dia De Los Muertos (also know as Day of the Dead).
I never knew about this holiday until I came to Tucson. I recognize it as a festive day of face painting and an All Souls Procession march. It is to remember ones who have passed, but most people I know that have participated in it were more excited on the idea of painting their face like a skeleton. I totally understand that considering it looks like a lot of fun and Tucson is full of artistic people.

I am pretty sure the way it is celebrated in Tucson, and the way it is celebrated in Mexico are quite different though. In Mexico it is a holiday devoted to remember those who have died. Families and friends gather at grave stones bringing the departed their favorite foods, gifts, and possessions.  

The holiday can be traced back 3000 years. Today they honor  infants and children who have passed on November 1st, and Adults on November 2nd. 

Explore. Dream. Discover.

My friend Deva sent me this link today: Travel Is Only For The Rich

Other then getting me super excited about our upcoming journey it got me thinking about the future after we return. I really liked the advice given at the end of the article.

"Decide when you’ll take your trip. Research and plan. Do it over and over again."

I hope this trip is the first of many we will take! There is a lot of inspiring quote's on the website as well. I thought this would be fit for today...

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”  ~Mark Twain

Secret Beach

In Cancun the beaches are very calm and peaceful. Although that sounds wonderful, I definitely would not mind a day of body surfing! Luckily while doing research I stumbled across Xcacel Beach! Unlike most beaches around it is undeveloped and provides for a great day trip. There is even a cenote there.... free of charge.

The website (http://www.sac-be.com) that I found out about the beach on had many other good finds. I will definitely be referring to something else from this site again.

Anticipation

We are finally starting to share our plans with friends and family. We have had reactions that are all over the map. 

"What are you doing quitting your jobs and taking out your 401k" 

"Enjoy it while you can. I wish I would have done the same thing"

"Take me with you"

"Don't get kidnapped"

In the end it comes down to us and what we think

We are happy

=)

Underground River Tour

Rio Secreto is an underground river full of stalactites and stalagmites. The tour takes you deep inside the cave to view the beauty of the natural reserve. It involves walking, swimming and floating. The price is high but it just might be worth it....

Recap

To keep everyone up to date:

The plan

Originally our plan was to drive to Cancun and back. We decided to fly instead. This means we are cutting out lots of things we had wanted to see along the way, but can spend more time exploring the Yucatan Peninsula and everything there is to see there. 

We are aiming to depart from Hermosillo October 31 and arrive home November 30th give or take a few days. Our budget is around $3000 and we overpriced everything and still meet the budget with some change to spare!

How on earth can we do this. Well against some peoples opinions the boyfriend decided to take an early retirement and take out his 401K. This may involve a little back story. He has been working for the same company for just under 10 year. Recently he stepped down from his management position because he was unhappy with it, and that was about when we started planning to try something new.  He owns his own home, paid off his car, and is responsible with minimal bills. 

As for me, I have been vague about work because we do both plan to leave our jobs to start fresh upon our return. I have been in management for just about a year and with the company for 4 years. I could play the promotion role and spend the rest of my life in retail but I am honestly capable of so much more and really looking to enjoy life. I know there is a career out there for me but I am not going to find it where I am at now. 

When we get home we both have back up jobs that we can get through friends with their own company, but we really want to explore our options as well. We are not glued to Tucson and if the right job came up elsewhere we would consider a change in pace.

Futuristic and a little bit of defense. Everyone complains about taking out your 401k early but I have a few things to say about that. For starters we are smart with money and have thought about our futures. We have goals and are prepared to face consequences. We are young and have many options in our favor. Right now we are choosing to make these decisions because we can. 

The end. Any questions... ?

Coba

Coba, a pyramid (the largest in the Yucatan) surrounded by by five lakes, made a good home for the Mayans around in 600 AD. A few hounded years later it was mysteriously abandoned. Now you can take tours to view the ruins that included zip lining, rappelling, cenote swimming, canoeing, and jungle walking! 

The  Price is a bit higher then I am interested in but I want to make a note to talk with locals about discounts or deals when in Cancun. 

Other than that, I am dropping off my boyfriends passport info to the post office today. He has a Passport Card but you can't fly (even if you are flying within mexico) with one of these cards. They are for ground use between Mexico, America, and Canada and sea port entry in Bermuda and the Caribbean. Sooo we need to get him a passport book and luckily we have just enough time for standard shipping. Having it expedited is way more then we would want to pay.

View from our soon to be vacation home!!!

I am ready to walk out my front door and onto the beach!

Last night I talked with the owners of the Studio Condo we will be staying at and got a little more information. 

$500 for the month + $35 one time cleaning + $35 in tax

= $570

We have the option to do our own laundry or have Bonnie (the property manager) do our laundry for $20. Bonnie can also be contacted if we have any problems or questions. 

We plan on getting a car but public transportation is everywhere, including a bus right out of the complex to take us downtown or more towards the hotel zone. 

We plan on shopping at Walmart and maybe a few markets and eating in as much as possible, but there are all sorts of good restaurants in the area as well. 

The condo has a 5 gallon water dispenser :)

Although the property is safe (for my mothers sake) it's a gated community and they are security guards on duty.

We are sold. I e-mailed the owners asking for the rental agreement so we can sign and make our $200 down payment! 

Caves and Cenotes

Indiana Joes : An awesome place we are looking into going to. They give tours on caves and  cenotes.  If you google map the Yucatan Peninsula and add images, pictures like this one will pop up all over the map!

We will defiantly be talking to locals to make sure there isn't a better deal elsewhere or somewhere free even. If not Indiana Joe's charges $30 a person per tour and has some really incredible views! I always see pictures like this posted on pintrest and dream about visiting so that idea of really being there blows my mind!

Still waiting to hear back from the lady on our studio apartment so I may blog again today if she calls!

Cozy Studio Condo

You
Heard
Me
Right
!
!
!

We just booked a cozy studio condo for a month!!
I am so freaking happy this is really happening! The lady that I left a message with called yesterday letting me know that it was available! They are on vacation in Canada and she said it cost a lot to call from her cell phone but she wanted to get back to me before I booked anywhere else. I e-mailed her and she will be calling me again tomorrow to discuss more details.

It's $500 for the month, located on the Hotel Zone in Cancun! Beach is seconds from the door!
It is perfect and exactly what we were looking for. I did e-mail asking if electric and water were included in the price, along with a few other questions. Finally we got the ball rolling!

Also this morning I found a fun site full of more activities we plan to do : http://www.travelyucatan.com/ 
It has all sorts of Tourist info as well as some really good trip planning tools. I am sure I will be referring to something from the site again soon.                                                      

First things first

So today I decided to call on one of the vacation rentals that we have been really interested in but unfortunately it went right to voice mail! We are ready to take that first step and put a down payment or hold on a rental so we can have it for a month!

Since I got all excited about it I started looking at other rentals... four hours ago. My eyes are burning from staring at the computer. There is so much to look at. So I decided to take a break and blog.

Although I am not interested at the moment, I stumbled on to HomeExchange.Com and decided I need to consider this in the future. Tucson may not be the best location in the world, but we get snowbirds in the winter, so this could be my plan for my next ski trip. Absolutely worth checking out anyways.