September 2016: leaving easy travelling behind

October 31, 2016

Half a year on the road. This whole month I didn’t see anyone I know (until I had to go back to NL for a few days). I had the largest culture shock of the trip going from the US to Mexico where I spend most of the month either on the beach or in the desert.

The Good

Being stuck in Joshua Tree Park, very relaxing. Spending the days climbing rocks.
Taking the fancy upgrade on the boat from Baja to mainland Mexico.

The Bad

Hot hot hot. Some nights were really uncomfortably hot. It should never be above 35C at 23h00.
Maxing out my credit card was bad planning that was a bit of a pain to fix.
Getting my van stuck in the sand on the beach.

The Unforgettable

Sitting on top on some huge boulders watching the sun set and the coyotes come by, (Joshua Tree Park)
Parking the van for the night on a perfect white sand, blue water beach. (Bahia Conception)
Snorkeling with sea turtles (Cabo Pulmo)
Driving up a volcano on tiny roads I shouldn’t be driving with my van. (Volcan Ceboruco)

The Stats

No days: 30 (224 total)
No. km: 4573 (31091 total)
Countries: USA, Mexico, Netherlands
States/Provinces: California, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacan, Mexico, DF
No. Border crossings: 2 (1 by plane)
No. of places stayed at: 22 (19 campsites, 1 ferry, 1 airplane)
Hikes: 18 km, 350 height
Books: 2
Movies: 5 (on the airplane)
New Beers: 6
Photos: 712
Weather:
- Days: warmest 37 coldest 17, average 30
- Nights: warmest 26, coldest 7, average 18

Daily costs for September

Campsites: 10 Euro per night (plan was 20)
Food: 4 Euro per day (plan was 10)
Fun: 1 Euro per day (plan was 5)
Total: 15 Euro per day (plan was 35)

Mexico is way cheaper than I thought. I even had one campsite for 10 pesos (50 cents). Also food and tourist attractions cost much less than expected. Time to pull my budget down again after all the extra kilometers, extra repair costs and expected longer overall trip time.

Overall driving (6 months):

Distance: 31091 (plan was 31512)
Fuel costs: 67 cents/l (plan was 68 cents/l)
Efficiency: 11.3 km/l (plan was 10.5 km/l)

Efficiency is still much better thane expected and since I couldn’t deviate much in Baja and had to hurry from Guadalajara to Mexico City I finally managed to keep my kilometers somewhat under control.

Other costs: