# Mexico Travel



## soulpatch (Nov 12, 2013)

We have been living in coastal Nayarit now for a year as a family.

We have had some ups and downs but it has been wonderful for us as a family to be together rather than split apart by work in the USA. 

We had wanted to travel Mexico this summer when it was hot but the way our rented house was built the design features channeled water into the house and we would spend hours stemming the flow! 
Super fun in the tropics.... regardless, we have them addressed now and, of course, it is no longer rainy season.

We are NOT going to spend the entire summer encamped on the coast here again! It just gets a little too cozy and with AC bills it makes no sense to not spend that money visiting the interior.

We are going to explore Mexico with the intent of seeing what cities as my children become more sophisticated with their educational needs and desires that may work for us.... we think we will start in December over Christmas break with a circle that takes us through GDL, then on to Guanajato. 

Semana Santa will probably include a DF and Xalapa loop with maybe some Cuernavaca and Valle de Bravo thrown in there if time allows. Or not.... we are really interested in the cultural opportunities that Mexico has for us.

We will be looking at this as fun and educational. 

Anyway, I am particularly interested in hearing from folks in the greater GDL, Xalapa and DF regions and their personal outlooks on why they like where they live.

Saludos


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

One could define the Ajijic Village on Lake Chapala where we have lived since 2001 as Greater Guadalajara even though it´s about 45 kilometers away from the city but via an expressway through a mostly urban zone so, really it is on the edge of Metroploitan Guadalajara. We also spend winters in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas (rather than summers when it simply rains too much down there) but we moved to the shores of Lake Chapala rather than Guadalajara because we are dog freaks and wanted a retirement community where we could run our five dogs off-leash on deserted beaches which are abundant in Ajijic. Were we not dog freaks, Central Guadalajara would have appealed to us immensely as a place to live. Now, when I say "Central Guadalajara" I don´t mean just Centro but other really great neighborhhods fairly close to Centro as well which you would need to explore while there. I mean by that comment to exclude suburban and exurban neighborhoods and developments since living near or fairly near Centro gives you easy access to very good public transportation and all sorts of restaurants and cultural events. 

While Guadalajara has some serious air polution problems, those problems are mostly discernable in the southern part of the city which is largely industrial and not generally a place to reside if you can avoid it. The most attarctive neighborhoods, generally speaking, are just west, north and, perhaps east of Centro mainly within the periferico but, once again, this is just a generalization and you would neeed to visit the city and explore around town to find a place you like. We are quite fond of the Providencia/Minerva area ourselves but this is one large city so you will want to explore it for yourself.


Despite the pollution, Guadalajara has a great climate at 5,000 feet which is not quite as good as at the lake which is also at about 5,000 feet because the lake helps to moderate the temperatures so Guadalajara often gets a little bit warmer and cooler than the area around the lake but the difference is not significant.

The thing you may wish to consider is your personal fondnes for sunshine versus overcast or incessant drizzle, what the folks down here call "chipi-chipi". In Guadalajara or at Lake Chapala you will experience almost constant sunshine and mainly seasonal rain during the early evening or at night. Xalapa, another city you are considering, is an attractive city with lots of good restaurants and many cultural attractions and is the capital of Veracruz State but it is also known for its "chipi-chipi" so be prepared during certain times of the year for often prolonged overcast skies and drizzle.

Now, I´m no expert on climate variations, but back in 2005 when we were looking for s site for a second home, we considered Veracruz State including Orizaba, Fortin de Las Flores and Xalapa, all phusically impressive towns but one thing we noted was the tendencies of those urban zones to suffer from overcast and drizzle during the winter months. We also noted that tendency in San Cristóbal de Las Casas plus the copious rains in the summer in that city sitting at 7,000 feet and, thus, oifetn quite chilly. I believe that is because those cities in Veracruz State and Chiapas are subject to "nortes" , cold, wet, overcast weather coming off of the Gulf of Mexico which is a weaether related phenomenon that does not effect Metropolitan Guadalajara. Just keep that in mind if you wish to avoid drear in the highlands from, say 3,000 to 5,000 feet. If you decide on a town at 7,000 feet, bring your longjohns and a windbreaker. 

Good luck in your quest to escape the summer heat and humidity on the coast. We always visit the beaches in Chiapas, Oaxaca, Yucatan and Quintana Roo in the dead of winter but avoid them like the plague in the summer.


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