In Mexico City, forget the nachos. Eat the street tacos.

by Grant Martin on

Several dishes come to mind when most Americans think of Mexican food: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, what have you. It’s fairly simple, delicious food that many, including myself, have grown to love, and when I left the Midwest for Mexico City last weekend I was looking forward to trying some authentic Mexican food that wasn’t in a wrapper with a name on it and wasn’t eaten for “fourth meal”.

What I was told on the way south was that Mexico City was the capital of street taco stands. That yes, eating at them was a little risky, but the reward was delicious and cheap. I must have had a dozen street tacos around the Zocalo while I was tooling around the battered city streets, my favorite filling a combination of some sort of steak, grilled peppers and onions, all for a mere 40 cents per taco.

What I was not told is that Mexico City is not the capital of nachos. My only attempt at ordering the delicious snack resulted in a sad pile of corn chips with some sort of Velveeta cheese sloshed over the top. No meat, lettuce or salsa. I saw another couple at the next restaurant looking dejectedly at theirs as well.

As it turns out, nachos are more of a Tex-Mex entity and I imagine as you get closer to the border the nachos become more voluminous (fun story on how the nacho was created on Wikipedia). I had no idea.

So take my advice when you go to Mexico: avoid your common American beliefs on what a taco, nacho or any other Mexican food should be as soon as you touch the ground. The nachos are crummy and the tacos are amazing. Just be careful what stand you go to and pick the popular one that everyone is milling around — that’s probably going to be the cleanest one.

No Wrong Turns: The Pros and Cons of Taking your Work Traveling

by Kelsey Mulyk on

Three weeks before Tom and I left on this trip, a work opportunity came up allowing us to work remotely from Mexico. At first we weren’t too sure whether it was the best idea and initially we declined the offer, but after a little convincing and our joint realization that earning while traveling could keep us on the road longer we decided to go ahead and agreed to take the contract. It seemed too good to pass up.

Working while traveling is much more feasible now than it has ever been before. Laptops, teeny tiny portable hard-drives, the expansion of wireless internet, email, online storage facilities and companies like Skype have made connecting around the world easy. Some people (like Gadling blogger Tynan) have chosen to forgo the office and squeeze all they need, their life and office, into their backpacks. To most people this sounds like “living the dream” and although it is hard to complain when you live 10 minutes from the beach, working while traveling isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Here are some positives and negatives of traveling with your work:
Positives

  • Living Abroad: It’s amazing to be able to work in a foreign country. Days off are suddenly filled with amazing adventures, meeting new people and experiencing a new culture. You can set your own hours and determine when you take breaks and what you do on that break. (We surf on our time off.)
  • Live Where You Want: You get to choose what type of new environment to work and live in. Living in an area for an extended amount of time allows you to meet new people and build closer relationships whereas when you are just passing through you can easily miss out on these types of opportunities.
  • Cheaper Living: Some countries have lower living costs which means you can save money while continuing to earn. This way you get to pocket more of your earnings for more traveling.
  • Great After Work Adventures: When you are done work you can head straight to the beach or to whatever activity you feel like.
  • Taking Care of Yourself: A sore back caused by work means you should treat yourself to a massage and write it off as a business expense.
  • Technology Saves the Day: Portable technology is a good thing! There are amazing gizmos out there to help you save all your important info just in case your computer conks out. BUY A BACK UP HARD DRIVE and save all your important info…often.
  • Delays Aren’t an Issue: Being delayed can mean more time to explore the place you are working in. I try and look at it as more time for me to continue learning to surf. And when it all said and done you are getting paid to live, work and explore another country. Things could be much, much worse.

