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A little about Playa Zipolite, The Beach of the Dead . . .

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. A little bit about my favorite little get-away on this small world of ours.

Zipolite, a sweaty 30-minute walk west from Puerto Angel, brings you to Playa Zipolite and another world. The feeling here is 1970's - Led Zep, Marley, and scruffy gringos.

A long, long time ago, Zipolite beach was usually visited by the Zapotecans...who made it a magical place. They came to visit Zipolite to meditate, or just to rest.

Recently, this beach has begun to receive day-trippers from Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido, giving it a more TOURISTY feel than before.

Most people come here for the novelty of the nude beach, yoga, turtles, seafood, surf, meditation, vegetarians, discos, party, to get burnt by the sun, or to see how long they can stretch their skinny budget.

I post WWW Oaxaca, Mexico, Zipolite and areas nearby information. Also general budget, backpacker, surfer, off the beaten path, Mexico and beyond, information.

REMEMBER: Everyone is welcome at Zipolite.

ivan

Friday, October 30, 2020

WE HUMANS How to take a vacation without leaving your own home Oct 26, 2020 / Ingrid Fetell Lee

 WE HUMANS

How to take a vacation without leaving your own home

Oct 26, 2020 


This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community; browse through all the posts here.

I need a vacation.

I know I’m not the only one feeling this right now. It’s a sentiment I’ve been hearing a lot from friends and on social media, and it’s no surprise given the strange and stressful circumstances we find ourselves in. The unpredictability of the pandemic and the global economy, coupled with the strain of adjusting to new realities of work, childcare and school, have almost everyone I know craving an escape.

Yet with travel restricted in many places, a carefree getaway isn’t in the cards for most people.

Still, vacations are an important part of well-being. One study, for example, showed that when men at risk for heart disease didn’t take annual vacations, they had a 32 percent higher risk of having a fatal heart attack than those who did. Likewise, a study of women showed that those who took vacation rarely — i.e., once every six years or less often — were eight times more likely to develop heart disease. Other studies have shown an increase in sleep quality and an improvement in reaction times of up to 80 percent after taking a vacation.

Still other research has shown that regular vacations are more important than money to overall well-being, so much that a regular vacationer making less than $24,000 a year might even be happier than a non-vacationer making more than $120,000 a year.

But it’s one thing to know you should take a vacation and it’s another to actually take one, especially when a simple trip to the grocery store can be a daunting experience. For those of us who don’t feel safe to venture forth right now — and with a newborn at home, I’m definitely in this camp — a staycation can provide some of the same benefits: A chance to rest, a break from usual routines, opportunities for freedom and play.

Sometimes, a staycation can be even more relaxing than a regular vacation. Think about it: No crowded airports, no jet lag, no jostling for a spot in line at the museum or the best spot at the beach or pool. There’s plenty of advice out there for how to make you can most of a staycation — unplug from your devices; take a break from the news; change your schedule. Yet while these ideas may help you have a restorative break, I’m not sure they really capture the joy of getting away.

One thing that’s hard to find on a staycation is adventure, especially if your staycation occurs entirely within the four walls of your home. Adventure is one of travel’s greatest delights; it breaks us out of the monotony of the everyday, restores senses that have become numbed by long hours staring at screens, and allows us to build new memories. Shaken out of our usual surroundings and plunged into a different world filled with unfamiliar scents and sights and, sometimes, the sounds of a foreign language — the potential for joy is all around us.

So what I’ve been wondering is: Is it possible to have an adventure without leaving home? And if so, how?

Here are eight ideas to do just that and help you kindle the joy of travel during your staycation.

1. Read books and watch movies that transport you 

One of my favorite things to do before taking a trip is to search out books and movies that can help me get a feel for a place. But you can still do this even if you’re staying close to home.

Search out famous — or not-so-famous — books or films from the part of the world you’re wanderlusting after. It’s especially worth seeking out works by native or Indigenous authors, who live or were raised in a place, as opposed to travel writers who tend to have a more limited perspective. Then get lost in these during your staycation week.

And when you finally get to take that trip? The historical and cultural perspective you’ve gained will make it all the more inspiring.

