River Cruising: A Languid Stroll Down Liquid Highways (2)

When last I left you  . . . or you left me . . . let’s not quibble over who broke it off, we were strolling hand in hand down that most renowned of liquid highways, the incomparable Rhine river.  I had made some tortured pun on the name of our ship and you had tittered in that coy way you have. Then, suddenly, you slipped away into the heavy mist that creeps along the river’s banks like a cat burglar in ballet slippers.   Let’s resume our journey and see if we can’t recapture a bit of yesterday’s magic.

Before we leave Amsterdam for good though, I just have to show you this picture as a dire warning that even a pastime as noble as gardening can go to seed, so to speak. You could build an entire reality show called “Horticulture Gone Wild” based on this yard alone.  Did you notice the garage roof?

One of my favorite stops along the way was Cologne from which we get our word . . . cologne.  I figured that out without resorting to the guide book.  And speaking of guides, Viking River Cruises has this fantastic system whereby every passenger is given a headset to use on walking tours.  If you look closely at our guide, whom I called Hoss Cartwright (behind his rather imposing back, of course), you can see his microphone.

The reincarnation of Hoss Cartwright.

“Hoss” was an absolute mountain of a man.  Let’s just say he cut a wide swath and I quickly found that if you followed in his wake you could careen along behind him no matter how many Peppermint Schnaps you might have imbibed. I will say, “Hoss” had a masterful grasp of colorful local history and and a very entertaining way of presenting it.

The first picture below is a great illustration as to why comfortable walking shoes are an absolute must on this kind of experience.  The second picture is the perfect advertisement for:

1) living in the south of France instead of the north of Germany

2) letting your wife dress you in the morning

3) finally, for choosing a musical instrument that is smaller than you are! I wonder if this guy ever gave serious consideration to an harmonica.

 If you are foolhardy enough to book another river cruise company besides Viking River Cruises, the picture below depicts the cabin you will likely end up with.  Just so you know, having waterfowl hanging on your wall will cost you a surcharge..  OK, just a little harmless joke, other river cruise partners.  Actually, there are several quality river cruise companies out there but Viking is certainly an industry leader in many categories.  They are not the cheapest nor the most expensive but they provide incredible value for price.  They have won a number of very prestigious awards.  You might want to read my recent post on Travel Deals And Other Mythical Creatures for a little perspective on travel values verses supposed deals.

If I have rekindled your affection as well as sparked your passion for this wonderful way to see the world, are you willing to indulge me one final installment in this little trilogy?  If so, let’s make a date to meet back here in a few days where we will conclude our river odyssey.

River Cruising: A Languid Stroll Down Liquid Highways

There is a very good reason that so many great cities, not only in Europe but throughout the world, are found alongside some of the world’s most majestic rivers.  Before relatively recent times, challenging terrain posed many obstacles to travel over land.  In the rivers, however, the merchants found ready-made highways to transport their goods and thus these cities sprung up as inland ports-of-call.  River cruising is capitalizing upon this reality and rapidly becoming one of the hottest vacation options in travel.

A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to experience a truly magnificent river cruise aboard the Viking Helvetia.  We sailed from Amsterdam to Basel mostly along the Rhine River.  Part of what made the experience so enjoyable was that I was sauntering along with eighty or so of my closest friends.  You are no doubt shocked I would have 80 casual acquaintances much less that many close friends.

The wheels on the bus go round and round.

You might be surprised to learn how much natural affinity there is between us like-minded, quirky travel folks.  We tend to congregate in large clusters, kind of like the Amish but without the beards . . .  and the foggiest notion of what’s appropriate in public, of course.  Actually I count the folks in this picture among my dear friends. At least I did before I published this candid shot on the internet without their permission where it will linger in some dank corner of cyberspace for all eternity.  Flip’s not really driving.  It just sort of looks that way.

I discovered that there are a whole host of things I like about river cruising, first and foremost being the leisurely pace.  Someone like my fellow blogger Lesley Carter over at Bucket List Publications, a frequenter of these pages, God love her,  would probably have to parasail behind the ship upside down, blindfolded and tethered to concertina wire just to stay awake.  Check out her blog to see what I mean.

However, for those of us for whom an adrenaline rush is defined as sipping a mellow Malbec in a dimly lit room, it is ideal.   When you are trying to absorb several hundred years of European history through the bar’s gigantic picture window, even five knots an hour seems like wave running.  Captain, can’t you slow this thing down a bit!

