[Editor's Note: The following post is by TDV legal correspondent, Jim Karger]
June 11, 2013, 5:07 p.m. United Airlines Flight 4132, Houston to Leon, MexicoWe just reached whatever height above the earth deemed by the US government suitable to use electronic devices. I know that because our flight attendant, Stephanie, bored and tired as she is, just told me and everyone else it is "OK" as long as the wireless feature is turned off, but she warned ominously that if you give serious thought to using a cell phone during flight that you will go straight to jail, and I believe her.
I left the airport at Leon, Mexico yesterday at noon, flew to Houston and then to Atlanta where I arrived last night about nine o'clock and took a taxi to a nearby Holiday Inn Express. The cab fare was $40 US with tip (all references to money are in US dollars) which seemed almost like a bargain compared to a cab I took two weeks ago from the Newark airport into downtown Manhattan. That tab was $100 with tip. But neither seems like a deal compared to my home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where anytime of the day you can take a cab anywhere for $2.50 during the day or $3.50 at night. If you throw up in the cab, it may be another buck.
The Holiday Inn Express near the Atlanta airport is new, sanitary to a fault, and sported an unusual sign in the bathroom that said in nicer terms than these, "too many of you are stealing everything from the towels to the sheets to the coffee maker and even prying our hair dryers off the wall. If we catch you doing this shit, here is what we are billing you," followed by a long list of the entire room's inventory except the carpet and the furniture. Even the shower head apparently gets gnawed off by hungry businessmen looking to take something home to the missus. To be fair, I did get a free cookie on check-in and some stale cereal for breakfast this morning and because I didn't steal the television set my tab was just $89 until various governments got their hands in the mix taking the total to $130. Not bad, I thought, compared to Marriott's Springhill Suites on 36th Street in Manhattan where two weeks ago my room, modern but tiny and only a "suite" if you reinvent the language, was $414-a-day on Priceline, and by the time New York and the Feds got through with me the tab for two nights rang up over $1000. And again, neither seem anything but offensive compared to a real suite I had the last time I was Puerto Vallarta where 1200 square feet with a full kitchen, marble floors, living room, two 60" LED screens, a swim up bar, meals and all the top shelf liquor you can lap up) was $125-a-day for TWO people.
After my two hour meeting this morning, I took a cab back to the airport (another $40) and bought a small package of trail mix (emphasis on small) for $5.25, found a bar and ordered a (as in one) gin and tonic (after all it was slightly after noon) which set me back $11.25 with tip. After arriving in Houston for still another late flight, I bought a sandwich knowing that whatever United was pitching off their extruded aluminum carts would not be fit to eat at any price. My sandwich set me back $7.95. And once again it all seemed reasonable considering three of us went to a bar on 37th, ordered some finger food and enough drinks to change the overall attitude but not enough to lose our way back to the hotel which set us back over $300. And yes, once again I remained nonplussed considering my good friend Arnie Thexton (read more about Arnie here) and I frequent the best bar in San Miguel de Allende (see photo) and get two for one all night, making good liquor about $3.50 a drink served not by someone pissed off with life and the shitty cards they have been dealt but by happy people who, if you hang around long enough, will drink with you and tell you stories that will make you cry, not because they are sad but because you wonder why you are not happier.
Now, before you start objecting that San Miguel de Allende, a small city perched at 6,200 feet above sea level in the high central desert of Mexico cannot be compared to New York, or even Atlanta, you are right. It would be like comparing a $5 apple to a 20 cent orange. On some days, I like apples more, but for the difference an orange is just fine anytime especially if I don't have to peel it.
Don't take my word for it. TDVers have shown up here in droves. A handful can't get over the fact there is no Best Buy and hustle home to work on their next heart attacks. Others leave promising to return as soon as they can work their way out of debt in Manhattan or Atlanta or Houston. Good luck. Many have simply returned home, sold everything and now live in San Miguel de Allende, one of the most beautiful places in the world, where the weather is almost always perfect, the people are friendly, and you can drink with Arnie and take a cab home all for less than ten bucks.
Jim Karger is TDV’s San Miguel de Allende group (access for TDV subscribers only) concierge and hosts the TDV San Miguel de Allende website. He is a lawyer and Dollar Vigilante legal correspondent, and frequent contributor to The Dollar Vigilante, who has represented American businesses against incursions by government and labor unions for 30 years. In 2001, he left Dallas and moved to San Miguel de Allende in the high desert of central Mexico where he sought and found a freer and simpler life for him and his wife, Kelly, and their 10 dogs. He is TDV's San Miguel de Allende concierge and his website is found at www.crediblyconnect.com.
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Life in San Miguel is so clearly so much better than anywhere in the increasingly fascist USSA that Jim Karger has been wondering for months why I haven't transplanted myself yet. I swear I can almost hear his head shaking in befuddled disappointment as I read his emails on the matter. What could make secret spying programs and increasingly likely black-bagging seem more appealing than historic splendor and affordable living? And there is the giddy feeling of freedom that comes from not actually being within USSA borders…
If you'd like to start figuring out where else in the world you ought to be, then TDV Groups (of which Jim is a Concierge) is just the thing for you. Access to TDV Groups is a benefit exclusive to TDV Newsletter subscribers. But you can find out more about becoming a subscriber here.
Regards,
Gary Gibson
Editor, The Dollar Vigilante
