MAVERICK ROVER WORLD. Blog Post #40. Merida, MX. 1/6/2019

"It's not a vacation, 
it's a lifestyle"

Post #40

January 6, 2019


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MEXICO
Mérida, Yucatan
(week 4)

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Spanish School in Mérida

our instructor is Nidi

She is patient, fun and a great teacher

our mornings are now

"en la mañana"

our beer is now

"cerveza"

our teacher is now

"profesor"

where we live is now

"vive en el mundo"

 eating is now

"comiendo"

Five days does not a fluent speaker make, 

but it certainly helps to read menus, 

converse with people on the street

and give the Uber driver directions

Hasta Luego mi amigos

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Here is a peep hole vision 

that illustrates our

fascination with 

doors of mystery

Beyond every door there are 

millions of stories

that will never be told,

 even by the person who possesses the keys

Colorful and aged Mexican doors

 

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Notwithstanding the doors of mystery, 

we have opened many doors, 

both physically and metaphorically during our 

Maverick Rover World

travels, and we have learned many things. 

Most importantly, we have learned that 

WWDIAA

"We Would Do It All Again"

and we haven't even finished our first 12 months.

Stay tuned!

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Metaphorical Doors of Life

When you meet someone new

The door may be shut tight

You may have to knock 

It might be open 

To walk into someone’s heart

is an opening that may never happen

unless you knock gently with purpose 

hear the heartbeat rise and fall

listen with bended ear

To hold a friend’s hand

is trust in both

the clench of the grip

the softness of the skin

know when to let go

To listen when spoken to

with full attention 

under all circumstances

without distraction

without judgment 

To see deep into their eyes

past their pain

into their soul

their true colors

what they reflect

To taste the sweat of their brow

as the sweat of fear escapes

when their openness is handed to you

under the heat of the sun

as water drips to blood

To smell the sweetness of friendship

beneath the danger of loss

within the depth of self doubt

close by behind a tree

hovering above like a storm cloud

Hold with intention, the door handle

Listen carefully, beyond the word

See the light, as it reflects

Taste often, the salty handle

Smell the colors, as they meld

The doors of life

                            roger allen mosser

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MAVERICK ROVER WORLD 

Trials and Tribulations

Do we have travel horror stories? 

You bet we do, but in the big picture WWDIAA. 

*train travel

     *upon arrival in Madrid, SP we had quite the time trying to get from the airport terminal to the train station for our travel to Valencia. *1) Unknown to us, was the factor of taking a bus to a different terminal within the airport to catch the subway to then get to the train station. *2) Once we arrived at the train station we were given several different instructions by different people of which train to get on to reach Valencia. We went from Pilar to Post before eventually we were able to speak with an agent who helped us by selling us a ticket on the correct train to Valencia. Voila! Try doing all this is Spanish! Luckily we did not have a specific time to catch the train or to arrive in Valencia. (Problem averted)

*car rental

     *when ranting a car in Manchester to drive to Gatwick airport in London, the rental agent entered directions within the car's  NAV system for the return location.  The NAV took us to a car rental return station that no longer existed.  I called the police department and they told us that all car rental returns were now located at Terminal #2.  Luckily we were not flying out until the following day. (Problem averted)

*money exchange

     *when collecting cash from the ATM in Edinburgh and getting ready to head to Manchester, ENG, the machine gave us Scottish Euro currency, which has the same value as the European Euro, but is not widely accepted throughout the remainder of the UK. Strangely the bank did not have enough European Euros to exchange. Luckily they referred us to the post office the post next door where they exchanged the bills for us by going through 3 different cash registers to help us out. All with a smile. (Problem averted)

*housing

     *upon arrival at our AirBnB in Merida, MX we found our room without sheets or pillow cases and the mattress and pillows were extremely stained. The sink in the kitchen had dead, rotten food in it, the bathroom had no hot water. Eventually the host's son helped out and fixed most of the issues.  However, we stayed only one night and found alternate lodging that has worked out perfectly and is closer to the city center. (Problem averted) No, this is not a rag on AirBnB, we still love it. Just be sure to vet your housing as best you can.  We are awaiting some remuneration. 

