Mother’s Day in Mexico

I recently had the opportunity to attend one of my company’s travel programs as part of an initiative for account managers to experience how they operate behind-the-scenes. Since this particular program was one of my accounts, I received permission to travel to Cancun, Mexico and attend the first few days of the trip.

Most people rolled their eyes and said “work trip” when I mentioned the destination – but it really was a work trip and there was very little down time. My swimsuit didn’t even make it out of my suitcase.

I do communications work for this client – and quite a bit of it around this annual trip – but I have little involvement with the travel side of our company or the details/logistics that go into the trip. It was a really interesting learning experience, both to see how the travel side of our business operates and to get a first-hand glimpse into the participant experience.

There were some pretty neat elements to this trip:

The food. Holy cow. It was so good. I had real queso that was delicious and different than what’s served stateside. The corn tortillas were wonderful, and I don’t normally like corn tortillas. And I had a really good margarita on Monday night.

Monday morning I didn’t have to report for duty until 9 a.m. I woke up in my super comfy bed to a beautiful Mexican sunrise that I could see without even getting up. Grabbed a latte and took a walk down the beach. Enjoyed a text conversation with a dear friend who had just gotten engaged. That little bit of me time was so nice and much needed!

Monday night my co-worker and I went on an adventure! We asked the concierge for a restaurant recommendation and were given the name of a nearby restaurant called “La Distilieria.” It was an adventure since we took the shuttle bus – a.k.a. city bus – to get there. It was perfectly safe, but I have to be honest and say I don’t know how to ride the city bus in Atlanta – in English no less – so riding one in Mexico was interesting.

We had such a fun time at the restaurant! A mariachi band was playing, it was right on the water and the food was tasty. We were adventurous with the food too, both of us ordering the most popular item on the menu, which was a combination of meats, cheese and vegetables in a broth. Think stew meets fondue.

It was tasty and, shockingly, my stomach did not stage a major revolt from eating something far different than my usual fare. Well, most of it was tasty. The cactus – that green thing hanging over the side in the picture – was not good! Odd taste and an even odder texture.

Sunday morning and Monday night were truly my only “down times” of the trip – it was most assuredly a working trip, but the location and the experience definitely took it a few steps above the average business trip.