Are you traveling light, or are you moving a household? Have you done the research to see what you need to do to bring your auto into Mexico? Have you double checked that the VIN# on your title (you did remember to bring the title to your car, didn't you?) exactly matches the VIN# stamped on the car itself? Does the name on the title exactly match the name on your passport? If your title says Janne N. Bjorgen and your passport says Janne Nils Bjorgen, be prepared for a difficult border crossing. Have you arranged for Mexican auto insurance? Buying it at the border you will pay absolutely usurious rates -- a 6 day policy will cost you what a year's insurance would cost from a broker in Mexico proper. I have no idea what hoops you would jump through to bring your household goods through Mexico rather than into Mexico, but if they are anything like what I had to go through... well, good luck to you.

I had the assistance of a very good Mexican friend who was politically connected and very conversant with Mexican bureaucratic procedures. There is no possible way we could have made the border crossing with our household goods loaded up in the old school bus without his assistance and a generous helping of mordida.

Since you're just passing through rather than immigrating, hopefully it won't be as complicated (and expensive) for you as it was for us. Just remember this: Mexican bureaucracy is far more interested in the process than in the end results. For example, two pieces of I.D., one with middle name spelled out and the other with just middle initial, will stymie them because the form they are filling out doesn't have a way to accommodate it so the easiest thing for them to do is make you get one or the other of the I.D.s re-issued so they match, even though it is 100% obvious that you are the person identified in both of them.

It's all been worth it, though, now that we're here and settled in. Of course, it isn't all sunshine and good times. I got our electric bill today, and it was a shock. It came to nearly five times as much as my property taxes! Of course, my property taxes average out to $2.48 per month. Outrageous!

Good luck on your trip. Stop by and say hello if your route takes you through Ajijic. (Highly unlikely!)

tanstaafl.