Mexico RV tourist....

Just curious because my impression is that the process has improved over the years.

The process we undergo to get into Mexico and to be able to travel all over Mexico is somewhat absurd when compared with getting into Canada - or for Canadians getting into the US. We were just in Canada recently. We drove up to the booth and showed them our passports and answered a couple of questions and were on our way. Getting back into the US - we drove up showed our passport - answered a few questions - gave them our eggs - and were on the way.

To go to Mexico we have to show our passport and fill out forms - then go to the other windows with all our vehicle paperwork - show them everything - fill out forms - pay for this and pay for that - not to mention we already spent a bunch of money buying vehicle insurance. We also have to use our credit card to leave the $300 deposit for the car. All of this requires standing on line waiting for the clerks who take forever to do just about anything. Of course this all depends on where we cross and where we get our paperwork done. We know of a couple of crossings where the lines are usually not very long. But in some places at certain times of day it can take close to two hours. And we still have not gone through customs if we have to do that - which we rarely do when making any of these crossings.

At the top of this forum are Mike's "stickies" with the long lists of things you have to know and do to get into Mexico. To get into Canada we don't need to know much of anything or do much of anything.

We still plan to go to Mexico as we love traveling there. We consider these hurdles Mexico puts in our way very inconvenient but we jump the hurdles because it opens up a few months of enjoyment for us - and we have done it enough times to know of few tricks to making the process a little easier - all tricks which are often explained on this forum. But why do they have to make it such a hassle?