THE FIRST WEEK - Isla Holbox Mexico

There is no way this is going to hit me anytime soon.

The flight went off without a hitch. The lady sitting next to me on the plane saw me listening to T Swift and proceeded to whip out a magazine with Taylor on the cover

 "I see you listening to her, would you like this?" - kind beautiful lady stranger

"YES I LOVE HER!!!!!" - me

If this is not a good omen to the start of my first solo trip than I don't know what is!

I read I could catch a bus from the Cancun airport to the Cancun city center bus stop. It left right as I hopped on it, perfect timing. Had to wait a couple hours at the bus stop before the next bus to Chiquila where I could catch a ferry to my destination: Isle Holbox (pronounced Isla Holebosh, I had TOTES been saying is wrong for months, it's fine)

I spotted a blonde girl with a backpack just like mine and flashed her a smile. She ended up on the same bus as me. We exchanged smiles as she walked down the isle to take the seat behind me.

We said hello, her name is Anna, turns out she was staying at the same hostel as me! She moved up to sit next to me and we talked the whole 3 hour bus ride until we arrived in paradise...

Anna and I spent everyday together on the island lazing in the sun, drinking smoothies, doing yoga, and eating DELICIOUS gelato.

Things I know about Anna:

She is Australian

She currently lives in BANFF Canada

She works as a ski instructor in winter

And a head server in Summer

She LOVES guacamole and asked me everyday if it was 'guac-o'clock' yet

She's lived on 3 continents

She speaks Swedish

Her favorite thing to do is hike

And she is my friend friend I have made on my first ever solo trip

A sudden change of events landed her in Mexico for 10 days followed by a trip to NYC to visit her best friend Grace on 'holiday'

She has traveled ALL over the world, has so many stories, a killer outlook on life and isn't even 25 yet! Her birthday is next month. She is the sole signer of a 4 bedroom apartment lease and owns a mini van. In order to save up money to travel she has rented out her room in the apartment for the summer and converted her mini van into a sleeper van, aka she is living in her van for the summer. She had me laughing at some of the mini van stories she told. When I asked what her parents thought of her living in her car she replied "Oh, they think I am absolutely mad"

We clicked right away. All she wanted to do was unwind, lay on the beach, and do nothing. EXACTLY MY PLAN.

We hit the beach everyday to lay in sun chairs under a hut for hours. Chatting, reading, listening to music.

We got kicked out of a resort pool we snuck into to take a dip, road bikes up and down the island, and made a new furry friend we called Pedro. He followed us from the bike rental place all the way up the coast to these hammocks, it was too funny! There were random dogs all over the island.

I literally met her before I even got to my first destination.  Meeting Anna proved to me just how easy it can be to make new friends on the road, just like I had been told all along!

The hostel was great and there were a ton of friendly people there. I have only met one other American. Most people seem to be from Europe or Australia. We paired up with 2 Swedish girls for trivia night (we lost), did a yoga class on the hostel roof with a Danish and a German girl, and had a great time chatting up everyone else we met.

Isle Holbox is absolutely beautiful. It's charming, quaint and lovely. It's all dirt roads, tacos and la musica. It seems to not be so much geared towards foreign tourists, but more of a Mexican vacation spot. Such as Florida to Americans. The local people are so welcoming and helpful. We found a lunch spot that had the most delicious and fresh fish. Literally fresh, a local man in a golf cart pulled up to deliver the freshly caught fish in a cooler that we ordered for lunch.  20 minutes later we were enjoying my favorite meal I had on the island.

I've had an overwhelming desire to improve upon my Spanish from the very first "Hola Señorita!" I am itching to begin taking Spanish lessons once I arrive in Guatemala. So far, not many local people know English, which has given me the opportunity to work on my Espanol!

Also, I am determined to learn to convert between Celsius and Fahrenheit. All I keep hearing is 'It's so hot, its like 32 degrees'  .. or 'back home its about 15 degrees and sunny' ..

I've used a full bottle of sunscreen in less than a week. Even in the shade I seemed to burn.

I have already learned so much, and am feeling better than ever about what's yet to come.

I'm am leaving Isle Holbox sun burnt, covered in bug bites, and never more excited for whats next!

Watch out Tulum, here I come!

Feel free to send me a message in the below contact box! What was your favorite part of this post? I would love to hear from you!