Winter of 2017/18 in Mexico
Finding the Balance Between Living Life and Exploring the World
 

As summer turned into autumn, these Nomads returned to Home Base Albuquerque. As always, we were ready to depart long before we completed the various projects and tasks that needed our attention, but finally, in the first days of December, all was complete and we headed south Puerto Vallarta, resuming our Nomad Life!

We settled into our cozy apartment and began savoring the balmy weather, relaxing and adjusting to the local vibe. Walks around the city familiarized us with places we recalled, and also the new developments since we left just over a year ago. We lived here happily until the end of January, 2018.

Living Life in Puerto Vallarta
Considering that we passed 60 days in Puerto Vallarta, we find we can account for only a few special events - orchestra concerts, a whale watching trip . . .

. . . guided walks of the sculptures on the Malecon, and a boat trip through the Estero del Salado mangrove reserve.

And yet, time passed without feeling boredom or wondering how we'd spend the day! As we contemplate how this can be, we will share that many hours have flown by reading about the events that are shaping the state of the world, thinking about what our role in those events could be, and research and writing about our conclusions.

Often, other days began with desayuno at our favorite playa restaurant, Cuates y Cuetes, that extended until late morning as we chatted with neighbors or just watched people, and often ended over a glass of wine, watching the sunset at Langostinos, another of our playa restaurants.

Contemplating the flow of our lives in Puerto Vallarta, we have come to realize that there is a heartfelt joy in simply living life in a this truly People Friendly City! And, indeed, the Zona Romantica of Puerto Vallarta is truly such a place, as it feels like 'our home town' where we have friends that we meet as we go about our tasks of daily living - the folks at the cafe on the corner where we often stop for coffee or cerveza, the guy at the tequila shop who always says buenos dias, Elsa, the manager of our lavanderia, the meseros (servers) at our favorite cafes that we know by name, and especially our good friend Jorge and his colleagues at Langostinos who always have a table for us.

Over all the years of Nomad Travel, we have searched for these special urban places and we have found they are far from rare. If we compiled a list and resolved to return to each one to stay a month or two, we would be occupied for many years. Still, we are not yet prepared to take on such a project, and instead, we find that we still have new places beckoning to be explored.

Yet, Puerto Vallarta has charmed us into taking action in a totally new way - we have planned ahead! We have made a commitment to return to Puerto Vallarta next December (2018) and have even made a reservation to return to this very same cozy and comfy apartment!

We have even surprised ourselves by taking this action but we have found that PV has become such a desirable place to spend time in the 'winter' that we must commit far in advance to be certain of having a good place!

You can follow links to our earlier thoughts on life in PV, written in 2013 and 2008

Return to Exploring the World
So, having taken such a courageous leap, we have returned to Exploring the World. Our next journey took us to Yucatan Peninsula, with days spent exploring the colonial city of Campeche, the vibrant city of Merida, the mysterious Mayan site at Tulum, and the resort island of Cozumel.
We invite you to refresh your knowledge of Mexican geography to follow us on this journey by clicking here.

Click here to return to Our Searching the World page