Backpacking from Tijuana to Argentina

2 Years ago in Guatemala, I met 2 very young women (looked 14 but said they were 19) from Norway. They had backpacked thru India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam then flew to LA. They had been thru Mexico when I met them in Guatemala and they were headed for Argentina. Often wondered if they made it.

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<hr>Otherwise, don´t bother. I´ve traveled on a really tight shoestring all over Latin America, and wouldn´t try your trip with less than a year, or less than $10,000. That´s just me - I like to see the places I pass. You know, step off the bus/camion. <hr></blockquote>

Felix - The way I figure the trip is that we have $9,000 between the three of us. If you read comment #5, he or she claimed that they finished the trip in 5.5 months on a $6000 budget. If all my estimations turn out to be somewhat correct I will be fine with my $3000 budget.

I think I'll see plenty on my way down south as well. We plan on taking a bus from Tijuana to Puerto Vallarta in which we would stay for a few days with a friend who owns a condo, and from there we will go to Guadalajara (to stay with the same friend) for a few more days before we continue to Mexico City. We stay in Mexico City for 4 or 5 days, and then we continue to Oaxaca City. From Oaxaca to San Cristobal, Chiapas and then off to Guatemala. Two weeks and $600 in Mexico (tops) is how I calculate it.

I realize I won't see even a single percent of Mexico on this trip, but Mexico is huge and even if I had a whole lifetime I wouldn't be able to see it all. I am interested in taking this intercontinental trip no matter how uncomfortable it is going to be. Besides air-conditioned buses with reclining seats and a toilet sounds luxurious to me.

Yeah, but what's the point to doing this? I mean, I could cut off all my fingers one at a time, and survive with the proper measures, but what would be the point? You're not going to have any fun with it, you're going to be miserably uncomfortable the entire way, and you're going to miss out on some of the best places in the world to chill out and relax for weeks at a time.

Have you even considered how much buses in Mexico cost, when figuring your $600 budget? They aren't cheap.

OK Felix, I understand at times (probably in C.A. and the Andes) I will be in severe discomfort on 'chicken buses', but that will definitely not be the case in Mexico. Like I said, I anticipate "luxury" transportation in Mexico, and I have considered the price for these buses. See comment #4, for a general assessment on the prices of the buses. We are trying to get a local (poverty) perspective on this trip. We are prepared for these circumstances, and we are prepared to 'splurge' as well. The way I work it out in my own mind (my friends as well) is that this trip will be worthwhile, and the adventure of a lifetime. To each his own and I respect the fact that you think otherwise. Let me find out the hard way, is all I can tell you at this point.

I'll be ready to post my experiences periodically or at the end of the trip when I get back to California. I anticipate that you will read and reply.

Peace.

Bad news. Unless you go with a high-bucks all-inclusive, you'll just have to take the country as it comes. There's no way in hell to force Mexico to follow an uninformed agenda.

Nothing's wrong with planning your travel beforehand. But if you must have a particular type of bus, at an unreasonably low price, you'll be spending hours or maybe days of frustration chasing around in order to save what? Ten bucks? You'll have plenty of opportunities to ride the chicken buses when you get there. Take a plane, it probably costs less. You're not missing a thing but two days of Diesel fumes by flying over the Sonora.

Take enough money to enjoy yourself. You can always have an ordeal at home, and it costs less. 'Boring' and 'squalor' are much more romantic when someone else is living the story.

And don't expect your friends to do one damn thing they say they will, because they won't.

Now do it your way, and write a trip report about how wrong we are.

Hey, it's your trip. Enjoy your three months on the bus.

I don't understand why you two must post with such a confrontational elitist tone (especially Felix). Sorry not all of us 'amateurs' are as knowledgeable as Felix and Ryon.

Even if I did enjoy the trip and posted about it, I know that you two wouldn't believe a damn thing I write. So...what's the point?

Ryon - What makes you think I am looking for the cheapest buses anyways? And I suppose your great intrinsic knowledge of travel helps you make assumptions as to what type of people my friends are? By the way, it wouldn't be a bad idea to fly over the Sonora and into Puerto Vallarta or Guadalajara. I'll make the suggestion. Thanks!

The only one on this board that I'd consider elite would be rollyb, and he also happens to have the best advice. Quitcherbitchin.

You're just too cool to respond constructively and respectively. Why would you even waste your time on such an amateur thread?

***Respectfully