This is my new friend Juanito - he likes to hang on the East Cape and ask for snacks.

I recently took my first solo trip in a hot second and when I say, “hot second,” I mean since 2019. We’re not counting day trips to Vail or flying home to visit my parents, we’re talking about booked everything start to finish by myself for myself. I love traveling with my husband, visiting friends and showing my parents around foreign countries, but after the year I’ve had (I realize we’re just entering q2), I needed a real break.

What is a real break? I was asked when I returned home if I felt rejuvenated and my answer is yes; not because I was super well rested or because I chased some fish, but because for the first time since November, I wasn’t in survival mode. Nor was I preoccupied with checking things off my to-do list. (Where my fellow list makers at?) Since November it’s felt like there’s a fire to put out every day; if it’s not one thing, it’s another. However for the last five days the biggest challenge I navigated was confirming my ride to the airport…actually, it was applying sunscreen to the center of my back…but you get the idea.

As I write this I wonder, how many of you need a break but haven’t taken one? Keep in mind, vacations are not a substitute for therapy, but a tool. This trip was long overdue and almost didn’t happen. I had multiple therapy sessions to debate spending money on something that could be deemed frivolous or an unnecessary expense while simultaneously floundering between feeling guilty for not taking the time I have for granted. I expressed genuine worry that I would later regret not taking advantage of my zero kid life and flexible schedule.

After one of those therapy sessions I checked flights from home to Cabo and low and behold United came through with a DIRECT flight under $300. This meant I could bring a carry on (unlike Frontier) and save on checked bag fees. In previous weeks, I looked at Playa Del Carmen and Tulum because I wanted a beach, but somewhere more affordable than Hawaii and on a closer timezone than Greece. Yet flights were $1800+ with MULTIPLE layovers. One flight to Cancun had a 12 hour layover in Dallas and then a 6 hour layover in Panama. Who plans these routes? And I digress…

For those of you who read a lot of news, yes, safety was a concern. So much so my parents insisted I share my location (fun fact: US phones work in Mexico) however Cabo is full of expats, but more so, the locals are genuinely kind. I did take a few precautions including:

Made dinner reservations early (like senior citizen early) so I could avoid walking alone at night.
Reserved beach chairs at beach clubs including Corazon Beach Club and Sur Beach House rather than risk leaving my bag on the beach while I swam. However, I do think it would have been fine, even at Medano beach.

3. Rooftop Dreams

I booked an airbnb with a rooftop pool, gym, hot tub and restaurants so I could always come back to a safe location with fun activities to do.

I did consider the all-inclusive route, but sheesh, some of the prices were insane for even 3 star hotels and a lot of them were trash. Don’t get me wrong, I think I’d be just fine at Nobu Cabo, but that was outside my budget. Additionally as wonderful as all-inclusive sounds, it’s not my style. I know I’m one to hunt for the best street tacos, speak in Spanish, find the secret spots and go where the locals go; all-inclusive just isn’t that.

Life as an only child has prepared me for such things like quarantine and solo trips so if you’re wondering, what the heck do you do all day to entertain yourself, I gotchu. Please take this with a grain of salt because I vacation like a grandma - up at 7, workout, coffee and cake, beach, nap, tacos, beach, nap, shower, dinner, bed.
How To Entertain Yourself on a Solo Trip:

1. Workout - Either in your building or hotel, on the beach or research the best studios wherever you are.

2. Coffee & Pastry Quests

Try different coffee shops and explore the local pastry scene. This photo is of an Iced Mayan Mocha and it was damn good.

3. You’re at the Beach, BB!

I know a lot of people get bored at the beach, especially solo - but bring a (paperback) book, a snorkel and take a nap and you are set. Moreover, a lot of beaches have hella cheap massage and food options.

4. Walk and get lost. Wander and walk to get to your next destination; it will take up time, get you up and about and help you discover the best hole in the wall spots.

5. Excursions - I decided to do one excursion and knew I wanted to see El Arco. I booked a $60 sunset catamaran with unlimited drinks and appetizers. I saw whales, crushed fresh guac and shocked everyone else with the fact that I was flying solo.

6. Alternate your food reservations, I made one dinner reservation and one brunch reservation so I could try different types of food and had a bit of structure to plan my day.

7. Run into a Friend You Haven’t Seen Since 2007! This was wild. Amy and I met in 2006 as exchange students moving to Italy. We lost touch in 2010 other than the rare like on Instagram, but low and behold as I’m about to crush a giant slice of chocolate cake at Flora Farms, I hear my name. When I look up, Amy is standing right in front of me because she lives in Baja! Because I had zero plans on Monday, she spent the day showing me around and we were able to catch up on 13 years of life!

8. The Flowers

Omg the flowers. Please keep in mind I am looking at FEET of snow right now but the floral scene in Cabo is off the charts. There are so many beautiful colors everywhere. I actually took time to smell the roses. It was so nice to be present and think, “Wow, those are beautiful,” as opposed to, “I see flowers, now how can I get the government to improve healthcare for millions of Americans.”

My recs:

My airbnb was north of the main area of Cabo San Lucas so it was walkable to the beach (20 min), marina (15 minutes) and main restaurants (10 minutes). I will note my airbnb was poorly constructed for noise because some spring breakers were there and woke me up at 230 in the morning banging on doors and screaming. That was…fun, but all in all it worked out well!

Coffee + Pastries - Breakfast is the biggest rip off in Cabo. I’m pretty sure my daily coffee/ pastry habit ran me $13/morning. I live in a tourist town full time and don’t pay half that! However the catch is the supermarket scene in Cabo is weak so I didn’t feel like I could find alternatives other than fruit that would offset the cost/ increase efficiency.

