Today, we huddled around a laptop to experience #Batkid. We’re so proud of you, San Francisco! (more…)
Author: Chris & Tamara
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14Nov13
These teens play volleyball along the Malecón several times a week — and they’re actually pretty good to watch. The owner of a restaurant we went to today gave us some great recommendations on places to visit while in Mexico City, so we’re excited about that.
But what Chris was really excited about was the bolsita de churros we got on the street right afterwards. Our favorite place is just outside of Mercado Madero on Ave Revolución. Only 15 pesos for a bolsita with five.
We also need to start planning Holly’s quinceañera sometime soon. As always, she’s the belle of the ball, attracting lots of comments and new friends while on her walks. She turns 15 on Dec. 26. If you have ideas about what she should do to celebrate, leave them in the comments.
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10Nov13
You may be wondering just what we’re doing with our time while we’re traveling full time. So here is a peek behind the curtain.
/ GENERAL LIFE STUFF / Some things don’t change. We do our laundry once a week, walk the dog three times a day, do the dishes, make our bed. Our rent includes cleaning service once a week, so that’s nice.
/ WALKS / La Paz is known for its Malecón, so we go on lots of walks. Chris is better about it than me. I haven’t been running since I was sick, so I should probably get back into that. Last night there was tons of stuff going on on the Malecón: telescopes and a planetarium-style presentation, a cooking contest, teens selling cupcakes to fundraise, and just lots of people walking around.
/ EATING & COOKING / While this is technically “general life stuff,” I include it separately because a) we love to eat, and b) it’s our biggest expense besides housing. We budgeted an average of $30 USD/day for food, which has proven to be plenty. We’ve certainly exceeded it on some days, but are typically at or below that. Taco stands are a great source of filling and delicious food. I’ve also learned that many of them don’t expect you to pay until you’re done eating, just like at a restaurant. We also hang out at coffee shops often, usually with my dad. We also intentionally rented an apartment with a kitchen so we could cook.
/ LEARNING / Chris took an online internship about blogging, SEO and building websites, and the work from that is continuing. I’m taking a Skillshare class on photo editing which is going well so far. (My free online photo editor of choice is Pixlr, in case you’re interested.) We’re also both working on improving our Spanish by talking to as many people as possible and practicing using online quizzes.
/ TEACHING / As I’ve mentioned, Chris and I are volunteering as English teachers at a local library. It’s been a good experience so far and we’ve learned a lot. It’s been an interesting challenge trying to figure out the skill level of the students and coming up with lessons that are dynamic. We only have a few more weeks, and I’m considering offering to be an email pen pal if any of the students want to continue practicing once we’re gone. There’s another woman who will be here through end of December from Denver who is also teaching. We’ll need to find some new volunteer positions for when we get to Mexico City.
/ SIGHTSEEING / We haven’t done a ton of sightseeing because we’ve been to La Paz several times before and have seen a lot of it. I think the amount of time sightseeing will go up in subsequent cities. But we’ve gone on a couple day trips with my dad, checked out local festivals, visited the local cultural center a few times, have gone to the movies a bunch, took a cooking class, etc. The only thing we still need to do is some kind of boat trip. (Bust out the Dramamine.)
/ WATCHING FOOTBALL / Chris and I usually don’t watch football, but my dad is a big football fan — his team is the 49ers — so we will typically watch a game a week with him at The Dock, the restaurant at his marina.
/ THINKING / It’s really, really nice to have time to think. One thing I’m thinking about is what kind of project I want to take on. Part of the reason I’m taking the Skillshare photo editing class is because I’m thinking I may want to teach one and I want to see what it’s like from the student perspective.
/ READING / Both Chris and I spend a lot of time reading the news or different articles online. Same stuff we did before. It’s important to us to stay up-to-date on what’s going on and read different thought pieces. Gotta stay sharp! In addition, we’re doing a lot of reading for fun. Chris has been reading sci-fi, while I’m of course reading LOTS of young adult paranormal/dystopian romance. So to close this out, and for all you YA readers out there, here are the books I’ve read so far:
Legend by Marie Lu
Prodigy by Marie Lu
Champion by Marie Lu (in progress!)
The Selection by Kiera Cass
The Elite by Kiera Cass
The Prince by Kiera Cass
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Roar and Liv by Veronica Rossi
A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
A Fractured Light by Jocelyn Davies
A Radiant Sky by Jocelyn Davies
Teardrop by Lauren Kate
Divergent by Veronica Roth (a re-read in preparation for Allegiant)
Insurgent by Veronica Roth (a re-read in preparation for Allegiant)
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
After Dead by Charlaine Harris
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Frost Bite by Richelle Mead
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead -
08Nov13
This is our new favorite place. It’s called La Miserable, and it’s on Belizaro Dominguez across from The Bagel Shop. They serve mezcal, with salty orange slices. The owner told us a lot about mezcal and the atmosphere was the perfect blend of trendy and relaxing.
We also planned our English lesson for tomorrow morning. #multitasking
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07Nov13
Took a trip to Todos Santos today to see some art. It’s located right on the Tropic of Cancer. We’ve been there a couple times before, but never just to see the galleries. The “Got Baja?” map of Todos Santos has an art gallery walk — just download the map and follow the purple line.
Even though it was overcast today, it was really, really hot. That’s what ice cream is for. Have some garbanzo beans soaking tonight so I can make mashed chickpea salad sandwiches tomorrow. I figure they’re healthier than tacos.
ICYMI, here’s a cool read: I Want to Be a Millennial When I Retire.
Also, we saw whales from this beach! It’s on the Pacific side.
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06Nov13
Florentino took good care of Chris. He’s right next door to our favorite pork taco stand. Getting a haircut in a foreign country is a fun, cheap way to experience another culture. Chris’s haircut was only 50 pesos, or around $4. There are barber shops and estéticas (beauty shops) everywhere that take walk-ins.
Have been doing research on different neighborhoods (colonias) in Mexico City. I signed up for a Skillshare class on photo editing, so I’m excited to get started!
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05Nov13
One month into our leap year, we have some reflections on full-time travel. In no particular order:
- We don’t miss our stuff at all. In fact, there are a few things we’d take off our packing list.
- Other people are more hard core than us, like this family of three driving across Central and South America and camping in their VW van.
- It’s hard to find other young travelers. We miss our friends and family who aren’t here. We need to figure out how to make friends.
- It doesn’t cost much money to live.
- It’s helpful to know local people who can recommend places to eat, where to do your laundry, upcoming local events, etc.
- We love Mexican food, but miss having more diverse food options.
- Volunteering is really rewarding and we’d like to do it more often.
- We miss sitting in an office every day. Psych. So we’re doing some thinking about what else would both challenge us and have meaning.
- A slower pace of life suits us well. It’s nice to be able to take the time to appreciate little things, like this:
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04Nov13
Today we decided that we’re going to extend our stay in Mexico and spend December in Mexico City. We were originally going to fly to Quito, Ecuador next, but decided we wanted a) to be in a big city again and b) are just now getting the hang of living in Mexico.
Meanwhile, Holly just stood in a corner and chewed her bone, like dogs do.
Tomorrow we’re going to take a Mexican cooking class where we’ll make Sopa Azteca (a traditional soup) and Calabaza en Techa (a pumpkin dessert). ¡Provecho!