But there can be a negative side too:

Negatives

  • No Face Time: Lack of face to face time with clients / employers can make it difficult to quickly solve work issues. Instead of being able to go in for a quick meeting you need to organize phone calls based on time differences while taking into account everyone’s already busy schedules.
  • Distractions: You will have to suffer through some unique distractions. Dogs barking, roosters crowing, goats baying and loud reggaeton music at all hours are some of the noises that we have experienced while living in the Baja. These disturbances can cause a bit of stress when deadlines are closing in and you can’t focus on the task at hand because the neighborhood dogs have chosen to perform a six part harmony of howls right beside your window.
  • You Really DO Have to Work: Set deadlines means that you have to stop and actually do the work. Some days it is the last thing you feel like doing especially when the sun is shining or when you are recovering from a party the night before.
  • Poor Office Set-up: Prepare for a sore back. Ergonomic chairs are nowhere to be seen unless you somehow find an actual office space to work in. Hunching over your computer in your palapa is going to do a number on your back. (The photo is where Tom and I are working, note the blanket on the chair in attempts to soften the rather hard seat)
  • Lack of Computer Help: Depending on where you choose to work finding a computer tech could be pretty difficult. Computer issues and malfunctions can happen anywhere and they can be a huge mission to deal with if you are far from the Apple genius bar.
  • Delays Can Make You Wait…Even When You are Ready to Go: Sometimes projects get delayed which can be a huge bummer when your planning your next move and all of a sudden you can’t leave. Try to have clear end dates to ensure that you stay on schedule, both work-wise and travel-wise.

Really we can’t complain — we are living in Mexico, surfing and earning while we are at it. We’ve already made some great friends and spent time exploring the interesting town we are staying in. If you are going to try to work while you are traveling it is important to be aware that although rewarding it can create some unusual challenges that you wouldn’t encounter at home. But with the right attitude and decent problem solving skills working while traveling can be a great way to see the world.

“No Wrong Turns” chronicles Kelsey and her husband’s road trip — in real time — from Canada to the southern tip of South America in their trusty red VW Golf named Marlin.

Zihuatanejo, Mexico under attack by sharks

by Jeffrey White on

Zihuatanejo, that magical sounding Mexican town I first heard mentioned in a Stephen King novella, is under attack by at least one, and perhaps a handful, of sharks.

There have been three attacks in the waters off the coast of the resort town in less than a month, and two people have died. The most recent incident happened this past weekend, when the owner of a local surfing shop, Bruce Grimes, had his armed chomped by a sharp as he was out surfing the break. Luckily, he was able to escape relatively unharmed.

“There wasn’t any time to panic,” he said. “I thought: ‘Don’t want to die. Don’t want to lose my arm’,” he tells the Associated Press.

What you have right now is a panic in Zihuatanejo right out of the movie Jaws, with local officials closing local stretches of water and hiring fishermen to hunt sharks; dozens of sharks have been pulled out of the water and killed, which has raised the ire of animal rights activists.

Shark experts right now are studying the attacks in Zihuatanejo, trying to figure out why they are happening. So far, they haven’t come up with any answers, and they have not concluded what kind of shark(s) is/are responsible.

But they are trying to allay fear. Says one expert to the AP, you’re more likely to die of food poisoning visiting Mexico than be attacked by a shark.

Official worldwide shark files say only around four people die in attacks each year.

Last month, Iva wrote about a Great White shark off the coast of San Diego.

Katherine Anne Porter: Travel changed her life

by Jamie Rhein on

Awhile back, I wrote a post about how Langston Hughes’ train trip to Mexico to visit his father influenced his poem “A Negro Speaks of Rivers.” I recently heard that Katherine Anne Porter’s writing is also connected to travel to Mexico, but years before Langston made his way there.

Because May 15 was Porter’s birthday (She died September 18, 1980) Garrison Keillor presented a short retrospective on her life during yesterday’s “Writer’s Almanac . “

Travel changed Porter’s life. Prior to her trip to Mexico, on the invite of Mexicans who told her about the revolution that was about to blow, Porter had never been out of the U.S.–she hadn’t been much further than Texas where she was born. To head to Mexico in 1919, as a female and alone, was rare.

With the success of her short stories inspired by her Mexico experience, Porter later headed to Europe where she began to write about Texas. As she found, often when you leave your home, that’s when you can truly see it and have something to say about it that has any meaning.

