Riding off the Edge of the Map

Do you remember that best seller several decades ago, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, in which author Robert Pirsig details (but gets lost in digressions) a motorcycle trip from Wisconsin to California?
David Bryen's new book, Riding off the Edge of the Map, is a much better book, detailing (and reflecting upon) a far more fascinating motorcycle trip — through Mexico's Copper Canyon.
What began as a pleasure trip metamorphosed into something else: "The highway had deteriorated from asphalt to terror..."
Dolores Hidalgo: Mexico's Cradle of Independence
As you walk toward the main square from the bus terminal in Dolores Hidalgo, it's hard to imagine the impassioned frenzy that heated this Mexican village on September 15, 1810. Here, on the balcony of ...
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Isla Isabel, Mexico's answer to the Galapagos
Isla Isabel is located 34 kilometers (21 miles) off Mexico's west coast. It is a National Park and wildlife refuge with a population of some 42,000 birds and, in 2003, was named a World Heritage Site. ...
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Mexico's San Felipe: A living desert museum
San Felipe is the center of a living museum that has witnessed the passage of a continuum of men, women and children for the past 2- to 3,000 years. Whereas evidence of their existence remains in most ...
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Lancandon Journal - 1969
In 1969, this culture was already in decline, undermined by the relentless forces of what some still call progress.
Jungle adventures are always challenging. This trip was a very difficult one for Gary, his young companion, and although difficult as well for Krustev, the artist was generally of a calm and philosophically disposed spirit... read more
Cabo Corrientes: Beaches in Mexico with nobody there
Cabo Corrientes is one of those vaguely heard of places where nobody ever goes because… well, where is it? And how and why would you go there?
Literally, Cabo Corrientes means "cape currents." It's...
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Mexico City's Xochimilco Canals
For anyone planning on spending time in Mexico City, the Xochimilco Canals (pronounced: so-chee-MIL-ko) is an experience not to be missed. After a first glance in any guide book, the traveller would be...
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Chapultepec: Mexico City's urban forest
City parks were not an important part of my life when I was a child. I was raised in the country on a farm which, for all practical purposes, was a park. Growing older, though, I learned to appreciate ...
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Busing it in Mexico: What's not to love?
I adore travelling Mexico by bus. Mexico's bus system offers travelers an economical, efficient and effective means to explore the entire country. The routes are highly organized and the connections a...
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Mexico exploration: Jocotepec discovered
This news bulletin just in: Mexico considers revising history books. Another holiday proposed. Famous explorer discovers Jocotepec!
Okay, maybe not in the way Christopher Columbus did his thing. It ap...
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The Mango Orchard: The Extraordinary True Story of Family Lost and Found
Worried about life passing him by, in 1898 Arturo "kissed his sweetheart Mariah goodbye and set off on his Mexican adventures."
Bayley, over one-hundred years later, "was plagued by the same fear about life passing me by." read more
Christmas in Mexico City
The flash of skate blades against gleaming ice. A cold-edged wind that creeps into your bones. The sharp, metallic smell of snow in the air. Winter.
These are the images that most of us connect to our...
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Mexico lives! Cheers for Mexico
Mineral de Pozos: Life among the ruins in a Mexican mining town
Driving up the long rise into Mineral de Pozos, framed by the gray-brown humpbacked mountains once laced with veins of silver and gold, the visitor first sees the stone walls of the cemetery, the pante...
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Playa Las Tortugas, Playa Platanitos and San Blas: Hidden gems on Mexico's Nayarit Riviera
Beautiful beaches abound all along Mexico's Nayarit Riviera. Here are two more gorgeous hidden gems and a historic beach town.
Playa Las Tortugas
Playa Los Tortugas is an exquisite five-mile stretch ...
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Playa del Naranjo, Playa Las Cuevas, Alta Vista and the Nuevo Ixtlan Hot Springs: Hidden gems on Mexico's Nayarit Riviera
North of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico's Nayarit Riviera coast has a wealth of beaches to discover and enjoy. Their cool blue waters, warm sand and exuberant vegetation invite the explorer to linger a while....
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Mexico City Airport
Mexico City report
A new option in a colonial city: Casinos in Guadalajara
Destiladeras, Lo de Marcos and Playa Los Venados: Hidden gems on Mexico's Nayarit Riviera
Link to interactive map
The one hundred and eight mile (290 kilometer) coast of Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit extends from upscale Nuevo Vallarta to the historic, beach town of San Blas. Well, official...
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Playa Los Arcos: Mexican family ambience in Puerto Vallarta's picturesque Old Town
Sayulita: A quintessential Mexico beach town on the Riviera Nayarit
This charming little beach town located on Pacific Mexico's Riviera Nayarit, is only a forty-minute drive north of Puerto Vallarta. Sayulita has exploded in popularity as an alternative beach vacation...
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San Felipe: Baja California life on Mexico's Sea of Cortez
I had dreamed about moving to Mexico for decades. As retirement approached, I began to look seriously at places to check out. Having lived in San Diego for decades, going to Mexico along the Baja Calif...
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La Maria: A picturesque crater lake in the shadow of Colima's Fire Volcano
Beneath the high walls of an ancient crater, you glide across the placid lake in a rowboat, mesmerized. "This is surely the most peaceful place in all Mexico and definitely one of the most beautiful," ...
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