stuff to bring during the trip

Put a 100 watt light bulb in a pint ice cream container (sans ice cream). Light bulbs in hotel rooms in Mexico are invariably dim.

Scan your passport as a PDF document and send it to yourself as an email attachment.

Portable face wipes (called WashNDry in the states) are valuable.

I'm in my last days of a 12 day Mexican trip. Took one extra shirt, underwear and pair of socks. Every couple of days, did washing in the sink and they dried during the day. Wore the same pair of trousers the entire time (black of course). It worked out fine.

My luggage weighed just under seven pounds total.

You are right about the lightbulbs in hotel rooms, but what I was thinking (and you just reminded me) was to just wire up a socket and attach a plug to it. If I buy a bulb when I get there, I will have a desk-lamp. Maybe make a base for it out of a coathanger.

Flat disc shaped rubber sink stopper if you want to wash clothes in the sink. They never have stoppers.
Earplugs. Mexico is loud.
Agree about skip the jeans. They take forever to dry. Think tropical humidity, slow drying in all of your clothes choices.
I like long sleeved shirts for sun protection and evenings better than Tshirts.

Wire up a socket? Really? Surely you are joking.
Are we seriously talking about taking light bulbs (even in containers) and rigging up desk lamps from coathangers? No offense but are there better (and safer) ways to spend one's time for example getting out and meeting the people and seeing the country.

I don't sit in bed reading at night down there but the last beach town we stayed had another one of those bare lightbulbs coming out of the wall above the bed.
I went to the trash pile next to the hotel and fashioned a lampshade from a twig and part of a small cardboard box.
Mexican mood lighting.

wow<BR>you guys are awesome! thank you so much

but regarding wiring up a socket myself... ha-ha... I think I'll pass that part! :)

Focus on the things you CAN'T get in Mexico, like your passport, visa, ATM card, and clothes. Things like water and aspirin are readily available in Mexico and I usually just buy them as needed.

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<hr>better (and safer) ways to spend one's time for example getting out and meeting the people and seeing the country.<hr></blockquote>

AMEN!

Read the original post, folks... this is a two week jaunt to the tenth largest industrialized nation and 7th largest tourist destination on the planet. This is not a six month trek across uncharted regions of Afghanistan.

That said, yeah, my first trip or two, I way, way, way overpacked. I still sometimes bring an extention cord with a light socket and bulb for "inconvenient" lighting placement.

That's exactly what I'm talking about, Rich--extension cord and light socket. But I will buy the bulb when I get there instead of trying to take it with me and I figure I can take along a wire coat-hanger to prop it up so the bulb doesn't burn the table-top. I am not joking, Newfie, I figure I can do this job in about 45 seconds and still have time to get out and meet a few people.

We have switched to small wheeled bags and away from packpacks. I have found out they are quite practical in Mexico. I have broken a couple so get a sturdy one with a good handle and larger widely spread wheels.

They work well on concrete, cities, airports and in buildings they are great. The roughest roll was the cobblestones in Antigua Guatemala but even that was OK. The worst is a sandy beach, that becomes a drag, but it is possible. The hardest are sidewalks narrower than the bag, forcing you into the street, also very narrow staircases are difficult.