What to do? Where to go?

I am thinking about our next trip south. We are not high maintenance people and do not expect to live fancier than we do at home which believe me is not fancy. So what next?

My goodness but life is full of choices. Return to Merida which we so enjoyed or strike out somewhere entirely new? If so then Ecuador or Panama? Panama or South Western Mexico? Coastal or inland? Rural or urban? B&B or hostel? Or do we just arrive and wing it? Even though we are far from worldly and experienced travelers, the latter is likely my preference.... I guess since nothing bad has happened to us thus far we remain open to adventure.

So where do we go? How do we decide? My criteria is pretty simple:

1. Wherever we go has to be warm by my standards and without constant rain
2. Affordable which includes the traveling cost to get to and from plus around as well as a low daily cost of living while there
3. We must have access to a strong internet connection so we can Skype home

Word of mouth from people who are there or who have been there is always best when facing the unknown. Otherwise one is limited to searches on the internet? There are many, many sites like Yucatan Vacation Rentals or Vacations By Owners to name a couple. Can they be trusted? Be aware and be careful is the best advice.

That said I did book through Yucatan Vacation Rentals last winter when we stayed in Chelem, Mexico, a small fishing village on the coast of the Yucatan. I took a chance and rented a lovely beach front vacation home called the Sapphire Villa from a very nice couple from the UK. My husband was pretty leery of me wiring money to anyone we didn't know but I felt after many conversations via email that they were legit so off went the money. And they were legit and we had their place for a month. It really was lovely and we met some interesting folks while there. We used the beach house as a base and travelled far inland to San Cristobal de Las Casa. We went via bus and that was fun in spite of the necessity of me turning around and putting my knees on the floor and my head on the seat a good deal of the way in an attempt to alleviate low back pain. But we made it and I am glad we went.

Our stays at youth hostels on both our trip inland to San Cristobal and in Merida plus our time at the beach house in Chelem created a great experience overall. We met some great people and gained some confidence while traveling in a country where Spanish is spoken. I learned about being more discerning when researching climates. I thought I had checked things out carefully but the temperature averages I had found were more for Merida than Chelem. Yes, there was a big difference between a beach with a breeze off the ocean and the midst of a Colonial city. Now some people may not have been cold but I need heat and sometimes there wasn't any. I have to clarify for me below 72 degrees F is cold so you need to put into perspective. Temperatures are subjective often even via word of mouth.

The search goes on....