Giant Archimedes’ screws

Our first stop was in Kinderdijk where we did a windmill excursion.  If you have ever wondered how they move water around in a country which is largely below sea level check out these gigantic Archimedes’ screws.  Those of you who are expecting one of my typical crude attempts at humor will have to wait a sentence or two.  I’m not touching this one.

Just to prove I actually was in The Netherlands, here is one of many windmills dotting the landscape.  And no, dear skeptics out there, I did not photoshop the third hole at my local miniature golf course.  I can tell by your drooping eyelids that I am not going to be able to hold your attention all the way to Basel.  Therefore I have made an editorial decision, seeing as I am what passes for an editor around here, to return next post with more of my heart-throbbing river adventures.  I have decided to do this just for the  Helvetia of it.  (Now there’s the kind of pathetic pun you have come to expect from your humble blogger.)

Have you ever been on a river cruise?  After reading this scintillating post, would you like to?  Check it out here. At you own languid pace, of course!

A Life Lesson Learned in London

I have been an Anglophile as far back as I can remember . . .which lately seems to be about the day before yesterday.  Even before I got into the travel business, my brother and I used to own a book store and had a yen to visit the mother country.  I realize now that no amount of yen would have done us any good in Great Britain, since they use pounds, but, to my credit, my grasp of world currencies has expanded greatly since then.

Our bookstore was located next to the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary whose students had a rapacious (unfortunate choice of words, perhaps) appetite for classic 19th century biblical commentaries.   This seemed liked the perfect excuse, as if we needed one, to hop over the pond and scour used book shops for as many of said tomes as we could unearth.

Picture from Health Insurance Solutions of London

Having, if possible, less sense in those days than I do now, my first introduction to London was landing at Gatwick Airport, renting a stick-shift car and driving blithely into the heart of central London as if I were taking a Sunday stroll in Hyde Park.  After grinding the transmission into first gear with an unfamiliar use of the left hand and finding the clutch in a ridiculously unlikely spot on the floorboard, we were almost flattened by a lorry the size of a Cotswold Tudor cottage pulling out of the car rental agency because I instinctively glanced in the wrong direction.  Had the guardian angel in charge of dim-witted book sellers not been working overtime, you hapless readers would have never had a chance to read all these stimulating blog posts you find so entertaining.  I know, a very chilling thought indeed.

The point I am trying to make in my insufferable, laborious way is that from that first visit I fell in love with England.  My role as a travel entrepreneur . . . goodness, that term makes me sound almost successful . .  has enabled me to make many return trips.  On one such trip I was delivered a mortifying tutorial as only the Brits can dispense.

I was wandering one day off Fleet Street when I stopped by Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub.  The sign outside reads “Rebuilt 1667″ which, of course, was the year following the great London fire making it practically a new build in English historical terms.   The pub has been the haunt of literary geniuses for centuries making it all the more apropos that I should stop by.  Speaking of other literary lights, I had just read the famous biography  Boswell’s Life of Johnson.

Portrait of Samuel Johnson commissioned for Henry Thrale’s Streatham Park gallery (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Samuel Johnson, who compiled one of the earliest English dictionaries, was a frequent visitor to said pub and, in point of fact, you can to this day sit in his favorite chair.  He won’t mind.

The house where Johnson lived and did all his lexicographical labor is now a museum and just a short walk away from the pub.  I decided to take a tour since I had enjoyed the biography so immensely.  Upon entering the very narrow, four-story edifice, I turned to the right and began examining various objects on display.   Sitting quietly on a bench was an unassuming, bespectacled  lady.  As our eyes met, she asked me “Are you a fan of Dr. Johnson?”  “Oh yes,” I assured her.  As if to offer proof, though none was requested, I blurted out, “I loved the clever remark he once made about an attorney,” at which point I offered what can only be called a badly mangled version of the quote.

Without a pause the woman replied, “I believe the remark you have in mind is where Johnson said ” . .  he did not care to speak ill of any man behind his back, but he believed the gentleman was an attorney.”   Thus having inserted the stiletto into the deepest recesses of my bloated ego, she slowly turned it further by saying, “I have always thought Dr. Johnson is best remembered when he is quoted accurately, don’t you?”

I learned two important things that day.   The woman in question was the curator of the museum and more importantly, “Never attempt to carelessly quote any famous personage in their own home!”

