Mexico by the Numbers

We ended up spending much more time (and money) in our first country, Mexico, than we had initially planned.  Sadly, we also did not get to visit all the places we had wanted to see, either – it turns out it really is a huge country.

That said, we had a fantastic time in Mexico.  From the beautiful beaches of the Yucatan, to the majestic mountains of Guanajuato, (minus a tooth being pulled), we enjoyed every minute of this vast country.

Everyone likes numbers, so here are our numbers from Mexico:

Budget

We planned to spend $100/day, though the first 1-2 weeks in Cancun and Playa del Carmen blew that out of the water.  Much of this time was spent with Heather recovering from a wisdom tooth extraction, so factoring in the lower medical costs (compared to NYC) cushioned the blow a bit.

Here are our average daily expenses:

Food – $34
Lodging – $34
Transportation – $22
Drinks  – $10
Activities – $16
Misc – $6
Total – $122/day

Other Numbers

Days in Mexico – 44
Miles traveled – 2,337
Long-distance bus trips – 16
Overnight buses – 4
Hours on buses – 78
Taxis – 29
Colectivos (shared taxis) – 5
Boat trips – 3
Trains – 1
Planes – 1 (NYC to Cancun)
City bus tours – 4
Cities visited – 20
Beds slept in – 16
Rooms with A/C – 5
Nights under mosquito net – 2
Beaches – 5
Swimming pools – 5
Cenotes – 3
Waterfalls – 1
Ruins – 5
Pyramids climbed – 6
Traveler’s stomach incidents – 5
Cuts / band-aids – 9
Days on antibiotics – 5
Churches & Cathedrals – 57
Museums – 17
Restaurants – 71 (too much eating out – we need to lower this)
Tacos – 64
Quesadillas – 17
Sunburns – 2
Uses of hair dryer – 1 (Heather)
Days/nights wearing makeup – 3 (yes, Heather again)
VW Beetles – we lost count!

Most /Least Expensive

Lodging – Maya Tulipanes (Palenque – Splurge for Heather’s birthday) – $66 /
San Miguel – private room $10
Meals – $70 (Cancun) / $3.60 (Food counter at Market – San Miguel)
Beers – $5.50 /bottle (Cancun) / $0.78 (Guadalajara)