Introduction Video!



Tuesday 21 May 2013

Los Simuladores...

Just started watching some Mexican TV... "Los Simuladores"... a program about some professional con-artists who solve problems, with an apparently under-lying streak of benevolence.

I have to admit... when I thought of the words "Mexican" and "TV" I was expecting something a whole lot shitter than this. It's actually quite entertaining, and even quite funny.

I've lived in Spain for 2 and a half years, so I can understand classic Spanish pretty well. Mexican's speak faster, pronounce a few things a little differently, use more slang, and, at times, different grammatical forms.

It's quite a challenge actually. I'm considering watching 3-4 episodes a week in detail (using rewind and slower speeds to understand if necessary) to top-up my comprehension before going. Six weeks of that should be quite beneficial.

The beginning...

Without a doubt this has to be the biggest travelling trip I've done without any major planning, but I'm strangely not too concerned about it. Through a combination of wanting to see the Americas, not having guaranteed work over summer, looking for a cheap place to live without work, knowing Spanish and more or less random decision-making, I booked my flight to Mexico from Madrid a few weeks ago. My flight leaves on the 5th of July.

I have just completed my basic "to do" list before going. This is it:

* Write list of essentials (take and buy)
This will read something like "one pair of jeans, two t-shirts, palm-top, mobile phone, etc."

* Trash, Sell, Store
Which means go through everything I own and decide if I want to trash it, sell it, or store it at a friend's house. Not looking forward to that.

* Book hostel in CancĂșn (Playa del Carmen?)
Haven't booked my accommodation yet, that's got to be quite high on the list of priorities. I'd like to know I have at least a week of living somewhere.

* Tell landlords I'm leaving
* Plan trip exactly
Of course this doesn't mean plan my holiday... I decided early on that this trip would be ablibed/improvised as much as possible. It means plan the journey to the airport exactly. I hate stressing over airport travel, so I like to know exactly where to go and when from leaving my house to getting on the plane.

* Check-in online, if poss
For the flight, of course.

* Keep an eye on return flights
Haven't booked my return flight yet. Need to keep an eye out for cheap deals. I'm coming back in September.

* Read guides
I would like to read some "cheap travel in Mexico" guides. Haven't got a clue at the moment.

So this is very much so the beginning. I think I've done enough for today, time for a coffee and some down-time.