Have you had any similar “teachable moments” in your travels?

A Few Flights of Fancy at F.I.T.A.

Here is a quick sampling of a few things that tickled my fancy at F.I.T.A.   See previous post to learn all about this annual event in Mexico City.

Your humble servant receiving his golden (that’s garland, with an upgrade) wreath.

Service with a special flair!

Mexican Cook Off

Standing in the reserved press corp section for the ribbon cutting like a real journalist!

I haven’t forgotten that I promised to tell you not only about Distrito Capital, the hotel that hosted me so admirably during the conference, but the three other hotels GroupoHabita operates in Mexico City.   Coming very soon!

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The F.I.T.A.

Apologies to Stephen Sondheim for  my shameless ripoff of the title of his famous musical, “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”.  Stephen, I want you to feel totally justified in naming your next musical after of one of my blog posts.  Turn about is fair play, after all.  I am thinking “A Round-About Way To A Nervous Breakdown”, for example, should make a great little farce.

F.I.T.A. is the International Tourism Fair of the Americas.  This event is only three years old and is held in the Santa Fe region of Mexico City at the Expo Bancomer.  I know, you are waiting breathlessly for the “funny thing happened” part.  Well, I was sitting in my office a few weeks back, molesting no one and only irritating a small handful, when I received an email invitation to this event as a “prominent travel company”.  While still basking in my apparent prominence, I get a second invitation within minutes to attend the same event as an esteemed member of the Fourth Estate.  Wow, prominent and esteemed all within ten minutes.

I confess that I was a bit taken aback since I thought the Fourth Estate was the smallest of Donald Trump’s several summer homes.   When it was explained that they wanted me to come as part of the press corp, I immediately rushed out and bought the appropriate hat although, judging from the looks I got, this particular accoutrement has not yet caught on in Mexico City.

As I mentioned above, this is only the third year for this event and the purpose over time is to create a major international travel show like those held in Berlin and New York.  In addition to the expected exhibitors from Mexico, there were also booths representing Russia, Japan, India and several other countries.  The Expo Bancomer is a very nice, quite modern facility.  The main improvement they could make, at least in the opinion of this “prominent entrepreneur / eminent journalist’”, would be to enhance the signal strength of the wi-fi.  The exhibit hall where we spent most of our time was downstairs and to say the signal was spotty is more than a little generous. I spent several hours looking for that mystical spot.

There were 600 exhibitors in attendance as well as over 4000 travel buyers and press.  The first two days are intended for those in the travel trade with the weekend reserved for consumers who might wish to obtain information on various destinations.  I attended several press conferences where unfortunately, at least for this uncivilized American monoglot, the translation from Spanish to English was as spotty as the wi-fi.  It is somewhat to be expected since the majority of the participants are Spanish-speakers but if they truly want to grow the event to international proportions, more deference needs to be shown to the monolingual.

In spite of these opportunities for improvement, it was an excellent event. Personally, I made a couple of beneficial business contacts that I think will pay dividends going forward.  At the end of the day, networking and relationship building is largely what these events are all about.  Even in, or maybe especially in, our digital age, there is a pressing need for face to face, personal interaction.  And if that happens to occur at a cocktail party over a cheeky little Cabernet, so much the better.

Come back soon or, better yet, subscribe below to receive email notifications of new posts and I will tell you not only about Distrito Capital, the hotel that hosted me so admirably during the conference, but the three other hotels GroupoHabita operates in Mexico City.  Who knows, you might even get to meet the Minister of Tourism for Mexico City.

Cancun: A Bundle (or Unbundle) of Fun

Let’s suppose, just for the sake of knocking out another killer blog post, you are a bit of a Mexico travel newbie and you are thinking about going to Cancun and/or the Riviera Maya.  Whoa . . . let’s stop right there because we are barely past the first sentence and we have already encountered the first potential toe stub.  You know for a fact you have heard of Cancun and you are pretty sure you have heard of Riviera Maya . . or was it the Mayan Riviera . . . or perhaps Playacar . . . or maybe Playa del Carmen?

Fortunately for you, I can resolve this little mystery, if not in a heartbeat, for sure in a short burst of atrial fibrillation.

Cancun – Properly speaking, this is the resort town on the north-east coast of the Yucatán peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo.  Don’t even try to pronounce the state.  You will only sprain your tongue!

