As I write this, my daughter has just returned from New York and Broadway plays, and my son is in Las Vegas. And I am here in Guadalajara planning my holiday travels.

I am spending Christmas with a friend in Tototlan, a small pueblo about an hour away from here. It’s a quaint little place, and I’m looking forward to returning there again. It will be interesting spending Christmas in a small Mexican town and will be a different experience from the other tourist areas or large cities where I have celebrated Christmas in the past few years.

The first stop will be for grocery shopping in Ocotlan, another pueblo, as we are planning on having a traditional Christmas dinner rather than the pisole and ponche that are common here in Mexico.

My current housemates and I are planning on spending New Years together on the beach somewhere. Yes, somewhere, because we haven’t decided exactly where yet. We know we don’t want to encounter the frenzy of snowbirds that flock to Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlan.

Possibilities include Sayulita, Bucerias, Guyabitos or maybe even Manzanillo. The inevitable snowbirds will be there, but hopefully fewer in number.

One of my housemates lives near the beach in Australia, and my other housemate is from The Netherlands. We are all looking forward to leaving the hustle and bustle of Guadalajara behind for a few days.

Living here in Mexico, the possibilities for travel are endless. This is a magnificent country, and every area boasts its own treasures.

The highlight of my time up north was a train ride up in the mountains to Chihuahua.

The pyramids outside of Mexico City were amazing.

My favorite beach so far is still Mazatlan, although I have yet to explore the east coast of Mexico.

And I hope that my travels will take me to the jungles of Chiapas this coming spring.

My students constantly suggest new territories worthy of exploration, and my list continues to grow.

I will be returning to Winnipeg for a launch of my second book, Alive Again, on May 5th. While it will be nice to see my family and friends again, my heart is in Mexico and the many adventures that still await me here.