Call me OCD,

So what, I like to be prepared and organized and know everything I possibly can about a place when it comes to my travel planning...that's my perogative, ok?!

Seriously, though, I've been dreaming of returning to Mexico - the Riviera Maya and Yucatan Peninsula in particular - for the past three years...ever since the day we were last there! It was my first time there (and Scott's second), and I honestly think I (we) fell in love...with the places, the people, the food, the ruins, and even more in love with each other. I've been calling it my trip of a lifetime...that is, of course, until the pending trip on May 16th, 2012.

Off and on for the past three years we've said to one another "let's go back", but quickly came to our senses and realised we were broke! A few months back, though, around the time we moved to Fort Chipewyan (the middle of no where, for those who don't know), we were invited to a friends wedding in Hamilton, Ontario, on June 1st, 2012. The couple, Sabrena & Bobby, asked Scott to do their wedding photos, and we jumped at the chance to visit and share in their special day.

At the same time we were still dreaming of Mexico, and knowing we'd have 24 days of holidays coming up in mid-May, we decided to combine Mexico and Ontario in one awesome travel adventure!

Fast-forward to now. After months of tracking airline fares, researching hotels, and convincing our friends, Ang & Bernard, to join us for the first week, we finally went ahead and booked.

We don't really like doing the AI (all-inclusive) thing anymore (unless, of course, for a good reason, like for my sisters wedding this past February at the Barcelo Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic), so we book our flights and hotels seperately.

WestJet has been offering the best prices all along, so after we saw the price drop $160 we decided to bite the bullet and book on www.travelocity.ca...even though it was double what we paid in 2009 (damn inflation!). Next came the hotels. This is where things got more complicated.

We need two nights in Edmonton before flying down to Cancun on May 16th (well, 1 1/2 nights...we'll be leaving around 9:30 p.m. on the second night), then a week in Playa del Carmen, two nights in Valladolid, four nights in Merida, one night in Cancun, one night in Toronto before spending two nights in Hamilton, back to Toronto for three nights, and another night in Edmonton on the way back before flying into Fort Chip on June 6th.

For Edmonton, Scott found a Groupon for $50 a night for a two-story suite at The Yellowhead Inn...this is a glorified trucker haven on the Yellowhead Trail, replete with strip club, gas station and liquor store (ok, so the website says it's been renovated). But, at $50 a night in Edmonton, one can't complain too much, I guess.

Now, our week in 'Playa' for May 16th ro May 23rd was harder for us to agree on a couple months ago. We had stayed at an amazing small boutique hotel called Luna Blue in 2009 and wanted to go back. But with our even tighter budget this time (gotta stretch it to two weeks), it was a little rich for what we were looking for. I asked the trusty 'peeps' at the www.playa.info forum, and someone suggested Club Yebo. I'd only heard of the place in passing a few times, and never gave it a second thought since I figured it was out of our budget being so close to the beach and Quinta (5th Avenue). But nope...right on budget at $41 a night with the early booking bonus. Sold. Great reviews, great location, great price.

Next, we wanted to be somewhere more central for touring some of the ruins and a stop-over on the way to Merida, so we decided on Valladolid. A great little colonial town, within easy touring distance to Chichen Itza and Ek' Balam, and about half-way between Playa and Merida. We poured over reviews on TripAdvisor, and in the end went back to the first one we found - El Meson del Marques, an old standard for Valladolid with pretty good reviews, amazing location right on the central square, and, again, right on budget at about $50 a night. From here we'll tour Ek' Balam on our own, and on our last day join MexiGO's GOWonders Tour to tour Chichen Itza, and catching the bus to Merida from Izamal.

Our accommodations in Merida was decided from the start...mostly. We had found the Luz en Yucatan through many guidebooks, websites, trip reports, etc. and said we'd love to stay there. But then when we thought our friends would be going as far as Merida with us we wanted to try a rental house instead, so our direction changed. Then our friends advised they can't join us the second week, so back to Luz we went. At $50 a night for the Poolside Casita room, perfect location and reviews. From here we've booked a private tour with touring company William Lawson. Highly recommended and willing to personalize the itinerary, it's been a pleasure so far dealing with representative, Ralf, a Canadian ex-pat living in Merida. The tour is to take in sites along the Ruta Puuc such as Uxmal and Kabbah, lunch at The Pickled Onion restaurant in Santa Elena, shopping in markets, a tour of a chocolate plantation, possible hacienda visit and swim in a cenote...all for less than what one of us would've paid for a traditional cattle-bus tour.

We decided that we should head back into Cancun the night before we fly back to Canada. This was for a couple reasons: we won't have to get up as early, we'd still be able to take the ADO bus there from Merida, and we could actually spend a little time exploring Cancun, albeit only for a few hours. We looked at hotels and condos and finally found a charming B&B on www.airbnb.com that is actually located near the Zona Hotelera...and only $42 a night! Sold.

Back in Canada, we fly directly into Toronto, arriving in late evening. We haven't booked a hotel as of yet for this night, but we're hoping to stay near the airport so we can just go and crash.

The next day, May 31st, we're due in Hamilton to check into the C Hotel by Carmen's, a new Best Western Premiere hotel, and next door to the wedding venue. We just have to pay for that night ourselves, as Sabrena & Bobby have graciously paid for the night of the wedding.

Up early on June 2nd, we're planning on heading back into Toronto so we can do some touring, possibly buying the Toronto CityPass to see the CN Tower, Toronto Zoo, Casa Loma, and the Royal Ontario Museum (you can also visit the Science Centre, but I don't really wanna, lol). Scott suggested trying www.priceline.com and 'naming our price' to see what we'd come up with. All we knew is that we wanted to be downtown, close to Rogers Centre, four-star, as cheap as possible, lol. We started with $110, but got rejected, so we went up to $118 and landed the Hyatt Regency Toronto Downtown...a steal! Normally this place costs $200 a night...we saved over $80 a night! Nice. We booked two nights at that price. Literally walking distance to Rogers Centre and CN Tower! We plan on taking in a Blue Jays baseball game on June 3rd.

For our last night in Toronto we haven't decided. Do we stay downtown, or do we go closer to the airport? Hopefully we'll have that figured out in the next little bit. And that just leave on night in Edmonton...hopefully close to the airport.

Ok, so that's the trip planning so far...exhausted yet?! lol

Time for bed...and dreams of Playa!

Leanne