|
|
02-03-2010, 11:14 AM
|
#41
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1
Mexico City as a destination? I assume it was due to work!
There seems to always be a strike/sit-in or something associated with Universidad Autónoma de México.
|
Different strokes for different folks, but I really liked Mexico City. Other than the thick smog that really irritated my sinuses, I loved it. Lots of culture, good museums, good parks, history, buildings from the 1500's, temples, pyramids, ruins from before that. Good subway system. Kicking nightlife. Cheap. Tons of street food, tons of local markets that also have food vendors. Diego Rivera murals (big fan!). Dirty. Grimy. Real.
I would definitely go back and spend another week or two there just to see stuff I missed before.
But then again I'm more of a city person than a country/outdoors person. So to each their own.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
02-03-2010, 11:57 AM
|
#42
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 807
|
Here's an excellent new post from Billy and Akaisha Kaderli from their current road trip through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize for information and, possibly, inspiration. They are masters of low-cost, high-fun travel. FYI current peso/U.S. dollar exchange rate is around 12.5. Enjoy!
Road Trip Travel Expenses
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 12:06 PM
|
#43
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
Different strokes for different folks, but I really liked Mexico City. Other than the thick smog that really irritated my sinuses, I loved it. Lots of culture, good museums, good parks, history, buildings from the 1500's, temples, pyramids, ruins from before that. Good subway system. Kicking nightlife. Cheap. Tons of street food, tons of local markets that also have food vendors. Diego Rivera murals (big fan!). Dirty. Grimy. Real.
|
Smog and grime notwithstanding, I never really realized how close to perfect the climate is in Mexico City until looking it up now. Typical summer highs are in the low 80s and the typical winter lows are in the 40s. Not bad at all.
Too bad it comes with all the smog, all the grime and about 20 million people in the area.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 12:13 PM
|
#44
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevink
Here's an excellent new post from Billy and Akaisha Kaderli from their current road trip through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize for information and, possibly, inspiration. They are masters of low-cost, high-fun travel. FYI current peso/U.S. dollar exchange rate is around 12.5. Enjoy!
Road Trip Travel Expenses
|
Man, $50 a day and living nice! I just hope gang warfare won't turn the rest of the country into a hell-hole. Definitely a great country to live well on the cheap, and one that still has a Western culture that many of us in the US are familiar with to some degree. Also a fairly accessible language.
DW and I made it through Mexico on about $25 a day back in 2000. Her comment after the trip was "next time we are going to splurge and stay in the $20 a night hotels". Poor broke cheap college students at the time FYI.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 12:19 PM
|
#45
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
Smog and grime notwithstanding, I never really realized how close to perfect the climate is in Mexico City until looking it up now. Typical summer highs are in the low 80s and the typical winter lows are in the 40s. Not bad at all.
Too bad it comes with all the smog, all the grime and about 20 million people in the area.
|
It is really a hidden gem if you can put up with the smog and the busy city life.
The weather is great year round. Average highs in the 70's year round. That is like year round spring time for me (as a resident of the SE USA).
The other good thing about it is that it isn't very far away from much of the US (by air).
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 12:25 PM
|
#46
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,139
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
Smog and grime notwithstanding, I never really realized how close to perfect the climate is in Mexico City until looking it up now. Typical summer highs are in the low 80s and the typical winter lows are in the 40s. Not bad at all.
Too bad it comes with all the smog, all the grime and about 20 million people in the area.
|
But I think you can just go up and over the volcano ring (50 miles) and visit Cuernavaca and get the nice climate (actually lusher vegetation) but no smog and a beautiful colonial city not nearly so clogged with people (population 350,000) roads and cars.
Audrey
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 12:35 PM
|
#47
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Where the stars at night are big and bright
Posts: 2,847
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by kumquat
The real question is: What are you trying to solve?
|
I'm not trying to solve anything. Other posters espoused the theory that it was the illegal nature of drugs like Cocaine, Marijuana, Methamphetamine and so on as being the root economic cause behind the profitability of Mexican drug trafficking organizations, and thus caused the violence in Northern Mexico. Further, that the legalization of drugs in the U.S. would eliminate the violence, and bring about a net savings to the U.S. by redirecting the money spent on enforcement activities. I think the most frequently heard theme is, "Legalize it, regulate it, and tax the hell out of it."
