Mexico.
The land of colours, relaxation, parties, spice, ancient history, beaches, chaos, and so much more.
To be fair, I could probably say that about a lot of countries on my list. But Mexico was different. Mexico was one of the first countries I ever travelled to, and more importantly, it was the first country I travelled to as an adult.
It wasn’t a solo trip. I went with two friends: Ryan and Brendan.
Brendan is one of my longest-lasting friends. I met him back in high school, so he’s been around for a lot of versions of me. Ryan, on the other hand, I had met more recently at one of my jobs. But needless to say, we hit it off.
Since I’m writing this in 2026, years after the trip happened — let’s say it was around 2021 — some of the details are a little hazy. Memory is weird like that.
Some things blur together, but other moments stay perfectly clear, like the smell of the ocean air, the feeling of the sand, the first view from the hotel window, and the very unfortunate aftermath of one legendary tequila night.
We had chosen Cancun mostly because it was the cheapest option at the time. It was during COVID, so barely anyone was travelling. Everyone was still cautious, stressed, and stir-crazy. We were basically sitting there thinking, “Let’s get a jump on things and be the first ones to get out of here and explore.”
As a kid, I had never travelled much outside of migrating to Canada with my family. So there was this part of me that had been repressed for a long time — this urge to get out there, see the world, and experience something that wasn’t just the same few cities and routines I had known for most of my life.
Plus, I wasn’t getting any younger. Dramatic, yes, because I was in my early twenties. But still. At the time, it felt like I had to start somewhere.
And apparently, that somewhere was Mexico.
The A-Team for Mexico
I remember being extra nervous about this trip because I had never travelled that far before and had no idea what to expect. Having Brendan there helped a lot, though. We had already travelled together to Banff, Alberta earlier during COVID, so there was already some travel chemistry there.
As people, we balanced each other out quite a bit back then.
By nature, I wanted to see and do everything, even if some of those things were possibly dangerous, questionable, or the kind of idea that sounds fun until someone has to call an embassy. Brendan was always the one choosing the safest possible route. For a first international trip, that was actually helpful.
Ryan was the opposite in a different way. He cared about everyone’s wellbeing and safety too, but he was also the embodiment of energy. Just pure momentum. Like if Red Bull became a person and decided to go to Cancun.
Long story short, this was the A-Team for Mexico.
Getting There
Brendan and I chose to travel together, while Ryan took a different flight path. We landed the night before, and he arrived right after.
The travel itself was about what you’d expect, but I have to say this: to this day, stepping onto a plane, sitting in that seat, and feeling the aircraft take off still feels magical to me.
Every flight feels like a luxury and a gift.
That trip was no different.
The layovers, however, were a different story.
Looking back, this was my first real experience with layovers as an adult. I now know how to enjoy them and make use of them. At the time, though? Biggest pain in the ass ever.
We had chosen Panama as the layover stop both going to and coming back from Mexico. The first time was actually pretty cool. We were looking at these spiders outside, which sounds like a weird thing to remember, but hey, the brain chooses its souvenirs.
We travelled around October and November, so it was pouring rain heavily at the time. It was also hot as hell compared to Canada. Again, amazing to experience when you’re prepared.
We were not prepared.
I used the layovers to try to get as many US food items as possible — Carl’s Jr. specifically — along with a ridiculous amount of snacks and desserts you couldn’t get back home. The rest of the time, both there and on the way back, was spent trying to find places to nap, because sleeping on planes has never been an option for me.
A Small Moment That Changed My Perspective
One quick thing I remember from the trip was meeting a man from Ecuador. I believe he was also in tech.
He mentioned something that I had honestly never thought about before that moment.
When people from Canada or the US talk about travelling somewhere else, the narrative usually sounds something like, “Oh, be careful there. I heard they have this problem,” or, “I heard that place is dangerous.”
So naturally, we had some of those ideas about Mexico too. The media and government travel websites did not exactly help with that during COVID either.
But what threw me off was that this man from Ecuador said something similar about Canada. He had heard Canada was safe, but he also mentioned pickpocketing like it was a thing to watch out for.
Now, I’m sure pickpocketing exists in Canada. Of course it does. But the way he said it made me realize something: we were all speaking from our own perspectives, our own warnings, our own fears, and our own little bubbles.
