The Guadalajara Reporter

Help for foreigners driving in Mexico

For American and Canadian RV travelers, road trippers and backpackers who might have a little trepidation these days about a sojourn through the lands of their southern neighbor, Paul Beddows has started mexicotravelbuddies.com to ease their expectations and facilitate meet ups and group trips in Mexico.

Intended primarily for those driving down into Mexico, the website can, and often is, nonetheless used for journeys within the country as well. The site has general traveling and caravanning info, links to other useful sites, and a calendar of upcoming trips, which can even be synchronized to some desktop and mobile calendar programs.

Users register (for free) on the affiliated mexicorvforums.com to post and browse listings for potential or planned trips. Listings usually include information as to destination facilities, date (or range of dates) of departure, and nature of the trip (RV, backpacking etc.).

Beddows last year picked up four travelers on trips himself. “It’s a great way for newbies to get their feet wet and offsets a lot of the fear newcomers especially feel,” he commented.

Obviously, a social site like mexicotravelbuddies will work better with more people using it, so Beddows encourages people get to know the forums and give it a shot.