Courtney L.

My birthday trip was probably one of the favorites of ALL TIME because I went to a few cities in Mexico. I started off in Mexico City for a layover for about 8 hours and was able to get a driver to take me around the city for a bit. I really loved the architecture, city, museums, and more that I was able to see. The driver who took me around was very nice and we only understood about 15-20% of each other without Google Translate but it was a great experience. In fact, he was also my personal photographer for a lot of places that we stopped!

The next stop on the birthday trip was to Mérida which is considered to be the safest city in Mexico! This was the main reason for the birthday trip. I have a goal of moving out of the country within the next year or two and I wanted to get the experience of Mexico to see if that’s the country I really want to be in. Merida is amazing and very beautiful. I stayed at the Villa Mercedes Merida, Curio Collection by Hilton! I am a Hilton Member and was able to get the hotel for $333.53 for 4 days and 3 nights. The hotel was beautiful and the staff was amazing! The area was walking distance to a lot from the downtown area to the Walmart a couple blocks away. On my exact birthday, I treated myself to room service breakfast where the staff ordered me a cake that said “happy birthday”. I also took an evening cooking class that I found on Airbnb experiences. The menu consisted of cheese empanadas, Red Chicken, vegetable soup, homemade guacamole, and flan and they did a little something special for me It was a wonderful experience and made my time in Mérida great!

Tulum was the next stop, so in order to get there I decided to take the bus and get there like the locals do The bus ride was smooth sailing and took 4 hours to get there Tulum is more southeast from Mérida I honestly didn’t do much there other than relax It really felt like I was in the jungles of Mexico! A lot of green and trees and everything seemed like an oasis! The hotel was Coco Hacienda Tulum where I stayed there for two nights for $166 01 This was probably the most relaxing part of the trip as Coco Hacienda was amazing from the room to the pool and I got a free upgrade! I had an amazing time there!

The last stop on the trip was to Playa De Carmen where I took another bus from Tulum there and then a taxi My taxi driver was very nice and told me about his hometown that I would love to visit called Tuxpan that’s east of Mexico City We stayed at the Ocean Maya Royale for 4 nights at $512 60 Honestly, I would never stay there again The only good thing was the pool The food was horrible and the staff was just okay The resort, while all inclusive, wasn't as inclusive as I would have liked especially when it came to the food My friends joined me on this leg of the trip We did get to go on a Mayan tour and see the chichen itza and cenote that we swam in and ride on Jet skis Overall, this part was not my favorite experience of the trip, however my entire birthday trip was wonderful

This birthday trip ignited more of a wanderlust than ever with the desire to do multiple cities in one swoop

I have some plans of traveling starting in July with the determination of doing Mexico, South America and Europe! The goal is to go to at least 3 cities in each country and stay altogether for about 4-5 weeks Those places may change a little bit as well as the countries as more planning and tickets are brought