Travel2.0

I spent two months travelling in Mexico this year. For this trip I eschewed Lonely Planet in favour of a lighter, more budget orientated guidebook: Footprint. I liked the way Footprint gave brief overviews of destinations, letting you read between the lines and pushing you to further investigate places you planned to visit.

Sometimes Footprint erred completely on the side of minimality - leaving me in the lurch on occasion. because of this, supplemented my guidebook with other sources. I have a small Spanish vocabulary, enough to converse briefly about possible travel destinations. I came to the understanding that locals consider their entire country a must visit attraction. When countless towns are described to you as 'muy bonito' you need to find a more discerning way to plan your itinerary.

Its my nature to read up a little on the area I'm travelling to. For this journey i turned to Wikitravel. The online travel guide in the spirit of Wikipedia. A site that can be edited by anyone, at any time. The premise sets the scene for the world's most accurate and up-to-date guidebook.

As amazing as the concept is, unfortunately Wikitravel is not fully developed in Mexico. While some destinations suffer from an overabundance of information. Too many places to stay, too many attractions for a two day stopover. Many of the smaller towns and cities (especially outside the Yucatan) have no entry at all.

My favourite Mexican destinations are the silver cities of the colonial highlands. Here Wikitravel was able to help me immensely, linking me to places to stay and the biggest state fair that Mexico has to offer.

On the road i met hardened travellers who shunned any form of guidebooks. they armed themselves solely on their wits, declaring 'I've been on the road for ten years man, drop me with my bag and I'll be all right.' There is no escaping that the best way to know an area is to ask the people that live there, or travellers who have recently passed through. Pairing up with someone who knows the area, and you guarantee an authentic experience.

Wikitravel entries are well written for English speaking countries, and the banana pancake trail of South East Asia. When your objective is to shake the gingos and explore little known destinations in the Mexican gulf you need to get your hands dirty.

One of my favourite days was spent at a river swimming hole over an hour from the small city of Papantla. The plan was to escape the 95% humidity and go to the beach "la playa". Papantla isn't located on the coast so the river was the best to offer. I can't pinpoint where we were on a map, we has to take a bus for an hour along a gravel road, and then hire an unlicensed taxi for the final part.

It is experiences like that you treasure most. You don't find in a guidebook, and are too serendipitous to be recreated.