2. Broaden your musical horizons

Music is deeply connected to our emotions, which makes it particularly transporting. The ethereal sounds of Sigur Rós, for example, can create a dreamy Icelandic atmosphere. Hawaiian ukulele and hula music brings the beach to your living room, with a vibe so relaxing that it can untangle the knots in even the tightest of shoulders. Caribbean music, whether reggae or calypso, salsa or soca, has a similar power to set the tone for a laid back afternoon.

Try searching for artists or genres of music from your desired destination and build a playlist to help you set the ambience. Or, if you use Spotify, you might be able to find ready-made playlists full of tunes that can take you places.

3. Sip a place-appropriate apéritif

Cocktail hour is often billed as a moment to escape from reality. Whether you’ve had to cancel a trip or are just daydreaming, a little research can help you turn this everyday ritual into a joyful one.

So if the south of France is on your vacation agenda, order a bottle of anise-flavored Ricard or a bright rosé. If Italy is in the plan, try making your own amaro or searching online for bitter Italian sodas. For US destinations, look for local microbrews you can order directly — there are small breweries in all 50 states.

Your choice doesn’t have to be alcoholic either. Consider Southern sweet tea or Mexican agua fresca, or explore this list of 100 non-alcoholic beverages that are savored around the world.

4. Take a culinary adventure

In my memories of travel, food and adventure go hand in hand. I remember being 13, eating a pizza in Northern Italy that was so much thinner and floppier, the tomato so much tomato-ier than at home. Those first tom yum soups in the south of Thailand when I was 26, a little bit sour and so much hotter than any I’d had before. A pile of wiry rambutan from the markets in Vietnam. Cheese-filled khachapuri in Tbilisi. Travel broke my palate wide open.

If you’re craving new culinary adventures, treat yourself to a cookbook that lets you explore the cuisine of a far-off land. For example, Yottam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem will transport you to the Mediterranean, while The Slanted Door by Charles Phan will give you a window into Vietnam. If you need to find ingredients, the internet can help you stock your pantry with a few new spices or condiments to make these recipes sing.

Not that your choice needs to be exotic. You can find adventure in hot dogs if you’re missing the ball park, cotton candy if you wish you were at an amusement park, fish if you’re craving the shore. Strawberry shortcake reminds me of summer visits to my grandparents’ Florida retirement home, as does store-bought lemon pudding with meringue on top. Tune into what you’re craving, and see where the food leads you!

5. Play a new game

Games from afar expand our field of play, revealing new ways to access our ageless inner child. If you have a destination in mind, seek out games that are played or invented in that part of the world, like mahjong in China, boules in France or perudo, believed to be an Incan game brought to Spain in the 16th century.

Or go in reverse: Research the origins of a favorite game of yours and see where it takes you!

6. Visit a museum — virtually

Museums in many locations have started to reopen with social distancing and masks, but if you’re not ready to go in person, you can spend an afternoon exploring them online. Google’s Arts and Culture project has digitized hundreds of collections and online tours at museums around the world. Find one near your destination using this map.

Yes, it’s not the same as seeing the works in person, but you do get to museum-hop without the constraints of real life. When else can you check out the Tate, the Reina Sofia and the Acropolis Museum all in one day? You can also explore by artist or theme, composing your own “museum” from the collections of the world’s best.

6. Tour a national park

Camping is one type of vacation that’s mostly safe and accessible to do right now. But if you can’t get to the great outdoors, bring the outdoors to you — with an online tour of one of America’s national parks. Explore a Hawaiian volcano, dive a Florida shipwreck or ride horseback through the red rocks of Bryce Canyon.

Similar to virtual museum visits, these aren’t a real replacement for going in person. But these digital adventures can provide you with a refreshing and recharging change of pace.

7. Learn a new language

“Language is the dwelling place of ideas that do not exist anywhere else,” writes ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer in the book Braiding Sweetgrass. “It is a prism through which to see the world.” Even just speaking a few words from another tongue can enable us to shift our perspective and feel more connected to a place. The deliberate pronunciations of Icelandic feel of a piece with the country’s beautiful, ineffable landscape. The musicality of Hawaiian, a language with only eight consonants, has a gentleness that feels like the water you see at every turn. Saying something in Italian — even if it’s only the words for “hello” and “thank you” — feels like a window into the good life.