Riviera Maya or Mayan Riviera -  this is the tourist district that has grown up south of Cancun along Highway 307 which parallels the Caribbean coastline of that state we have agreed we not to pronounce.   It used to be called the Cancun – Tulum corridor but someone decided that sounded too much like a dingy hallway in a cheap hotel.

Playacar and Playa del Carmen – Playacar was the original development south of Cancun built around what was then a tiny fishing village called Playa del Carmen.

Assuming you are more interested in a nice vacation than a history/geography lesson, here is pretty much all you need to know.  Both Cancun and “everything south” (feel free to use whichever of the aforementioned terms rolls most easily off your tongue) are served by the same airport and essentially are one giant destination, not that you will get their respective tourist boards to admit it!

In this particular blog I am not going to address the question of which destination might

Cancun Beach (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

better suit your particular fancy.  I will leave that for another post.  Instead, I will answer the question that is hinted at in the title:  to bundle or nor to bundle?

Let’s assume you are astute enough to know you should avail yourself of the services of an experienced travel agent.  If you are not yet convinced,  surely you will be after you read yet another stimulating blog post coming soon about that very subject!  I am like Jimmy Durante sans the patrician nose, “I got a million of ‘em.”

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. As I count them, there are three possibilities.  Keep in mind I flunked logic so I could have overlooked something here.

Possibility One:  Fully Bundled

Travel agencies (retailers) work through middle-men (wholesalers) called tour companies whose role it is to assemble all the components of a great vacation into one irresistible package.  These elements usually consist of an airline ticket (scheduled or charter), a hotel package (European, American or All-inclusive plans), a transfer (airport/hotel/airport) and perhaps some activities, tours or excursions.

Possibility Two:  Partly Bundled

Let’s suppose you have amassed more frequent flier miles than a middle-eastern diplomat.  Or maybe you work for an airline and plan to use your airline passes so you don’t need any help with airfare.  Conversely, you could be invited to stay in some patsy’s over-priced, under-utilized time share condominium and you don’t need hotel accommodations but do need an airline ticket and transfers.

Possibility Three:  Unbundled

For this scenario, let’s assume you suffer from stage four masochism and you delight in making things a lot harder than they have to be just for the sheer delight of it.  You decide you are going to get on the net and research every component separately.  Two days and several stiff drinks later, you emerge from your home office with that glassy-eyed, glazed look that only comes from information overload coupled with the paralysis of analysis.

We tolerant travel counselors are not here to pass judgment on any of these approaches (OK, maybe a smidge on the last one).  What we would like you to know is that we can render invaluable service whether you need a lot of help from us or just a little.

Here, let me prove it.  For our final scenario, let’s assume you win two free tickets to Cancun in a golf tournament hole-in-one contest.  Next, you win a seven night stay in a five-star, all-inclusive resort as a contestant on “Dancing With The Stars”.  Finally, your next door neighbor, to whom you recently donated a kidney, just happens to operate a fleet of limos in . . . “Who would have ever guessed?” . . . Cancun, Mexico or all places.

Sunset Dinner Cruise

But what are you going to do when you get there?  What tours will you take, in which activities will you partake, which excursions will you book?   Not to worry.  We can even help with even that one small, yet critical, piece of the puzzle.  Click here to peruse a couple of dozen exciting activity options and once you have made your selection, you can just book it online.  See how easy that was?

I intend to devote an entire upcoming post to all the exciting things there are to see and do in this one-of-a-kind destination!  Why don’t you take a second and subscribe at the bottom of this post and be assured of not missing a thing?

If You Love Mexico, Read And SHARE

Devoted followers of this space . . . and may your tribe increase by the way . . . will be aware that a couple of weeks ago I wrote a post called Mexico Maligned which was intended as a counter-balance to the generally one-sided treatment Mexico typically receives in the main stream press. My ultimate purpose was to challenge consumers to make their decision whether to travel to Mexico based on something other than dramatic media reports about selective areas.

Since posting that article, I have launched a campaign I am calling, “If you love Mexico, read and SHARE”.  I hope to entice other travel bloggers, tweeters (#mexicomaligned), Facebook aficionados, travel agents and consumers who love Mexico to join me in waging our own little grass roots campaign.  By so doing, I hope to unleash the phenomenal power of exponential growth.

To understand how the internet can be, and often is, a force of nature, consider this.  There used to hang on a wall in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry a checkerboard, a grain of rice and a card below with this explanation.