My reply was merely to question if legalization would decrease public expenses, and then later to espouse a counter-argument that legalization actually might not decrease our costs because we would just shift expenses from some areas to others. My points were backed up with estimated costs to society (in the hundreds of Billions) regulating alcohol consumption and numerous other public and private costs associated with something that was "legalized, regulated, and heavily taxed." And, by observations made about the problems encountered in Amsterdam, where quasi-legalized and regulated drug sales and usage has created what some see as a "public health problem".
It was all about economics and public health, and public health is thrown in just because current political debates seem to want to shoulder society with more of the costs to provide public health.
You can see whatever you want in this statement, as you apparently found it to be a cause for some bias on my part:
Quote:
I spent most of my life making a good living regulating either illegal drugs; illegal sex acts; or legalized, regulated and taxed alcohol.
|
But all I was saying, and all I see there, is a simple statement that I have years of experience in the inner workings of the manufacture, importation and sale of illegal drugs, the inner workings of prostitution and other illegal aspects of the sex industry, the diversion of legal drugs into illegal sales, and the violation of criminal laws regulating alcohol sales in a mostly legal industry.
Since we were discussing legalizing, regulating and taxing what are now illegal drugs; and, I have experience in investigating all aspects of the criminal sale of drugs, as well as investigating and regulating the illegal aspects of the otherwise legal (but regulated to one extent or another) activities of alcohol sales and sexual activity, I thought I might first lay down a foundation for the basis of my opinion.
What I'm saying is that my opinions on drug crimes, alcohol crimes and commercialized illegal sex are not just some random babblings that I conjured up from television, novels, discussion boards and a few anecdotes. I've testified as an expert witness in all of those things in state and federal court, and five years after retiring I still get calls from people wanting my opinion (on and off the stand) on these subjects.
I don't have a clue where you came up with all this "sin tax" and "lifestyle choices" from. Actually, I do have my suspicions, but I don't see why you're dragging all of that into something that was simply a discussion of the economics of the problem. Maybe you have some bias?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kumquat
If I have the money and the inclination to spend it on gambling, pot, hookers or religious whacko's, who are you to tell me that I can't? And why would you care?
|
Just another member of society who gets taxed to pay the bills for expenses created when some of my fellow citizens get stupid. Who are you to tell me I have to pay the bill to clean up after you and your excessive behaviors that create a public expense and increased my tax burden?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kumquat
Could that cause a bit of bias? One hates to have spent their life doing meaningless things (although a lot of my mega-corp career qualifies).
|
You might feel as if you wasted your life making widgets, but I found arresting people was very rewarding on many levels. I never could envision rating my success by how well I could convince someone to buy the widgets I was selling, or looking at the monthly sales stats and see where I ranked (not that I'm not ultra-competitive and always knew where my stats placed me). Personally, I really don't see anything as challenging as catching bad guys. As Hemingway said, once you've hunted armed men and liked it, you'll never care for anything else thereafter.
Certainly I received negative feedback (flipped birds, "oink oink" sound effects and a few eggs and rocks), but at least as numerous have been the spontaneous rounds of applause, handshakes, hugs and tearful "thank you's" I received after kicking in some bad guys' door and putting them in the back of a blue & white. You have to know you made a difference in peoples' lives when they say, "we've been praying to God that you would come and take those people away from our neighborhood". I received my share of complaints, but it was a small percentage compared to the positive feedback in letters of praise, awards, gifts, and even offers of hero-worship sex that I received.
Or, by meaningless, did you mean I should feel that I wasted my life combating crime but never being able to eliminate it? No way, not ever, not no-how. Crime has always existed and always will - there will always be people who can't abide by society's rules. My job was to catch them, not recreate society into something unobtainable. My successes were in locking up individual criminals, and wreaking havoc and spreading fear among the rest of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kumquat
How would your life have differed if you had spent it regulating legal drugs, legal sex acts or "legalized, regulated and taxed alcohol"? Is there a difference between those activities mentioned that are illegal and those that are not?
|
I'll admit that I don't understand the question. If something wasn't illegal why would I care from a professional standpoint? One of the quickest things to change in a person's mind when they start doing police work is the making of moral judgments about 90+% of the people they arrest. It's just a waste of time and gets in the way of doing the job. Arresting people who break the law is what the job is all about, and the only distinguishing most cops make is to differentiate based on how hard someone is to catch, or how blatant they were in doing their crimes. If you were bold and open you were just seen as someone who was begging to be arrested; and, if you were really good at what you did you were seen as a professional challenge. And if you were inept and easily caught, you were a joke to be told later over coffee. Other than what I needed to be able to successfully prosecute the case in court, I didn't care what you did or why you did it - I just cared if it was illegal.
