This year, we’re jumping on the holiday letter bandwagon – you know, that tradition of sending out an exciting missive recounting that ingrown toenail adventure, and the four-hour consumer research panel we called to decide between off-white or off-off-white paint.

We spent our first three months of 2024 in Guadalajara, Mexico. We seem to have reached that age where our bodies are like an old car. They still get us from A to B, but seem to spend more time in the repair shop. And just like that ‘86 Chevette you had in college, the warranty expired long ago. Guadalajara happens to be our preferred ‘human repair shop’, with a well-qualified list of medical professionals.

Another upside of that city is the RV park Chimulco, featuring an Olympic-size pool fed by mineral hot springs. Guadalajara sits at 1500 meters (5000 feet) above sea level in the Sierra Madre mountain chain, where winter mornings hover around 15-20C (60-70F). It’s lovely walking briskly to the hot pool and jumping in for a luxurious morning swim in almost hot water. Getting out, however, is when you realize you’ve made a terrible life choice. Nothing quite says ‘I regret everything’ like leaving a warm mineral pool in 60-degree weather!

In January, our premium German van developed a serious case of diva. Despite its working-class duties as a van, it suddenly decided that climbing hills was beneath its dignified Mercedes heritage. One minute it would power up mountains like the von Trapps crossing the Alps, the next it would just sit there at the bottom of the hill, a glass of vintage diesel in hand, and say “Daahling, whehr’z my stunt double?” The diagnosis? A small leak in the turbo circuit - a minor flaw that turned our dependable hauler into a non-functional prima donna.

Now, Ivan is an electronics engineer, which means he’s great at figuring out things you can’t see - like he seems to know why the electrons in the computer are going in the wrong direction. But a mechanical air pressure circuit? His approach was pure trial and error: keep replacing parts until it works. This time, he got it fixed and still had three new parts leftover. And just like that Wizard in Oz, he said “Pay no attention to those parts behind the curtain!”

We took off on March 26 and reached Niagara Falls on April 1st - which turned out to be really appropriate timing: On April Fool’s day, we had to convince the Social Security Administration that Deena actually exists. Apparently, “pictures! or it didn’t happen” is now official US government policy. Once we proved that Ivan wasn’t hallucinating her for the last fifteen years, we crossed into Canada on April 2nd.

Starting with a completely empty house, we painted, furnished, took pictures, and welcomed our very first Bed & Breakfast guest on May 24. It’s been continuously busy since then – though Deena has still had time to rewrite her book for the 867th draft. And we managed to snag a few pictures of our current city, Toronto, between playing hosts and trying to remember where we stored all those spare van parts.

Toronto in Pictures