Tight Travel Budget? Here’s a Suggestion…

No matter how many times the price of gas lunges skyward, the U.S Dollar to Peso conversion still manages to maintain between 10 to 11 pesos for every dollar. That’s pretty good. So it should be comforting, then, that even at a time when vacations may, more and more, resemble something of a daydream; traveling within the continent is still just as realistic as it was a decade ago.

According to the Associated Press, at no other time in recent tourism history, has there been such a strong trend for vacationers to leave their home country and travel to some place more exotic; hence why Cancun and Punta Cana top the list.

In Cancun, we’re feeling a surge of people booking rooms and coming to relax, and soak in the naturally untamed atmosphere of the Yucatan. When I’ve had the opportunity to speak with guests before their stay, many of them have confessed that Cancun was, in fact, not their original choice of destination; that they had planned a year in advance to travel a place geographically farther—in search for something unfamiliar.

What’s pleasant and warming is when we speak a little later, following their vacation. Our conversation always plays something to the tune of, “I never knew Cancun could be that exotic,” or, “The pictures did it no justice.” That always makes me smile.

-Raul

VH1’s ‘Rock of Love’ at ME Cancun

Bret Michaels of 80s’ hair rock band Poison has a lot going for him. He bought into a trend that sees washed up, novelty-grade celebrities infiltrate the realm of reality TV, and act as if people still care about them or that they are somehow relevant.

In the 80s, Michaels was on stage, hair teased, wailing in an inhuman falsetto voice to crowds of other equally bizarre individuals. Now he is all over VH1’s ‘Rock of Love’ and, more recently, ME Cancun.

What exactly was he doing at the hotel? Relaxing and entertaining his vices as two girls made their attempts at swooning the now 45 year old Michaels.

Regardless of what little familiarity I have with Bret, or Poison for that matter, I won’t deny that when he arrived to the hotel, camera crews in follow, I was instantly start-struck. We had recently catered a visit by Tara Reid, and that was an experience of its own, but this was different. It may have been the overly confident way he carried himself or that the first impression he gave me was by the gifts he had the hotel leave in his girls’ room—a skimpy pairs of shorts, calla lilies, and a note that said, “Hello my sexy ladies, welcome to ME Cancun. Enjoy your fits and I will see you tonight for dinner. Love, Bret.”—but there was something cavalier and oddly enchanting about his presence here.

I’m not going to go into too much detail because, well, it’s not the most PG course of events.

If you’re daring, the 10 page incoherent summary (sporadic soliloquies included) can be found at http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/rock_of_love/brets_rock_of_love.php?page=0

They let you feed sharks…

…at the Interactive Aquarium (Acuario Interactivo) in Cancun, Mexico. That should be enough to guide your mouse to an airline website—of what little of them are left—and reserve the next flight over here. Not only do allow you to feed they sharks, but they pit you against them. Sixty-five dollars affords you a pole-spear and a quarter-tank of oxygen.

If you manage to slay it—and not that anyone has, yet—but, if you somehow luck your way out of a gruesome demise, the Interactive Aquarium gives you a candid photograph of the battle and, for 5 dollars extra, a set of wallet-sized copies!

As you may have already guessed, such a scenario would be deemed illegal in most countries, Mexico included. In reality, the shark feedings at the Interactive Aquarium are pretty darn cool. You do suit up, and you are dipped into a pool of sharks, but you aren’t forced to wrestle with them, because thick panes of reinforced and bulletproof glass construct the box that keeps the sharks and you separate.

There are a slew of other activities to experience at the aquarium; holding sea urchins; sprawling display tanks; dolphin kisses; and all of that other tame, bubbly nonsense. Restaurants and gift shops adorn the premises, turning Acuario Interactivo into a place you could plan a day around.

New Website & Turn a Tax Return into a Vacation

We have a new website that just launced yesterday, go and visit it now before there we run out of pages.

I was just scanning over the newspaper and came across an Associated Press article that was championing Cancun as a place for U.S. citizens to spend their tax refunds on.

It said that the average returns was somewhere between 600 to 1200 dollars, which by a quick mental calculation is more than enough to make a break for this side of the Mexican border and veg out for a few days.

Photo by Israel Leal, AP

The weather here is in the 80s with a constant and cool breeze, yet believe it or not, we are in the midst of an off-season. What’s great about the months between Spring and Summer break is that you can almost expect to find a good deal. What this should tell anyone with pent up vacation time is they make plans now and snatch up some savory bargains while they’re still around.

Here’s the article for some ideas.

And I also suggest staying here: