No comments about Mexico's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Chicano Culture, Latin Lovers, and Hispanic Pride (Most Wanted Series).

No comments about New Perspectives on the Pueblos (School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series).

1 comments about Near Horizons: A Weekender's Guide to Easy Trips from Albuquerque.

1. As a new part-time resident of Albuquerque, I wanted to get to know the area better and explore. Picking up this book has been invaluable in providing suggestions for short trips into the surrounding area. It's like having a resident guide to ride along with you and point out the features and attractions of the area.
   
   Now instead of driving aimlessly and hoping to find something interesting, I not only know what to look for and have some understanding as to where to look and why it is important.
   
   Engagingly written in a conversational style, this is a resource well worth having whether you live in the area or are just passing through and want to know where to look.

No comments about Stars, Mosquitoes and Crocodiles: The American Travels of Alexander Von Humboldt.

No comments about Mexico/ Mexico.

5 comments about Live Better South of the Border.

1. This is a great book for anyone who is considering relocating to Mexico. Most other books are directed only at retirees. The information here is relevant to anyone of any age. The author briefly covers immigration issues such as getting your FM3 visa and car permits. He also discusses the issue of working. I was surprised to find out that work permits are not all that difficult to obtain. I have talked to expatriates who have confirmed this. There is an extensive list of cities with the pros and cons of choosing each. The bottom line is this book will help you decide if Mexico is right for you.



2. I felt that this book had very little substance and did not do a good job on any one area of Mexico. The book actually repeated three of the chapters a second time!



3. I've travelled for years using the old Sanborn's drivingguidesand when I saw Mexico Mike had written this book, I ordered acopy... My book was I have friends who have made the move and told me they found his advice saved them some money when they looked for a place to live. For myself, I carefully read his advice to single women. END



4. If there is a more enthusiastic and engaging publicist for the charms of living in that magic land south of the border, I don't know who it is. "Mexico Mike" Nelson has lived and worked in Mexico off and on for several decades, having operated an import and export business there in addition to driving and travelling over much of the country, and he brings that vast experience to this book.

   First, I should mention my own situation. I've visited Mexico several times in the past, and have driven across Baja once, but have no experience actually living there. I just started to think about living and retiring early down there. I am 51 years old, "semi-retired," and am living in a place in the U.S. where the cost of living is cheap, but am wondering if I can get more for my money in Mexico. If I can find the right situation there, it's possible I might never need to work again, although I'd be on a budget, although not a draconian one. So I was looking for a primer on Mexico to see if my dream of retiring there permanently was realistic and Mike's book seemed to fit the bill.

   That having been said, this book is geared more toward those who are interested in living in Mexico for an extended period of time but perhaps aren't quite ready to retire there yet. This includes international business people who have been transferred there, artists and writers wanting to live cheaply while they concentrate on that masterwork, and those just starting to investigate Mexico as a possible retirement option.

   He's not shy about discussing the negatives, however, and you will find much practical advice on finding a safe place to live, what the crime is like in a given area, and how to avoid risks and be safe in both the big city and in rural areas. That having been said, Mike is very clear that in most areas of Mexico you are actually safer than in big American cities, you just need to know what the differences are and act accordingly.

   He's also very clear about the costs of living in many areas of Mexico. First, the bad news. Gone are the days when you could live like a king on $300 a month. Most places in Mexico will cost you $900-$1200 a month to live, including rent, utilities, and food and entertainment, which means a decent but not huge or luxurious house or apartment in one of the preferred areas by Americans. If you are willing to live outside "Gringolandia," which means in a smaller town where most of your neighbors will be Mexicans rather than Americans, you can live for half that if you're willing to economize.

   If you're willing to rent a small house on the edge of a small town, which means you might be taking cold showers and cooking your meals on a dual-burner propane stove, you can live on $400 to $600 a month if you're careful about expenses. He found a place like this when he first moved to Mexico and loved it. He got a lot of writing done and there were very few distractions. On the other hand, he admits that now he would prefer not to live without quite so many conveniences.

