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Tags: Travel Snapshot / Toiletries / Bathrooms / Vending Machines / → All Tags

Look What We Found in The Airport Bathroom for Diez Pesos

Yesterday we were making our way out of Guadalajara and decided to hit up the bathrooms at the airport right before boarding our plane. Having just finished some enchiladas at the Wings restaurant (we passed on the Chili's chain), our breath was feeling less than fresh which is why we were pleased to see this vending machine inside the ladies bathroom.

For diez pesos, which is something like 75 cents, you can buy a Brushito, an "On the Go" toothbrush set complete with a fold-up toothbrush, a flosser and a mini, mini-tube of toothpaste. (If Barbie bought Costco-sized toothpaste, it would look like this.) And it even comes in little plastic balls, like the ones you used to lust after as a kid. You know, at the grocery store where, for 25 cents you'd get one of these plastic balls that held either a spider ring or a wash-off mermaid tattoo.

Even though we had packed a toothbrush and toothpaste in our carry-on, we couldn't resist buying our very own toothbrush ball, despite the unfortunate name of Brushito. Yet we sort of think all restaurant and airport bathrooms should have these. Fresh breath for all!

Related Stories:
· It's Hard to Sign On at Guadalajara Airport [Jaunted]

Tags: Airport WiFi / Airport-WiFi-Map / GDL / Guadalajara Travel / → All Tags

It's Hard to Sign On at Guadalajara Airport

UPDATE: We were able to find Free WiFi in the departures terminal where Mexicana is located. Chili's has a free WiFi network. We also found out that Boingo Hotspot (which was still incredibly slow to load) was $7.95 USD per day.)

Yesterday, we landed at Aeropuerto Internacionale de Guadalajara in Mexico. While waiting for our transportation to our hotel, we sat down in front of the Starbucks just outside the baggage claim. There were plenty of seats and it was right across from a Burger King. The Whopper Doble con queso y tocino was might tempting at this point.

However, we were focused on what the internet offerings were like in the airport. We selected the network Prodigy Movil from our network options and we were taken to a page that allowed Infinitum users to connect for free. All they have to do is sign in with their username and password. But we don't have an account so we selected the Hotspot directory to see what our options were.

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Tags: Wine Travel / Mexico Travel / Top Chef / Rick Bayless / → All Tags

'Top Chef Master' Rick Bayless Recommends Baja For Wine

For oenophiles in search of a good grape escape, you have options other than Napa. Top Chef Master Rick Bayless suggests heading to Baja California, specifically Adobe Guadalupe, a winery in the Guadalupe Valley near Ensenada. Bayless tweeted that it was one of the best of the 50 wineries in the region.

Adobe Guadalupe's 60-yard vineyard produces varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Tempranillo, Nebbiolo, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Merlot and Viognier. The winery, which makes 5,000 cases of vino each year, names its blends after archangels, such as Gabriel, Serafiel and Uriel.

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Tags: Mexico Travel / Scuba / Travel News / Green Travel / → All Tags

Mexico Opening Underwater Museum To Protect Coral Reefs

The Mexican government has a creative new idea for getting tourists to stop overwhelming and destroying the coral reefs around Cancun: distract them with something shiny. So they're building the world's largest underwater museum and filling it with art work, hoping that the new attraction will take some pressure off the regional ecosystem.

There's little environmental risk to the area as the concrete will be PH-neutral. Exactly the opposite in fact: the new rocks will allow algae and small invertebrates to flourish, adding rather than subtracting from the local ecosystem. The construction of the museum itself will probably take a bite out of the local environment, but we assume it'll be done in a minimalist way. Can you imagine the headache if it came out that their Green Tourism museum was, well, not?

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Tags: Shopping Travel / Mexico Travel / Cancun Travel / → All Tags

New Perfume Line Promises To Make You Smell Like Cancun

Smells like Carlos & Charlies? Cancun-based cosmetics retailer Ultrafemme is putting out a new line of high-end "Cancun perfumes," designed explicitly to make the workaday woman smell like a girl living it up in Cancun. There's an argument to be made that this is a curious branding decision, given that Cancun was put on this earth to make Key West look classy. Nevertheless, they've got five distinct scents that they're selling in stores throughout the Mexican Caribbean and Los Cabos.

If you can't get down to Cancun, but still want that fresh overcrowded resort tourist trap scent, they've set up a retailer so you can purchase the scents online. All fragrances come in specially-shaped 1.7oz bottles, and each of the five is its own unique treasure.

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Tags: In-Flight Cell Phones / Aeromexico / Airline News / → All Tags

Aeromexico No Longer Minds A Few In-Flight Cell Phone Calls

Get your earplugs ready—on Monday, Mexico lifted a law banning in-flight cell phone use, and now Aeromexico is licking its chops at the thought of giving their passengers the privilege of phoning home first.

With the law gone and Aeromexico's already stating that passengers would be allowed to use their cell phones in-flight, except for during takeoffs, landings, and when flight attendants say not to, we dare you to test it out on your flights to Mexico this Labor Day weekend. Perhaps on your way home on Monday night, call for a cab and then for Thai takeout, all the while flying 35,000-feet somewhere above Louisiana.

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Tags: Volunteer Travel / Ecotourism / Cancun Travel / Green Travel / → All Tags

First Lend A Hand In Cancun, Then Get Drunk And Sit On The Beach

Think a trip to Cancun is just about getting drunk and returning home with nothing more than a hangover and a sunburn? This might be true for few, but we recommend you think again. Hands Up Holidays' Yucatan Explorer Package gives travelers two weeks to explore Mexico, do a little eco-sightseeing and get a taste of volunteering.

