Deb’s Travels

This category brings you to my diary-type posts. It’s here for my friends and everyone else I have met since 2011 who have asked me to keep them up to day with my adventure. It’s here for anyone who wishes to follow my travels. To read any full post, click its header.

Valladolid on to Merida Mexico

 in Deb's Travels / Food / Mexico / Sight-seeing / Sleeping Accommodations / Traveling with Technology

March 22, 2014

After waking in Vallodolid (va ya doulid) at 8:30 having a light hot shower and a leisurely morning that included doing my fingernails putting on makeup and Andrew’s bracelets as well as putting my hair up, I did some email.

I need to decide what to do about my work and writing. Can I really write on an iPhone? Get an iPad? Buy a new Air? I vacillate between the flexibility a new Mac brings me and the freedom of not having one. I have not yet released my upset over losing my Mac. Backpackers do travel with computers. I think everyone, save for a couple had one at last nights hostel.

There is a stylish church anchoring one side of the square but it locked up just as I touched the door. I walked through the small park, stopping to take a panoramic shot of it from church, past the fountain, to some of the regular buildings that are the style of this town. The town is Colonial, I am told. The buildings are right angles, deep golds and reds that are old world and elegant, simple, solid, honest, unpretentious, attractive.

Into Valladolid & its hostels

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Mexico / North America / Sight-Seeing in Mexico / Stay in Mexico

After the solstice at Chichen Itzá I considered spending the night in the immediate town, a small village called Piste (Pee sta). I’d been told while watching the sun, of a big backpacker party in a park nearby and my tour guide had recommended staying in the village. I also thought I might walk back to the structures in the morning. I walked back to the tour bus with my friends of the day, then said so long and donned my pack once again. The village was just a few blocks walk. Passing the ADO busses, I asked around and got one lead on a hostel like place. Walking about a mile I failed to come to it. I met 2 hitch-hiking Spanish-speaking gals along the way, enjoyed the sandwich they offered, then saw them off. I gave up on staying in this town. No one knew of the park […]

Equinox at Chichen Itza, Mayan Calendar Magic in the Yucatan

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Mexico / North America / Sight-seeing / Sight-Seeing in Mexico

It wasn’t planned, but when I arrived in Cancun I learned we were just weeks away from the spring equinox, a time when the ancient Mayan calendar (which is what the so-called pyramids are) would do a shadow effect of a snake crawling down the structure. (And traveling without a schedule enables you to hang around for things you discover along the way or for surprises.)

Parque de Las Palapas, the true Cancun Mexico

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Food / Food in Mexico / Mexico / North America / Sight-seeing / Sight-Seeing in Mexico

My first night in Cancun my CouchSurfing host and hostess took me to a park that I loved. As we drove there and I have yet to see a true street map of Cancun, I had no idea where it was. Last week my friend Susan and I walked there en route to her hotel and I was excited to be there again – but I still did not really know where it was as we’d doubled back there through side streets. Tonight, hours after I planned to be gone from Cancun, my local friend Juan suggested another hotel, a hostel, and it turned our to be right on Palapas Park and I found out this great park is just blocks from my hotel. I had walked past the street leading to it from the other side of the park many times So tonight I learned where I could have […]

Working from Cancun again

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Mexico / North America / Traveling with Technology

As I remained in Cancun for a week searching for my stolen Mac, I did whatever I had to in order to get my work done and not let my clients done. Stopping into the Office Depot across from my hotel, I found it cool and comfortable so I stayed a while. My work tools of the day (March 19, 2012), and of many days to come: iPhone 3GS that once belonged to my cousin Elena, V-moda earphones, and a fabulous battery by Scosche. This battery almost didn’t make the packing cut as I favored their lighter battery and their solar battery, but it recharges my iPhone at least 2-3 and still shows 3 lights. I have come to rely on it greatly. What I am doing: using an iPhone app called Voxer to speak, walkie-talkie style with my friend, fellow web designer (and GoLive 5 Bible contributor) to update […]

Hotel or hostel: where you choose to stay matters

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Mexico / Sleeping Accommodations

When you are traveling alone the place you sleep makes all the difference. Unless you really want a solitary trip. After my first nights at the home couch surf hosts, I came to a hotel recommended by other folks living in Cancun. It is fairly convenient as I can walk to the places I wanted to be in Cancun. And it is clean. There are dorms so I thought I would meet travelers. However it is really a hotel. Travelers were far between. Most guests are from other parts of Mexico and while friendly, they are here for the beach, not to exchange travel info and go see a pyramid. Those 8 travelers I met were with one another already and I didn’t fit their agendas. You might look at a dorm room for 10 and say “No way. I am past that at my age.” I did. I am […]