“If you were to place one grain of rice on the first square of this checkerboard and double it to two on the second, double again to four on the third square and so forth, by the time you reached the sixty-fourth square you would have enough rice on that square alone to bury the sub-continent of India fifty feet deep in rice or, put another way, laid end to end to reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest star and back twice.”

So let’s suppose everyone reading these words took up this challenge and read Mexico Maligned and more importantly shared the post using the social media share buttons on the bottom of the page through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn or email.  Let’s further assume, on average, two people with whom they shared did the same thing, including both reading and sharing, and those people did the same, etc.  In three weeks over 300,000,000 people would have read Mexico Maligned, roughly the population of the US!

Now do I think that is likely to happen?  Of course not!  Such mathematical formulas always break down because people are involved, some of whom don’t continue the chain of events.  But here is the good news!  It doesn’t have to work anywhere near perfection to potentially reach tens of thousands of people.

In the past couple of weeks I have earned a measure of gratitude from many Mexico lovers (check out the comments on the blog post) and a deep sense of satisfaction for myself.   I suppose I would rather be a modern-day Don Quixote tweeting against windmills than just capitulating to a myopic media.

I heartily invite you, dear reader, to join the fray.   To savor a bit of both the appreciation and satisfaction for yourself is pretty simple really.  Just read and SHARE using the social media share buttons at the bottom of the blog post.

The Mysterious Doors of San Miguel de Allende

Who among us has never fantasized about time travel?

Mercado Ignacio Ramirez

The frenetic pace of contemporary life has many of us longing for a simpler, less complicated era when time sufficed to appreciate the wonders of the world and the richness of relationships.  If this describes you, I have some very exciting news.  As one of the few *academicians on earth to fully grasp the intricacies of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (or is it General Theory of Relativity), I am able to exend you an exclusive offer of time travel to an idyllic and forgotten past. 

*  For those cynics out there who may be dubious regarding my claim to be an academician, I simply point you to my advanced degree in golf ball technology earned at my local Sports Authority.

It has been my unmerited privilege the past twenty-five years to circumnavigate this mystical orb we all share as our temporal home.  On one such excursion, I discovered one of the most magical spots  anywhere on the globe.  It is practically in our own backyard (if you live in Texas as I do, at any rate), easy to get to, enjoys an idyllic climate, is eminently safe and secure, is highly affordable and chock-full of mysteries and wonders.

Restaurant Carcassonne

Even the name is alluring:  San Miguel de Allende.  By way of a quick history lesson, the city was founded in 1542 by a Franciscan monk named San Miguel El Grande . . apparently he consumed a few too many poblano peppers . . .and the town originally was simply called San Miguel.   It was renamed San Miguel de Allende after Ignacio Allende, a hero of the independence movement which was centered in San Miguel and the surrounding towns of Dolores Hidalgo and Querétaro.  I trust by this point you are duly impressed by my mastery of mathematics, Mexican history and, not to be sneezed at, golf ball spin ratios and launch angles.  Ah yes, a true Renaissance man.

But I digress.  Let me elaborate on a few of the qualities mentioned above.  I said it is easy to get to and so it is.  From all over the US you can connect on American through DFW or United through Houston’s IAH airport to daily non-stop flights to Querétaro, which is a very easy and pleasant one hour’s drive from San Miguel on an excellent highway.  Another feature I mentioned is the climate.  After the heat waves scorching the nation this summer, how does year-round highs in the low eighties and lows in the lower sixties sound?

As to security (see my previous post called Mexico Maligned), it is perhaps one of the safest cities anywhere.  Approximately 12 percent of the population are ex-pats, mostly Americans with some Canadians and Europeans, who have moved there to enjoy San Miguel’s wonders year round.   The city is currently pursuing an international designation as a “Secure City” based on its stellar record of security.

Guitarists playing in Restaurante La Felguera

San Miguel is renowned for its artist’s colonies and language schools.  It was designated in July of 2008 a World Heritage Site which in part explains one of San Miguel’s most endearing qualities.  There is a consistently mandated effort to maintain the integrity of all building exteriors.  Thus, when you walk along the narrow, cobblestone streets (comfortable walking shoes are a must, by the way),  you will constantly encounter weather-beaten old doors that you would assume hide some dilapidated home or abandoned shop.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Behind many of those gnarly, battered doors are amazingly beautiful restaurants, hotels and tiendas (shops).  But you don’t have to take my word for that.  I took lots of pictures of San Miguel and Querétaro on my recent trip and you can peruse them at your leisure at a special photo site I created called The Magical Heart of San Miguel.

