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skyline

Dec 2, 2011, 1:44 PM

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Why drive at all?

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Howdy Friends . Just interested on feedback from those of you living SOB. (I live NOB.) I sometimes wonder what those of you who live down there that don't have a car, appreciate about it. I have lived in Mexico for brief periods of time, say 3-6 months, and have visited as a tourist many times, all over Mexico. I have driven my own car down there, have rented cars, have had no car at all and used Mexico's great public transportation system, both interstate and city bus services and of course taxis. The plus to having your own car are pretty clear, I get to where I want to go when I want to, but also found not having a car in Mexico had its own pluses too, anyone care to comment? Have a Great Christmas Everyone! Skyline

Anonimo

Dec 2, 2011, 4:23 PM

Post #2 of 5 (1461 views)

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Re: [skyline] Why drive at all?

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We live in rural Michoacán and have a vehicle. It would be hard for us to do without it, as the combi/colectivo service out here is infrequent.
A former American neighbor relied on combis to go to Pátzcuaro but would take cabs to get home. That gets expensive.

As we are also Costco members, the vehicle is necessary for us to haul home our approximately once a month purchases from the Morelia Costco.

In theory, if we lived in Morelia we could do without a vehicle, but although that city has many merits, it just doesn't suit our style.

For longer distance travel, eg, to Mexico City, we take the buses.

Saludos,
Anonimo

tashby

Dec 2, 2011, 5:49 PM

Post #3 of 5 (1444 views)

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Re: [skyline] Why drive at all?

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Depends where you live and how you live.

chinagringo

Dec 2, 2011, 6:13 PM

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Re: [skyline] Why drive at all?

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Skyline:

The question you ask isn't answerable since it boils down to personal preference. Some prefer the ease and possible luxury of public transportation while others (myself included) prefer to be in total control of our movements. In our case, we are not daily advance planners and like the flexibility of figuring out the night before over dinner what we may just do the following day. We just made a flying trip into Guadalajara and then an 1888 mile excursion out of there with a rental car. Yes we were able to go where we wanted and when we wanted but were limited in our shopping by what we could carry on the return flight. Our normal pattern has been to drive down and back from New Mexico and load up our minivan but we couldn't justify the same trip due to insecurity on the route down. We still enjoyed the heck out of our trip through Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato - experienced and learned new things, people and places and that is what matters to us!
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

La Isla

Dec 2, 2011, 6:38 PM

Post #5 of 5 (1440 views)

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Re: [tashby] Why drive at all?

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In Reply To

Depends where you live and how you live.

Bingo! Living in Mexico City, with its generally convenient and cheap public transportation, having a car is more trouble than it's worth. If I want to get out of the city, the long-distance buses are extremely comfortable and very reasonably priced.