Pezgallo - You must eat here if you’re in San Jose Del Cabo - F*CK IT WAS GOOD. The Leche Dorado aka Golden Latte was a magical and transformative experience, somehow it tasted like sipping on lemon cake. Here for it. Their menu was also a lighter/healthier take on major Mexican dishes so I didnt feel like crap after eating.

Sur Beach House - Talk about the most accommodating and kind staff. I think I talked to five different servers and they helped me strategize how to try a variety of things without wanting to role home. Note* Solo traveling has a few caveats, other than the sunscreen issue, my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I often overordered, overspent and under ate. Well I ate plenty but couldn’t finish things, this is is where my budget went awry and what I would do differently next time. They also let me use the beach club area after breakfast which was so convenient.

Corazon Beach Club - Make a reservation in advance and you are set. They do require you to spend $50 but I got a massage and sushi and that was that. They also have pools and showers you can use.

Tres Gallos - The tortilla soup - game changing.

Root’s Nieves de Garrafa - I had such a lovely conversation with the kid working who helped me practice my spanish. He also gave me Dulce de Leche with a side of churros. What a hero. The coconut icecream is legendary.

Uber - Taxis are also a rip off, Uber.

Remember the $ is used for Pesos too so when I got a bill for $1,888 I almost flipped the table before I realized thatI did not just spent over a grand on burrata even though it was damnnnn good.

Flora Farms - everyone recommended this place to me and for good reason. It really comes down to the grounds because they are beautiful. The food is wonderful as well, but this was one of those times I could have skipped the cocktail and the second course because I wanted to roll home and could have saved my self $40 USD.

Acre- I canceled my reservation here to hang with Amy, but it’s on my list for next time.

Terrace Coffee - I didn’t make it there because it was Benito Juarez’s birthday and they closed on the day I planned to peruse but the view is incredible/very aesthetically pleasing.

Caprese - This was in my building and I was tempted to try their pizza but I was very much on a salad kick in the evenings because once you hit 30 your gut will hate everything you try to eat. The salad was bomb and the staff was fun albeit slightly stunned that I came down with my book to eat a salad.

Coffee? Yes! Please- OK coffee was excellent, pastry was amazing, but the price was $14.50 - no no no.

Viator - I booked my airport shuttle through Viator and it was $30 for round trip. Taxis were over $100 - They were super professional, timely and kind. I also booked my sunset catamaran through them and got $10 off for doing so. It was easy and well managed.

DO NOT EAT AT THE AIRPORT. I will die on this hill because I will be mad at myself for weeks about my $50 tacos and I mean $50 USD tacos. The airport is under construction and I arrived at the airport with two hours to kill after security so I planned to eat lunch there. Options included Subway (Blah), Carl Jr (Yuck), Sbarro (Why?), Panda Express (WTF) , The Mexican Equivalent of Hudson News, Starbucks and a taco place. The taco place was packed so I went there/ it was the only place with Mexican food. IT WAS HORRIBLE — the food, I mean. The servers were great, but I didn’t even eat two of the tacos because they were gross. To add insult to injury it was $50 for three tacos and a lemonade. I was stunned. I know airports have a mark up so I thought probably $20, but $50. Why? Worse yet, I went to buy water from Mexican Hudson News and even though it was a large FIJI water they were charging $11. ELEVEN USD FOR A BOTTLE OF WATER. Again, I know airports can charge more because thanks to 9/11 we can only carry 3 oz of liquid but even for FIJI water that’s insane. I did manage to find a small Evian at Starbucks for $4.60 but they sure have the water market cornered there. You’re pretty screwed because you can’t drink the tap water and you know your three hour flight is going to give you 4oz of ice and 4oz of water before you stand in customs for who knows how long…so you have limited options, but damn, not cool. As you can tell I am still reeling.

To end on a high I genuinely feel reinvigorated and ready to tackle the many challenges I’m currently facing. If you are still wondering how I navigated the sunscreen issue…rashguard my friends! I used to be embarrassed about wearing shirts at the beach and look at me now. On a couple of occasions I did ask moms to spray my back (you can always count on a mom) and when I ended up at the pool without umbrellas, I just avoid laying on my stomach. I did sadly burn- hilariously on my biceps, an area I can actually reach…

One of the greatest experiences in Los Cabos was that feeling. If you’re a traveler, you know the one. The one where you land in a city and just get a feeling like you love it and need to be there. It doesn’t happen in every moment in every city (like the cab ride into Rome from Fiumicino is less than inspiring) but everywhere I went things just felt right. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to articulate this properly (help a sister out), but if you’ve ever gone somewhere you expected to be magical and felt “meh” like for example Denver, this was the complete opposite. I felt my shoulders relax, it was like my heart opened, and I stopped frowning or furrowing my brow. I’m sure the furrow will come back the moment I step into a yoga class only to have another white man who can’t read storm into the space demanding directions to the hot tub, but we’ll take what we can get.

In sum, Baja has the vibes and Mexico is most definitely the more fun side of the wall. Heck Lexapro is a damn over the counter drug! (Always buy your cold medicine overseas, it actually works. I don’t know what’s in it, but I don’t need to know either).

If you are debating taking a break, a vacation or a trip to the ocean, always say yes to Vitamin Sea.

Xx, Your pun loving mental wellness agent,

Ashley

Baja Tiene Las Vibras: The Beauty of a Solo Vacation