   And if you want to live in Baja, you can double the $900 to $1200 a month figure, expecially in Cabo, which he says costs about the same as southern California. For that, however, you're getting an area with great conveniences, good medical facilities, and so many Americans that you won't have to speak a lick of Spanish if that's what you want.

   He says the bottom line, however, is that you can expect to spend about 70% of what you spent in the states to support your old life style, and your standard of living will actually be higher for that amount of money than what you could afford in the States.

   He also includes advice and info on buying and owning property, art and culture, which banks to use, medical care, where the best language schools are, dating and love life ("all latinas have brothers, none of whom has a sense of humour about their sister"), and even advice for gays and lesbians. He even says you can call him personally for advice, especially on business matters, and includes his address and telephone number.

   For me the best part was the section on the different cities and towns and what it was like to live there and what the ambience and cost of living there was like. This includes sections on everything from giant Mexico City with its 21 million people to little mountain villages 7,000 feet up on the central Mexican plateau of just a few hundred people. Many of the towns discussed are around 50,000 people, though, and a number are 200,000 or more. A few are 5,000 or less, for those who really want to get away from the big city and from the other Americans and Canadians to get some real local color.

   Mike also points out that his book is really for those who need the basics on living in Mexico. He recommends another longer, more detailed book by another writer (which costs more, but he says it's worth it), for those who have read his book and want more information. He also says it's intended more for those who are really looking to retire in Mexico and need something on that. I found Mike's book excellent for my first read and am now considering getting the more detailed and expensive book that he recommends.




5. I just bought this book, it's a newer edition ( third edition),
   I found it not only full of useful information but the organization and quality excellent. I now find myself dreaming of living in Mexico.

No comments about El Vaquero Real: The Original American Cowboy.

1 comments about Tales from the Journey of the Dead: Ten Thousand Years on an American Desert.

1. Many people have heard of New Mexico's gypsum sand dunes at White Sands National Monument and the enormous flocks of Sandhill Cranes at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Area. But few people, even New Mexicans, know much about the Jornada del Muerto ("Journey of Death"), the vast desert located between the two, except maybe the fact that scientists detonated the world's first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site there in 1945. A landscape bordered by the Rio Grande River and several mountain ranges, it's also the site of Edward Abbey's novel, FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, about a rancher who refuses to move off of his land when ordered to by the US government during WWII.
   
   Alan Boye is a professor of English from Vermont whose book combines the history of the Jornada, interviews with its rugged inhabitants, and personal reflections on his hikes there. Who would have thought this desolate, beautiful desert had so much fascinating history? Boye recounts tales of ancient peoples, the coming of the first Europeans into what is now the US on the Camino Real (The "Royal Way"); Apache attacks; and even a dramatic Civil War battle (yes, there were not one but two Civil War battles in New Mexico).
   
   The Jornada played a key role in the lives of western legends: Spanish Conquistadores Coronado and Onate; Zebulon Pike, the first Anglo man to see the Jornada; Kit Carson; Eugene Rhodes, the writer; and Victorio, the Apache warrior. But equally interesting are the stories Boye tells about its lesser known people: the ranchers who witnessed the world's first nuclear test and fought the US government to keep their ranches, or the "Wild Man," a legendary recluse who "lived his entire adult life in the outdoor air of the Jornada."
   
   Like David Roberts, whose IN SEARCH OF THE OLD ONES and THE PUEBLO REVOLT also mix history with descriptions of personal treks through the southwest landscape, Boye is also very good at this genre. He's more of a poet than Roberts, but he never lapses into sentimentality.
   
   The Jornada del Muerto is hard to explore these days. Ted Turner currently owns much of the Jornada on one of his ranches, and practically the rest is on the White Sands Missile Range. But this book makes me want to head to the Owl Bar in San Antonio, New Mexico, for one its famous green chile cheeseburgers, and then hike into the vast Jornada del Muerto to see what I can find as well.

No comments about Wal-mart Travel Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico.

No comments about Maguey Utilization in Highland Central Mexico: An Archaeological Ethnography (Anthropological Papers (Univ of Michigan, Museum of Anthropology)).