If there’s a place that’s calling your name, why not learn some of the basics of the language? The free Duolingo app offers 35 different languages (including Klingon!).

8. Buy a souvenir

For many of us, a trip isn’t complete without something to remember the journey by. This is one of my favorite things to do when traveling — scouting out rugs in Morocco, prints at the Paris flea or crafts from a roadside stand.

But if you can’t go in person, why not do this in reverse, choosing a piece of art to help you build anticipation for a trip to come? You could research galleries and artists at your destination on Etsy, and purchase a piece of art to add to your home. When you do get to take your trip, you could — if it’s possible — arrange a studio visit or try to time it to the artist’s next show.

If you’ve had to cancel travels due to the COVID-19 pandemic or you just don’t have the budget or time to travel right now, try layering a few of these ideas together to create a kind of at-home immersion.

The idea for this post actually began when my husband and I had to cancel our “babymoon” to Hawaii earlier this year. Facing the risk of being quarantined, pregnant and far from home, we had no regrets about canceling our trip.

Still, we were disappointed. We hadn’t had a vacation in quite a while, and it was that part of year in the northeast US where the gray feels endless. The week of our cancelled trip, we were inclined to mope around the house.

Then Albert had an idea: What if we brought Hawaii home?

One of our rituals when we’re in Honolulu to visit family is to go to the Halekulani hotel in Waikiki at sunset to drink mai tais, eat coconut shrimp and coconut cake, and listen to ukulele music. (Is it a little touristy? Sure. But the mix of sensations is pretty darn joyful!)

So we ordered a bunch of tropical decorations and leis, which we put up all over the house. We looked up the recipes for coconut shrimp and cake and subbed virgin piña coladas for mai tais since I was pregnant. We found a playlist of Hawaiian hula music. Albert donned his favorite aloha shirt and I put on a tropical dress, and for an evening, we let ourselves be transported.

No, it wasn’t as good as a week in the land of rainbows. (What is?) But in its own way, it was just as memorable. Travel shakes us out of our everyday, removing our familiar bearings and disconnecting from our worries and troubles. This did too, breaking our slump, and reminding us that we have the power to make our own joy.

This post was originally published on The Aesthetics of Joy site.

Watch her TED Talk here:

Club Demetria - Tijuana #casademetriafriendly... Facebook Club Demetria is at Zipolite Oaxaca. October 21 at 8:40 PM · San Pedro Pochutla, Mexico ·. Tijuana. #casademetriafriendly #clubdemetria

 Club Demetria - Tijuana #casademetriafriendly...

Club Demetria is at Zipolite Oaxaca. October 21 at 8:40 PM · San Pedro Pochutla, Mexico ·. Tijuana. #casademetriafriendly #clubdemetria

Mexico News Today Wednesday, October 28, 2020

 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2020

As Covid cases surge past 900,000 AMLO, López-Gatell say no to enforcing use of masks

The president said using force was an authoritarian measure “that conservatives love, it fascinates them.” FULL STORY

6 National Guard members arrested for Chihuahua murder 

The six were arrested in connection with the murder of a woman in Delicias after she attended a water protest in September. FULL STORY

Arrest of general shakes AMLO at home and abroad

The spectacular arrest of the former defence minister has questioned two bets Andrés Manuel López Obrador made when he became president. FULL STORY

Worst-case scenario is Covid vaccine by March

Authorities in Mexico hope to be able to start vaccinating people against the coronavirus before the end of winter. FULL STORY

Jalisco to use 'emergency button’ after spike in cases

Stricter coronavirus restrictions will be implemented for two weeks starting Friday. FULL STORY
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More than half of all buses in Mexico operate illegally

According to federal statistics, 53% of all buses — 56,631 in total — are illegal because they are more than 15 years old. FULL STORY

Lawmaker wants higher wages for Oxxo workers

Employees of convenience stores should earn as much as bank tellers because they do similar jobs, a Morena lawmaker says. FULL STORY

OPINION

Forget Halloween, let’s hear it for the Druids instead

If “every cloud has a silver lining” that of the Covid-19 cloud is that it has driven a stake into the heart of trick or treating, writes Carlisle Johnson. FULL STORY

