Min e havee lotsof tpyos adn i don;t knwo hwo two editt tehm

How the heck you you edit journal entries? My first entry was totally mishmashed by the software. I like empty space between paragraphs. Anyone who read the first enrty and came back for more, I love you. You deserve a medal. I promise to better.

I put an extra carriage return between lines. We'll see if that helps.

Carriage return? What the heck is a carriage? Do you mean line feed? How old are you, anyway?

This is AARP, dude. Ain't none of us spring chickens.

What has happened so far:

In our last episode, I met a group of six people on the internet (Thorn Tree) who were heading to Guatemala for six months. I signed on and soon, taking one consideration with another, three dropped out. The three remaining, Alex and Lora and I, have modified plans so much that little remains of the original. We are basically three separate travelers who will coincide our trips for periods of time.

Lora has purchased a one-way ticket to San Jose, Costa Rica for January 6 and will work her way north and plan to be in the Lago de Atitlan area of Guatemala around the middle part of February.

I purchased a one-way ticket to Cancun. Not that I have any desire to see Cancun, but it was far and away the cheapest entry point ($136.55 from Boston). I plan on working my way down Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, crossing into Guatemala, and meeting Lora.

Alex bought a round-trip ticket into and out of Cancun, both because it is cheapest and to tour the Yucatan with me. Sharing lodging is the best way to lower trip costs.

The three of us prefer budget travel, and by budget we mean cheap. We all are of the opinion that large hotels and tour groups that cater to tourists keep at bay the real country you are visiting. We prefer to experience the culture from their point of view as much as possible.

Also, we like to spend a lot of time traveling and have little money. But that is secondary. I think.

Anyway, last night I reserved a room in a hostel in downtown Cancun for our arrival night. It is the Hostel Meson de Tulum. Dorm beds were eight bucks, but for twelve fifty we got a private room with twin beds and private bath. It's only two blocks to the bus station, from which we will depart the following morning (Feb 5).

I'm not fond of tourist-y, drink-y till you'r drunk-y places like Cancun, but having lodging will be handy if either of our flights are delayed. I picked a hostel with 24-hour reception so neither of us will be forced to spend the night in the airport in the event of a late arrival.

I think next I will look into reserving a room in Chichen Itza. After that we can probably do fine just showing up and finding something. Serendipity is a wonderful trip-planning aid.