No Wrong Turns: How to Not Look like a “Gringo” in Mexico

by Kelsey Mulyk on

When traveling I prefer to lay kind of low and do my best to not draw too much attention to myself. This doesn’t seem to be the case with other travelers visiting Mexico. This is mainly due to their questionable wardrobe choices. Years of watching “What Not to Wear”, combined with my love for all things fashion-related, made it easy for me to pick out some of the worst faux pas in “gringo” fashion. Though I think these clothing disasters would be hard to miss!

Shallow or not, what you wear can make you a target when you are traveling. So I give you “What Not to Wear: The Gringo Edition” also known as “How to not be inconspicuous in Mexico.” Please avoid the following:

Wearing a fannypack

Wearing this sad sack of fashion anywhere warrants a citation from the fashion and tourist police. But sporting one in Mexico pretty much screams, “Here is all my money, credit cards and other valuables! Please come rip me off!” This just makes you walking target for theft. Seriously, what’s wrong with a money belt worn under your clothes?

Dressing like a hippy

I swear anywhere you travel be it Mexico, India or SE Asia you are bound to come across so-called hippies. Here is the thing…none of the locals dress like this, so these dreadlock-loving, patchouli-smelling kids look very out of place. The downside of dressing like you rolled out of the ’60s is that, to the Mexicans, you look unclean. Mexico is relatively conservative and it isn’t unusual to see the locals looking amazingly fresh, in a clean shirt and pressed pants, in ninety-degree heat. Looking presentable warrants respect and better service.

Wearing booty shorts

This skanky look is a detriment for all women travelers. This look only furthers the unfortunate belief that western women are easy conquests and encourages the charming catcalls and hissing from the men. Rule of thumb, keep skimpy clothes limited to the beach otherwise keep it covered to prevent unwanted attention from the male population.

I’d be interested to hear any other tips on what not wear while traveling.

For more terrible tourist fashions and a good laugh click here.

“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

No Wrong Turns: Coca-Cola Removes Toxin from Mexican Drink

by Kelsey Mulyk on

According to statistics from the Coca-Cola Company, Mexico consumes the most Coca Cola per capita in the world. I am not a huge fan of soft drinks in general, but when traveling my intake of them often goes up due to unreliable drinking water and juices made with questionable ice. Diet drinks, like Coke Zero, freak me out with all those weird additives listed in their ingredients, but many people prefer these drinks to the original…even though they have proven to be dangerous.

Last month, Coca Cola had to remove the artificial sweetener sodium cyclamate from the Mexican Coke Zero formula. The sweetener was banned from the US in 1969 because it appeared to increase the odds of developing bladder cancer in rats during testing. Oddly enough, sodium cyclamate is readily found in many Canadian (such as Sugar Twin) and European products.

The sodium cyclamate was replaced with aspartame and other fake sweeteners, because they are undoubtedly so much better for you. Coke refuses to admit that the sodium cyclamate was removed due to the danger it posed to consumers and instead said that this alteration will make Coke Zero taste more like the original Coca-Cola Classic.

The director of communications for Coca-Cola Mexico stated that Coke Zero has sold extremely well since being introduced the Mexican market over a year ago despite the controversy over the sodium cyclamate. How could Coca-Cola not do well in a country where the people consumed over 500 Coke products per person last year!

Coca-Cola even launched a new pro-Coke Zero campaign to support this new version with a slogan that reads, “Everything can get better.”

I think “better” would be removing all the artificial sweeteners in their products…I think I’ll be sticking with the Coke Classic or better yet, bottled water.

“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.

No Wrong Turns: Surfers Give Cars Away in Baja Road Race

by Kelsey Mulyk on

A few weeks ago I overheard a bunch of locals chatting about a group of American surfers who drove down to the tip of Baja California Sur and gave away everything they came with including their cars. I decided to do a bit of research and find out what this was all about.

A group of guys, who affectionately refer to their vacation time together as “TGT” (The Guys Trip) decided to switch up their rather typical surf vacations for a new kind adventure — a trip that would jar them out of their middle-class comfort zones and, as they put it, “require balls.” The trip was dubbed “The Baja 3000”.

