"Welcome to my VT site !!!" Laura_Mexico's Profile

A plane at the Munich airport, 2002

Travel pages STILL growing little by little!

I love to travel and I've been to many countries & towns as I started travelling with my family when I was a kid. Now it's been over 10 years since I started traveling on my own and visiting friends around the world, which I enjoy a lot..... and I hope to keep on visiting many new places in the years to come. I studied International Relations and speak several languages, so I also love to meet people from other countries who come to mine and to practice my skills whenever I get to travel abroad, besides of learning other new things, of course!

My pages include comments about my trips and as many tips as I've been able to gather, as well as photos taken by me or my family/friends (most of them) and some that I've borrowed from public websites.... I hope all this can help someone during their trips! I'm continuosly updating them, although I don't get the chance to make long trips to far away places as often as I would like to (sniff!!), but I'm doing my best to include as much useful information as possible!

My last trip just ended yesterday (September 2011); I was lucky to attend my very first BIG VT MEET in my favorite city ever: PARIS!!!! My hubby came with me -- it was our first major trip together and it took me quite some work to convince him to come along -- and we also visited Budapest, Rome and Barcelona during this wonderful 3-week trip. I already started and will continue posting my newest tips, updates and pictures little by little, please check back for more info! Hope you will find something useful for your future trips, so you can enjoy them as much as I enjoyed mine!

Earlier in the year (March) we visited a very nice and dear destination to me within Mexico: Puerto Vallarta, a superb beach town in my country!!! Lovely town, nice weather, a wonderful coastal destination for a great vacation! It had been over 4 years since my last trip there (Oct 2006) and before then 8 years went by before I could go back to this place, but I love it and wish to keep going back again and again!! I am slowly building my Vallarta page as well so please come back -- after this last trip I have more stuff to share........

Before that, my hubby and I made a few short trips within the country as well; we visited one of my favorite cities twice: Morelia, and we stopped by the Monarch Butterfly sanctuary once as well (pages are still in progress!). We also visited Aguascalientes and San Miguel de Allende, this latter a +/- 3-hour drive from Mexico City and a very nice weekend destination (a foreign tourist favorite, in fact). I posted the few tips I could gather there during our short stay.

My previous major trip (2007) was a wonderful tour around Europe (including Sweden, Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, France and Italy). Back in 2005 my trips included a long journey around northern USA and south eastern Canada, then a 5-day trip to Acapulco, the closest beach destination we have from Mexico City, and which I'm sure you've heard about many times... So I'm updating that page now, too! Hope you find useful stuff there!

Previously - in 2002 - I spent a month in Europe (visiting Finland, France, Germany and Spain) and before that I lived a whole month in Rome in 2000. The previous years I traveled extensively with my family to several destinations in Europe, USA, the Caribbean and Central America. My future dream destinations are: Santorini in Greece, Egypt, India, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Australia (where my brother lives) and New Zealand (where some dear ex coworkers live), Cuba (if Fidel doesn't die soon! LOL).... and who knows what else I can think of later on!

The whole VT site is cool, enjoy it!

Europe in late summer / early fall

Paris at dusk......

This year (2011) was my first time visiting Europe after the spring or summer months. I didn't know what to expect in regards to the weather -- I searched for historic records and averages and it looked like it was going to be nice, although with the global warming you can no longer be sure of anything or trust any "historical data" when it comes to the weather. I read about the topic on line and they said we could expect nice weather for the most part, but I still wasn't too convinced that this info was accurate. Also, I had been on similar latitudes during the fall in the past and it had been REALLY cold -- at least for my standards. So I packed some summer clothes but also took some socks, scarves, sweaters and a big jacket with me, just in case.....

Well, the weather turned out to be great almost everywhere we went. Paris welcomed us with the cloudiest days and some rain. That's not unusual for Paris though.... we got a beautiful day for the VT meet picnic @ Champs de Mars but the rest of the time the weather wasn't too nice. However, we had very hot and sunny days in Budapest, Rome and Barcelona, and even in Paris before flying back home. No clouds, no rain, just sun and a warm lovely weather. Needless to say I was delighted! I think this IS a very nice time to visit Europe, before the cold weather starts to set in. I would definitely come back during September in future trips. Also, prices are lower than in the summer months (lodging, budget airline tickets). There still were a lot of people visiting, but certainly less than during the summer. I had to drag my jacket and scarves the whole trip but I think that was better than being FORCED to wear them...!!!

And finally my *10* anniversary on VT!

