I wasn’t immediately infatuated with Merida. I liked it on first sight, but I wasn’t gripped by it in an inescapable way. But with each day, my affection for the city grew and grew until it was almost time to…
Food Budgeting and Where to Eat in Merida, Mexico
One of the absolute best parts of traveling for me is eating. When I budget for trips, I always budget by category, and the food category is where I most frequently exceed my budget. I am simply helpless in…
Lafayette, Louisiana—A Weekend Train Trip from New Orleans
Despite the number of hours that I spend daydreaming about international travel and planning hypothetical journeys around the world, I never let myself forget that there are delightful destinations I haven’t explored yet just a short drive from home. A…
Uxmal, Izamal, Cenotes, and the Chocolate Museum—the Best Day Trips from Merida, Mexico
There are so many options for incredible day trips from Merida that I had a very difficult time choosing which ones to do. And even though I was in Merida for two weeks, I still couldn’t fit in all the…
The Best Hostels in Merida, Mexico
While Merida is full of gorgeous and affordable Airbnbs, you have to book them quite far in advance to get the best options. Since my trip dates kept changing until right before I left, most of the best-but-still-cheap Airbnbs were…
The 2024 Eclipse and Why You Should Travel to See a Total Eclipse
In 2017, I was struggling so much that I don’t recall paying a lot of attention to the North American eclipse until it happened. At the time, I was unemployed, living at my parents’ house, and juggling a half dozen…
