I packed and repacked my bag at least 5 times and at the end it still felt like I had too much stuff. I packed more gadgets then clothes! I setoff the second week of January with a 40L duffle and a day pack. Both items are carryon suitable which is the norm these days anyway!
I picked Mexico as my starting point for this year of travel. That wasn't what I had initially planned to do but you know what they say about best laid plans. Mexico's Covid entry requirement and visa allowance is more relaxed and generous then most South American countries at the moment. There are so many things to consider when you set off on a year long travel! Setting up an electronic mailbox so I can receive any snail mail that comes while I am on the road. Ensuring all my banking is setup electronically and that I've given travel notices to all credit/debit cards. Buying travel insurance that will cover repatriation, Covid or any catastrophic event which could occur. Most countries are requiring that your insurance covers Covid, go figure.
I bought a one way ticket to Oaxaca, Mexico, reserved a place to stay for the first few days and said a little prayer to the travel gods. The state of Oaxaca is in Southern Mexico, again not where I should have started through Mexico but I've always wanted to go to the city of Oaxaca and with the Omicron variant fast on the heels of my travels I thought if things shut down at least I would get to see or stay in Oaxaca!
Immigration is Mexico changed the first of January and you know longer can assume that you will get 180 day visa as in the past years. It is strictly up to the immigration officer at the entry point. I was fortunate enough to have been given a heads up on this prior to arriving and took some measure to ensure I could get the 180 day visa. Speaking the language helps as well! It gets a little tricky when you travel with a one way ticket and some if not most countries/airlines want to see that you have a forward ticket somewhere else.
Well...thanks to some sites which have capitalized on this situation, you can now buy a "onward ticket" which is actually an official ticket reservation to a destination for 48 hours and show a onward ticket to airlines/immigration at entry. The reservation gets cancelled after 48 hours but you are already in so no matter. The cost of this service is around $12.00. It worked beautifully for me and upon arrival to Oaxaca, I received my 180 day visa. Not that I was planning on staying in Mexico for 6 months but who knows!
I hope I have as much luck entering other countries along the way. I can't believe it has been a year since I initially came up with the decision to become a nomad and now it has come to fruition! I keep telling myself to breath, take things as they come, don't over plan and keep myself open to the endless possibilities along the way.
I find comfort in knowing that you, my little community, will be with me every step of the way. When anxiety gets the best of me, I breath and imagine I am back in my little house in Switzerland at the edge of the forest and the world is alright once more.
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