It started to open me up to the world of possibilities and mysteries beyond the version of the world that had been portrayed to me up until that point.
It was one of those small conversations that probably meant nothing to him, but for me, it stuck.
First Impressions of Cancun
Anyway, back to Mexico.
We chose Cancun because it was cheap, and also because we were three single guys in our early twenties.
In other words, we had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Or at least that was the motivational poster version of our logic.
The first thing that hit me was seeing tropical trees for the first time in over ten years. Then came the smell of the ocean breeze.
We hadn’t actually seen the ocean yet when we arrived because it was midnight, but the next morning, I still remember how amazing that view was from our hotel window.
It was right in time for Ryan to arrive too.
Once he got there, we didn’t waste any time. We went straight to the beach and tried swimming in the ocean.
And the ocean, by the way, was amazing. It stayed shallow for so long, which made it feel almost unreal. Because there weren’t many tourists at the time, we also got to meet some locals, which made the whole thing feel less like a packaged vacation and more like we were actually somewhere.
The sand was incredible. It felt like powder.
I later learned that this was because the sand there comes from centuries of ground-up seashells rather than just sediment. And you could tell. It felt miraculous under your feet.
The heat wasn’t too bad either, although I definitely got a few shades darker during that trip. Mexico said, “Welcome,” and then immediately adjusted my skin tone.
Street Food, Bars, and the Tequila Incident
During the first few days, we spent a lot of time trying different street foods: tortas, burritos, tostadas, sopas, fresh fruit, coconut — all of it.
It was awesome.
And so were the bars.
We had gotten coupons from the hotel to visit nearby nightclubs like Coco Bongo, which is probably the most well-known one, and Mandala. We actually ended up meeting a few dancers from Coco Bongo (way better than the tourism guys in black tshirts trying to sell you food, weed, and sex) and I’m still in touch with one of them to this day.
A lot of the people working there lived within Cancun itself, so tourism helped them pay their bills. That was another thing I started noticing more: travel isn’t just about the traveller. There’s a whole economy, culture, and daily life happening around you. You’re stepping into someone else’s normal.
One of the coupons we had for Mandala — which we did not understand properly at the time — made it so that the three of us only had to pay about $40 Canadian total to enter the club.
We thought that was just an entry fee.
So when we went in and chose which alcohol we wanted — tequila, of course, because apparently we wanted to suffer with authenticity — we expected to get a few shots and wander around until we got bored.
Instead, they gave us a booth.
Then four exotic dancers walked over and presented us with a giant bottle of tequila.
They even stuck around and poured shots for us.
After the first few, it started to feel weird having them serve us like that, so we invited them to drink with us and let us pour the drinks instead.
Needless to say, we got very, very, very drunk that night.
I don’t remember much about the rest of the night. What I do remember is waking up with three splitting headaches and a bathroom that had more puke and smells than any of us were prepared to handle.
The room service staff at that hotel were angels.
Actually, no. Angels and survivors.
They saw things in that bathroom that no human should have to witness.
The splitting headaches also didn’t help because we had to immediately run to a city bus for a snorkeling excursion we had already booked.
Snorkeling While Fighting for Our Lives
I could talk a lot about that snorkeling excursion, but the truth is, my main memories are salt, not enough fresh water, and a cloudy day.
Unless you were a great swimmer, there wasn’t a whole lot to see.
I still enjoyed it, though.
Even when a trip activity isn’t perfect, there’s something about being somewhere new that makes it matter anyway. You’re still in the ocean. You’re still in Mexico. You’re still doing something that a younger version of you would have dreamed about.
After the snorkeling, they took us to a beachside restaurant where they cooked us fresh fish and rice to enjoy by the water.
That was great.
And so was water, which we chugged like absolute maniacs.
At that point, water wasn’t a drink. It was medicine.
Chichen Itza: The Moment Mexico Became More Than a Beach Trip
Another extremely memorable part of the trip was our visit to Chichen Itza, one of the wonders of the ancient world.
That day was full of tequila tasting, lessons about the Mayan civilization, and one of the most incredible historical sites I had ever seen.