About Tales of Travel & Tech

 in Deb's Travels / Traveling with Technology

When I decided to pack up my belongings and travel some of our great world’s roads with just my Mac, a few select pieces of tech, and whatever clothing basics that fit into my convertible backpack, I had no idea just what adventures in tech I was personally in for! What I knew: as long as I had my Mac I could continue to earn my living from wherever I was I’m the world. I would just need to not go off-grid (Internet grid and electrical grids, that is) for more than a week at a time. Easy, I thought. What I learned: even living in another state, staying in my hometown of NY, it was not easy to work. (in fact I took on a job that was much larger than its description and was quickly overwhelmed trying to get online, do the job, and actually get out and […]

Cell phone & phone calls in the Yucatan

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Mexico / North America / Travel w/Tech in Mexico / Traveling with Technology

Cell phones are big here. It seems as if every one has one. Walk into a woman’s room and you’ll here a woman speaking from her stall – just like I hear in Los Angeles. Yet pay phones are far from a thing of the past here. You can’t walk very far without seeing a phone and Internet cafe. Well, cafe would be a misnomer. It’s really a smallish shop with 2 rows of stalls. One row is of Windows towers for email. The other is of phone booths containing tabletop phones and a chair so you can enjoy your call. Payment is done through the shops proprietor. Hoping to find my stolen Mac, I visited a dozen or so pawn shops. The trip through Pawn Shops was shocking: the prices being asked for electronics was virtually the same as the prices in the local Office Depot or Sam’s Club. […]

Apple in Cancun

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Mexico / North America / Travel w/Tech in Mexico / Traveling with Technology

Of course, I had to see Apple Resellers in Cancun. I plan to do so everywhere I go. The iShop, with 20 stores in Mexico, is the largest reseller, I believe. Coming to see them was more than a wish after my Mac was stolen. I was desperate to plug my SuperDuper! Clone into any Intel Mac so I could access my info, make sure data was safe and work out ways to get my work done. Anyway, here is the iShop. oh, the huge box in front is a promotion: bring in an old piece of technology and get 1,000 pesos off your new Mac. It was fun to check out the box each of the 4-5 days I came by.

Finally online (at Starbucks) & at the beach

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Mexico / North America / Sight-seeing / Travel w/Tech in Mexico / Traveling with Technology

(Posted to Facebook at 1:24pm on March 11.) I’m grinning ear to ear, internally shouting, yes! finally! I’m online! Internet is quite spotty in the real Cancun. (I hate to admit it but I went to Starbucks. In the hotel zone, of course. Starbucks is Starbucks. Nothing to report in that arena.) My roommate friends, 2 great women from other parts of Mexico, are at the playa (beach). I can’t take too much beach, and have the reality of work, so I’m wandering around the city. I’ll meet them later. (The update added later:) I did meet my roommates. I went across the street to look for a bathroom and they happened to see me cross the street. What a surprise to hear them call out to me. This place is crowded. We had a few tacos, then went to the beach.

Second dinner in Mexico (Cancun)

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Food / Food in Mexico / Mexico / North America

Tonight Mario and Osman took me to there other favorite place to eat. We were also joined by Peter, the Australian guy we met in the park the night before. Peter and Osman actually spent the day together. Marion had to work. In the morning I went down the coast a bit to see the resort areas. Later, before dinner, I went to a nearby Internet place to Jailbreak my iPhone 3GS. (My very first days without a phone were hard on people I tried to deal with. It was so hard to say no, I don’t have a phone and figure out what to do.)

To Jailbreak or Not?

 in Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Mexico / Traveling with Technology

I did NOT want to Jailbreak any iPhone. I believe in R&D and do not want software through any back door. But Apple and AT&T left me no choice. It is required in order to unlock an iPhone for use by another provider – even when that phone is out of contract and in fact, the owners of the phone continue to be clients of both companies via newer phones. By day two in Mexico I had had so many meeting complications due to lack of a phone that I headed over to an Internet place to Jailbreak my iPhone 3GS. (The process requires Internet access.) Jailbreaking was successful. However, my particular phone was not supported by the software available so i still had no option to make/receive calls. Frustration continued.

First dinner in Mexico

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Food / Food in Mexico / Mexico / North America

My host Marion and Osman picked me up at the bus station in Cancun. It wasn’t as straight forward as that because without a cell phone I was unable to communicate with them. But a few nice people and a calling card later, they found me. It was not an easy start for their hosting experience. I had expected to have all day to get to them but because Delta brought me in 5 or more hours late, that changed. Anyway, they brought me to a fabulous park for a dinner of Empanadas and Horchata. More later.