“The Baja 3000” challenged the surfers to choose a teammate and a vehicle that would get them to the tip of the Baja in seven days. Each team had a budget of $3000 which had to cover the purchase of a vehicle, car insurance (US and Mexican), permits, food, fuel, toll charges, and their accommodation. The maximum budget that could be allotted to the car purchase was $1500, leaving the other half to cover the remaining expenses. I want to know where they found decent cars to drive in Mexico for $1500!

As if that wasn’t already enough of a challenge, they created a complicated contest, based on a point system, with a list of activities that had to be completed along the way. Each team was given a camera and film as well as journal to document their contest accomplishments. Points were given based on the activities completed. One of the top ways to earn points was to have village children paint the car (earn 5000 points). One way to lose a serious amount of points was to receive jail time (lose 100, 000 points…though I think losing points would be the least of your worries).

They even had a “Baja 3000” trophy along with a prize for the winning team. The prize involved never having to buy beer for the rest of the trip and well-deserved bragging rights.

And, though the trip was all in fun, these guys also wanted to give back to the community where they have spent dozens of years surfing. Teams donated cars, school supplies, books and much more to low income families as well as to local organizations like Classroom on Wheels and Communidad Biblica de Cabo San Lucas.

Sounds like a fun and socially responsible vacation to me…I wonder where they will head to next year.

Check out their website for more information.

“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.

No Wrong Turns: Emos Attacked in Mexico and Chile

by Kelsey Mulyk on

According to NME, “emo” kids in Mexico and Chile have recently been attacked by other music subcultures — punks, metalheads and even the rockabilly set.

“Emo” refers to a youth subculture which involves a punk-meets-geek approach to fashion, angst-driven “emotional” music, and a general depressive nature. It is often regarded as a watered down version of the punk movement, much to the emo kid’s dismay.

Daniel Hernandez, of LA Weekly, who has been covering the recent attacks, blames the hostility towards the emos on two things: the fact that Mexicans generally regard the emo movement as a joke, and that a certain Televisa personality, Kristoff, recently spewed out his emo hatred on national television. This clip includes a few choice swear words in English. (It is in Spanish but you will get the gist of it.)

Obviously there is a lot of controversy about the attacks and both sides are responding by looking for someone to blame. Some have chosen to blame the lack of opportunities for the youth stating, “in Latin America, there are nearly 30 million young people who have no opportunity to study or work,” and so they are turning to drugs, crime or even taking it out on those not directly involved.

Hostility towards the emo subculture in Mexico has hit chat rooms, message boards and social networking sites. On March 7th in Queretaro, a state in central Mexico, around 800 youths gathered in the city’s Centro Historico district looking to pick a fight with the emo kids who regularly hangout there. Judging by the videos circulating on YouTube, they certainly found the fight they were looking for. The following week the same thing happened in Mexico City, check out the video below to take a look.

When asked why the recent violence has occurred, a young emo guy said he believed it was because the punks and metal-heads felt that emos were ‘posers’. But, basically from the news I can find (in Spanish mostly) there doesn’t seem to be any clear indication of why this specific group has been targeted.

Kristoff has apparently called off the attack but whether this will quell the violence remains to be seen. The Mexican government wants to point the finger at someone and should Televisa be held accountable, Kristoff might be feeling a little emotional himself.

“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.

Mexican people prefer booths, don’t like waiting

by Martha Edwards on


Here’s an excerpt of an employee handbook found at a small Mexican restaurant located in Huntington Beach, CA that I saw on Gridskipper. And thank goodness I did because I really had no idea that all Mexican people like booths and hate waiting to be seated. Wait, does that mean that us whities don’t mind sitting around and are okay with uncomfortable hard-backed seats? Really, the logic here is beyond me.

That’s not all–women waitressing at this gem of an establishment must wear make-up and cannot wear a skirt that goes below the knees. Kind of reminds me of the dress code rules at my high school–except completely opposite.