Long ways to go for only 10 days? And it is a big country.
Yes, but in a big country dreams stay with you.
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Sounds familiar⌠What song is that? Whoâs the artist? What album is it from?
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Disappointed the album didnât have the same name as the other two (unlike the songs Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Bad Company)
And I guess you wonât be disappointed by the lack of flowers in the desert.
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Last year they actually had flowers in the desert.
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We fly to Tulum next Wednesday. This will be the first time we have done a longer holiday in Mexico so it is a bit of an experiment. If it goes well it could become an annual trip until the US regime changes.
Since we are independent travelers, I spent a fair amount of time planning our itinerary and researching hotels and transportation options. I no longer enjoy driving in foreign countries but the bus network in the YucatĂĄn is incredible and there is a new train service to supplement it. The websites are user-friendly and the interactions with humans when needed were prompt and friendly. Ditto for the hotels.
I was pleasantly surprised with the ease at which such a multi-city trip could be constructed car-free. I should have probably expected this ease as the tourist industry is so major in the Yucatan.
Looking forward to a break from dark and wet Vancouver.
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Sure you canât up it to 16 days - 2 weeks plus the weekend? Maybe WFH (Work From Hobart) for a few days or say that youâre going there for the funeral of the mother of your Australian cattle dog?
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Travel time is so long to Australia from the US, so take as much time as you can. We chose to split time between Australia and NZ when we went, as how often are you going to be on that side of the globe? This limited our Australia itinerary, as it is big. We are the type of travelers to slow down and enjoy the spots we are in rather than try to see everything.
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lol
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When I was working full time, we were specifically barred from working outside the US. Supposedly for tax reasons. There were stories of people who went abroad during COVID and continued to work, until they were let go for this offense.
My employer blocks VPN access from countries where we lack offices (with the exception of Belgium and the Netherlands, officially in support of our Luxembourg office) for network security reasons. We also have the âyou canât work outside your home countryâ for tax/benefit reasons, although there is an internal mechanism in place to support weirdos like me, who live in a different country than the office we are attached to.
There is also a list of countries that we are forbidden from taking corporate hardware or personal phones with corporate email access, to guard against security risks from government authorities.
When I sign into VPN, I sign into a North American tab.
Never tried the other or know if I could.
Our laptops are set up so that, aside from hotel, etc. WiFi sign-in pages, the only thing we can connect to is the corporate VPN gateway, or corporate WiFi. I assume that the firewall protecting it has a IP-based geography block.
I suspect that one could work around that by using a personal router that provides a VPN tunnel back to an âacceptableâ locale (and that youâd want to roll your own VPN, rather than using a big commercial one whose IP ranges are known)âŚbut I also suspect the disciplinary action that would be levied if you were caught circumventing security this way would be extremely detrimental to oneâs career.
We just visited an Eco Resort about 5hrs from Rio in Minas Gerais (Ibiti Project).
Wonderful concept where they promote sustainability and run many animal sanctuaries (Monkeys and Birds specially).
Here is Blue (one of a dozen rescued from illegal breeders and now they let them roam free around the house and grounds). Our 6 year old daughter loved feeding her grapes and bananas (she was very friendly) as they are used to humans now.
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Just before COVID hit, my wife and I spent a few days at an eco-resort deep in the Amazon Basin and it was a magical experience. In hindsight we realize how much our grandchildren would also have enjoyed it.
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My kids are an Archeologist, An Art Teacher and a Photographer/ Musician - every trip we go on we think about how much they would love it, each in their own way.
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I may have to go to Hobart and work for a day just so I can use this.
We did this for our honeymoon, and it was amazing.
The resort was built in the canopy, with catwalks at tree canopy level connecting the buildings and a high observation tower. In the evenings we would go up the observation tower to watch the sun go down. Woolly monkeys would follow us up there and climb in our laps and watch the sunset with us.
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Some restaurants suggestions if anyone is travelling to Vancouver this year. I am always happy to have a coffee or drink with any GoA visitors.
Saba, the highly recommended Yemeni restaurant, is within walking distance so I may check it out.
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