Winter holidays traveling

[Latbear4blk]

After my next trip to Brazil, I will have enough miles to get free tickets anywhere South of the border, and probably Western Europe. I have an insecurity attack. Let's see if I can have some input here to help me to make a decision.

Of course, Brazil is always a strong candidate. I am curious about Rio in holidays, but I am afraid it is going to be too crowded, hot and humid. I am in love with the weather over there in July, December could kill my romance. 

Colombia is also a strong candidate. I was thinking perhaps of going to Cartagena for Christmas and Bogota for New Year. I would also like Cali and Medellin, but I am the kind of traveller who likes settling longer in one or two places rather than stopping a few days in many destinations.

RD is also a candidate. My fear is that, being a top, I may be disappointed at the local offering.

Merida or any beach city in Mexico is also a possibility, as well as London and Barcelona. The big con of the European destinations is price. 

Of course, I am open to suggestions. 

The reason why I am not opening this thread in the LA forum is to stay open to all destinations.

[Tomcal]

while i love Brazil as everyone knows, the weather can be hot there in their summer! Merida typically has beautiful December’s! little to no rain and daytime temps in the low to mid 80’s, nighttime in the 60’s.  definitely no lack of bttms!  The one caveat is while you will find guys, it is easier if you already know some guys  as Merida operates more on the Referral system when you are trying to meet a number of guys! 

I was lucky in that i knew a number of people that lived there and threw a few parties to get to know different people, after that it has been easy!

Grindr is very popular there! 

[Latbear4blk]

6 hours ago, Tomcal said:

while i love Brazil as everyone knows, the weather can be hot there in their summer! Merida typically has beautiful December’s! little to no rain and daytime temps in the low to mid 80’s, nighttime in the 60’s.  definitely no lack of bttms!  The one caveat is while you will find guys, it is easier if you already know some guys  as Merida operates more on the Referral system when you are trying to meet a number of guys! 

I was lucky in that i knew a number of people that lived there and threw a few parties to get to know different people, after that it has been easy!

Grindr is very popular there! 

Last year I spent the winter vacations in Salvador, yeah I know it can get hot. But hot with water is something I can deal with. The problem is that now I am hooked with Rio, and I am told that humidity in December is nasty. I think I will keep Brazil for July and November. Even November is going to be an experiment.

Thanks for the tips on Merida. It is definitely in my list. It used tp be my number three after Colombia and Santo Domingo, but now I am dropping República Dominicana. 

I cannot agree more on the importance of having a net of local contacts. Those were my best trips. If I have that much fun last July in Rio was thanks to contacts I got from @numazu1 and Rhyheim Shabazz, plus the wealth of information you shared here. If I decide for Merida, I am going to ask you for a look at your contacts book.  

[Tomcal]

 Numazu1 was at my place a few months ago and he was hooking up regularly on Grindr!?  Here is one photo i can share of one of the local strippers...

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by tomcal

[Latbear4blk]

2 hours ago, Tomcal said:

 Numazu1 was at my place a few months ago and he was hooking up regularly on Grindr!?  Here is one photo i can share of one of the local strippers...

I am not an exotic Asian hunk like Numazu.

You are teasing me, and it may be working. Anyway, my final decision depends on the state of my finances after November in Rio. 

[Latbear4blk]

2 hours ago, Tomcal said:

 Numazu1 was at my place a few months ago and he was hooking up regularly on Grindr!?  Here is one photo i can share of one of the local strippers...

The airbnb prices are amazing. Way cheaper than Colombia. What area do you recommend?

[Tomcal]

Santa ana, Santa Lucia, Santiago. all neighborhoods in Centro. within walking distance to over a 100 restaurants and about as many bars. My place is on the boundary between Santa Lucia and Santiago.

i should add that the stripper pictured i have known 2-1/2 years and is a regular and a super nice guy!

Edited October 9, 2019 by tomcal

[Tomcal]

BTW, Merida has been featured in the past year in Many articles regarding “Best places to visit” , “ To buy”, etc  this article is from the New York Post and they used a photo of My House for the article that i had no knowledge of!  The photo came off the brochure, that was used to sell the house(to me).

[Riobard]

For my long stay last winter, I would have on my own sampled a few places but was vetoed by my people who think it is too big a hassle to hop around. 

This meant, of course, our choices were reduced in high season due to availability calendar dates. Due to “their” inflexibility, the deal was that I would choose and there had better not be any whining if not optimal. 

All in all, a good deal for the size, and ridiculously inexpensive splitting the rental rate. Electric bill around 10 bucks total 3.5 weeks. We were content.

The house was in the northwesterly quadrant not far from Santiago market and just up from the top-rated boutique lodgings The Diplomat. Nevertheless, usually walked a dozen city blocks to the true Centre, or Über for 1-2 bucks ... At your door before you could barely lock up. We often walked to dinner and planned on Über home but usually changed our minds to walk off dinner.