And one more year on VT... reaching the 10th!!!!!

I remember when I first found this place thanks to an old friend (an inactive VT member by now)....... I didn't like it!!! And I thought it was useless and a waste of time to browse the tips and more so to post them and scan pictures to upload them here, not to mention that I thought it was a bit too personal to post all that traveling information about your private trips. Well, that has changed a lot ever since, as you may see! I love this site, have found a lot of useful info here, have shared a good deal of info myself (and have used the site as a sort of "travel journal" as well), and have met wonderful people thanks to VT. So I'm not planning to leave anytime soon!!!

Intro Updated Sep 28, 2011
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Comments (359)

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ozalp Apr 14, 2013 at 11:08 PM

Feliz cumpleaños vecina!
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  Laura_Mexico Apr 15, 2013 at 10:02 PM
  
  VECINA!!!! Where have you been!?! I hope all is well with you! I had not been here in AGES... just came in to see if there were any bday greetings LOL... muchas gracias! :)
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fishstick Apr 12, 2013 at 3:16 PM

Happy Birthday from San Francisco!
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  Laura_Mexico Apr 15, 2013 at 10:01 PM
  
  Thank you so much!
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canuck68 Apr 12, 2013 at 2:31 PM

Happy birthday Laura. Have a wonderful day.
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  canuck68 Apr 15, 2013 at 10:28 PM
  
  How are you Laura. Haven't "seen" you for ages.
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  Laura_Mexico Apr 16, 2013 at 9:35 PM
  
  LOL well, I really don't come here anymore..... I spend all my time @ FB LOL so you can actually "see" me there. But I haven't seen too many pics from you lately either.... hope everything is going fine for you!!!
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monicarc Apr 12, 2013 at 5:16 AM

happy birthdayyyyyy!
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  Laura_Mexico Apr 15, 2013 at 10:03 PM
  
  Gracias Monica! Long time no see, hope you're doing great!
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stamporama Apr 12, 2013 at 3:06 AM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, mi amiga!!! Hey, what a coincidence...I just read in your intro above that you and your husband went to Europe for 3 weeks. Well, Amy and I did the same thing last November (for 3 weeks too) and we had a blast! But despite the length of time and number of places we visited, there is still a lot to see in Europe and I can't wait to get back there soon. Hope all's well with you!
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  Laura_Mexico Apr 15, 2013 at 10:05 PM
  
  Heeeey mi amigo, how are you all doing!? I hope you're fine! Thanks for the greetings.... I had not been here in AGES but thought I might find some bday greetings so I came back LOL. So you were also in Europe recently, that's cool! Hope you had a great time. We did but, as you said, I would have liked to stay twice as long because there is soooo much to see. Now I'm working a lot so no time for vacation, but sooner rather than later I will have some decent ones again LOL ;)
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pieter_jan_v Apr 11, 2013 at 11:21 PM

Laura, Happy Birthday. PJ
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  Laura_Mexico Apr 15, 2013 at 10:05 PM
  
  Thank you PJ!!!!!!
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cinthya_in_victoria Apr 1, 2013 at 12:34 PM

Qué onda amiga! hace mucho que no entraba por acá así que te dejo un VTsaludo!!! :)
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  Laura_Mexico Apr 15, 2013 at 10:06 PM
  
  AMIGA!!!!! Que onda, yo tampoco habia venido en AAAAÑOS por aca pero vine a ver si alguien me habia dejado saludos de cumple jajajaja.... cuidate!!! Nos vemos en el FB, alla se platica mejor jajaja
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ViajesdelMundo Jan 26, 2013 at 4:41 PM

winding up our trip thru Guanajuato, SMA and MC; departing tomor morning for home....other than the COLD SNAP last week, all went well; write me when you can
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  Laura_Mexico Apr 15, 2013 at 10:07 PM
  
  Hey Trish I had not been here in AGES! Just saw your msg... I hope you're doing fine! I have a lot of work these days which is great.... so no time for vacation but hopefully soon! :)
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  ViajesdelMundo Apr 17, 2013 at 7:38 AM
  
  I'm not on here much any more either.....glad things are going well!
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ViajesdelMundo Jul 21, 2012 at 8:23 AM

HI dear, how you been?? hope all is going well; we r fine, just baking in the heat and humidity, but get a break going up the peninsula to Rosarito Beach soon.
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Benson35 Jul 11, 2012 at 12:06 PM

Thanks for the info!!
Hayley :)