Escape to Mexico

It's fairly well known that Canadian winters are long, cold and dark.  Where I grew up, the first snowfall came around Halloween and it would be followed by months and months of below zero temperatures and snow storms.  Come January, many of us were completely over winter - the terrible road conditions, the temperatures plunging below -30, shovelling driveways and plugging in cars to ensure they'd start in the morning.  Unfortunately, winter continued well into March.

Mexico has always been a popular sun destination for Canadians but in the last fifteen years, it has really taken off.  Sick of frigid temperatures, more and more residents of the Great White North began escaping winter by heading South, if only for a week.  Airlines have been adding seasonal flights to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta from even our small city airports and the abundance of all inclusive resorts in Mexico have made the trip affordable for a lot of people.  Joe and I have gone twice - once with friends marking our convocation in 2005 and again in 2008, just the two of us.

For many of the sun seekers, travel isn't necessarily at the forefront of these trips.  We're there for heat and sunshine where we'll completely overdo it and end up burnt to a crisp on the first day.  We're also there for the unlimited slushy, sugary drinks which we'll also overdo and almost all of us will battle montezuma's revenge at one point or another.  It's all worth it because for those seven days, winter will be the furthest thing from our minds and the break from the monotony of snow and cold will give us just enough energy to last through the latter half of the season.

Mexico has also become a very popular wedding destination which is exactly what brought us to the Mayan Riviera this time around.  We met around 30 other guests in Tulum to celebrate Joe's sister's wedding.  (In fact, on her wedding day, there were 3 other weddings just at our resort!!)  Our itinerary was pretty quiet although my parents were also conveniently at their timeshare a little over an hour away from where we were staying which allowed us to visit them as well.  Aside from that, we rotated between sun and shade, pool and beach and we spent a lot of time catching up with Joe's side of the family.

This was an interesting trip for us.  I had to relinquish all travel planning control as the location, the dates and the resort were all chosen for us which was a little harder than I expected.  We were also coming into our third Mexican vacation from a completely different place, figuratively and literally, than our last two trips.  We've been living abroad now for three and a half years, traveling regularly and while we've had our fair share of 'holidays,' we have stayed away from large, all inclusive resorts as we've become more comfortable in foreign countries.  It was certainly enjoyable having so much time with family but, both us were yearning to see a little more of 'real' Mexico.

What is a pretty easy, quick trip from Canada is a fairly lengthy journey from Norway.  Our three flights spanned near twenty five hours each way with a seven hour time change.  We were lucky to not struggle with jet lag while in Mexico but, days after our return home, we're still readjusting.  Over the weekend, we caught ourselves sleeping until well after eleven, something we haven't done in ages but we're definitely feeling a little rejuvenated, having had a slight break from the rain and wind of Stavanger.

Our favourite holidays to date are Mauritius and Santorini.  Where are you favourite places to relax?