Is low budget tornado chasing possible?

[Robert Edmonds]

I'm actually more concerned for his safety while "backpacking in Mexico"! I'd rather face an EF-5 with a broken leg, to be honest. You may want to check out the latest travel advisories for Mexico before going there. Especially the areas you are going to. It is a free for all war zone of drug violence that is only slightly safer than backpacking thru Iraq or Afganistan right now.

If you can, overlay a map of Europe onto the United States, and that will give you a good idea of the distances involved. The "states" in the plains are REALLY big.

Best of luck to you, and I do hope you have a great time in the US.

Agreed! Just to reinforce how bad it's gotten:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/12/15/mexico.juarez.homicides/
Really sad, I live only an hour away in southern New Mexico, but I haven't been south of the border for the few years I've lived here. I have family in the area, so I remember when I would visit years ago, sometimes we would go to Juarez for the day. Now, unless you have family across the border, I don't see why you would risk it. Other parts of Mexico are fine, but I'd fly over northern mexico.


With regards to chasing cheap: When I'm trying to save money while chasing on my own, I will sleep out of my X-terra. However, after a few days a hotel room does look really good. Note, truck stop showers usually run ~$8, so for only $20 more you can probably find a crummy room.

With regards to chasing via bus or rail... it's not likely. Also, bus tickets aren't cheap either, I believe a ticket on gray hound is more than the gas it would take to get from Amarillo to OKC.

 

[AndreasWinsnes]

Thanks! It really warms my heart to receive such friendly and helpful advice. Appreciate your invitations, Bryan and Marcus. It confirms my view of American hospitality. I will go first to Amarillo and then up to CS and Denver, if it is correct that the southern plains are best for chasing early May-June and the northern parts a bit later in June.

Regarding Mexico, I read this article here since I thought about crossing the border near Corpus Christi:

http://www.caller.com/news/2010/nov/29/people-rethink-trip-to-mexico/

The article says that:

"On a recent trip, seven travelers returning from Nuevo Progreso aboard a Big Time Travel bus were all smiles, saying they never felt unsafe and hardly noticed a military presence in the town. For traveler Theresa Kirchner, the biggest threat came from food vendors trying to sell their wares after she just had a wisdom tooth pulled by a Mexican dentist for $20.2"

But I'm willing to take a plane if necessary. Taking buses in Ecuador and Colombia is perhaps equally dangerous, because they drive like crazy down there, (and parts of Nepal is not much better btw). But I'm safety-minded, in order to survive another day for a new adventure, so I'll adapt whenever it is demanded.

I'll continue the thread in the 2011 Chase Partner section. Again, thanks a lot!