#033: Guadalajara, Mexico

Welcome to this episode of the Why We Travel Podcast. In this episode, we talk with Wes Cunningham, a location independent entrepreneur, about his experience in Guadalajara, Mexico.

We touch on his 4 day trip traveling through Michoacan (Patzcuaro, Janitzio, Uruapan, Zamora) for Day of the Dead celebrations.

You can learn more about Wes and his travels at https://www.worldwideyedwes.com/

Visit our website at https://whywetravel.net/

Transcript

[00:00:00] This is the Why We Travel podcast. The podcast dedicated to those who want to explore the world on their terms. Each week, you'll hear from amazing travelers and experts sharing their best travel stories from the road. Listen to their unique travel experiences and get insider tips about their favorite destinations.
Whether you're an experienced world nomad or just getting started, this podcast will inspire you, improve your travel skills. Change the way you travel and motivate you to get out and see the world. Discover the art of independent travel and meet fellow travelers in our online community. Now let's get into it with your host and world traveler Claus Lauter.
Welcome to the show. 
Claus Lauter: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Why We  Travel Podcast. Today we want to talk about Mexico. And I have with me Wes Cunningham, he has traveled extensively and has lived and worked [00:01:00] also in Thailand, traveled to 18 countries and more, and is now basically a local in Guadalajara in Mexico.
He can pronounce that much better than I can do. So let's welcome him to the show. Hi Wes, how are you today? 
Wes Cunningham: Hi Klaus, I'm good. How about you? 
Claus Lauter: Very well. Wes, Mexico. I personally haven't been there. So it makes it interesting. What brought you to Mexico? 
Wes Cunningham: Me and a friend, we had a person down there that was working for us.
And so we decided to go visit him. It was kind of a small world type situation. So we was like, Hey, like, why don't we go see Jerry? So that's actually what took me there. And really Mexico, really, it was on my list, but it wasn't at the top of the list of places to go or to visit, but that trip with a friend, we went down there and I stayed down there a week and.
As the story goes, I met someone there, I met a girl, and I've been going back for two years since. 
Claus Lauter: Okay, definitely a good start. Now, Mexico is a huge country, and obviously you have the West Coast, the East Coast, and there's lots to see, lots to do. [00:02:00] Where did you start, and which kind of areas did you go to first?
Wes Cunningham: I started in Guadalajara, and that was just because, you know, that's where Jerry was working. He was doing the customer service for my store and another friend's store, so that's where we went. That's where I went first. With Guadalajara, I would say it's like the cultural heartland for Mexico. So you have your tequila, this is a mariachi land.
There's so much there. And I am so thankful that this was my first experience in Mexico because it's not geared towards tourism. Like, you know, when you get to tourist places, right? Like probably Cancun, Vallarta, Cozumel, right? People speak English, but there's also the haggling and everybody's trying to sell you something.
Right. And it can be off putting and I've experienced that in other countries. But for me being in Guadalajara, it was kind of eye opening because it's the second largest city in Mexico. It has a skilled workforce. And there's a lot of English speaking because it's kind of like the [00:03:00] Silicon Valley of Mexico.
There's a lot of tech companies that are there, like Dell and Hewlett Packard are big employers in the area, along with, I think a couple of other tech firms, I'm not really sure if Adobe is there yet, but anyways, the tech industry, so they also have an English speaking population, which I didn't know at the time, but it had come to find out it was really helpful just trying to get around and knowing that.
But from there, we traveled to Lake Chapala, which is just an hour South. And that's the largest Lake in Mexico. And I was also home to Ajijic, which is a huge expat area. They call it little America. It's like San Diego type weather all year round. It's anywhere between 30 and 40, 000 Americans and Canadians that live down there.
It's large enough to where the hospitals have signs up saying that they accept American insurance. That's how large the population is. So, you know, we went to Chapala. That was kind of like the first couple of trips. Tequila, obviously. I've been to Vallarta, been to Mexico City a [00:04:00] couple of times. We spent New Year's Eve in Mexico City last year.
And then also to, uh, San Blas, it's in neighboring Naira to the northwest, and it's about four hours away. And it's a small little beach town, but you can go whale watching there and it's at half the price of what you'll get in Vallarta because there's no tourists there in San Blas. That was a really eye opening experience in and of itself.
