Bye bye cold Philadelphia snow, HELLO MEXICAN SUN.

Before I went to Mexico, I never really understood why people loved it so much. I mean, there are beaches & palm trees everywhere right? Wrong. After my third time there, I am now totally sold & feel truly connected to Mexico. Not only are the beaches gorgeous, but the food is amazing & fresh, the culture is so vibrant, and the people are warm and welcoming.Since I just got back, I thought I would share a sort of Cancun Travel Guide for you guys and show you why it needs to be on your list of destinations. I hope that this can help anyone out who is looking for an affordable vacation, and give you some ideas of what you can expect to see while you’re there. Vamanos a la playa!

How to book your trip:

Wanting to go somewhere sooner than later, we booked the trip using one of Expedia’s “Last Minute Deals” available on their site. I would definitely recommend checking out these trips if you have a flexible work schedule because the prices were amazing. Also, while I haven’t tried it myself, I have heard great reviews about Groupons “getaways” as well.

A PSA ABOUT BOOKING ON EXPEDIA: While we were able to get a great price booking on Expedia and not going through a travel agent, we had to do a lot of the work ourselves. Keep in mind that when you cut out the travel agent, you have to check with the hotel, airline, shuttle, all that jazz to make sure everything is all good. I called each about a week ahead of time to secure our reservations.

Where to stay:

Since I had been to Mexico 2 years ago with my girlfriends, I knew that I would be happy going to Cancun again. When we first started our vacay search, we opened up Expedia and looked around at multiple resorts. In the end, we ended up settling on Dreams Riviera Cancun (which you can check out here) for a few reasons: 1) they had overwhelmingly good reviews on Tripadvisor, 2) the price was right, and 3) it was totally gorgeous.

Honestly, though, I can say with confidence from staying in 2 other resorts in the past that they’re all gorgeous! I really believe that you can’t make a bad decision with an all-inclusive in Mexico.

What To Eat: 

Initially, I was kind of nervous about the eating portion of the trip due to Zac and I both being vegan. While in the US I feel like plant-based diets are becoming widely recognized, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the same in Mexico. Also, I’m really lactose intolerant and can’t handle dairy at all so I truthfully just didn’t want to feel sick from what I was eating.

Honestly, we just really didn’t want to be a pain and make anyone have to work harder or specifically cater to us. However, much to our surprise, eating out was the easiest thing EVER. I can not say enough good things about how helpful and organized the Dreams restaurant staff was at each and every one of their 9 restaurants. When you arrive at a restaurant, they ask if you had any allergies or preferences, and then, they would relay that to your server so that they were in the loop. Most of the time the chefs ended up making us things that weren’t even on the menu, but DAMN were they good!! I absolutely loved everything we ate and never felt like I was a hassle. Would definitely recommend for vegan, gluten-free, and anyone else with allergies.

Out of all of the restaurants, my favorite was the Mexican restaurant. Call me cheesy for loving the Mexican restaurant in Mexico, but it just felt so authentic & fun! They had a mariachi band who would come over and play you songs, a waiter who poured tequila in your mouth (even if you didn’t want it lolol), and a man who came around to hand out sombreros. Looooove it.

Mexico musts: things you need to do

1. Hang out on the beach
2. Take advantage of your hotel
   • If you go to an all-inclusive, make sure you check out the shows they offer, the nightlife, etc. 
3. Zipline in the jungle
4. Drive an ATV through the jungle
5. Zipline & swim in a cenote
   • The 3 things above were included in 1 package & we booked this excursion package through a company called “Selvatica”. 
6. Take tons of pictures!! (as you can tell)
   • As someone who loves to relive memories, I love having my camera with me when I go on a trip.

What to wear: 

Since it’s currently still winter in Philly, I was so excited to get out of my cold weather clothes and into some fun bathing suits and dresses. I will link everything from the photos so that you guys can get your hands on some of my fave pieces for the upcoming season. I grabbed most of the bathing suits I brought with me from ASOS. I really love ordering swimwear from ASOS since they are really affordable, and offer free shipping & free returns. That way, you can order a bunch of stuff at once and send back what you don’t like easily. Helloooo convenience! I also got a few other suits from Pacsun, Pink, and Hollister.

As for clothing, I brought a lot of dresses for dinner at night, a few pairs of shorts for the beach, and some coverups. Honestly, since the weather is warm, you can really get away with only bringing a few things & mix and matching each night!

One of my biggest suggestions for vacay swimwear is to bring a few different types of suits. I made sure I brought bikinis for the long days in the sun, one pieces for the excursions, and high rise suits for other days. I made the mistake of only bringing bikini’s on my last trip and let’s just say I almost lost them multiple times cliff jumping haha.

Simply click the photo of the item you want to shop, and a new tab will open!

Wrap dress: here Sunglasses: here Earrings: here

One piece bathing suit: here (GET THIS – SO COMFORTABLE) Hat: here (only $14) Sunnies: here

Swim top: here Swim bottom: here (in black) Sunglasses: here

Shorts: here Top: (similar) here Sunnies: here

Swim top: here Swim bottom: here Sunnies (sold out but VERY similar): here

Overall, I loved Cancun and would definitely suggest it as a travel destination if you’re looking for an affordable, gorgeous, relaxing vacation. BRB, planning my trip back as we speak.