Hi Mexico-loving friends! I hope you've all had a wonderful month and a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrated!

Hi Mexico-loving friends! I hope you've all had a wonderful month and a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrated! Thanksgiving usually marks the start of the holiday season, we can finally start watching Love Actually and listening to Maria Carey and Michael Bublé, but it also marks another transition at this time of year. The migration of people from Canada and the United States to south of the border (and I don't mean the horrible roadside rest stop in South Carolina!).  It's snow bird season in Mexico and while that used to mean mostly those over a certain age, with the huge shift of people throughout the pandemic being able to work remotely, it means that Mexico is busier than ever before.

News in Mexico

Last week, a tourist was caught climbing the beautiful Chichen Itza. It has been illegal to climb the pyramid since 2008 in an attempt to preserve the stone. She could face fines of up to 100,000 Pesos (about $5,000 USD).  While we've seen travel chaos all over the world this year with delayed flights, cancellations, lost luggage, and security lines that make you want to cry, Mexico has not been immune. In fact, they continue to have airport and airline issues which could be a concern as we head into high season in Mexico.  This article covers the situation well and offers a bit of a heads-up when it comes to internal travel in Mexico. While I'll still be putting my trust in Viva Aerobus me to Puerto Vallarta later this year, I plan on traveling hand luggage only to avoid huge headaches. By July of this year, Mexico had already surpassed tourism numbers from 2019 and this final stretch of 2022 looks like it will continue with this trend. This is all to say, if you haven't already booked your hotels and rental cars for this winter, now is the time!

November Mexico Content

Eternal Expat's Mexico-based writers have been busy this month writing some more great content! We've also updated some of our most popular posts to make sure they are as up-to-date as possible for you! 5 Best Beaches in Playa del Carmen 10 Best Restaurants in Playa del Carmen 10 Best Restaurants in Cancun Getting from Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen New Years in Mexico City (recently updated!) You can catch up on all of the Mexico content on Eternal Expat here.

I'm Coming Home

As many of you know, I left Mexico last year after living in the country for over five years.  It was a tough decision, but ultimately the best one for both Luke's and my career paths.  And while we are enjoying life in Europe quite a lot, I am happy to say that we are headed home to Mexico for a trip (not to move back just yet!). We'll be visiting the country for a few weeks to warm up and escape from the cold Northern European winter. It will be a time to catch up with friends and to work on updating tons of blog posts as well as the fourth edition of my Mexico City guidebook! To celebrate, and as a HUGE Thank You for all of your continued support I am offering a 20% discount on all of my Mexico guidebooks from now until Christmas. Use the code MEX2022 at checkout for any of the digital copies of my guidebooks and you will get 20% off the price.  If you have purchased one of the digital guidebooks that means that you will receive updated copies of that guidebook completely free forever (including the next edition of the Mexico City guide which comes out in February 2023!!). You can see the Baja California Sur guidebook here and the Mexico City guidebook here.

Expats & Locals Around Mexico

As always with Mexico, I highly recommend seeking out people who are currently living in the places that you want to visit. Speak to the locals living in those places and find out how you can better integrate. Ask questions, be curious and kind. For updates about Mexico City, as always I recommend following Ubish Yaren on Instagram. You can also follow Anais of The Curious Mexican for updates on the restaurant and food scene in Mexico City and what is back open. For updates about what's going on in Oaxaca, Susan of Brooklyn Tropicali has been sharing her updates of what's going on around the city and state of Oaxaca. Trisha of PS I'm On My Way currently lives in Cabo San Lucas and can share some insights into what is happening there with you. Check out her website here. For regular updates about life in Merida and around the Yucatan, check out Mexico Cassie who has also recently written a fantastic guide about Traveling Yucatan with Kids. Shelley of Travel Mexico Solo also shares her experiences in Merida and around the Yucatan. Her Instagram is a particularly good resource for what she's seeing at the moment. The Yucatan Times is the local English newspaper in Merida that shares local updates and news reports. To keep up with what's going on in and around Querétaro, follow Alex of the Backpacking Brunette. Vallarta Daily is the local English news there where you can learn about any changes in the situation in Puerto Vallarta and the surrounding Nayarit beach towns as well. Janine Around the World is traveling around the Riviera Maya at the moment sharing her experiences on her blog and Instagram. Riviera Maya News is the local English newspaper there where you can keep up with changes. I believe this is the region that is changing the most in regards to safety at the minute and if you plan to independently travel here (renting a car and exploring without tours or away from resorts), then I highly recommend speaking to someone who is there right now. As always, a great place to keep up to date with news about what's happening all over Mexico in English is Mexico News Daily.

Visiting Mexico Soon?

If you are planning a trip to Mexico soon, I hope you'll have a browse of the different Mexico guides on my blog or have a search through my YouTube videos to help you plan your trip! I also have FOUR extensive guidebooks available for Baja California Sur, Mexico City, Merida, and Guanajuato! If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to email me by simply hitting reply on this email. Speak soon and safe travels, Laura

Eternal Expat Principal 20 CDMX Mexico