*ETC

     *Meals, not all food we order is acceptable, but we often times exchange plates and manage quite nicely. (Problem averted)

     *WiFi, not all housing units are equal with perfect WiFi but we get by and can always go to a coffee shop. What's wrong with that? (Problem averted)

     *Location, sometimes we find that our room is not as close to city center as we had hoped or maybe it is high up on a hill. Well, that just means more exercise. (Problem averted)

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"It's not a vacation, it's a lifestyle"

Never let it be said that two crazy guys in their 70s wouldn't just pack it up and grab a carry-on suitcase, along with a backpack and spin the globe looking for new places to explore.... because these two crazy guys just did it.

Here we are with 10 months behind us and no end date in sight for such behavior.  The more we travel, the more our list of places to visit continues to grow.  Literally, everyday we meet fellow travelers just like us, who gladly share their favorite stories and destinations.  These conversations inspire us to continue our worldly explorations with even more vim and vigor. 

"It's not a vacation, it's a lifestyle"

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**next stops

San Diego, CA

Los Angeles, CA

Bozeman, MT

Buenos Aires, AR

**December '18 - January '19 MEXICO

*merida(mid)

*progreso
*uxmal
*playadelcarmen

**October - December 2018  MEXICO

*puertovallarta (pvr) 

*nuevovallarta
*bucerias
*yalapa
*bocadetomatlan

**October 2018 USA

*portland(pdx)

**September 2018 USA

*losangeles

*palmsprings

*lasvegas(las)

*sandiego(san)

*washingtondc(dca)

*newyorkcity(jfk)

**August 2018  ENGLAND

*highclere

*chester

*manchester(man)

*salford

*liverpool

**July 2018  SCOTLAND

*edinburgh(edi) 

*alloa

*sterling

*standrews

*glasgow(gla)

**July 2018  IRELAND

*dublin(dub)

**July 2018  ENGLAND, UK 

*london(stn)

**April - June 2018  SPAIN

*madrid(mad)

*valencia(vlc)

*barcelona(bcn)

*sitges

*palmademallorca(pmi)

*torrevieja

*puntaprima

*caboroig

*granada

*cartegena

*lazenia

*malaga

*altea

*alicante

**March 2018   USA

*sandiego (san)

*losangeles(lax) 

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Our travels include all of these countries and cities around the world, plus multiple states and cities across the USA

**February 2018  MEXICO

**mexicocity(mex)

**October 2017  HAWAII

**maui(ogg)

**April 2017 PANAMA CANAL CRUISE

**mexico

**guatamala

**panama

**costarica

**curacao

**florida(mia)

**May 2016 DENMARK

**copenhagen(cph)

**April-May 2016 MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE

**italy

**malta

**greece

**turkey

**April-May 2016 TRANS-ATLANTIC CRUISE

**portugal

**gibraltar

**spain

**italy

**September 2014 HAWAII

**kona(koa)

**May2014 FRANCE

**paris(cdl)

**May 2014 ITALY

**venice

**April-May 2014 TRANS-ATLANTIC CRUISE

**canaryislands

**spain

**france

**italy

**June 2013 AFRICA

**tanzania(ark)

**June 2013 NETHERLANDS

**amsterdam(ams)

**October 2011 SPAIN

**barcelona(bcn)

**madrid

**seville

**valencia

**January 2009 MEXICO

**acapulco(aca)

**November 2008 MEXICO

**puertovallarta(pvr)

**October 2007 MEXICO

**cabosanlucas(csl)

**November 2006 ITALY

**rome(fco)

**florence

**pisa

**sienna

**tavernelle

**montepulciano

**November 2006 CANADA

**vancouver(yvr)

**March 2005 MEXICO

**guadalajara(gdl)

**July 2004 ARUBA

**December 2003 CANADA

**whistler

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