From Fear to Freedom: Embracing the Journey of Solo Travel in Mexico
By: Alli Iacullo
I had become quite the expert at traveling as a solo traveler with small group tours, but in the fall of 2021, with nine group tours under my belt, I decided I was finally ready to make the leap to completely solo travel. As a result of the pandemic, I had new found flexibility to work remotely so instead of suffering through another long winter in New Jersey, I thought why not escape to somewhere warm.
A friend suggested Mexico…it was close, cheap, and warm, and who doesn’t love margaritas and guac? Mexico was unfamiliar territory to me as I’d only been once before when I was 16, but I did some research on possible locations, made a quick trip to Playa del Carmen to scope it out and decided it would totally work.
Since I was anxious about traveling completely solo, I planned everything to a T for my 7 week stay in Mexico:
- First 30 days: Playa del Carmen would be my home base. Non-refundable Airbnb booked!
- Researched day trips from Playa del Carmen
- Planned a week-long trip to Mérida
- Booked some refundable hotels and excursions and even went as far as to look up bus schedules and tickets
- Last 20 days: Stay on the island of Isla Mujeres before returning to New Jersey
My research and planning was my way of tricking myself into thinking I’ve got this. Fewer unknowns meant less fear and less opportunities for things to go wrong or so I thought…
The Self-Doubt and Freakout Phase
Even with all of my preparation and planning, I was still overcome with anxiety leading up to my trip. Besides the fear of traveling solo, my anxiety was heightened due to the media and various people scaring me about Mexico, reminding me how dangerous it is and how crazy I was to go there as a solo female traveler. To say I was freaking out was an understatement.
Adding to my anxiety, I got an unexpected surprise from work the week before my departure. The healthcare company I worked for announced that finance employees were getting deployed to the hospital due to staff shortages. This hadn’t happened the entire duration of the pandemic and I couldn’t believe it was happening NOW.
My head started swirling with unknowns:
- What did this mean for my trip?
- Would I have to cancel?
- If I didn’t cancel and got deployed, would I have to cut my trip short?
- If I rejected the deployment, would I be fired?
There was part of me that was looking for an out with this trip, but I wasn’t going to let this be it and something within me urged me to go. I trusted that feeling and headed to the airport on January 2nd not knowing if I was completely in the clear of deployment.
But there was no sense of relief when I got to Newark airport or when I landed in Cancun for a few reasons:
- My flight was delayed and all I could think about was landing way after dark and still needing to catch the bus to Playa del Carmen.
- The bus was sold out so I had to wait another hour for the next bus giving me ample time to let fear set in thinking of all the terrible things that could happen to me while walking late at night to my Airbnb.
- Mexican immigration only granted me 30 days to legally stay in the country. That was 20 days short of what I needed! Omg, what did this mean?
I eventually made it safely to my Airbnb right around midnight and I went to bed that night feeling drained and wondering if I should just go back to the airport tomorrow and head home, pretending I’d never concocted this crazy idea.
But there was that feeling again that kept telling me to stick it out and that I was meant to be here. I can’t really describe what it was, but it was such an intense feeling that I couldn’t ignore.
Safe at my Airbnb!
An Unexpected Turn of Events
Overstaying my days and risk getting detained was not a chance I was willing to take as I was reading horror stories of this actually happening. I didn’t know if I’d leave and come back or just leave for good, but what I did know was I wanted to make the most of the time I definitely had in Mexico which meant trying to condense my original trip into 30 days and squeezing in both Mérida and Isla Mujeres. However, I didn’t know how this would be possible since I was locked into my Airbnb for the next month.
And then something crazy happened on night two that would completely change the trajectory of my trip. My Airbnb host messaged me asking if I could do her a favor and take our transaction off Airbnb and handle it separately. By her wanting to do this, all of my money would be refunded to my account.
Omg, all of my money could be refunded?! Since she was asking me for a favor, I asked her for one in return, explaining the situation with my days and asking if she would shorten my reservation. She completely understood because her mom who was visiting from Brazil was in the same boat so she was more than willing to help.
And just like that, my reservation became a 5 day reservation with the remaining money refunded to my account. I could not believe what had just happened. I felt like a whole world of possibilities opened up and I was almost happy to wave goodbye to my well thought-out plan. With my new found freedom and money, I decided I was ready to take on the challenge of making this trip exactly what I wanted it to be.
Letting Go
It’s really amazing how once I surrendered to the process and stopped trying to control every aspect of my journey, the most beautiful things started happening.
When I arrived at my next destination, the charming coastal town of Puerto Morelos, I had this feeling like I was home. There was something so comforting about Puerto Morelos and it was like I could feel the worry lift from my chest and be replaced by the confidence that I was capable of conquering the remainder of my trip. I was going to do it and I was going to do it well.
Arrival in Puerto Morelos...feeling relieved!
From that point on, I became this confident, go-with-the-flow traveler who was planning out each week only a few days prior. From Puerto Morelos I went to Mérida, then to Isla Mujeres with a quick overnight in Miami, then Cozumel and then back to Isla Mujeres before my final week in my favorite spot of Puerto Morelos.
It was a hectic 7 weeks, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. It was a journey that taught me so much including:
- Being adaptable and learning to pivot. My plan was constantly changing and that was okay and didn’t give me anxiety like it would have in the past. Suddenly, nothing was a big deal and I had the confidence to figure out whatever was thrown at me. For example,
- When I didn’t like my Airbnb in Cozumel, I found one I liked nearby and moved spots.
- When Cozumel didn’t end up being what I expected, I left sooner than expected, heading back to Isla Mujeres.
- When my whole plan changed within those first few days, I added Puerto Morelos to my itinerary and I’m so glad I did because I fell in love with it.
- When I was reaching the end of my 30 days, I reconfigured my route from Mérida to Cancun to go by plane instead of bus and made an overnight detour in Miami so I could re-enter Mexico and get the days I needed.
- My research skills were actually a good thing. Over the next few weeks, I figured out logistics like lodging and transportation, navigating buses, shuttles, ferries and taxis. I don’t speak much Spanish, but Google translate helped a lot and, besides the mishap in Cozumel, I absolutely loved all of the places I stayed.
- The universe had my back. From getting out of my 30 day Airbnb commitment to being refunded in Cozumel for my first Airbnb without even asking to getting my name removed from my work’s deployment list to getting my immigration papers checked twice by police only a couple of weeks into my trip which I took as a sign to follow the rules, the universe was reminding me over and over again it was supporting me every step of the way.
My journey from Cozumel to Isla Mujeres…2 ferries, a bus ride and a taxi ride!
Looking back, I think about the amazing journey I would have missed out on if I had caved into my fear and left within my first couple of days in Mexico or never gone altogether. I went into the trip hoping for sun and warm weather, but it turned out to be one of the most rewarding and transformative experiences of my life and I proved to myself I’m capable of way more than I thought.
The last week of my journey I coined the term “alli-venture” to describe my experience and a year later, Alliventures became the name of my travel business. As I embark on my new venture, I try to remember the lessons I learned from my journey because they are applicable in so many ways. Everything happens for a reason and I am so grateful for this journey.
Contact me today to get your journey started. Life is Short. Take the Trip.
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