Tulum Travel Diary
I was fortunate enough to be included in The Standby Diary’s first ever influencer trip to Tulum, Mexico in March. It was an epic week of adventuring, making connections, creating epic content, and consuming lots and lots of tacos (even ones with grasshoppers in it)!
The crew:
Kiana Raen (@kianaraen): Based in Los Angeles, this #girlboss is the Founder of the Standby Diary and a talented photographer. She brought everyone together with a vision of uniting like-minded creatives.
Dakota Adan (@dakotaadan): A world-wide traveler, Dakota is an inspiring videographer, writer, and content creator.
Justin Shiigi (@justinshiigi): Born and raised in Hawaii, Justin Shiigi has the kind of laid-back attitude one would have who lives in paradise. Combined with his unmistakable talent behind the camera,he is a truly unstoppable creative force. Also, he’s always smiling and just good vibes all around.
Mel Vandersluis (@mvandersluis): Although she calls Montreal home, Melanie is a globe-trotting content creator who is constantly on the go. Not only is she always in a good mood, but she’s a tech-savvy, photo-editing wizard.
Sky Naite (@skynaite): Originally from Lithuania, but now living in Los Angeles, this blogger and content creator is the definition of beauty and brains. I was fortunate to see her creative process and the determination she has to bring the ideas in her mind to fruition. The result? The stunning imagery you see on her Instagram and blog!
And me, of course!
Getting to Tulum
I took a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Cancun, and touched down around 6am. I met up with Justin Shiigi, who had just done the same thing, but from Oahu, and we passed out in the car on the way to Tulum. Exhausted from the previous week of taking finals at university combined with barely getting any sleep on the plane, the first thing I did when we arrived at our AirBnB was to jump in the pool, lay out in the sun, and then rinse off in the outdoor shower with my favorite Malie Organics products.
Mornings in Tulum looked a little like this. If I can go to a place where bikinis and underwear take priority over normal clothes, I am in!
(Wearing the “For You” Triangle Set from Gooseberry Intimates).
Downtown Tulum seems like it was made for Instagram. Everywhere you look is something to marvel at that makes you want to whip out your camera to capture the aesthetic.
What to do in Tulum:
- Enjoy the numerous white-sand beaches
- Unwind at one of the many beach clubs; (drink beer- eat tacos- in your swimsuit sort of thing).
- Bike around Downtown Tulum (and do some shopping!)
- Visit the Tulum Ruins
The two times I’ve visited the Tulum Ruins were during high season, and the amount of people can be a bit overwhelming! However, we still enjoyed walking around and keeping cool with a fruit popsicle in hand. If you have time, I would highly recommend checking out the Koba ruins and Chichen-Itza, as well. It’s a little less crowded (depending when you go), and you can climb the actual pyramid at Koba. Also if you need anther reason to go, Chichen-Itza is one of the seven wonders of the world!
- Visit a Cenote
Another great way to explore Tulum (while also escaping from the midday heat), is checking out as many of the cenotes as you can. For those of you who don’t know what a cenote is: A cenote (American Spanish: [seˈnote]) is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath.
There are probably hundreds and hundreds of them, but try to go to at least one! We visited a cenote called “Pet Cemetery“, but don’t let the name scare you away! In reality, this cenote was stunning, and you can take a guided swim tour with a flashlight to explore the insides of the caves. The only thing is to make sure you bring bug spray, or you will get bit by mosquitos. Just warning you ahead of time!
Our last full day in Tulum, we ventured through Downtown Tulum, inching our way through traffic until we reached a bumpy, unpaved road. We were told by a local that there was a beautiful marine preserve if we just kept following the road that led from Tulum. We bumped along for a couple hours until we passed a bridge where we stopped to marvel at the crocodiles.
I still can’t decide whether I like sunrises or sunsets better. I love the idea of a fresh start to the day; sleepy eyes taking in the beauty of the world first thing in the morning. While everyone else sleeps, you feel like the world belongs to you. But then again, I’m not much of an early riser, so sunsets might be where it’s at (haha!).
After being out all day exploring what Tulum has to offer, it was always nice to return to our AirBnB and just relax and enjoy the sunset with our group. We’d bring some cervezas to the rooftop and just lounge around, reminiscing on all the fun we had that day.
When the sun went down, we’d huddle around the living room area with our laptops; exchanging photos and helping each other edit our favorites. I learned a lot by observing with these other creatives do their thing, and although having fun adventures with the crew was enjoyable, the real bonding was done here. Just a handful of tired but stoked people from different parts of the world. In their pajamas. Off camera. Real life.
https://youtu.be/P8ZR7k0JcpI