I mostly travel along the West coast. We went to Morelia and Pátzcuaro, which is known for the Day of the Dead activities. So I got to see that twice. That's where I just came from. On this trip, we went to Morelia and then onto Guanitio, the island, renowned in Mexico, but everybody flocks there for that.
And then we went to Uruapan, which is also in Michoacán, which is the state South of Jalisco. And that's about it. I've never made it to the East coast. I've wanted to, I've made plans, but just haven't made it to Cancun yet. It's a 
Claus Lauter: huge country and the West Coast is also, I mean, it's a long stretch go all down there traveling overland was in [00:05:00] Mexico.
I mean, there's some, I don't know, no go areas, no go provinces whatsoever. You hear that from time to time in the news. How did you travel within 
Wes Cunningham: Mexico? Especially around Jalisco, there's a couple of no travel states. Colima to the south and then let's cut it to the southwest and then Michoacán itself is also a do not travel advisory state.
I traveled over land, every trip except for Mexico city. So I drove to San Blas and all the way down to Michoacan and to Cocolima as well. Traveling on those roads, you're fairly safe. I only say that because they had a, actually saw where they had an attack on one of them. But it seems like if the cartel and the military are into it, that's kind of.
It's just between them, they'll take pot shots at each other. As far as traveling, like, you're on toll roads, main interstates, you'll see the federal police, and then also the military, or the marines if you're close to the ocean. The [00:06:00] marines will be out on patrol. I think that's eye opening. If it's some place you travel to and you haven't been to, uh, I wouldn't say a high risk area, but, you know, just like in Southeast Asia, there's armed guards outside of the hotels, there's armed guards at various places, and you'll find that in Mexico, but then also you'll find the patrols where they're on, you know, patrolling, the police are patrolling on pickup truck, but they have a machine gun mounted on the back with two or three Personnel in the back as well, you know, in full gear that may be off putting some people, but at least it presents itself as safe.
I've never really had any issues. I've heard of issues. I've been in Guadalajara where they've had. Some issues on the outskirts, luckily it was nothing in the city, but generally speaking, when you're traveling there, one key tip is to always keep your Google maps running. I found that out the hard way.
The first time I was in the middle of a major icon and you know, you're in peaks and valleys, so you'll lose cell service and your maps may be [00:07:00] telling you, I don't know where you're at. So it's always good to have it running when you're traveling, just so it can be downloaded and you have a sense of direction because it's easy to get off.
Not necessarily easy to get off on the wrong road, but then also Google Maps has a little bit of a lag there. So it's, sometimes it's not telling you, like when it says turn left, it may be in the next street, not the left that you're at, but it thinks you're a little bit further ahead than you are. So I've had plenty of experiences of getting off at the wrong exit when you're in a condensed area in a larger city.
But generally speaking, like when you're traveling between those cities, you're on those main thoroughfares with toll roads and it's quite safe. I've never really. How do you use the driving is probably the scariest part. So that's a different story to it. So I think that's what you need to be worried about because it's totally different than the U S it's totally different than a lot of places I've been to, they kind of share the road.
It'll be a one lane highway and the traffic will get on the shoulders. They'll drive on the shoulder of the [00:08:00] highway and leave the double yellow line to pass. And it's kind of a game of chicken if, you know, you're coming up on a lot of traffic. So that I will say like, that's probably the scariest part.
They tried to get around those tractor trailers and everything else. 
Claus Lauter: Yeah, as probably in a lot of countries, the further you go south in Latin America, the worse it gets. But you just get used to it overall. Now Mexico is well known for its culture and also for its food. And I know as we both big fans of Anthony Bourdain.
So what kind of experiences do you have? I mean, probably in different areas of Mexico, the food is very, very different. So how's the food on the West Coast? 
Wes Cunningham: It's amazing. Like I will say I was highly surprised at how good it is. And I'll forget to mention, I've been to Aguas Calientes and we went there for a festival, actually it's the largest festival in Mexico and it's the San Marcos festival.
So they had the Black Eyed Peas. They had Rod Stewart there last year. Like so big headliners and a huge festival. [00:09:00] The food there was really different than what you would get in Jalisco, where they use a lot of guava and grapes. They grow that there, and it's also a little bit of a burgeoning wine country.
They also produce wine, so the food there was a little bit, I don't want to say sweet, but they had like mole, like the sauce. I'm not really a big fan, especially of like brown or dulce, but the guava, they had guava mole there, and uva, which was the grape mole. Like, that food in and of itself, like I was calientis, I was going to say, like you could just travel there just for the food.