Today, in my post-policing life, I don't care what you do. Well, unless you try to victimize me or mine, in which case you would be lucky to survive. But other than that, with the exception of paying the bill for whatever little disasters you may cause, I don't care if you smoke weed until you turn green, gamble away every dime you got, carouse with more whores than you can count, or sell everything and give it all to Gene Scott's widow.
What's that old saw "your freedom to swing your fists ends at the tip of my nose"? Same thing applies when it comes to people doing stupid things and expecting me to pick up the tab when things go bad.
And while you may feel that drug users, whore-mongers and gambling addicts are wrongfully persecuted for exercising some imagined right to do whatever; I think I speak for 99.8% of all cops when I say none of them are morally offended by people doing such things. It's a simple decision tree: Is it illegal? Can I make a legal arrest? Should I make an arrest or choose a lawful alternative. At some personal level there may be an opinion about such people - it usually revolves around thinking how stupid the offender is to waste his time or money on such things. Compared to all of the really evil stuff that cops witness in their careers, somebody blowing some yerba, doing a backseat tango with a ho from the stroll, or blowing the mortgage money in a backroom craps game is just a mild aberration from standard behavior.
Did I say I don't care what you do enough times?
__________________
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it. - Andrew Jackson
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 12:47 PM
|
#48
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1
But I think you can just go up and over the volcano ring (50 miles) and visit Cuernavaca and get the nice climate (actually lusher vegetation) but no smog and a beautiful colonial city not nearly so clogged with people (population 350,000) roads and cars.
|
Cuernavaca is where all the folks from Mexico City go on weekends. That is also where I spent the summer the first time down doing study abroad. Nice city. Not nearly as much to do as Mexico City. But cleaner and a little less busy. Also a lot more gringos and expats (lots of language schools are based there).
If you want nice year round weather and relaxing, something like Cuernavaca would be better than Mexico City.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 12:53 PM
|
#49
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
Cuernavaca is where all the folks from Mexico City go on weekends. That is also where I spent the summer the first time down doing study abroad. Nice city. Not nearly as much to do as Mexico City. But cleaner and a little less busy. Also a lot more gringos and expats (lots of language schools are based there).
If you want nice year round weather and relaxing, something like Cuernavaca would be better than Mexico City.
|
Can I assume that it's quite a bit more expensive? I've found that almost everything in Latin America that's clean, safe and has a lot of gringos and expats loses much of the cost of living advantages of Latin America -- though my "research" has been far from exhaustive.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 01:05 PM
|
#50
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,139
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
Can I assume that it's quite a bit more expensive? I've found that almost everything in Latin America that's clean, safe and has a lot of gringos and expats loses much of the cost of living advantages of Latin America -- though my "research" has been far from exhaustive.
|
Of course! If you really want cheap in Mexico you better go out and live in the rural areas which have few amenities.
Audrey
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 01:08 PM
|
#51
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
Can I assume that it's quite a bit more expensive? I've found that almost everything in Latin America that's clean, safe and has a lot of gringos and expats loses much of the cost of living advantages of Latin America -- though my "research" has been far from exhaustive.
|
I was going to post before that it was a little more expensive than Mexico city, but I'm not really sure I can tell you. Roughly the same I guess. Cuernavaca isn't overrun by gringos, just that there are more there relatively speaking vs. Mexico City. You can go to a decent restaurant in Mexico City and not see any visible gringos, whereas if you went to a decent restaurant in Cuernavaca you would probably see other Americans from the language schools. And the bars/nightclubs were similar. Of course I'm sure we ended up hanging out at the more gringo-friendly establishments in Cuernavaca so that could color my experience as well.
In general, I would say everything in Cuernavaca is still about half what it would cost in the US. That goes for things like meals, transportation, lodging (short and long term), services, drinks, cover charge at bars/clubs, clothes, groceries, etc. The only thing a lot more expensive were imported name brand products. Bar soap (ivory spring or something) was 2x the cost at walmart up here. So if Cuernavaca is more expensive than Mexico City, not by a lot. Although there are cheaper places in Mexico. And this is based on 10 year old data, but I don't think things have changed radically in that time.