Über was so cheap I took it to the 2 separate bus stations south/east quadrant to purchase ahead of time cheap tickets to various excursion choices.

(Tom, the house 78 and 51, near the 49 bus.)

Neighbours either side in non-reno’d homes. Four cock-a-doodle-doo fighters raised on one side along with a pitbull also bred for dog-fighting. Sweet older lady other side who held a spare key in case we locked ourselves out by accident.

Motorcycle gang (harmless) nearby. Convenient Thunder Gym 10 minutes on foot. There was an absolutely gorgeous new B&B on the corner. Interesting mix of upscale and run-down buildings. A few meat and produce kiosks in a residential zone and an OXXO convenience.

On my own could have “ho”-sted without impediments ... the “manager” seen just once, and only to bring a new toaster oven we requested following self-serve lockbox check-in.

Unforeseen issues that may arise: 

We were lucky but you could end up nearby a very noisy gut-and-reno; they are ubiquitous and scattered throughout. For a long stay you would want to vet the neighbourhood. Who wants hours of banging and hammering while trying to chillax by the pool or sleep late, nap in a courtyard hammock, etc?

Incessantly yapping dogs. Other visitors in the area complained about their otherwise tranquil setting disrupted by constant barking from adjacent yards. We had the roosters crowing noisily a lot but no canines. 

Poorly controlled miniature ant infestation ... swarms in your kitchen requiring complete sealing of foodstuffs. We had this annoyance but nearby locals said it was not uncommon. Our manager claimed it had been recently fumigated. We got accustomed to it, and keeping counters free of any iota of sweet stuff seemed effective. One droplet of pancake syrup would have a long lineup of these little buggers climbing up to feast. 

[Tomcal]

Riobard,  i am on Calle 57 between 64 & 66 about 12 blocks or so from where you were!  I am about 3 blocks to the Cathedral/town square.

as far as insects go, I have never had a problem as i have it checked weekly during the summer by a pest control service for my own benefit as well as those renters on airbnb.   

Edited October 9, 2019 by tomcal

[Riobard]

Oh, you are just steps east of the wildly popular gem Bordados Peninsulares where I bought a dozen (unembroidered) high quality caps for about $7 apiece, a small fraction of northern prices. I am always losing these things but have only misplaced 2 so far, and at that price they are essentially discardable.

[floridarob]

On 10/9/2019 at 3:44 PM, Tomcal said:

as far as insects go, I have never had a problem

Maybe because you have no food in your house and eat out every day??

[Tomcal]

it works!

[numazu]

On 10/8/2019 at 3:18 PM, Latbear4blk said:

I cannot agree more on the importance of having a net of local contacts. Those were my best trips. If I have that much fun last July in Rio was thanks to contacts I got from @numazu1 and Rhyheim Shabazz, plus the wealth of information you shared here. If I decide for Merida, I am going to ask you for a look at your contacts book.  

Glad to be of help. I shall be back in Rio December.

On 10/8/2019 at 4:01 PM, Tomcal said:

 Numazu1 was at my place a few months ago and he was hooking up regularly on Grindr!?  Here is one photo i can share of one of the local strippers...

Thanks a million again @Tomcal for hosting me a few months ago at your amazing home.  Hopefully not the last time.  Learned so much from you!  And yes, lots and lots (seriously, lots) of choices on Grindr. No need to pay.  And I hope you have fixed your bed at this point lol. That's one noisy bed. Sorry about that if you heard it from my room.

On 10/12/2019 at 7:30 AM, floridarob said:

Maybe because you have no food in your house and eat out every day??

OMG i thought I was the only one who noticed this LOL.

On 10/8/2019 at 6:18 PM, Latbear4blk said:

I am not an exotic Asian hunk like Numazu.

Edited November 4, 2019 by numazu

[boiworship]

I too am considering Merida. I spent a few days in CDMX, but found it a bit overwhelming. I prefer smaller cities. As a pretty fit older gentleman, I’m wondering how much luck I’d have finding twinks in Merida? Also quite interested in a quiet Airbnb. @Tomcal, will you be in Merida in early December? Gracias!

[Tomcal]

47 minutes ago, boiworship said:

I too am considering Merida. I spent a few days in CDMX, but found it a bit overwhelming. I prefer smaller cities. As a pretty fit older gentleman, I’m wondering how much luck I’d have finding twinks in Merida? Also quite interested in a quiet Airbnb. @Tomcal, will you be in Merida in early December? Gracias!

I will be in Merida from the 4th to the 17th of December! i can definitely give you some leads for airbnb’s in the centro area where you can walk to everything you need  except Flamingos! :-) you have to go about 45 mins by car to get to them! But over 80 restaurants , 4 gay bars are all walkable!  PM me and i will send the info to you!