Abundant Travel Tips: Passports & Cheap Flights

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Guadalajara Guadalajara

Saludos from Guadalajara!  I’m so excited to say that one of the Travel Tribe members saved $800 last week on a car rental with the tips I provided.  YAY, that’s so amazing, and this is why I created The Abundant Traveler; I want to make your travels easier, your planning and packing seamless, your excursions and destinations more epic and all without overspending!  Congrats to D.M. for saving all that money!!!

This week, I’m in Guadalajara visiting a functional medicine doctor that I’ve worked with for over a decade.  He’s amazing, and has provided valuable insights and therapies for my ongoing health concerns that started with my house fire in 2005.  It’s been a while since i’ve seen him, and I felt that it was a great time to go see him.  I haven’t been in Guadalajara in a decade, and I’m enjoying the home of Mariachis and carne de su jugo (beef in it’s own juices, similar to roast beef ‘tortilla’ sandwich au jus).  I’m staying at a wonderful Marriott Boutique hotel called Casa Habita (photo of pool below), and I’m having a grand ole time visiting the plazas, listening to Mariachis and drinking tequila 🙂   Did you know that there’s an actual town called Tequila an hour from Guadalajara; it’s not just a bottle of alcohol.  More on Tequila Town in future missives….

Guadalajara, Mexico

Passport Renewals

Everything seems to be delayed because of the Pandemic; things are either backlogged due to lack of supplies like lumbar or aluminum, or delayed due to shipping, or you are waiting forever due to the lack of employees to field your service requests.  Well, your passport renewal is no exception to those backlogged items. At this point, you haven’t traveled internationally for a 1 1/2 years, and you may not even know when your passport is due to renew.  Well, it’s time to dust off this important document, and see when your expiration date is.  Did you know that most countries won’t allow you to enter their country without 6+ months left on your passport.  I’m not an expert of passport renewals, but I’ve heard that people are waiting up to 18 weeks to get a new passport.  YIKES! Below are 2 great articles that I’ve recently read; they will help you through the renewal process, and they even provide a couple examples of how to ‘pay’ to get your new passport expedited.  Let me know if you have any tips or tricks as my passport is up for renewal very soon.

CN Traveler
The Points Guy

The Abundant Traveler, Passport

Scott's Cheap Flights

I’ve been a member of Scott’s Cheap Flights for years, and I love buying his recommended cheap round trip tickets to Europe for $450 or flights to Colombia for $220.  Of course, I can’t always take advantage of these opportunities, but it feels great to know that another ‘cheap flight’ is just around the corner.  Recently, Scott published a book called Take More Vacations, where he explains how airline pricing algorithms work as well as the physiology behind taking advantage of ‘cheap flights’.  This book will help you understand nitty gritty of airline seat pricing, and it will open your mind to the idea that you don’t have to have an exact destination in mind.  I like his go with the flow mantra….

Check out the book here.

Scott's Cheap Flights Book

Day trip to the cenotes near Tulum

So many people are traveling to Mexico right now because Mexico doesn’t have stringent COVID entry requirements.  During 2020, I was in Mexico 4 times, and I’m back again visiting Guadalajara and San Miguel.  If you are headed to the Riviera Maya, ie. Playa, Cancun or Tulum, make sure to take note of these amazing cenotes in my fun day trip video below.    Make sure to subscribe and leave a comment about your favorite cenote.

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