Dissident governors ready to battle feds over funding

'The government of the republic ignores us, attacks us, insults us and takes away what belongs to us,' charged Jalisco's Enrique Alfaro. FULL STORY

Otomí indigenous group occupies government offices

Members of the Otomí community say they will not leave until authorities resolve their demands for better living and working conditions. FULL STORY

Thieves steal 355,000 pesos after conning man, 91

The man lost the money after being duped into providing a bank account login code to fraudsters posing as bank employees. FULL STORY

2 Mexicans help LA Dodgers in big World Series win

Two Mexicans were instrumental in the Dodgers' win of their first World Series Major League Baseball title in 32 years. FULL STORY

MEXICO LIFE

Annual pilgrimage has pre-Hispanic and Catholic roots

Every second Sunday of November, Tlatelolco’s Plaza de Tres Culturas fills with thousands of musicians and dancers on a pilgrimage to Villa Guadalupe, writes Joseph Sorrentino. FULL STORY

OPINION

Backtrack produces feelings of rage and embarrassment

Interior Minister Olga Sánchez appears to have been given a dressing down for comments about misogyny in the federal security cabinet, writes Sarah DeVries. FULL STORY

• Minister backtracks: misogyny in cabinet was only ‘a perception’

• 11 police arrested in Jalisco for forced disappearance

• Doctors say 5 patients died during power failure at Tijuana hospital

• Super-delegates accused of using their positions to campaign

• Construction begins on second runway at Guadalajara airport

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Mexico News Today Friday, October 23, 2020

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020

Time for stricter Covid measures as cases rise

The deputy health minister said the increase in new case numbers is most marked in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas and Nuevo León. FULL STORY

Baby that had been pronounced dead found alive in morgue 

A newborn baby declared dead was found alive by funeral home employees after the infant spent six hours in a morgue refrigerator.  FULL STORY

Chihuahua first state to go back to maximum virus risk

The state will return this weekend to the highest risk level on the national coronavirus stoplight system, the first state to do so. FULL STORY

Worst of the pandemic 'will be seen at year’s end'

A former health minister said the increase in case numbers is not the start of a new wave but rather a spike in the first one. FULL STORY

Death rate is high in Mexico for intubated Covid patients

Of 17,331 patients intubated up until the beginning of October, 15,070 died. FULL STORY

Hospitals abandoned, looted, forgotten in México state

Ten hospitals were started years ago by previous administrations and never finished. FULL STORY

Gangsters behind occupation of toll plazas: prosecutor

The governor said the National Guard will be dispatched to protect toll plazas and arrest those who attempt to occupy them. FULL STORY

‘Deception, slander and lies:’ scientists decry cuts

Academics have once again delivered a scathing rebuke of the government after the Senate approved its plan to abolish 109 public trusts. FULL STORY

Thieves shot, thrown off bus

Two armed robbery suspects and a passenger died after other passengers on the bus rose up against the pair. FULL STORY

MEXICO LIFE

Beautiful Mascota, Jalisco, awes and enraptures

Mascota is a charming little town whose history goes back for countless centuries, long before the Spaniards arrived, writes John Pint. FULL STORY

Spanish firm threatens to halt further investment

The company has threatened to stop investing if the government doesn't provide clarity about policies that will apply to foreign companies. FULL STORY

La Laguna: could it be a model for bringing peace elsewhere in Mexico?

A new book examines the multi-faceted security strategy that was implemented in the northern region and was successful in reducing violence. FULL STORY

Baja predicted to finish the year with 3 million tourists

The minister of tourism said travelers feel comfortable returning due to the safety regulations, writes Susy Buchanan in this week's roundup of news from Baja California Sur. FULL STORY
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Papantla flyer falls 15 meters

A young Papantla flyer was gravely injured when he fell during a performance in Hidalgo. FULL STORY

Sinaloa native Julio Urías becomes World Series star

The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher is predicted to take the field in Saturday's fourth game against the Tampa Bay Rays. FULL STORY

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• Man dies after being trapped in well for five days

• Amazon announces US $100 million in investments