But when it comes to Jalisco, they're known for their, uh, Barilla, which is like the slow cooked goat. I remember the first time I had it. I actually got sick, but that was in a smaller city, having to deal with that, but it's really good. You know, it's like a slow cooked beef with a seasoning. It's heavy and then also barbacoa.
It's beef based. I don't know as much. All I know is the spices that they put in it. Then they make it into a taco and kind of dip it in the sauce and then fry it. That's my [00:10:00] favorite. Like that's my treat is the barbacoa with cheese. There's a place in downtown Guadalajara. Arturo's is the name of it. And.
The barbacoa there is hands down, probably the best I've had and obviously anywhere else. I've never really tried it outside of Jalisco, but the closer you get to like Vallarta and over there, like the seafood is fresh and amazing. Even in San Blas like with the, the local stalls. So you have some restaurants, but you also have a lot of the local stalls.
I highly encourage people to try that. The worst case scenario, you have to take some Pepto Bismol or colostrum. I found that colostrum really helps me. Two pills of that and it'll get rid of most of anything that's going wrong. Good tip there. Yeah. I had to find that out the hard way, but I eventually found something that worked and got the job done really quickly.
Okay. 
Claus Lauter: Now, you said obviously you're not in a touristy area. You were when locals are. Tell me a little bit about the pricing. What's the cost of living per month? 
Wes Cunningham: Let me backtrack. I forgot to mention the neighborhood, Colonia Americana [00:11:00] was voted the coolest neighborhood in the world last year or the year before.
So they are running with that and even the construction sites that are building up these high rise apartments, that's what they're posting up, like live in, you know, the coolest neighborhood in the world. So pricing has kind of got up a little bit, especially on the strip of Chapultepec. That's your main strip.
It's a little bit west of central, probably a mile. Something like that, but that's your main drag where everything's going to be at. That's a lot of the tourists, a lot of the, uh, hostels and hotels are kind of geared towards that. I mean, when it comes to the nightlife, so. Pricing wise, food is cheap, super cheap, especially compared to American prices.
I about killed over. I went to the grocery store last night and avocados are 2 and 19 cents for one. And it's 2 for a kilo there, you know, like to put it in perspective, I was like, Oh my God, like, you know, you can get a kilo of [00:12:00] onions for a dollar. It's like 20 pesos going out to eat restaurants. You're looking at half of what you're going to spend at an American restaurant.
Don't get me wrong, there are restaurants where you can spend just about the same amount as you would in America, but at a higher quality, right? So, I guess you could say that, but rent and everything else, like I would think you're looking, especially as a foreigner, you're probably looking at four or 500 minimum to find a place.
You can probably find a place cheaper, especially if you spoke Spanish, but. My Spanish is not enough to get there and I don't have a visa. Usually they want you to have a visa so you have some ties to the country. But if you're looking outside of that, you're probably looking at Airbnb and Airbnb is 500 North.
Almost starting at 500, 600 for a month, but of course you can go up from there. It all depends on what you're looking for. And for me, it's still generally cheap, but yeah, the locals are probably looking at 200 a month to 300 a month, especially if you get outside of the area of like Chippewa. If you're in Chippewa, yeah, you can probably expect 500 minimum, [00:13:00] but you're living on the strip in the second largest.
City in Mexico was like, you know, for what it comes with. And I will also say it comes with a lot of noise. So like, just be prepared. 
Claus Lauter: Brings me to culture also culture. How easy is it to get in contact with the 
Wes Cunningham: locals? I would say it's fairly easy. Everyone I met was welcoming, obviously, like. For me, I met people through friends, like either it was Elisa or Jerry, but it seemed like everybody I've met, like, even if they didn't know English, they spoke some English and was enough to try to have a little bit of a conversation and be polite.
Like it wasn't necessarily expecting me to speak Spanish, even though I wanted to, I was, you know, probably at that time at a toddler level. So I can only, you know, piece a couple of words. I could follow along a lot better, like, at that toddler age. But when it comes to that area, like, I noticed when I would go to restaurants, they noticed my Spanish wasn't the best.
A lot of the places would switch to English. [00:14:00] Like, even though I was trying in Spanish, like, they would Switch us to English to, uh, try to help facilitate, you know, that's a go order. But I think to get in contact with the locals, it's fairly easy to a degree. Like English is, I'm not going to say widely spoken is spoken to a higher degree than if you're going to go to.
