Its getting close to our trip! Lets revisit the required legal documentation you will need!
Passport (I use my passport card)
Vehicle Registration -- NOTE, your title is NOT required. You need the normal printed receipt for your current registration
Driver's Licence
Mexican Vehicle Insurance
FMM (personal tourist visa)
TVIP (visa for your vehicle)
Just a friendly reminder: you really want Mexican Insurance when in Mexico. It's not just the law, it can seriously save your butt. I personally use
https://www.bajabound.com/ and maintain a annual "ACE Seguros PLATINUM" policy. It costs me $430/ year, and I go into Mexico quite regularly. This is full coverage for my 2015 KTM 690 Enduro with a declared value of $10k, and includes stuff like emergency medical evacuation, $1000 of towing, legal fee/representation protection, etc, etc. Highly recommended.
ALSO!!
You can apply for your FMM Tourist Card and TVIP vehicle permits online. Here is some information on how to do it, if you want to save a little time with your boarder paperwork.
We cross the boarder at "
Puente Internacional Anzaldúas," our destination is the "Hotel Magdalena in Galeana, NL" -- bits of information you'll need to know whether filling out the FMM in person or online. I have never personally applied online; I always just go to the physical office in Mexico and have had only minor inconveniences, none of which were insurmountable.
Here is a great walk through for how to get the FMM document online:
https://www.bajabound.com/before/permits/visa.php -- link provided by Baja Bound insurance.
Here is the official Mexican Government site where you apply for the FMM permit:
https://www.inm.gob.mx/fmme/publico/en/solicitud.html
Here is a great walk through for how to get the TVIP document online:
https://www.mexpro.com/mexico/vehicle-import-permit.html
Here is the official Mexican Government site where you apply for the TVIP permit:
https://www.banjercito.com.mx/registroVehiculos/
One reason to consider getting your permits online is because the officials at the boarder are not always 100% honest, and many of us have been "forced" to buy a 6 month visa for $500pesos, when you can get a FREE 7 day tourist visa when entering by land, as we are on our trip.
"I'm sorry sir, we do not offer the free permits at this office...."
For whatever its worth, I buy the 6 month/ 180 day visa. and reuse it throughout the year. This once was frowned upon or illegal, but the INM delegate for Baja California (Norte) announced in September 2015 that the FMM is now valid for multiple entry
for land travel in Baja California only. We are not going to Baja, but I choose to do this anyway.
...
While on the subject, I personally have found that I get the best Dollars-to-Peso exchange rate when using local ATM's, provided I buy $3,000 to $5,000 pesos at a time. With my bank (a normal Wells Fargo checking account) the functional exchange rate is about $17 pesos to $1 USD after fees, etc. I would expect to spend less that $5000 on this trip; probably less than $3,000 pesos. $5,000 pesos is a bit less than $300 (after exchange fees, etc). Gasoline probably is going to cost aprox $3.70/ gallon most of the time. Aside from our hotel and food (and beer) there's not much to spend your money on in Galeana.
Remember to contact your bank and your phone service before crossing the boarder so you don't get any hick-ups to these important services! I use AT&T for my mobile phone and they offer free unlimited calls and text from Mexico to the US, plus I consume data normally there (no roaming fees), albeit with slightly slower speeds. Expect to not have cell phone coverage about half the time, but it's generally there in some form of weak signal in most small towns.
One final thought, Sid Shaddack and I are leading the 2nd group leaving McAllen. Our driving style in Mexico is: drive about 70mph most of the time, lane split in towns and at stop lights, pass aggressively on highways, absolutely NEVER LEAVE ANYONE BEHIND. I'll have my SENA headset and small HAM radio linked, and we'll have a rider meeting before taking off, coordinating our coms for anyone that (optionally) wishes to do so. We tend to go quick and maybe a bit more on the aggressive side, but we also stay together. This of course is adjusted according to the conditions and the needs of our group, but just a heads up that even though our group is leaving a bit later than the first group, we will not be the slow one. So in other words, we'll be getting a relaxed breakfast and coffee before taking off, then hauling ***.
I'm looking forward to seeing y'all there!