A Month in Mexico: Recap
I spent a month in Cancun, Mexico volunteering at a hostel through WorldPackers. It wasn’t my first time at a hostel but it was my first time volunteering! I learned a lot by trial and error so I complied everything into one place. I wish I knew things, brought things, and wanted to give full financial transparency and an honest review of my experience :)
Things I Wish I Brought:
1.Reflective Gear
I will probably never go on another trip with out at least arm bands or something. They take up hardly any space in your bag and could be life saving. When I went to Tulum with some people we rented bikes but we didn’t get back to town early enough so we ended up biking on the side of the road in the dark. I know how difficult it is to see bikers even when you’re actively looking out for them so we were very lucky that we all made it back okay. In the future I will always bring reflective gear if I think I’ll be out past dark, even just for walking.
2. More Bikinis
I thought 4-5 would be enough and usually it is, however I knew my job at the hostel would be beach concierge and that I would be at the beach 5 times a week so I definitely wish I brought more swimwear. I’m lucky that laundry was free at my hostel, at least for volunteers. If it weren’t I would’ve been spending so much washing my clothes. I was so concerned about not over packing that I underpacked. I brought too many skirts and cute tops without bringing enough practical wear. I also had my backpack basically completely full so there wasn’t even really room to buy more things.
3. Beach Towel
Most of the time, the hostel will give you a towel but that’s for showering. I was constantly going back and forth everyday to reception to swap out my towel until I ended up just buying one in Mexico. Again, I knew I was going to be at the beach 5/7 days a week so in my case bringing proper beach gear was pretty essential. I know they’re bulky, I think the best thing to do in the future, depending on how long I’m going to be staying in a place would be to buy one and leave it behind when I leave. A little hostel bath towel isn’t going to survive long on the beach.
How Much I Spent:
I document everything I spend down to the cent. It’s the only way I’ve found to be tried and true when budgeting. It’s so important, especially when I’m not working, to keep track of everything to maintain financial control. I have the app called TripCoin, it’s totally free and the BEST way to keep track of everything. You can use different currencies, it makes you a chart, tells you how much you’ve spent and how much you have left.
You can clearly see how much of your money is spent on what. It’s the perfect tool to see where you need to cut back and where you can afford to spend a little more money. Most of the red is when I went either on my trip to Isla Mujeres or Tulum, so obviously I spent more on those days. There were a few days though that I didn’t spend any money at all. It’s perfect because you don’t have to stick to a strict daily budget, you can see your daily average which is what is most important for true budgeting. And it’s totally free.
What I Wish I Knew Before Going:
1.Cancun is really just another city
I felt like I was in a more Spanish version on Miami. It’s not the real Mexico, it’s basically a tourist trap that’s a city. It’s not terrible, it’s honestly really nice and I had a lot of fun in my hostel, but a week is definitely enough. By the end of my month, I was absolutely itching to get out of there and do something else. It’s very similar to Miami. I have a lot of fun anytime I go to Florida, but I don’t think I’d like to live there. Or at least live in Miami. The Cancun Hotel Zone is as if Vegas and Ocean Blvd combined into a street in Mexico. I’m not a huge drinker so many nights I found myself quite bored. I would have a good time at my hostel’s rooftop bar, but even that got old after a while.
2. The buses are great in Mexico.
Honestly, I wish I spent less time in Cancun and more time exploring the rest of the country. ADO buses are cheap enough, reliable, frequent, and other than planes, one of the best ways to get around Mexico. I took one on my trip from Cancun to Tulum and back. They’re relatively comfortable as buses go and not a bad way to get around at all. I wish I knew how easy it is to get around Mexico. Had I known, I probably would’ve stayed so much longer traveling around to see the “real” Mexico rather than living in a touristy area like Cancun.
3. Keep an your mind wide open at all times
I love budgeting (obviously) but sometimes I know I stick to my budget far too tightly. I have wiggle room and I know it but sometimes I let dollars interfere with experience. Letting go and keeping an open mind is so important. Money comes back around it always does. When traveling you have to let yourself experience things you never thought you would and let go.
The World Packers Experience:
It was fine. Not anything to write home about but definitely not the worst it could’ve been. My job was beach concierge. So at 11am everyday I would walk to the 2 other hostels and tell them about the events of the day. For example I would say, “I’m going to the beach at 12 and then later on we have a taco tour at 5” and so on. At 11:55 I would go downstairs and hang out for a bit waiting for everyone to join and then we’d get on the bus at 12. We’d go to whichever beach I chose for the day and hang out until about 3:30 when I’d bring everyone back for the day. It was an easy enough just quite boring.
It was just very, very boring. Going to the beach everyday sounds fun but when you have to go to the beach it’s a different story. No matter how tired or sunburned you may be.. you have to go to the beach and stay there for 3 + hours. I also was responsible for bringing a cooler for people and umbrellas. The guests always thought that I would be buying ice, but the hostel didn’t give me money for ice so.. sorry not buying ice every single day when I only drink out of my water bottle. Most days the cooler just stayed empty because no one volunteered to buy ice which was fine with me it was just annoying to bring on the bus. The umbrellas never worked. The slightest breeze meant they were blowing down the beach.
The guests made or broke the day for me. Sometimes they were really cool travelers who I would have amazing conversations about life. Sometimes they were insufferable men who were on vacation from the US and didn’t know how to behave in public.
The boss was a bit of a scam artist. The post advertised “discounts on tours” as a lot of experiences do, however in order to access this, you had to write 5-10 fake reviews for his side business. It was very sketchy. At least we got our deposit back, especially considering how he dealt with money. The deal was that you get your deposit back if you stay the entire agreed upon time. It was only $50 so I probably would’ve said screw it after week 3 and left if I didn’t have a flight leaving from Cancun the following week.
The only thing that made all the bs worth it was the people that I met along the way. I met the absolute nicest girls who were also volunteering with me. The thing is- you don’t know what you’re going to get when you sign up for a World Packer’s experience. Sometimes it’s good sometimes it’s less than good, but the fact is 9/10 times you travel like this, you will meet people who are on the same wavelength as you. Other volunteers are the best types of people to become friends with because they are also slow traveling. They are going to be in town for a while and you will have time to really connect with people. World Packers is the absolute best way to slow travel the world while balling on a budget. I can’t believe that traveling is cheaper than living in one spot, a whole month in Mexico cost me less than $1,000. I was paying over $1,400 a month in Los Angeles just to cover rent and utilities. Regardless of the minor frustrations, traveling is more accessible now than ever. World Packers is the best way to see the world, maintain your sense of purpose, and keep expenses to a minimum. If you’re thinking of traveling to Cancun, I would recommend it. It’s really nice there, I just wouldn’t spend more than 2-3 weeks there. It’s a great stopping point on your way to discover more of Mexico :)
