What is this you ask?? Besides being nine pieces of luggage, it also turned out to be an expensive burden. However, with that said I'm not really sure how we could have avoided ending up with this much to carry. Our experience at the airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia illustrates that more forethought must be given to baggage than perhaps we did. How so you ask?

While packing Marilyn and I were very careful about the weight of our luggage. I'm sure I was off and on the bathroom scales at least 4.6 million times - no exaggeration!! I was sure I only had one suitcase over 50 lbs. That was my first mistake. How did that happen. First bathroom scales are not as accurate as we might like to think. Not to be overlooked is the damage one could do to oneself stepping off and on the bathroom scales, with awkward suitcases, as your wife tries precariously to read the scale, with her head just below the awkwardly held suitcase. I could have sworn they were under 50 lbs. - that would be a huge wrong!! Of course the sobering part of this little exercise was to be fully exposed at the airport. 

This is where it gets interesting.

Imagine if you will, it's about 5 AM on a Monday morning. You are one of the first in line. Those behind you are starting to accumulate very rapidly. This is of course a never mind, because you're well prepared, weighed in, and oh did I mention every suitcase had an individual lock. You are expecting to maybe pay a modest fee for the one suitcase that you know is overweight. Get ready for the wakeup call - all five suitcases you are checking in are overweight, one of them by 15 lbs. Now add to this that you had the check-in attendant whose nickname was Grumpy The Inflexible One and you're now getting the picture. Comments from Grumpy were, ranging from, "you'll have to repack all your bags", to "you won't be able to take that one with you." So redistribute we did - oh did I mention with an ever increasing line-up behind us!! Add to this that we had to match each lock with the correct key. Thankfully they were labelled. As it turned out four of the suitcases were only 2-3 lbs. over, but by this time our attendant was frustrated and felt bound by the holy grail of rules for baggage handling. With fire and brimstone seeping from his pores he referred us to the money handler. By this time we had taken the whole thing in stride, refusing to allow this to dampen our spirits as regards this wonderful adventure. The lady attendant was quite shocked by what the previous attendant wanted to charge us. She more than once called him to clarify matters, desperately trying to reduce the penalty. She was such a dear and was delighted with the small talk we engaged her in. She gave us the bill, we cheerfully paid and we were on our way.

What do we learn in practical terms.

Buy a proper scale for weighing your luggage. 

Scrutinize every piece of luggage - do you NEED this.

Stay tuned - what happened at our arrival in Cancun, had some equally entertaining and educational moments. All this from the sunnyside of Mexico he said . . .

To find out what she said about this, follow the link to her blog!!

More on decision making . . .

You will find that the road to making decisions must be paved with research and honest, thought-provoking questions - especially as regards motives!! We had moved several times throughout Canada, but we're quite surprised by the practical and emotional complexities of moving abroad. At the top of the list were the realities of leaving family and friends.  After much meditation and discussion, technology - sort of - came to the rescue. How so? The realities of the internet make a face-to-face conversation, just a click away. Will this solve or replace, the loss of physical interaction? No. However, it is quite helpful. One must come to grips with the reality that you can't just hop in the car and visit friends and relatives. There is also the real emotions attached to household pets. Giving our Siamese cat Jasmine away was heart wrenching. Again, one must have clear motives for moving. ENOUGH HEAVY STUFF!!!!!!
What are some other things to consider?
We talked to many friends who have and are living abroad. Their advice was indispensable. If you plan on staying for the long term you must be able to communicate in Spanish. In order to do this effectively, taking a language course is indispensable. What else? I remember asking how gringos coped with the heat. A practical question, given that during the summer Campeche is known for 40C+ with high humidity. I thought what one friend said, was profound, "Watch the Mexicans." Common sense would tell you, They've been here for years and no doubt have it down to a science. How true this has turned out to be. No racing around, as you may be accustomed to elsewhere. Learn to rest in the hot part of the day and pace yourself otherwise. "Manana, manana", is in some cases a practical concept. I promise not to be so long with my next blog. Remember to check out what "she said" . . .

How did you decide to move to Campeche?

So here we are. Obviously we decided to make the actual move to Mexico. However, some of the events and practical goings-on may prove to be of benefit to some of you following along. Our lead-up and actual move has been full of many things that were exciting as well as educational, both academically and in practical terms. So here goes, we hope you enjoy the ride . . .

A practical question is, How did we decide on Campeche, Campeche, Mexico? Campeche, Campeche? The city of Campeche is in the state of Campeche. Understanding addresses will come later. The reality is we have some friends down this way and Campeche was recommended to us. However, there was much ground work done before the actual decision was made to move. We began thinking about the possibility in August 2011 and the final decision was not reached until mid-January 2012, when we visited for three weeks. The actual move here occurred on April 9, 2012. So, what sort of things have to be decided on before making such a life-altering move? 

Right at the top of the list has to be, Why are you considering moving?

Cost of living? Weather? Retirement? Career? Health? Other?

Accurately establishing your motives affects every other decision you'll make from this point on! This decision must be founded upon a firm foundation if you are to stay in Mexico for an extended period of time.

With that said what other subjects do you have to educate yourself on? My wife and I had not been exposed to travelling outside Canada, except some trips to the United States and one trip to Bermuda over 20 years ago.We were very green as regards international travel. Research became the order of the day!!! More on that later, when we return to the Sunny Side of Mexico (he said) . . . 

Why is this blog in existence? My wife and I believe there is always a sunny side of Mexico . . .

My wife and I considered moving to Mexico about 9 months ago. When we had made our intentions known to family and friends, what was, invariably, on everyone's mind, What about the violence? One cannot ignore the media attention given to this part of the world. One as well can't ignore that the coverage has been particularily disturbing in it's violent and ruthless nature. And yes, I would be lying if I said the thought, of Mexico's violence, never crossed my mind. However, as you will see we believed, and even more so, the longer we live here, that indeed there is very much a sunny side of Mexico . . .