Travel Diary: Mexico

Post-vacation blues: a mood or feeling that one experiences after returning home from a fabulous adventure aka my current state of mind. The struggle is real my friends, the struggle is real. 

Pretty sure the only way to deal with it is to re-live by sharing a travel diary with you! If you're planning a trip to Mexico, here are a few must-sees and to-dos in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas:

{puerto vallarta}

Our first stop on the 7-day Mexico cruise was Puerto Vallarta, the second largest city in the state of Jalisco. We stepped off the boat to gorgeous palm trees and colorful parrots then met our guides from Vallarta Adventures for a day of snorkeling and water activities at Marietas Islands. If you have limited time to spend in Puerta Vallarta, a guided adventures is definitely the best way to experience all the city has to offer.

Our guides, who were hilariously entertaining btw, took us on a 5 hour discovery tour which included whale watching, swimming to a hidden beach, snorkeling, kayaking, and you guessed it: an open bar of cervezas and pina coladas ... #winning. Don't worry, the drinking happens on the return trip back from the Marietas Islands, so there was no drinking and swimming.

We had plenty of open-activity time to mess around (as clearly noted by the above pic) and lay out on the boat deck. Of course, I'm all about "operation tan" when I go on tropical trips like this! Next stop...

{mazatlan}

Mazatlan is currently recovering from some bad drug violence and until recently had been a no travel zone for many people.  To ensure we didn't get into any trouble, we decided to head over to a beach resort called Hotel Playa and relax with the locals and other tourists. The resort is definitely older and not what I would necessarily call a resort by US standards, but the beach front property is fab. Beach days in Mexico are the best time to try things like parasailing, jet-skiing, or banana boat rides. As long as you feel comfortable haggling a bit with the guys on the sand, you can set yourself up with a pretty good 30 minute excursion at a reasonable price.

The boy and I ended up jet-skiing (his first time!) and it was a blast. This was on NYE so we went back to the ship early to get ready for all the fun NYE activities. The best decision we ever made was booking at 6am Zip-Lining excursion on New Year's Day...

{cabo san lucas}

No really, it was! At first we went back and forth about canceling the tour because who really wants to get up at 6am on New Year's Day? On top of that, hungover zip-lining sounds like a bad situation (let's not go there). Needless to say it was a spectacular decision to go and the experience at Cabo Adventures Zip-Lining was incredible! We woke up with the sun on the first day of 2015 (so cool!) and took an hour bus ride into the mountains then did 4 hours of zip-lines, rock climbing, and repelling. Talk about adventure central. The best part is that the guides dealt with all the gear, so we didn't have much to worry about (insert sarcastic tone) except hanging upside down and such ...

{l space bikini b & w top & bottom // l space bikini coral top & bottom // loeffler randall flats}

That's my "I'm not scared" face, I swear! In all honestly I've never felt more safe in my life. It was such a great experience and at one point I said "I don't care how much they're selling the picture packages for, I'll buy 50 sets!" ... yeah, the picture packages were expensive (as they normally are) but the snaps are priceless. Ya hear that Mastercard? I just wrote you next commercial. #thankmelater

Tweet me if you have any Qs about these cities. I've done this cruise itinerary a few times and handful of different excursions at each spot! 

{pursuing Mexico must-haves}