Lola and Ms Pacifica are about to embark on an epic trip back to Mexico two and  a half years since their last tour together, although Lola has ‘snuck back’ on her own to the archeological museum in Mexico City to keep exploring.

This time, LIFE is being put on hold, properties rented, work outsourced, bills paid in preparation for 3 months+ of living in Mexico. Of course there is a new PLAN.

This is PLAN 2017:

Pick 3 towns to live in as a base in different part of Mexico and rent a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment in each place. Use these as bases to go exploring more locally and with less luggage.

• Get settled into each town and meet people.
• Go to the market for a licuado every day
• Do a few classes, learn new skills
• Meet locals and expats and give and accept invitations
• Attend cultural, music and community events
• Learn how to make a killer margarita, and find out about different tequilas,
• Improve our Spanish, understand the culture
• Do some volunteering or provide some assistance
• Reinvent ourselves in a new culture
• Read, chill and smile

The towns are:

1. San Miguel de Allende – beautiful colonial highlands town north of Mexico City and home of many artist and US refugees. April/May 2017. Apartment booked through Homeway.com
2. Oaxaca – home of craft, textiles, moles and chocolate  and all things typically   Mexican. Closer to Guatemala and with more indigenous people.  May- Jun 2017. Apartment booked through Airbnb
3. Merida, Yucatan – close to the Mayan pyramids, jungle and the beaches and with Caribbean architecture. June – July 2017

That is the outline Plan. We will spend Easter in San Luis Potosi and San Miguel soaking up the culture, processions and fireworks and festivities. We hope to venture to San Cristobal de la Casas, and Guatemala. One of the overnight trips from Oaxaca is the not-so-secret  – but still small and special, Puerto Escondido  (Hidden Port).

We plan to visit some of the 111 Pueblos Magicos (Magic Villages) of Mexico – the sleepy smaller towns were tourists rarely go and some of the lesser known pre-Hispanic structures like Canada de la Virgen.

But for Ms Pacifica this is not just a holiday, the trusty laptop is coming along, the Skype connections will be fired up and work will need to be done. Hopefully a little less work than at home.

The PLAN is that in 2018 we might do it again Brazil.