In November of 2015, my friend Mofi & I flew into Cancun’s international airport from two different cities, and into two different terminals.

There was some miscommunication prior to our departure. And, to make matters worse, neither of us had phone service. The result? Two confused girls in an unfamiliar country frantically searching for each other. After what seemed like forever – and at least 20 nightmarish thoughts – I spotted my equally flustered travel buddy.

CANCUN ⇒ PUERTO AVENTURAS

The ride from the airport to our hotel was about 1hr and cost us 55USD each. Pause. Shed a tear or two for our pockets. Yes we had the van to ourselves, yes it was air-conditioned, but, no, we were not expecting it to be so expensive. “But we are in Mexico”, we said, “we’re on vacation,” we said.

This was both of our first time at an all-inclusive resort, so we had few expectations. We were simply content to not pay extra for food and wi-fi, but Dreams set out to stun us.

To start, on arrival we were upgraded to a room with a view of the resident dolphins who were shy but popped up enough to satisfy us.

We had a full day to ourselves before the wedding so we booked an adventure-packed excursion with Aventuras Mayas.

Not wanting to waste a moment in the day, we moved from adventure to relax out in the pool area, learn some salsa, and eat! By this time we had made several friends on the Dreams staff who often asked us how we were, invited us to resort events, and made sure we were taken care of. I know they probably did the same for everyone, but this is exactly my point.

For the better half of Saturday and well into the early hours of Sunday, we celebrated with the bride and groom at Barcelo Maya Resort. Weddings, in general, are exciting but this was the most fun I’d had at a wedding in a long while. The food and drinks were stellar, the company even better. We spent the rest of the night dancing to bachata and salsa with the rest of the wedding party.

For our last full day at the resort, we lazily drifted through our final moments, desperate  to find loopholes that would result in a trip extension.

All good vacations must come to an end and this was one of the hardest to say goodbye to.  We consoled ourselves with the fact that we had an amazing few days.

My only regret is not being able to explore more of the Riviera Maya. However, we recognized that this was not the trip for that, and promised to revisit Mexico in the near future.

Have any of you been to Mexico? Where did you go + what did you get up to? Leave me a comment to let me know.

Until next Friday, 

Thanks for reading!

All photos shot on iPhone 6

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same footprints, different sands