International Living Community

I'd like to add to Bel's comment - my wife Rita and I have been spending a week here in Playa del Carmen, and I agree completely with Bel. We have felt completely safe walking around the area, logging 5 or more miles a day. We've ventured out of the tourist area to check out other parts of the city, shopped in the local Chedraui grocery store and cabbed back, and have never had any problems at all. Other than sometimes-annoying hawkers in the tourist zone trying to get you into their shop or sell you their tour, we've found the locals to be very pleasant and helpful. We would definitely visit here again, and in fact have talked about hosting a gathering of our kids and grandkids here someday.

Hi Jim. I'm Jim Santos, IL's Roving Correspondent, and we have had to deal with this issue ourselves. You hate to pay for insurance when you are not using the car, but on the other hand, car rental prices in the US have increased greatly over the last two years. So a lot comes down to how long you will be gone on each trip, and where you can keep your vehicle.

We have found that if our car is garage-kept, being away for up to three months at a time isn't a problem. We complete any regular service required, and make sure the car is clean and the gas tank full before storing. I've read that reducing the tire pressure a bit helps, but we haven't tried that. We also once kept our car in a rented outside space (with an all-weather car cover) for 5 weeks while we were in Mexico and it started right up on our return.

Last April, we did sell our car, because we planned to be traveling for two or more years. However, a medical issue forced an early return, and we ended up having to buy a car again. In the future, we plan to keep our car, and like yourself, travel 8-9 months of the years in 2-3 month increments.

Hope that helps, and happy travels!

It has been our experience traveling in other countries that most people can draw a distinction between the government and the citizens of your country. Like Suzan says, as long as you treat others with respect (and don't try to start a political debate), you should have no problems.