The collection Flowering Judas and Other Stories was a result of her Mexico travels. She wrote her novel set in Texas, Noon Wine, in Europe.

Here’s a quote from Katherine Anne Porter to enlighten your day as a traveler.

“Miracles are instantaneous, they cannot be summoned, but come of themselves, usually at unlikely moments and to those who least expect them.”

No Wrong Turns: Protect yourself from food poisoning

by Kelsey Mulyk on

You know that feeling: the one where the contents in your stomach churn and before you can say “I think I ate something bad,” you are already running for the bathroom. Fun, right?

Every time you get on the plane, bus or (in our case) in the car and travel to another country you expose yourself to the likelihood of coming down with some sort of stomach illness. Call it what you like (and we all know there are some pretty descriptive names out there) but the experience is the same and it flat out stinks.

Last week I was unlucky enough to eat something disagreeable (I believe a locally made tamale was the culprit) and spent a rather uncomfortable and feverish 24 hours trying to recover. I have been pretty lucky in the past to avoid food poisoning but I knew I was in for a rough time as I was with Tom when he succumbed to food poisoning in India a few years ago. And it really did live up to it’s horrible nature.

Generally my rules to avoid food poisoning/unhappy stomach are as follows:

Does the stand or restaurant appear clean?
If it doesn’t I’ll choose to go elsewhere.

Does the eatery smell bad?
I think this question really explains itself.

How many black flies are there buzzing around?
Black flies can carry and transmit numerous diseases like cholera and typhoid. Do you want them sitting on your food? I didn’t think so. Click here to read more about how gross these flies really are.

Are the locals eating here?
This is a good indication of the caliber of the food as well as the cleanliness of the eatery. A full restaurant usually indicates good food and less chance of illness!

These rules tend to keep me feeling pretty healthy while traveling though Tom has broken a few rules (for instance eating in a place in India that smelled like a sewer exploded beside it). Getting sick is almost inevitable and a part of the adventure…or at least that is what they say to make you feel better when you get hammered with food poisoning, a parasite or some other infection.

So what do you do when you come down with a case of food poisoning?

Arm yourself with these basics

  • Find a comfortable, quiet room where you can rest even if it means forking over more money than you’d normally pay. Believe me, you are going to want a decent place to stay with your own bathroom. This way you can recover in peace without worrying about your dorm roommates waking up every time you have to excuse yourself (or run like hell) to the loo.
  • Tylenol is good to have on hand for fevers as well as the aches that are common with food poisoning.
  • Electrolyte drinks (or oral rehydration salts), are available at most markets here in Mexico. These are worth having on hand as they help to restore your glucose and salt levels caused by dehydration. If you don’t have the solution you can easily prepare one: add 6 tablespoons of sugar (or honey) and a half-teaspoon of salt to 1 liter of boiling water. You can try adding lemon or ginger to this mixture to make it easier to drink. Tom made some of this little concoction for me and I will tell you now that it tastes absolutely awful but I choked about half a cup down and felt fifty times better.
  • Eat plain starchy foods like crackers, bananas, boiled potatoes. If you don’t feel like eating don’t force yourself to, your body will let you know when it’s ready for food.


When to see a doctor

If you experience any of the following symptons

  • You can’t keep anything down due to vomiting for more than 24 hours
  • Your temperature is higher than 38 degrees Celsius
  • Your stomach issues keep up for more than 4 or 5 days

Of course there are many other abnormal symptoms that may occur so if you feel like you aren’t just dealing with food poisoning or travelers’ diarrhea try and see a doctor or get to a medical facility. Cabo San Lucas and La Paz both have decent medical care centers. If you need assistance in the Baja and are unsure of where to go contact Ameri-med for more assistance and western-style health-care.

“No Wrong Turns” chronicles Kelsey and her husband’s road trip — in real time — from Canada to the southern tip of South America in their trusty red VW Golf named Marlin.