To this day, I have not forgotten how majestic that courtyard was around Chichen Itza.
There was something surreal about standing there. You’re surrounded by open space, ancient stone, history, heat, and this feeling that the world is so much older and deeper than your day-to-day life usually allows you to remember.
We learned that clapping toward the pyramid would echo back a sound resembling a local bird. We learned that the whole structure functioned like a giant clock. Right next door was a playing field for the ancient sport of pitz.
The whole place felt engineered, spiritual, mathematical, and mysterious all at once.
We were lucky enough to get the oldest tour guide there. He had probably been working that same job for over 50 years. You could tell how authentic and enthusiastic he was about it.
In his younger days, I’m sure he searched for some of those answers himself, or maybe he was lucky enough to have stories passed down from his parents and elders.
That visit opened my eyes to the world of ancient America.
And there was one surprising thing I learned: it’s not as “ancient” and disconnected as many people think.
A lot of people talk about the Maya as if they completely vanished. But what we learned that day was that they didn’t simply go extinct. Many assimilated throughout the ages, and a lot of the people we met still practiced traditions connected to their ancestors.
Again, not so crazy when you really think about it. But for guys who hadn’t travelled much before, I found it pretty cool.
It showed me there was a world out there that I was only just starting to understand.
In other words, I finally realized the vastness of what I didn’t know.
I always had a sense of it, but this trip allowed me to actually feel it. To start measuring just how much there was to explore.
Sinkholes, Tequila, and Coconut Wisdom
After Chichen Itza, we went to a local sinkhole, or cenote, where we jumped in and swam around.
Quick note about sinkholes: they look scary, and swimming in them with anything in your pockets or hands is even scarier. If something sinks, it has sunk. It belongs to the underworld now. You are probably not getting it back.
Afterwards, we drank a bit of tequila and mezcal in the town nearby.
We also got a coconut there, and this is important.
If you ever get a green or yellowish coconut to drink from, ask them to chop it open after you’re done so you can scoop out and eat the flesh inside.
The other tourists didn’t know this trick, so when I did it, I felt like a superhero.
Not a very powerful superhero, obviously.
What It Cost
One of the best parts about that trip was how affordable it was.
The excursions we did cost around $30 to $60 each. The hotel room was about $80 to $100 a night. The flights were around $450 round trip. Street food usually cost somewhere between $5 and $10.
All in all, I think we managed to do the whole trip for under $1,000 Canadian.
That feels almost insane now, especially looking back from 2026, when travel prices seem like they were personally designed by villains.
But at the time, it made the whole thing feel possible. It showed me that travel didn’t have to be some unreachable luxury. With the right timing, the right destination, and a little bit of chaos tolerance, you could actually get out there and see something.
Additional note: if you’re going there, grab some vanilla, some chocolate (Like real 100% chocolate), arbol and chipotle chilis, as well as some small knickknacks, you’ll find some people and even their kids selling it, it’s true artistry, it’s cute and it’s not worth negotiating (Especially if you can’t make it yourself.
Looking Back
For the most part, that was my first experience travelling as an adult outside of Canada.
And honestly, it changed something in me.
It wasn’t just a beach trip. It wasn’t just a party trip. It wasn’t just three guys in Cancun trying to escape COVID boredom and drink tequila on a rooftop hotel pool without understanding the consequences.
Although yes, it was also that.
But it was also the first time I felt the world open up a bit.
I saw how other people lived. I heard different perspectives. I stood in front of ancient history. I swam in the ocean. I ate food from street vendors. I realized how much I didn’t know.
That trip became the starting point.
Not because it was perfect, but because it was real.
It was messy, fun, eye-opening, slightly disgusting in at least one bathroom-related instance, and genuinely unforgettable.
Would I Go Back?
Yes.
Would I go back to Cancun?
Honestly, I would — but probably not for a full trip.
At this point in my life, there are so many things I’d want to see in Mexico, especially connected to ancient history. So I’m definitely going to plan a trip back one day, but next time, I’d want it to be more focused on Mexico City and the Yucatan Peninsula, especially to see more monuments and cities from ancient America.
Cancun gave me my first taste of Mexico.
Next time, I want the full meal.
So stay tuned for more.