Barorabad or Morelia or some of the smaller cities, obviously that's outside of Jalisco. But maybe even August County, you know, it's a little bit easier to connect because there is a bit of the, a language barrier. But it's not as large. Oh, it seems to 
Claus Lauter: be relatively easy to settle in and to find accommodation to get around.
Now you have traveled quite a bit and you have also lived in two different continents. I understand you are also helping other nomads or to be nomads with getting started. Tell me a little bit about what you do there. 
Wes Cunningham: Yes, I'm trying. So I decided to this year to start my travel blog. And so as to try to give the insights that.
I [00:15:00] wish I had traveling to places. So it's a lot of me learning things the hard way or looking up and, you know, finding good places to eat, whether it be through just ending up in random places or also through friends, you know, experiencing it through like Guadalajara through my girlfriend, Elisa or Sherry or any of the other friends that we've come across with.
Because I think that gets lost sometimes you can look at Google maps. Some of these places weren't on Google maps. The one thing that comes to mind is like the Khao Soi place in Thailand. There was a place me and my friend Kim went to, and it was just off the road, right? You just kind of had to know where it was at.
And some friends showed us it. That's where that comes from part of that and part of just wanting to document my life as I go along, because that list is starting to get longer. And I realized that one, I didn't document it well enough to, I lost about five years of photos on my phone from Thailand. Like I went to Indonesia, Malaysia and [00:16:00] Thailand, and then my SD card got corrupted and I lost all of it.
And so I'm like, okay, you know what? I really should keep track of this. Not just with Instagram, you can do that, but really like dive in and give people the experience as well. 'cause uh, I know a picture's worth a thousand words, but you also need to know how to get there and, uh, what to expect. Mm-Hmm.
Claus Lauter: where can people find out about your site? Your 
Wes Cunningham: blog? You can find me@worldwideeyedwest.com. Worldwide West was taken and so wide-eyed is condensed to just one E, so, uh, it's. W O R L D W I D E Y E D W E S Instagram, but that's my personal. And then also on Facebook and YouTube, I put together, I still have a lot of video footage to go through for the travels in Mexico, but slowly getting the YouTube channel up and sharing some of those adventures.
Claus Lauter: Ooh, yeah. I will put all the links in the show notes in here. Just one click away. Whereas before we come to the [00:17:00] end of our chat today about Mexico, what's one final thought that you want to leave our listeners with? 
Wes Cunningham: Go, just go, I've experienced just being defensive about places, but no matter how the media depicts the country.
And that's why I say, just go, like, if you're playing a trip to Mexico and I've seen friends on Facebook or YouTube where they talk about going someplace in Mexico and people are like, you know, you shouldn't go and everything else. It's not like that, you know, the media is going to take 90 percent of that and blow that up to the 90 percent that you care about.
I, you know, what you don't care about is the connections that you make there, the friends, the people that you need, the multicultural aspect of it, the international food scene. I just made friends with a Lebanese food owner, like right before I left to come back, like, you know, we had a two hour conversation talking about things like, there's plenty of people to help you along, especially the touristy areas, you're safe.
And even outside of that, what I like to think of is like, it's kind of like Utah. It's God's half acre out there. That's where the cartel does. That's [00:18:00] mostly where they're operating, but there's not much cell service. The likelihood of finding yourself in that type of situation is slim to none. Unless you're at the border.
You know, I've had Mexican friends tell me like. They wouldn't even go to the border. You really need to be safe there. But I wouldn't say there's anything at the border to see in the border states. I mean, except for maybe Tijuana, but other than that, like other places outside of there, like all the cities, like the people are friendly and welcoming and, and they try and the culture is like the different indigenous people and the culture that you can pick up the food that they bring along with them is amazing to try and a great experience.
And it will be a great experience if you put yourself out there. Excellent. 
Claus Lauter: Cool. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. So just go. Mexico is on my travel list. So maybe I will meet up with you there anytime soon. Thanks so much Wes for your time today and hope to talk to you soon 
Wes Cunningham: again. Thank you so much for your time, 
Claus Lauter: Klaus.
Hey, Klaus here. Before you leave, I have a question. Are you a traveler? Do you have a favorite travel destination or favorite travel [00:19:00] experiences that you would like to share with the world? Then become a guest on the Why We Travel podcast. Simply message me, and I will get you all the details for becoming an interview guest, and then we take it from there.
That's it for now. I'll see you in the next episode, and have a great day.
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