Mark Twain in his octagonal study overlooking the Chemung river. Henry David Thoreau in his cabin at Walden Pond. Karlstack over by the pina colada slushee machines at senor frogs.
I was surprised how much interest my “I-want-to-travel-the-world” article garnered… 73 comments.
Fast forward 3 months, and I am off to travel the world! I leave in 2 days.
True story: I had to get a new passport because I put my old passport in the pocket of a pair of pants, and then I put the pants through the laundry machine.
I am starting with this red circle:
Zooming in, my plan (subject to change) is spending 1 month in Cancún, 1 month on Isla-Mujeres, 1 month in Playa del Carmen, and then 1 month in Tulum.
Here are what the 4 locations look like:
The best part of this 4-month swing through the Yucatán Peninsula is how filthy cheap it is. AirBnB gives you huge discounts if you book monthly stays.
That is the whole point — I am not going to tell you exactly how much my rent in Mexico is, but it is extremely cheap. Much cheaper than any rent I would ever dream of paying in Canada… a small fraction of the rent in Halifax, plus I get to skip Canadian winter.
This is 4 months of solitude where i can focus on reading + writing Substack full time. By the end of the 4 months, my goal is to hit 200 paid subscribers. I have some time-intensive investigations planned... I am planning on being productive.
After this initial 4 month stint (the longest visa I can get to Mexico is 6 months), my plan is to keep travelling south… I am thinking I will make my way down to Costa Rica, Colombia, etc.
I will be travelling for a long enough that it is worth investing in learning spanish. I already speak fluent french, so spanish shouldn’t be too hard as long as I put in the hours studying/learning. Maybe I will take classes.
I’ve already made my peace with the airport taxi overcharging me when I land. I consider it a sunk cost.
Here is what my place look like… allegedly. I am leaving this weekend, so I will get to see if it actually looks like the AirBnB pictures. I am sure it will, given that this place has excellent reviews after dozens of reviews.
What more could I ask for?
If anyone in South America wants to hang out, I need a few months of solitude first, but I’ll be on a beach somewhere for spring break and that would be good timing for me. Drop me a line chrisbrunet@protonmail.com if you are in the area, maybe we can meet up, I’ll buy you a mojito.
Read Gringoes by Charles Portis, about poor American expats in the Yucatan. On my list for Best Things of 2022.
Looks like a nice way to spend a few months. Why suffer the Canadian winter when you don't have to?