Don't You Just Hate It When Plans Go Pffft?

I do. This is why I seldom make plans and always play things by ear. My latest disappointment and plan that went kaput? I planned on blogging daily while in Mexico this past vacation I took.

What happened? I didn't foresee the following: that internet connection would not be available for free. While I made a great deal with the accommodation, the lack of internet was something I thought could be remedied easily. Sure there was internet connection, but for a fee. A large fee. Like $25/day. Huge, considering I was paying $40/day to stay in a beautiful studio suite by the beach, inside a family-oriented resort.

Still on the first day I thought that I could easily go to any cafe with wifi, like Starbucks for instance, since we rented a car for the duration of our vacation. But there were some days, most days actually, that we preferred to laze about in beach chairs looking at clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean and/or walking the fine white sandy beach.

Anyway, that's that. It's done. Can't cry over that no more.

Let me report that the vacation was wonderful. We flew out of SFO on July 27th at night and arrived midnight in Denver. We had a 10-hour layover, but that was shortened because of the delay in taking off at SFO. We had the presence of mind to reserve a hotel room so we can rest fitfully that night. Early morning of July 28th, we flew out of Denver to Cancun.

This would be my second time in Cancun. The first was in 2010. On that vacation we stayed for 6 days and stayed mostly in Hotel Zone, which is where all the tourists are - the center of tourism so to speak.

We did many things for the first time on this vacation. This time around we stayed in Puerto Juarez area of Cancun, and we drove everywhere. We drove to the cathedral, to the pharmacy, to the grocery store, to Costco, to Walmart, and to eat at roadside eateries, where all the diners were locals and not one of the servers spoke any English.

We spent my birthday with daytrip to a small island immediately across the sea from Puerto Juarez, an island called Isla Mujeres. What a charming little island it is. The shopping and dining is fabulous. We also got to visit the turtle rehabilitation center.

A tip from a local gave way to our discovery of a public beach called Xpuha. We initially planned on a road trip to Playa Del Carmen when the local suggested we check this public beach out. She said it's her favorite beach and only locals know it.

Since we were in Playa Del Carmen in November or was it December, we decided to see something new. And boy oh boy, what a beautiful beach it is. In addition to the beach being a local haunt, it is also popular with the backpacker community.

All in all, I felt like I have gotten to know more about Cancun and my appreciation level is getting up there after this vacation.

Oh, I'm also burned. The skin in arms are now starting to peel. I hate that feeling.