From what I remember, a beer full price at a club or restaurant was $0.80-1.00, happy hour = $0.35-0.50. A cheap meal was $3-4. Street food = $1-1.50 for a big meal. Taxis = 1.5-2 bucks for a few miles, bus = $0.3, hotel = $10-20 for low end, $30-40 for nice local hotel. Apartments could be rented monthly for $200 low end, basic studios probably, or $500-600 for something decent, furnished, couple of bedrooms, may include housekeeping and shared or private pool. Everything may be a bit more expensive now.
A night out clubbing, drinking, and dining with taxi to/from/around town was $20 if you didn't go too crazy. So it was usually $30 for me.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
02-03-2010, 08:44 PM
|
#52
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 119
|
The US perception of Mexico is such a shame. I was very afraid to visit Mexico based on stereotypes and fear of the unknown.
After visiting Mexico City over a dozen times I've grown fond of the place. Last year I spend 3 weeks Guadalajara brushing up on my spanish.
Saying Mexico is dangerous is like saying the US is dangerous. You can't generalize about giant countries with over 100 million and 300 million respectively.
I wouldn't visit Juarez or Tijuana on vacation these days but so many other wonderful places are fabulous and perfectly safe.
|
|
|
02-05-2010, 07:13 AM
|
#53
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Worldwide
Posts: 913
|
Ziggy 29
Quote:
Can I assume that it's quite a bit more expensive? I've found that almost everything in Latin America that's clean, safe and has a lot of gringos and expats loses much of the cost of living advantages of Latin America -- though my "research" has been far from exhaustive.
|
Hi Ziggy,
While what you say is true - the more conveniences you get in Latin America the more expensive it becomes, especially in high tourist destinations - we have found that there is a good, comfortable middle where you can live well for less by living locally. Life in the States, Canada and many places in Europe are far more costly than in Latin America. It does take lifestyle discipline at first, but after a while it becomes second nature.
I guess too, that it depends on which amenities you are wanting. Lots of small towns have cable tv, internet, good, cheap transport and of course, hot and cold running water, electricity, pharmacies and grocery stores. If you want deep sea fishing, first rate golf courses, upscale avant-guarde international cuisine, first run theater and movie options… well then, yes that will cost more.
FreqFlyer
Quote:
The US perception of Mexico is such a shame. I was very afraid to visit Mexico based on stereotypes and fear of the unknown…Saying Mexico is dangerous is like saying the US is dangerous…I wouldn't visit Juarez or Tijuana on vacation these days but so many other wonderful places are fabulous and perfectly safe.
|
We feel exactly the same way and you put it so well. We have been saying this for years, based on our personal experience, but many people are - like you say - too afraid to visit.
We could say that we are going to go to Malaysia, Greece, Morocco, The Philippines, or Brazil, and no one would blink an eye. The moment we mention Mexico… whew! Emotions get high!
All the best,
Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement
__________________
In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. They have lived over 2 decades of this financially independent lifestyle, traveling the globe.
|
|
|
02-07-2010, 08:46 AM
|
#54
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
|
I am not afraid of Mexico in the least, but there are places I would not go. Mexico City is more of a challenge than I want to take on just yet. Also, I can't think of a reason to want to go there.
As always, do your homework.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
|
|
|
02-07-2010, 12:33 PM
|
#55
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by FreqFlyer
The US perception of Mexico is such a shame. I was very afraid to visit Mexico based on stereotypes and fear of the unknown...
|
Tell me about it. I got an email in December from friends in Newport Beach who wanted to know if they should come down to their timeshare in January! They have been coming to PV for over twenty years! I said sure, come on down. It is just the same as before except the restaurants have more specials.
During my stay here from November to June each year, I find it safer that east Vancouver. Sure hope all those Olympic athletes are protected from the drug crimes in Vancouver.
__________________
For the fun of it...Keith
|
|
|
02-07-2010, 03:54 PM
|
#56
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,765
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orchidflower
Libertarianism is great in theory...that, unfortunately, won't work in real life. But if it only could....I'd be in.
|
As opposed to Republicanism and Democratism, which are working oh so well!
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
|
|
|
02-07-2010, 05:31 PM
|
#57
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,323
|
__________________
Please consider adopting a rescue animal. So very many need a furr-ever home and someone to love them! And if we all spay/neuter our pets there won't be an overpopulation to put to death.
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|