Travel by bus. Sleep in cheap hotels.
Eat where the locals eat.
Mexico, Central America and the American Southwest — from someone who actually rode the buses, climbed the ruins and haggled at the markets.
Bus Travel
First-class coaches, cross-border routes, terminal guides and fare tips. ADO, Estrella Blanca, Primera Plus, Tufesa — every major Mexican bus line covered.
Oaxaca
Markets, mole, mezcal and Monte Alban. City guides, Day of the Dead, artisan villages, ecotourism and the Pacific coast beaches at Zipolite and Puerto Escondido.
Archaeological Sites
Maya, Zapotec, Olmec, Aztec and Tarascan ruins across Mexico and Guatemala. Chichen Itza, Palenque, Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Tikal and dozens more.
Pacific Coast
Beach towns from Mazatlan to Huatulco. Surf breaks, budget cabanas, turtle beaches and fishing villages. The coast that the package tourists skip.
Mexican Cities
Guadalajara, Zacatecas, Morelia, San Cristobal, Merida — colonial cities with their own food, culture and pace. Not Mexico City, not Cancun.
USA Southwest
Tucson, Moab, Yellowstone. Desert hiking, red rock canyons and the gateway cities for crossing into Mexico.
About This Site
Soft Seat Travel started as a personal notebook for bus routes and ruins across Mexico. The name comes from the padded seats on Mexican first-class buses — a real luxury after hours on a second-class camion with bench seats and chickens.
Everything here is based on actual travel. The bus routes were ridden, the ruins were climbed, the tacos were eaten. If a hotel is recommended, someone slept there. If a beach is called empty, someone walked it.
This is not a luxury travel site. It is for people who travel on buses, eat at market stalls, and think a $30 hotel room is splurging.