Above and beyond all the architectural, archaeological, historical and gastronomical treasures San Miguel has to offer, it is first and foremost a place to relax, to reflect and to renew.  I promise that when you return from your visit to San Miguel you will leave a piece of your heart there but San Miguel will more than reciprocate the loss by sending you home with a new sense of calm and perspective.

Mexico Maligned

THE MEDIA’S MYOPIA

If you look up myopia in thefreedictionary.com you will find it defined as ” . . .a visual defect in which distant objects appear blurred because their images are focused in front of the retina rather than on it; nearsightedness.”   What you won’t find there, but probably should, are pictures of almost every major U.S. cable and broadcast news network.

Most of us have long since figured out that the 24-hour news cycle demands a relentless stream of drama-dripping, nerve-jangling “Breaking News” alerts every half-hour. God forbid eyeballs should be allowed to wander.  That reality is unfortunate on a number of levels but nowhere more so than here where an entire noble nation is callously maligned.

Just to be clear, I am not suggesting that the media “has it in for Mexico”.  Not at all.  This is not another rant against media bias.  What I do maintain, however, is that in their insatiable thirst for the salacious, Mexico and its 112 million proud people are in the minds of the media – assuming they bother to think about such things at all – unfortunate collateral damage.  Just like the definition above, the media’s image of Mexico is blurred precisely because their focus is on one relatively small, admittedly ugly reality and thus falls woefully short of the retina of responsible reportage.

As an unrepentant lover of Mexico, I confess it is hard not to take this personally  What if day after day you had to read gross exaggerations, half-truths and outright, and often outrageous, lies about someone you cherished?  You don’t need to respond to my rhetorical question because we both know that it would make your blood boil.  So imagine how I feel, laboring away in the vineyards of travel and being subjected to a flood of negative news reports about Mexico, a country of incredible beauty, rich history and some of the finest people God ever planted on this planet.

THE THREE METRICS THAT MATTER  

Let’s turn our attention to three practical metrics you can use for measuring the safety of Mexico.

Metric One:  Geography

Allow me to share a couple of realities that seldom get mentioned by the media.  The first is the fact that the vast majority of the security problems in Mexico are restricted to towns along the border and a few other scattered sites.  It is worth noting that Mexico has over 2500 municipalities and security problems have been concentrated in just 18 of them.  You probably won’t run across this embarrassing little jewel either, embarrassing to the US that is.  It almost makes you question the wisdom of staying at home!

The second fact rarely discussed is the immense size of Mexico (roughly the size of Western Europe) and the distances between historical hot spots and resort cities. Take a look at the map below. You may be surprised to discover that it is roughly 1000 miles from Juarez to Cancun and almost 800 miles from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas.  The white line is meant to suggest how head-scratchingly strange we here in the US would find it if a potential visitor from a foreign country shared with us that he was apprehensive about visiting San Diego because he had heard of a recent ugly incident in New Orleans.

Map showing relative distances in Mexico

Metric Two:  Statistics

Here are a few interesting facts you probably have not heard in the media:

1)     The Mexican Ministry of Tourism revealed that 2011 was a record-breaking year for tourism with. 23.4 million international travelers visiting Mexico in 2011.

2)     The Mexican Ministry of Tourism announced that 4.99 million international tourists visited Mexico between January-April 2012, representing an increase of 5.3 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

3)     Mexico is currently rated 10^th in the world rankings for most international visitors and has publicly set a goal to be in the top 5 by 2018.

4)     There are currently no US travel advisories in place for popular tourist destinations like Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya and Tulum, the Riviera Nayarit, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara and San Miguel de Allende, Leon or even Mexico City.

Metric Three:  Experience

If you were to ask me the number one reason I believe Mexico is safe I would say it is based on my own personal experience.  I have been traveling there for over 25 years, multiple times many years, without ever once being threatened or harassed.   My story is but one of millions as the statistics above corroborate.

If you would like to hear some real stories from real people talking about the real Mexico, just visit the Mexico Taxi Project.  These are unscripted comments from consumers just like you on their way home from the airport upon returning to the US.   OK, there may be a couple of folks in those clips still feeling the negative effects of over-indulgence but hey, hangovers don’t reach the threat threshold set for this blog post.

