Zipolite, Mexico
I often find it hard to update the blog when we are sitting still... In fact I often go through the same questions even when we’re discovering new places: who cares, why would they want to know, or what is the right amount of detail... but then i remember our promise to ourselves that this blog would simply be a collections of photos and stories for us to look back on and remember these days, as it’s already hard to remember those from only a few months ago. Problem solved.
It seems after our long stay renting in Punta Mita (combined with the rushed drive to finish the rally) the nature of our trip has changed a bit. We are no longer feeling the rush to see something new every day or scratch a new state/country on the wall of the bus. These days we are enjoying things at a slower pace and even the days when i’m a bit bored i’m really enjoying the slower nature of each of them.
We’ve been in Zipolite now for a week, and are aware that we could have easily torn through this town without so much as stopping to sleep on the street, fill our water and grab a coffee before moving on. Instead, we are getting so much time to soak up the local atmosphere (which we love), meet new people and even walk into the hills with several locals to look at lots for sale. Don’t worry family and friends, this doesn’t mean we have found a place to stop- this is actually an old habit for us. For years we have found ourselves checking the market and asking prices in almost every destination we visit, but until now we haven’t slowed down enough to do so on this trip. Why we do this i’m not sure- but probably the same set of reasons why we used to always visit open houses on weekends, even when we had no need or desire to buy.
There’s something that can be learned when talking with people about their home (what they like about it and what they hate) that is a very quick and raw truth about a place. It also allows me to engage that part of my brain that immediately starts redesigning every space I walk into. Sorry again to all of you who I started telling to rip walls out of your new home before i realized it might be taken as less than positive... i’ve learned to wait until asked ;) We spent a bit of time the last few days walking barefoot around the hills above zipolite and looking at the town from a slightly different angle. The vistas overlooking the beaches are fantastic and it’s fun to see the same beach from so many different perspectives. If anyone is looking to throw some cash at a beachfront investment opportunity let us know, otherwise we’ll keep looking as it’s a bit out of our price range.
Yesterday we went into Pochulta for a much needed new muffler. It turns out “stealth” camping is a bit more difficult when someone can hear you coming ten minutes before you arrive. The difference is astounding and we had completely forgotten how quiet an engine is supposed to be. I have to keep myself from turning the key again to restart the bus because i cant hear it running. Sadly, while the muffler is great, the bus actually felt more ill than before we went in and we weren’t sure we would even make it back to our campsite in zipolite. Today i got the points and valves adjusted and at least got us back to running the way we did before yesterday. Tomorrow i’ll see if i can actually get us running on 4 cylinders- something that hasn’t happened for longer than a few days at a time since before the rally. I feel like i still know almost nothing about working on the bus, but it's amazing how them mindset has shifted to a point of simply taking it apart to see if i can figure out why its not working... a far cry from being afraid to change the oil when we left.
We have camped in three different spots in town now. 2 outside of locals’ home and now in an empty lot that allows people to pitch a tent for as long as they want to stay. Which, for most we’ve met so far in Zipolite is at least several months. Yesterday the group that “lives” here gathered for some african drumming and dance. Jen hopped up and took an hour or so of group lessons on shaking her parts accordingly before retiring to the beach with me and the other onlookers. We love free entertainment!
Today saw us apply for our first housesitting post. Pretty much what it sounds like- watching over an expats' home/pets/plants while they return north for the hot part of the year... No idea if it will fall into place and it would actually mean turning around and driving way north to Jalisco, but we’ve talked of trying this for some time and of the benefits/savings that might come with an extended stay in one place.
We also just got news that a very dear friend is considering coming to visit in a month or two. We couldn’t be more excited! As soon as she books a flight we’ll start counting the minutes until we get to pick her up at the airport, drive her around (whatever town is home at the time) and soak up every second we can before we make her hitchhike back to the airport.
