Category: Travel

The Start Of Our Adventures in Mexico

Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel

As I’m writing this at our house in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the house maid laboriously scrubs all horizontal and vertical surfaces in the kitchen and just finished washing the dishes. It’s taking some time to get used to having a maid deep clean the house every other day while we lie around the house, stuff our faces and head out for a day of adventuring.

When I say “house”, I should really say “compound”. There is a main house and a separate apartment above us where the kids sleep. Each house has its own kitchen, living room, bathroom(s), and patio.

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What Will We Miss About Home While On The Road

Lifestyle, Parenting, Travel

Right now we are rushing to pack the last few items in our backpacks so we can hit the road for our seven week adventure in Mexico. I’m sure we’ll all have a great time while on the trip, but travel fatigue is also a possibility.

Before we leave, it’s a good time to reflect on how great our lives at home are by thinking about the things we’ll miss the most. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and you don’t know what you got till it’s gone, as they say. Even though we don’t spend a lot of money, I recognize by world standards that we live a luxuriously bountiful life that offers everything we need and then some.

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Safety and Security in Mexico

Travel

Mexico – the land of kidnappings, drug gangs, shoot outs in the streets, massive criminal organizations in armed conflict with the corrupt police. That type of sensationalism works well if you want to sell newspapers or get clicks on a “news” website. The reality is that most of the country is very peaceful. However, the states bordering the US tend to have the most security issues along with a few other areas of the country.

I took a look at the US Department of State Travel Advisory on Mexico and checked out each state we might visit on our trip. The result? All states we intend to visit have no listed security concerns except the Estado de Mexico.

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Summer In Mexico: The Next Big Adventure

Awesome!, Financial Independence, Travel

The plane tickets are booked. In early June the Root of Good family packs up and hits the road for a summer in Mexico. Just another crazy thing you can do when early retired.

We’ll be chasing the kids up and down pyramids and mountains, into the crystal clear water, and then relaxing in the shade until the smell of grilling meats lures us to the explosive colors of the local markets.

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A Day Of Early Retirement – Going on a Walkabout

Awesome!, Lifestyle, Travel

After a cold and abnormally snowy winter, the first day of beautiful spring-like weather came calling last week. We answered that call by getting outside and enjoying the fine weather. Even though it was Monday, a day that normally brings dread to cubicle dwellers the world over, we found ourselves embarking on foot for a journey to… a gas station? That rather strange destination, especially given our mode of transport, was sheer pretext to pull us out of doors and into the great urban Wilderness that surrounds us.

It was the most ordinary of mornings in the most extraordinary sense possible. We caught the budding cherry trees just before the blossoms opened. We passed by an empty bird nest temporary vacated or possibly deserted. A recent ice storm deposited scattered hulks of downed branches across the neighborhood’s yards, some already smartly stacked by the sidewalk obediently awaiting a ride to the city yard waste center.

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Crazy Things Made Possible By Early Retirement

Awesome!, Lifestyle, Parenting, Travel

For those who love their jobs or those that can’t manage to ever save any money, they may not understand why anyone would want to retire early. “Won’t you get bored?” they ask. Not yet! In fact, having huge blocks of free time opens up a lot of possibilities that aren’t very feasible while working full time.

I used to write a monthly summary of what I’m up to in early retirement like this, this, this, and this. I haven’t kept this diary of excitement up to date lately, but I wanted to share a small sample of the tiny and huge things that early retirement permit.

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Our Bad Experience With AirBnB Rental Had A Happy Ending

Moneyhacks, Personal Finance, Travel

While on our road trip through Canada, we rented a two bedroom apartment in Quebec City. The reviews at AirBnB were great and made the place sound clean and well-appointed. It had a large kitchen with plenty of room for us to cook. The living room was spacious and had enough seating for our family of five. The bedrooms had comfortable beds and plenty of linens.

Unfortunately, the apartment was filthy!

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Canada Trip Part 6: Trip Wrap Up

Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel

Quebec City was as far as we made it on our trip. We decided to call it quits, pack up, and go home after we found out our apartment for the week in Quebec City was really, really, really dirty. That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy our limited time in Quebec City. It’s a cool place with lots to see. We, as a family, were travel weary.

We were worn out. We set out on what was supposed to be a five week trip with dual goals of sightseeing and relaxation. We visited all kinds of places and saw most of the things on our wish list. But that took a toll on our efforts to relax.

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Canada Trip Part 5: Quebec City, Canada

Travel

After enjoying a week in Montreal, we hit the road for a few hours to travel further north and east to Quebec City. The drive between Montreal and Quebec City is really easy since the entire route is all freeway and well signed for motorists. We arrived at our apartment for the week and met the owner who gave us the grand tour of his two bedroom corner unit. While the owner was with us in the apartment, I didn’t notice anything odd about the place but Mrs. Root of Good certainly did. I’ll skip that part of the story for now though.

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