www.JustAdventureTravel.net

Intro: This website is dedicated to help inspire people from all backgrounds who seek adventure travel as part of their lifestyle. On this website we will explore a different way of travel that is inexpensive, fun, hopefully extremely healthy and at times down right exciting. If you have ever daydreamed about selling it all to move to a tropical island or have fantasized about driving until the road ends, well you have come to the right place. Pick an adventure and enjoy some quality photos while we explore exotic lands on a budget and explain how to do it.

Focus: This internet thread will follow our adventures going as far as our motorcycle, jeep or legs will take us. We are not experts but we enjoy learning the ropes and getting the job done. On our journey we will highlight the things we do right and the things we do wrong while filling this site with quality adventure travel photos. The goal here is to help you achieve your vision of adventure travel.

Tool Box: (under construction) Here is a set of tools that can be used to create and execute your own Adventure Lifestyle. Logistics; making it happen. The Artist; sculpting your state of mind. Finances; design your life one-step at a time.

History: JustAdventureTravel.net started December 2004 while my wife Heidi and I were preparing for a 9-month jeep tour of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. The website started with a focus on independent adventure travel, the planning, the execution and the lifestyle, from start to finish, the good and bad. This website continues on in that same spirit today.

Enjoy: If you have some time, please check us out now and then and browse around. We will try to create a site rich with content and photos so you can learn more about and enjoy the type of independent adventure travel we promote.
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JustAdventureTravel's First Adventure: - Mexico - 9 Months by Jeep
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Cool Tropical Report: -Dominican Republic- 6 month Tropical Motorcycle Adventure
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Featured Title Starts Here- 'No Return Ticket' 2 People, 2 Years, 1 Motorcycle -
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The Live Page"Ultimate Baja Road Trip" Starts Below

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Post-8
A wild 6-month ride wheeling through Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, Heidi, Tom and Sam here we go…

We drove around town and successfully found all the dog friendly places Heidi has listed in her notes. One place is a bungalow that looks dark and dirty. There were two dogs living there at the time with a woman, and the place was a mess. They assured us it will look much better after they clean. Another place is a new high rise hotel on the beach, and it looked out of our price range, and was. We head back to the first place we found, the one we thought was too expensive, Oasis hotel. It’s right on the beach at the start of the malecon. Eighty bucks a night, ouch. I could have bargained for less but it doesn’t matter, we are on the beach in Loreto and all is good.

Our room looks out over a wide clean beach.

And we are one with the restaurant. I joked with the waitstaff that “Ok I make my own cocktail?”

The malecon here is beautiful.

Loreto has made a lot of improvements along the sea coast since the last time we visited, we see street sweepers every day. There is even a new vent pipe sticking out of the street sewer blowing out gases. I assume it’s so the gasses don’t backup into buildings. At that block Heidi and I yell “hold your breath and run!”…

The malecon ends at this harbor of small fishing boats. Fishing is a big business for tourism.

Sweet. Heidi wants me to build one of these for our yard.

We see people cleaning the beach all the time. This guy is pulling a rake in preparation for a whale presentation that’s going on here tonight. They got a large screen setup right next to this mock whale. People started showing up near dark for a whale movie and a talk on conservation of the ocean. The whale on the beach is made from part of a helicopter, kids were painting it all day.

A block away a youth charity is having a pig roast with a band. There is a large expat population here that support these events.

Loreto is a fun place to walk around. There are Mexican artisan shops and restaurants.

A great pleasure for us is to walk around the old town, away from the tourist section.

Looking for a fish taco place. We first like to scan the whole area before picking a place to eat, just for the fun of it of course.

The weird taco experience. After our fantastic fish tacos experience out on the highway the other day we are eager for more. While touring the city, away from the tourist area, we find a place with fish tacos and beer. We saw other people eating there so we stop in to give it a shot. The owner introduces himself and his wife to us in English, he sounded like a native New Yorker. Cool, but after that, whenever I spoke Spanish he would rattle off some rapid fire Spanish to me and say in English “do you know what I said?” Then he would tell us in English what he said. He made some comments in Spanish to his Mexican wife about me (he thought we didn’t understand), later he sat down at our table to chat with us but everything he said felt disingenuous. The fish tacos were small and tasted so so and the beer was way overpriced. Funny, our only negative taco experience is from a place owned and operated by an expat. I guess we learned, not everyone wants to play our Spanish teacher. Heidi and I have many deep discussions about this. We want to always show respect to everyone we meet, everywhere. I guess I was caught off-guard. For now, if someone speaks perfect English to me in Mexico, or any Latin American country, I will speak English back to them, period. Gaining insights on interacting with people of different cultures and backgrounds is a joy to us and a big part of why we travel.

Sam is out of bone treats. Loreto is a small pueblo but big enough that if you are willing to walk around you can find almost anything. This place has all the treats Sam needs. He has been a perfect dog so far this trip and deserves the best.

The city center is full of historic buildings.

Near the heart of town there are two or three blocks of shade lined artisan shops and cafés. Great exploring.

Heidi wants to buy a ceramic Mexican sink for our cabin back home. Maybe we will stop here on our way home in four months.

We love Mexican food and restaurants but our favorite thing is to bring supplies back to our room and enjoy time together, the whole family.

Sam is the mellowest dog in the world. Every place we’ve stayed he has never barked or seemed uncomfortable, even when we leave him in the room alone. It’s just unreal, Sam has certainly added a new dimension to our travels but so far they have all been positive, except of course when we can’t find a room that will take dogs. I always plead “mi perro es muy muy amable”

We liked it here the last three nights so I bargain for two more nights, in the same room, right outside the restaurant. The clerk went from $80 to $70, my bottom line is $60. All good, we are packed up and ready to hit the road for the next fun Mexican Baja destination.

Stay tuned for more Baja Mexico fun…

Continued: ---> Post 9 <----

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Adventure Travel Links:

Horizons Unlimited, the website by and for the motorcycle traveller. Bulletin Board, Community, free Monthly E-zine, Travellers' Stories, and plenty of tips and info!

Adventure travel Information: Our Links page and Adventure Stories page is filled with travel information and practical travel tips. We will also post our live stuff to do list and equipment selection list of our adventures.

We enjoy hearing from you, please feel free to fill us in on your own adventures or contact us with questions or comments: belizebiker@yahoo.com

More Tom & Heidi's Adventure Reports and Photos:

--> The Border with Haiti -- Solo Extreme --

--> Heidi & Tom do Samana Peninsula: --

--> Sturgis 2-Up on a Sportster:

--> The Belize 02' Ride: Wow!

--> Copper Canyon Mexico by Motorcycle 04':

--> Las Vegas Ride 04':

--> Dominican Republic 95' - 97':