How we vacationed in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for a 7 day getaway just the two of us.

This post was published in March 2017. We both love to travel and promised each other that even after we had a baby that we would still get out and see places of the world we had never been. It's not easy sneaking away for a full 7 days when you have a 9 month old, but luckily the timing worked out and my Mom was able to watch Tayler for us. When we booked the trip, I was so excited about the thought of sunshine and warmth that I didn't realize how hard it would be for me to leave Tay for a full week. Let's just say I cried at least 4 times between leaving the house and actually getting onto the airplane. But once the drink service came through and I discovered they had mini bottles of La Marca Prosecco, all my worries drifted away, LOL.

Where we stayed: We stayed at the gorgeous Mahekal Beach Resort which is about a 45 min drive from the airport. What we loved about this resort was the proximity to downtown and that we could walk to restaurants every night and the fact that it's basically built into the jungle, but also right on the beach. The food was amazing, the drinks were really reasonably priced and the service was impeccable. We had fresh squeezed green juice each morning with breakfast and a view of the ocean. We spent our days at the resort at our favorite infinity pool overlooking the ocean, sipping on cocktails and eating our favorite tacos. I highly recommend this resort if you are planning a trip here. And make sure to walk onto 5th Ave. at night and have dinner or a drink at the Cuban bar for some great live music!

What we did: Since we had 7 days, we decided to go on a few day trips to some surrounding towns near Playa.

Tulum: From Playa, it's really easy to get around to surrounding towns by jumping on the collectivo's in town. It was about an hour drive to Tulum and from the drop off you hop in a cab and ask them to take you to the beach. We had found a beach club online before hand so knew exactly where we wanted to go. The beach there was incredible and all the resorts are extremely trendy. But almost too trendy. We were a little put off by how pretentious the beach club was. The drinks were way more expensive than in Playa and the bartenders were less than enthused to be serving a ton of Americans taking Instagram photos {although not sure that I can blame them}. We ventured down the beach and settled on a taqueria that supposedly had great tacos. Well the tacos were whatever, but the frozen watermelon marg's, coupled with the hammocks and hanging with the local dogs made for the perfect end to the day. In short, go to Tulum to visit the beaches, but if you want to stay for a lot cheaper and have a more authentic experience, then stay in playa and come to Tulum for the day.

Isla Mujeres: This was one of my favorite days of the entire trip. From Playa, you hop on a collectivo to Cancun and then from there take a cab to the ferry dock. The ferry ride over to Isla is about 20 minutes. Make sure to sit up top for a gorgeous view and live music! Once on the island you can rent a golf cart {yes, a golf cart!} for about $40 american dollars and take about 3 hours to explore the island. We stopped at a beach club for a beer, pulled over to take in the gorgeous views and then ended the day at Fenix Lounge for food, drinks and some major relaxation. Who doesn't want to eat nachos and drink beer on a beach bed on the water all day!?

All in all, it was the perfect mix of relaxation, fun and exploring. And even though we missed Tay like crazy, it was so important for us to have some alone time (and sleep in). We are already day dreaming about our next adventure. We would love to do a longer trip next year. Wes wants Thailand and I want Greece. We'll see if either actually happen, but we are going to make it a priority to travel whenever we get the chance. Not to mention if you don't go somewhere warm after the several brutal months of cold and grey skies in the Pac NW, you tend to go a little postal.