Vacation to the Yucatan: How to save $$$

One of the purposes for this blog was to review everything, including travel. You will find it that I give my opinion honestly. Hopefully by writing about my last international trip it can help you as a traveler enjoy your precious vacation time.

I will be taking my excerpts from my personal travel journal; I will share with you the highlights of the trip, rather than bog you down with the details. Just a reminder, all the photos in this website belong to me. Please do not use them. As an amateur photographer I am very picky about my work.

Lastly, there is a large difference between a "traveler" and a "tourist". Tourists like to: spend money in trinkets, eat at the nicest restaurants, travel in groups, demand things from the locals and act rudely.

A traveler on the other hand, is willing to inmerse themselves in the culture their are experiencing, they are guests in the country they visit, rather than consumers. They don't turn their noses at strange food, or make demands from the locals. When you are traveler you see so much more! I hope that my tips can make your "travels" worthwhile.

My travel posts are for travelers. For you tourists, please go to your travel agent.

My family and I getting ready for Mexico!

How to save money in the Yucatan:

First of all, every trip should start with a budget. Some of the things we did to save a few bucks and stretch our hard earned dollars, were:

• Fly to the Yucatan open jaw. We arrived in Merida and departed from Cancun, this alone saved us about $200.


• Eat breakfast at “panderias or panificadoras”. You can eat delicious pastries and get some OJ for less than $2.


• Eat lunch or dinner at places where the locals eat. The locals eat at places called “comida economica”. It is a type of fast food, but way cheaper. You can get a very good lunch for under $4.


• When you travel in the peninsula, rather than using a taxi, use the public transportation, for about $6 (first class) you can get from Valladolid to Tulum. If you take a taxi make sure you agree on the price first. When you travel this way you can actually see the countryside. Another option if you are really strapped for money, is to take the “colectivos”. These colectivos are very large vans that make frequent stops. You can ride them for about $0.50.


• Don’t bother to take your laptop. You can find Internet cafes everywhere. The connection is not super fast, however this will allow you to email home or even skype. I think I paid a nickel per minute.


• If you are going to buy any souvenirs, the place to do this is actually Chichen Itza. I priced souvenirs all throughout the peninsula, and came to find out that the prices at the ruins are actually some of the best. The nice thing about this is that you can find pretty much anything here.


• We also went on the off season in January. The temperature was quite cool and there wasn't many crowds. The airfare was cheapest during this month.