LA to Cancun, Mexico

 in Central America / Deb in Mexico / Deb's Travels / Mexico / North America

Delta’s 11:45pm flight out of LA on Sunday, March 4, 2012 with a flight to Detroit. Then, after a 2+ hour layover, I boarded their next plane to Cancun. ETA noon on Monday Mach 5, 2012. My arrival in Cancun was delayed by some airplane trouble, and their refusal to let us switch to other already-outgoing plans. (I’m sure happy that Delta didn’t fly a questionable plane but they could have done much better for us.) After several lost hours, they gave us a new plane. I arrived Monday night after dark, after 23 hours of airports/planes. I’d planned to have hours to find my way into Cancun, introduce myself to Cancun and find my way to the home of  CouchSurfing hosts. However, that plan went out the window with Delta’s delay and darkness entering that window’s field of view. Instead, at the Airport I enlisted the help of one of […]

Thoughts as I await my plane out of the US

 in Deb's Travels

Nearly midnight when I took off, it was nearly 4am (7am locally) when I stepped into the Detroit airport. In 3 hours I’ll be in the air to Cancun. Cancun during Spring Break — ironic for the gal who never cared to do the Spring Break thing in college. (Me; hey let’s drive down to Ft Lauderdale and watch the college kids hang out. Yes! Wait, we’re college kids.) Ok, I did do spring break once. Still it’s ironic. I’m not a college kid and I am not heading to Cancun to party. I’m going for the serenity of the life there, the Carribean, and the Mayan sights/history/culture. A near lifetime of saying I want to see those pyramids someday is becoming real. I’ll see them this month – any day now!

Bought my next airline ticket

 in Deb's Travels

I bought my next airline ticket. As March begins, I land in Cancun to begin to get to know the Yucatan area. Then, for up to a year, I’ll be exploring Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Caribbean, Central America & South America. Of course, you never know what will happen & where life will take you, so we’ll see where I really land up.

When I first heard of CouchSurfing.org, I said, I don’t need that.

 in Deb's Travels / Sight-seeing / Sleeping Accommodations

[As posted to Facebook.] When I first heard of CouchSurfing.org, I said, I don’t need that. I met tons of fantastic people in person as I travelled my first 3 years. But I signed up anyway. I’ve been loving the community boards, picking up tips on places to go in Puerto Rico for starters. Now I have my first host. And having been to my first get together tonight, I am so excited to travel again! So many people, and a lot had been to South America. I can’t wait to go there! The get together was as great as being in a hotel great room. The buzz of conversations of so many people who have been out in the world exploring it and getting to know people there.

Setting up my travel Mac

 in Deb's Travels / Traveling with Technology

When I first set up my adopted 2008 MacBook Air, out of respect for it’s small (80GB) hard drive and my need for my client’s files, I promised myself I’d only install the few apps that really needed for work.  This Mac isn’t for fun. I’m venturing around exciting parts of the world and there are many better things to do than play on a computer — even when it’s a Mac. Thus, I only needed to install programs which were necessary for my work. My friend Cathy set up the Mac, actually, as I packed up my belongings. iLife, iWork, Office 2011, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 — but only Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Illustrator. But then there were some utilities I really hate being without: TypeIt4Me, Default Folder, Flip4Mac, and 1Password. Oh, and Skype — necessary not just to keep in touch with friends but also to record […]

A bit of my travel philosophy via email list

 in Deb's Travels

Posting to a list I have been part of for many years, I asked if anyone had friends or family in any of the places I was considering heading to. I named the areas, of course. I hadn’t ask for lodging, meals, or advice, specifically. I’d have welcomed any of those things and most expected some advice. A woman I don’t know replied on the list saying that my request was too broad and I clearly needed a better plan. She wrote: Have you done any homework on the places you might visit? Your request is exceedingly broad. The Caribbean + Central America + South America is a large portion of the globe. Perhaps you could home in on a few locations in order to make it possible to help you. (I have two careers already!) Clearly she missed the idea that when you post to a list, it is […]

Here by choice

 in Deb in the USA / Deb's Travels / North America / USA

A thought on a cold morning: I’m cold. But I’m here in NYC by choice so grin and bear it. Actually, I don’t have to grin. No one’s watching me. I am here because I wanted to be here. I can leave any time. Just deal with it. The flip side: I am back in my hometown, living in my beloved NYC energy, seeing great friends I have missed for a long time. I am so glad I am here!