Hands Up Holidays provide an opportunity to help people in need around the world without having to sleep on the floor or share a bathroom with dozens of college kids. Instead, all of their trips include upmarket, often luxurious accommodations. They also provide a balance between helping out and being able to enjoy a relaxing getaway.

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Tags: Crimes / Cruises / Travel News / Carnival Cruises / Death / → All Tags

Murder At Sea Aboard A Carnival Cruise To Mexico

Where are re-runs of The Love Boat when you most need them? Cruise travelers these days have never had it so difficult, what with the threat of possible Norovirus and Swine Flu outbreaks, not to mention the occasional occurrence of people mysteriously falling overboard. The latest news, that a man has stabbed his wife to death this week while onboard the Carnival ship Elation, doesn't threaten the whole ship but it does make for one creepy cruise.

After sailing away from San Diego for a 5-night cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, ship authorities were called to the couple's cabin to investigate a domestic disturbance. After finding the wife already deceased, the ship announced "gray star"—supposedly crew code for a murder onboard—and placed the woman's body in the ship's morgue and her husband in the brig, or ship's prison.

The murder happened on the final day of the cruise, which makes us sad that the husband didn't find comfort in the wise words of someone like Love Boat bartender Isaac, who always managed to say the right things to make couples iron out their differences and disembark happier than ever. Perhaps the cruise lines put the advice-dispensing bartenders on the newer ships?

Related Stories:
· FBI Investigates Murder On Cruise Ship [NBC San Diego]
· Husband arrested in woman's death aboard cruise ship [LA Times]
· Cruises Coverage [Jaunted]

[Elation Photo: Lisa Andres]

Tags: Swine Flu / Memorial Day Travel / Mexico / Cancun / Riviera Maya / Airfare Sales / → All Tags

Will Flu-Free Guarantees Lure Travelers Back to Mexico?

We're already well acquainted with good weather vacation guarantees, but now it seems that desperate destinations are jumping aboard the no flu guarantee bandwagon.

Desperate to get travelers to again view Mexico as a safe tourism destination, twenty coastal resorts have launched a "flu-free guarantee." All you need do is book an upcoming trip to any of the resorts, which are mostly in Cancun or the Riviera Maya, and if you do happen to get swine flu (and have the bloodwork to prove it), the consortium will pay for the entirety of your next three vacations.

The CDC lifted their travel ban to Mexico last week, and most countries have now resumed flights to the country, although travelers are still understandably hesitant to return south of the border.

So is Memorial Day weekend the time to return to Mexico? The prices say yes. Unlike just about anywhere else in the world, you can book a plane ticket to Mexico right now and still get a cheap fare for this weekend. Searching on Kayak, we found Friday-to-Monday roundtrip flights to Cancun for $281 from New York, $316 from Chicago, and $363 from LA. Get to clicking, and leave those flu masks at home.

Related Stories:
· Mexico resorts offer 'flu-free' deal [USA Today]
· CDC downgrades Mexico travel warning [USA Today]
· Swine Flu Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: ramonbaile]

Tags: Cruises / Swine Flu / Travel Refunds / → All Tags

How Cruise Companies Are Dealing With Swine Flu

On second thought, let's not go to Mexico. That seems to be the prevailing mood among cruise ships with ports south of the border as concerns about the swine flu increase with each passing day. The cruise industry has often been dogged by the specter of health scares like the Norwalk virus, so maybe the inconvenience to passengers is secondary public health fears... but we're not so sure.

Travel maverick Chris Elliott contacted Princess Cruises to see about a refund for a cruisegoer who was supposed to be headed to the Mexican Riviera but will now be hangin' out in Catalina and San Diego, and the bad news is, without travel insurance she's basically stuck on the slow boat to nowhere.

Then Princess flipped and as a "goodwill gesture" offered a 50 percent credit good through April 2011 for passengers on three of its boats (two already departed, one leaving tomorrow) which have been forced to alter their itineraries. It's not a refund, but at least it's an acknowledgment that the substitute isn't really an even exchange.

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Tags: TSA Watch / TSA / Airport Security / Swine Flu / Borders / → All Tags

US-Mexico Border Crossing Will Stay Open For Now

In deference to this week's thing that will kill us all, the TSA added a nifty little box to its Website about H1N1, aka swine flu, to let travelers know what they should do to stay safe. (Short summary: Wash your hands, stay away from sick people.)

One would think this would be the perfect place for the TSA blog to step in and reassure readers how careful workers will be and how the utmost precautions are being taken -- but there is no mention of the flu anywhere. In effect, the "Evolution of Security" exists in a pre-Monday world in which the swine flu does not kill us all. Ah, those were the days!

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Tags: Travel Health / Swine Flu / Influenza / CDC / → All Tags

Swine Flu Has Travelers On Edge in Mexico, Around the World

Suffice it to say, Mexico did not need this. Already battling an all-out drug war that has tarnished the country's image as a safe place to visit, Mexico is now the epicenter of an increasingly frightening health scare, as swine flu has killed at least 103 and sickened 1,600 in the country.

Mexico City was brought to a standstill this weekend, as schools, bars, soccer stadiums and churches were shut down and soldiers handed out mouth-covering masks to residents. And after word that travelers may have brought the virus as far afield as New York City and New Zealand, officials are on guard at airports, asking sick travelers not to fly. Several airlines have said they'll waive change fees for Mexico-bound customers who've had a change of heart.

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