Road Trippin’

Wide awake in Mexico, Part 2

As promised, here is my follow-up article about driving cross-country in Mexico. If you missed the first article, you can find it here. Otherwise, let’s just hit the ground running (or road rolling, my analogies are suffering).

In the previous article, I advised against traveling with a lot of cash. I generally carry as much cash as I think I’ll need for gas (I don’t like using credit cards at random gas stations), food, and maybe around 10% of the total amount I’ll need for tolls. The expected toll cost you can get by mapping out your route on Google Maps (more on Google Maps later), which will give you a pretty good estimation of the total toll cost.

Why do you only need to have cash on hand for 10% of the total toll cost? Am I going to advise you to drive through the toll booths without paying? No, I don’t think the consequences of doing that would be pleasant. Instead, what I am advising you to do is to get an electronic toll pass and install it on the windshield of your car. A toll pass has multiple benefits:

1. It can be easily recharged by using an app and adding funds using your credit card.

2. It can even be configured to automatically recharge itself when it’s funds fall below a certain threshold.

3. It allows you to use - when available - the much faster telepeaje lane at the toll booths.

4. Most importantly, it allows you to treat the tolls as a predominantly cashless experience.

There are several companies that offer toll passes, and they all work pretty much the same. I like EasyTrip because the toll pass itself can be purchased at most Oxxo convenience stores, and the mobile app is pretty straightforward and usable. Here is a photo of an EasyTrip toll pass attached to the inside of the windshield of my car (it attaches via a simple suction cup):

And here is a photo of the exclusivo telepeaje (exclusive electronic toll) lane at a toll booth:

You don’t even have to use the exclusivo telepeaje lane: most toll booths will accept your electronic toll pass at any lane. However, there are some toll booths that don’t accept an electronic pass at all - this is why I carry enough to cover about 10% of the total toll cost; you will have to pay cash at these kinds of toll booths (also, the electronic system might be inoperative at any toll booth at random times). But all-in-all, electronic toll passes make cross country travel just that much easier and worry-free.

Getting directions

Before starting any long trip in Mexico, use the Google Maps app to download the data for whichever parts of Mexico you’ll be traveling through. A lot of Mexico’s interstate highway system has good cellular coverage, but not all of it does. And you don’t want to get stuck somewhere suddenly needing directions and realizing there is no cell service available to acquire those directions.

Once you have the routing directions on Google Maps, it does a pretty good job giving you accurate turn-by-turn directions. Pretty good, but not great. Google’s routing data is not always up-to-date with the various road construction and on/off-ramp changes that are constantly happening on Mexico’s highways. So use Google as a general guide, but also read the road signs. When you find Google and the road signs to be in conflict, rely on the road signs instead - they are generally more accurate.

I keep talking about Google Maps as if this is the only option. There are other map data providers, the next largest being Apple. I am not a Google shill, I don’t like Google products and I don’t even much like Google as a company. But when it comes to mapping data in Mexico, Google is really the only game in town. Apple’s mapping data is laughably inaccurate in Mexico - never rely on it for anything other than getting across the street. There may be a city or neighborhood here and there where Apple’s data is accurate, but for general purposes, stay away from it unless you’re ok with the idea of never reaching your destination.

The border

I crossed the Mexico/U.S. border at Nogales Sonora/Arizona. Entering the U.S. was easy - the hardest part was the hour wait (afternoon on a Sunday). The usual assortment of vendors walking up and down the line of cars was there, but there wasn’t as much Mexican military presence as I was expecting - but maybe they’re just not out in the open. The U.S. CBP agent looked at my passport and only asked me a few questions: where was I going, how long I intended to have my car in the U.S. (I was driving a vehicle with Mexican plates), did I have any meat or vegetables. I answered to his satisfaction and on my way I went.

Upon entering the U.S., the most boring part of the trip ensued. U.S. highways are designed to keep traffic flowing: very well maintained, efficient, nothing to see here. Of course I was in the desert heading to California’s central coast, so nothing to see is kind of inherent in the landscape. Also in the big Arizona cities of Phoenix and Tucson - kind of ugly when viewed from the freeway, but sort of everything in the U.S. is kind of ugly when viewed from interstates. There are exceptions, but sorry Phoenix and Tucson - you’re not them. Southern California was the hundreds-of-miles-long traffic jam that it always is - which adds annoying to the whole boring thing. One really needs to get off of the interstates (and all Los Angeles freeways) to find anything interesting on the road north of the border.

After some brief business in California, I was on my way back - but this time with a four-legged travel companion. Caring for a dog when driving cross country makes the trip all the better, in my opinion. In any event, we’re still on the topic of borders. Upon returning to Mexico, I did the exact same trip in opposite. The crossing into Mexico was a nothing burger: no one even looked at me (again, I have a Mexican-plated vehicle). There was no line, I just drove through without ever coming to a full stop. Making my way through Nogales, Sonora to the 15D autopista was a bit more circuitous than I was expecting, but again, not a big deal. I was on my way quickly.

Northbound/Southbound differences

Really the only difference I experienced (the presence of the dog notwithstanding) was that the FGR (Fiscalia General de la Repubica) agents were more interested in delving into my plans than they were when I was driving north. For the most part, they just wanted to know where I was going, but one group made me pull over and exit my car so they could pat me down and look into my vehicle. I was concerned that they might want to pull everything out of my car (I wasn’t carrying a lot) and search it. But either the furiously barking dog, me making pleasantries in Spanish, or my innocent demeanor spared me that fate: after patting me down they let me go on my way.

The other difference was that I was less concerned going south about knowing ahead of time where I would spend the night - so I ended up driving longer days and getting to my final destination sooner. I did not drive in Mexico after dark - and I would highly recommend to others that they do the same. It isn’t just that bandits are more likely to be working at night, but seeing road hazards (including cattle!) at night is much more difficult. I drive within a city after dark, or even between proximal cities/towns - but cross country, I’m not doing it.

So I’m back in Mexico where I belong. All is well, the dog’s asleep. One final note, though - this is not intended to be a how-to. Most “foreign” people’s experiences will be different from mine, because they’ll be exiting/entering Mexico as non-Mexican citizens in cars that don’t have Mexican plates. Most people will have to deal with the whole temporary import permit thing for their vehicles, getting their passport’s stamped, and things like that. As a dual citizen, I get to miss all that fun. But other than those administrative things, the trip is largely the same for everyone. Largely. Your milage may vary (sorry, I couldn’t help myself).