This is absolutely the place to visit if you love the outdoors and being active. You only THINK the grass near the pyramids is going to be flat. WRONG. Between the uphill hiking of the Uxmal pyramids and swimming in a cenote (Kankirixché Cenote, specifically), this was a super action-packed way to spend the day. I booked Merida as my first solo international vacation–it was my first time leaving the country for something that was not a family vacation. I was nervous about flying internationally solo, but I speak Spanish, so it wasn’t hard at all to navigate the airport or get from the airport to the hotel.Some other great pictures from the trip. The bottom right is the hotel pool. Swimming in it was heavenly, especially at night below the stars. I was even lucky enough to be in Merida for a full moon. Nonalcoholic beverage options are great–I had a lot of agua frescas and virgin piña coladas.
Merida, Mexico. January 2026.
GO SWIM IN A CENOTE. It was one of the most spiritually rewarding experiences of my life. Cenotes are natural sinkholes filled with water. You have to climb hundreds of feet down steep stairs, so it’s a little harrowing, but the views are incredible. There’s something incredibly special about being in a body of water so old it witnessed the dinosaurs. Yes, the cenotes are older than humanity itself. And there are over 6,000 of them across the Yucatán Peninsula (the southern state of Mexico, bordering Guatemala). In the past, Maya people considered these bodies of water entrances to the underworld, Xibalba. They offered gold and jade to the gods here. In the present, Maya people make a living off of these cenotes through tourism, selling snacks and beverages, and offering transportation to and from your hotel to the cenotes.
Downtown Merida.
Omg. Nothing hits like a long walk through a beautiful city with your headphones in. I love Latin America so much because the architecture is generally way more creative and beautiful to me than the architecture in the U.S., which feels very bland and cookie-cutter. The first 3 pics are merely roads within the city, but the last is the Museum of Anthropology. There was so much art that brought me to tears. It’s really an amazing place you must visit. Am I including myself by the hotel pool on the sights page? Yes. But I’m part Mexican and in Mexico, so I AM part of the sights. I think more women need to be obsessed with themselves and love taking pictures of themselves. I’ll advocate for this until the heat death of the universe. Not even until I’m dead, but until the universe itself is dead. I’ll come back from the grave and spit in the beauty industry’s face for making so many women feel they aren’t good enough.
Akumal, Mexico. April 2024.
This was a family trip for my aunt’s wedding. We all stayed at Secrets of Akumal. Amazing 5-star resort, but a very different experience from my solo trip to Merida. This was cushy living. Mimosas ordered to your room. A lazy river outside your room that connects to the pool. My only regret is that my budget limited me to 3 nights here instead of 13.
More Akumal, so you see how gorgeous it was.
Akumal was absolutely stunning. A tropical paradise. I drank an unholy amount of piña coladas. Swam in the ocean for hours and felt the presence of Heaven in the sunlight shining on my face. Had a crazy, psychedelic dream on night two that I was a fish who was also God, and I lived in the primordial period before even dinosaurs existed, watching the entire evolution of Akumal unfold over millions of years. Woke up, went “that was totally weird,” had a fatass black bean burger with sweet potato fries delivered to me on the beach while on piña colada 4, and genuinely had an amazing vacation.
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