Teatro Juaürez in Guanajuato City

SUMMARY

I hope I have demonstrated that striking Mexico off your list of vacation destinations based solely on money driven media reports is, dare I say it, illogical, irrational and well . . myopic.  The real shame is that you are depriving yourself of one of the most value centered travel experiences available anywhere in the world.  Mexico has world-class hotels, incredible dining, exciting activities and rich traditions all tendered to the world by humble masters of unparalleled service.

Unfortunately, this humble blogger doesn’t have a prayer by himself of making the least dint in the news coverage of Mexico.  Unbowed and undeterred, however, I shall keep on lending my own voice to many others crying in the wilderness.  I shall attend Mexico, I shall defend Mexico, I shall recommend Mexico!  My only hope is that your decision, fellow traveler, when it is made, will be based on a basic grasp of geography, a familiarity with a few simple statistics and a confident reliance on the consistent testimony of a legion of travelers to Mexico with irrefutable firsthand knowledge.

Whatever you eventually decide, I will fully respect your decision. But please,and again I say please, don’t let a myopic media’s thirst for mayhem rob you of experiencing one of the world’s great treasures. Take if from one who knows, you will be the poorer for it.

If you love Mexico as much as I do, would you consider sharing this post with you own circle of influence using the social media links provided below?

Learn more at:

• www.magicofmexico.com
• www.visitmexico.com
• www.mexicotoday.org

Build A Travel Bridge To Somewhere

Last post I shared some thoughts on my attempt to bridge the generational divide in my own family through multi-generational travel.  Here is the rest of my personal quest.

Endless Activities

If your grandchildren are at all like mine, they will constantly crave ever more stimulating activities and this is where Marival Residences really shines.  I have been to countless all-inclusive properties over the years but never to a property quite as ALL-inclusive as this one.  There is something for every generation.

Speaking personally, I no longer…actually, I am pretty sure I never did…associate terror with pleasure.  In fact, to me they are pretty much mutually exclusive.  Therefore, to say that careening through the jungle canopy sixty feet off the ground suspended by a narrow wire cable with decades of deeds and misdeeds flashing through my conscience did not appeal to me is a gross understatement.  I left that particular temptation of fate to the pure hearted sons-in-law and grandsons.  My hunger for excitement was more than satiated hitting a towering four- iron from 185 yards out  that nestled close to the pin on the fifth hole of the Weiskopf course at Vista Vallarta.  Asking if I sunk the birdie putt would only interrupt the flow of this blog.

One activity that we immensely enjoyed as a group was the dolphin and the sea-lion encounters.  Of the two, surprisingly the bigger hit by far was the sea-lion experience.  Both experiences are offered at the same location and you can book them back to back one hour apart as we did.  (Insider tip # 3:  If you only have time to do one, choose the sea-lion experience.)  These gentle behemoths interact with people in amazing ways.

I wish I could tell you all about the spectacular sunset cruise that is also included in the Marival Residences package.  The reason I cannot brings us to another tip.  (Insider tip # 4:  Do not schedule the sunset cruise on your last night in paradise.) 

Dinner cruise

The reason for this is you might well face the same ugly insurrection I confronted when the family realized they would not get back until well after 10 o’clock at night to face packing and an early wake up call for the flight home.  The fact that they stormed my room wearing straw hats and brandishing pitchforks is merely another testament to the resourcefulness of Carlos, the ubiquitous concierge who seemingly can supply anything.

Your New Best Friends

Which leads me to another pearl of wisdom.  (Insider tip # 5:  Make Carlos your new best friend…which will be quite easy to do…within the first twenty minutes you are at the resort.)  Carlos and his assistant Mayte are the kind of people for whom you would gladly risk human smuggling charges to bring them back in your suitcase.  If God has fashioned two more earnest and enchanting souls, I have yet to meet them.

Take it to the bank (as long as it’s not my bank), if you are looking for the perfect multi-generational vacation, the Marival Residences & World Spa deserves some serious consideration.  But wherever you decide to travel, take heart in hand and seize the opportunity to bridge the generational gap in your family.   I would be thrilled for the chance to make it happen for you (guacamole and all).

Have you ever experienced multi-generational travel?  Tell me about it.  Until we meet again, travel safe.