Our Girls’ Trip to Mexico

Last month, my dearest friends from college gathered in Mexcio to celebrate turning 50! Honestly, I can’t get over the fact that we aren’t still 35. It sure feels that way. This group of women are not only inspiring but the most caring, authentic, and hilarious group of friends. We always pick up right where we left off and for the first time in my life, I actually came home from a trip feeling refreshed instead of drained. It was such a memorable few days.

THE RECAP

WHERE WE STAYED

One of our friends did the leg work with finding a great spot. We stayed at Unico 20°87° in the Riviera Maya. It is an all inclusive resort and 18 and over. It was truly beautiful. We flew into the Cancun airport.

Pro tip: Do NOT check your luggage. At the last minute I switched from my usual carry on to a larger suitcase and checked my bag. Once I landed, I waited 90 minutes for my bag. They operate at an entirely different speed. Pack less, carry it on and you’ll be great.

I had never been to an all inclusive before. This one definitely put some pressure on to sign up for this and that. Just be prepared to politely decline, unless of course you are interested. Luckily I had a work commitment I needed to wrap up so I asked to get to my room as quickly as possible.

COFFEE SHOP

This cute little coffee shop is adjacent to the lobby area. Darling. Fresh coffee, smoothies, juices, pastries, and a few light bites.

THE ROOMS

The rooms are incredible. I lucked out and had one very close to the lobby and a higher floor with a beautiful view. The room and bathroom are so spacious. This deck had a tub (which went unsued) but it’s a gorgeous place for coffee in the morning.

SPECIAL KEEPSAKE

Each room had two hats (one like this and a fedora style). One of the mornings, you could take the hat down to an area by the pool and have it custom painted. We picked them up a few hours later. Such a darling keepsake.

BEAUTIFUL RESTAURANTS

There are five wonderful restaurants on the property. All easy to walk to. This one above is close to the pool and really lovely. We also took advantage of the pool bar/restaurant most days for lunch. It was nice to sit outside and just relax with the girls.

My go-to at the pool bar were chicken tacos and a fruit ceviche.

Each restaurant presented the food in a really lovely way. And it being all-inclusive makes it so easy when you are on a group trip together.

PURE JOY

Seeing these faces and spending quality time with these girls was such a gift. I wanted to bottle it up.

POOL VIBES

There are three pools on the property. This was probably our favorite but the one behind it was ton of fun, too. They had a DJ, games and more of a party atmosphere. The third pool (the hangover pool) was much more mellow. We loved that one because the swim up bar offered a ton of shade so we could all hang out for much longer.

Loved having this bag with me each day and these clear pouches were great for SPF and other necessities. The funny thing is that three of us showed up with pretty much the exact same pool bag.

GO-TO HAT

Pro tip: A hat is a must. I love this hat so much. I brought the lighter version to Mexcio. It’s packable so you can toss it in your suitcase without a problem and it’s UPF 80+ which is fantastic. Love this classic one piece and these bangles to wear at the pool.

Pro tip: Get yourself one of these (for any trip you take). I wish I had this. I left my room key inside my room more than once. This makes it so easy to keep your key handy and it works without taking it from the case. Easy to drop into your pool bag or purse. And hang it on the inside of your door each time you come in the room. Then it’s really easy to see when you are leaving. Don’t be like me and have to go down to the lobby twice to get back in the room.

VIEWS FOR DAYS

This is the “hangover pool” which tends to be much more mellow. You can see the swim up bar to the right. A great spot to hang out. We may or may not have brought our own waterproof speaker so we had our college playlist with us at all times. So fun!

BEACH WALKS

It was nice to be able to walk along the beach in the mornings. The hotel also had a nice gym. I found that going in the afternoon was much better. Totally empty!

The beach itself is rather shallow but it was much cooler down by the water. The resort has lounge chairs on the sand as well.

Pro tip: I used a private transfer company for my rides to and from the airport. You can use a shuttle but you may stop a few times. The resort was an hour from the airport so I liked not having to stop. I was very impressed with the service. On the return, as soon as my driver got to the airport another man met me and had me follow him amongst the busy crowds right to the kiosk to check my bag. He helped with that process and walked we to the security check point. Just something to consider, especially if you aren’t flying with anyone.

I will be honest, this was way out of my comfort zone and if I did it again, I would fly with Ryan or a friend.

LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPS

These women cheer each other on, want the absolute best for one another and our families, and sincerely feel like forever friends. We met our freshman year at Notre Dame and I am forever grateful for that. While we are all quite different, we appreciate each others’ strengths and have each others’ backs. And there is no shortage of laughter. My face literally hurt from laughing so hard.

*Our only attempt at a group photo and it was so windy the tripod was shaking. I’ll take a blurry photo over no photo any day.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. I do think this group could go anywhere and have a great time. We could have been in someone’s backyard and it would have been fun. If you have any questions about the resort, I am happy to answer them as candidly as possible. Feel free to leave a question below or email me anytime.

Here’s to taking the time to nourish your friendships. Planning these trips takes some effort and we really missed those in our crew that couldn’t join us. But it’s always worth it. And here’s to 50!!!!

*See our summer trip to Zion here. All travel posts can be found here.