As the only diners on the roof top terrace of the small hill-top restaurant in Mexico, my family almost had the place to ourselves. The sole exception was the Mexican couple who owned the place and lived there. But after the woman’s second
or third trip up the steep stairway from the kitchen to attend to us, I began to feel like she was a Mexican aunt I never knew about.
After we finished our meal and listened to our son and daughter’s banter, the woman gave us a tour of her kitchen and showed us some black and white pictures of what the town looked like in the 1960s.
The $35 tab for our meal and drinks seemed like it was from the 1960s too.
This didn’t take place in some obscure pueblo, but in Puerto Vallerta–one of the top three tourist destinations in all of Mexico.
Lingering Misperception. It also sums up why this is such a great time to visit the country. Mexico appears to still be suffering from a lingering perception of danger. Having yet to completely shake off the stigma from the Swine Flu scare, Mexico is seeing less visitors than usual during its slow season. Many people in the U.S. still seem wary of visiting the country after the onslaught of negative publicity earlier in the year about the drug-cartel crisis.
But from what I saw, there is little to fear and much to be gained visiting there. It’s only a matter of time before everyone else figures this out too. Some already have.
The fellow who sat next to me on my flight home had just purchased a condo in Nuevo Vallarta. He said the down economy, combined with the over-hyped press coverage of the country created a perfect storm for buying real estate in the country.
His thinking reminds me of legendary investor Warren Buffet, who said the time to “be greedy [is] only when others are fearful.”
Low Prices, High Exchange Rate. For those looking to make less of a commitment, great deals await on hotel stays. The low prices are well worth the snide remarks about the Swine Flu that you’ll likely endure.
Looking for courage? Think about how much farther your travel budget will go at the exchange rate of about 13.5 pesos to the dollar. This is up almost 25 percent from the exchange rate last July, which was slightly less than 10 pesos to the dollar.
Besides the financial incentives, you’ll likely receive high quality service. It seems that almost everyone involved in the tourism industry in Mexico is acutely aware of the negative press their country has received. The taxi drivers, hotel staff, waiters and just about everyone else we came across throughout our trip was exceedingly courteous.
So, when it comes to Mexico, hurry up and be greedy while there’s still time.
on Jun 24th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I’d like to post a link to this article on http://www.thetruthaboutmexico.com. Would you be ok with that?
Thanks!
on Jun 24th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
That would be great. Thanks Nancy!
on Jun 29th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
My family and I just returned from a two week vacation in the Vallarta/ Sayulita area. We had a great time overall. The only bad spots were weather related (we were detained two days in Dallas due to heavy rains and our trip with Vallarta Adventures was cut short due to worries about the hurricane). My wife and I took over 1,000 pictures between the two of us and the kids went through a few disposable cameras. We also brought back a few extra pounds from the great food. This was our first time to the Vallarta area and we were extremely impressed with the beauty of the architecture, the flora, and most especially with the warmth of the people who live there. The people rarely even made fun of my horrible Espanol.
Thank you to all of the people who made this such a memorable trip. We’ll be back.
Lonnie
on Dec 21st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Yep – right now is a great time for traveling to Mexico. Great bargains, less crowds, and less chance of getting ‘swine flu’ in Mexico than in the US!
I run a website for Mexican auto insurance for US and Canadian cars that drive to Mexico. – mexadventure.com
Our sales plumetted this year due to the economy, then the passport requirements for land travel, reports of drug gang violence – then swine flu was the nail in the coffin.
But good news for everyone in the Mexico travel industry – we are seeing sales bouncing back for November and December 2009. In fact just as many people are buying Mexican auto insurance as they did in Nov-Dec 2007 and 2008. We’ll see if it holds for 2010
Another thing to consider – we insurure about 30,000 vehicles a year that drive to Mexico (US and Canadian vehicles driving to Mexico) – we have not seen one single murder of any of our customers – and not one single act of violence against any of our customers – these numbers go back to 2001 when we first started selling Mexican auto insurance on the internet.
So the fear of violence against tourists just is not based on reality. As long as you do not drive at night, park over night in a secure parking area, and NEVER park overnight on the side of the road – you will be fine. BTW – these same common sense rules apply to traveling anywhere – including within the US!
on Apr 9th, 2010 at 8:01 am
I would love to know the name of this restaurant as we are in Vallarta at the moment …