We're headed to the AL gulf coast next weekend. It won't be balmy and summerish like Hawaii or the Bahamas. But there won't be snow!

Challenging winter? Not in southern CA!!!! December was a bit rainy, but since January it has been sunny and 65-75F. Sorry!

Counting down the days til a Southern Caribbean cruise in April. :)

Barbados --- but not till April.

I'm heading down to balmy South Florida next week for seven days of fun in the sun. At the moment it's a not-balmy 39-degrees here, with 40-degrees being the predicted high.
Lynn

Heh, yeah - "getting away" to the cold and probably rainy Cotswolds in less than a month! Going to Isla Mujeres in July ... I think we're doing in backwards, don't you?

I was just in NYC, coming from LA. I was so glad to be there because I remembered why I love LA.
When I was a kid, on a ranch in Montana, I used to wonder about life without ice storms.

I'm staying put. It was -10 here the other morning and next week it will be 75!

Jen, my DIL's sister and her dh go to Isla Mujeres every New Years and stays two weeks at a time. It must be a nice place.

I always buy her beachy gifts at Christmas. lol

Jen, have you been to Isla before? It's a place we were considering for our upcoming anniversary trip next month, but it's back to Puerto Vallarta for us. There are some restaurants in PV that we haven't had a chance to try yet, and some that we want to go back to. I do love that clear blue Caribbean water though! Maybe another time.

We were suppose to go to Cancun or with some other couples and all our kids, but my mom threw a fit about us going there, even though I tell her all the violence is far, far away. She insists that it is all over Mexico. I need to research it more before we make a commitment. We may play it safe and go to Hawaii instead.

This will be our first visit to Isla, and like Oakley's relative we'll be staying for two weeks as well. It was really photos of the water that drew me in - otherwise, we'd probably be going back to PV again, had I not just become completely mesmerized with the turquoise ocean and white sand! We're not staying on the north shore though, where I think most of the "action" is ... will be renting a little house in one of the colonias, where there is an English school. They allow visitors to volunteer for a week at a time there, and we're thinking of doing that.

Olliesmom, there are so many people who have a knee-jerk reaction when they learn you're vacationing in Mexico. The drug/gang related violence is predominantly happening in the border towns, although isolated instances are not unheard of. Still, violence isn't unheard of in Hawaii - or anywhere else, for that matter - either. The entire country of Mexico has been unfairly maligned by the media and resultant "hysteria" from people who haven't done much if any traveling there themselves. Check out the Cancun forum on Tripadvisor.com for information on safety.

I don't think that AARP would have chosen Mexico, and Puerto Vallarta specifically as the #1 foreign retirement destination in the world if the entire country were unsafe.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mexico is AARP #1 pick for retirement

Jen, years ago we drove down to Mexico City. When I told someone not long ago "we DROVE to Mexico City" they nearly had a fit! lol But I had to assure them it was long before the cartels, etc.

Jill, my DIL's sister, adores that place. In fact, they have to make reservations now in order to get a spot for next New Years!

And you're right about the water, she sends me pictures after each trip and it's sooo blue. Beautiful!

We'll be traveling in April and May, but not out of the country. Sometime in early spring we'll also start up the camping trips.

I don't know why we don't travel in the winter, but we rarely do. Of course, our winters are nothing like yours.

Our favorite times to travel are spring and fall.

tina

Nevis in 6 days!!

auntjen, I think it is sad, what it going on over there and I am sure there is unwarranted hysteria.

It is just scary when the cartel seems more powerful than the police. I just would never forgive myself if anything happened to our DS, and you have to take extra caution when it comes to that kind of responsibility. Last weekend our friends went on a cruise, one excursion was on Cozumel, and one of the female crewmembers never made it back to the ship. They found her dead with blunt trauma to the head. It probably wasn't related to the cartel, but who knows, in any case, it is a small place for so much violence to happen.

Believe me, I hate that all that is going on because we LOVE Mexico, and the people. It is such a quick and fairly cheap place to take your family and enjoy the beach. Plus, I don't like being on a plane that long in the air, to Hawaii. Flying isn't my favorite thing!

SueB...

How big is some of your luggage?!?! I PROMISE I won't eat that much...for a while....;-)

I know it's unfounded for most areas, but I have no desire to go to Mexico nowadays. I'd have a nagging desire for a WELL-armed SWAT team with me....

Yeah...gettin' to Hawaii is a long ride! 9 hours to the minute from Chicago to Honolulu on UA1. Sooooo worth it though! From LA or west-coast cities, it's only ~ 4.5-5 hours.

Faron

Olliesmom, sounds like this (link) is the story you are referring to, perhaps. The vast majority of stories like this - while incredibly unfortunate - have nothing to do with cartels or even small-time criminal activity, but are crimes perpetrated by someone familiar to the victim.

I understand your reluctance to travel. From your initial post, it sounded like you were upset with your mom for "throwing a fit", which is why I responded as I did.

Apart from feeling that Mexico is unfairly maligned (and it's not that small - it's about 1/5th the size of the United States! ;-)), I don't mind encountering fewer crowds when I go there. (OK, so that's selfish of me ...)

Terriks, I didn't realize there were so many expats living in PV. I recall reading that at least 3 million tourists flock to the area annually though, and that's a lot of people, many if not most being repeat visitors. People wouldn't keep going back to these areas if it were as unsafe as the media wants to make us believe. I'm ready to go back, but won't be able to do so until next year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Murder in Cozumel

What I don't understand is, if it isn't any worse than it's always been, why are people saying it is currently? I mean, what is all the "hoopla" about, and who started it?

Yes, auntjen, if they don't get some sort of control over the situation or the media, you may be there all by your lonesome-HA!

I'm not saying the violence in certain areas of Mexico hasn't grown. It has. But it hasn't grown throughout the country. Tourists aren't being kidnapped/killed by druglords in Cabo or Puerto Vallarta or Zihuatanejo or countless other places in the country. As to why people are hyped up, I blame today's media which is anything but conscientious news reporting. The more sensationalized of a spin they can put on something, the more it's going to sell. Sad, really. Even the tale of the cruise ship crew member, it's all hearsay. Even the link I shared ... hearsay. It's like the childhood game of "telephone", where the story is twisted and distorted to unrecognizable from reality by the time it makes its way around.

Others don't have to agree with me. This is how I view it - and how a number of people I know who regularly travel to or live in Mexico view it too. I tend to put a lot of weight into reports such as Terriks shared about PV being a top retirement destination. We continue to consider it for our future as well.

Oakley, we drove to Mexico City in 1979 to visit dh's brother (he was with the DEA) and his family. Not something I would ever entertain today! Dealing with the Mexican border police was not fun.

I am going to Ireland....cold, rainy and overcast. whatwasithinking?