Mexico Travel Stories:Warm Vacations, Wedding Memories, and the Animals Who Became Family
Mexico began as our place for warm beaches, easy days, and simple vacation getaways. But somewhere along the way, those trips awakened the travel bug in us and became the beginning of a much bigger journey — one that eventually led us beyond resorts and into real backpacking travel. We got married there, returned again and again, and rescued Lucy and Grillo from the beaches of La Ventana — two beautiful souls who became part of our family forever.
Wedding in Mexico!
Cabo San Lucas
San Jose del Cabo
Mazatlan
Cancun
Puerto Vallarta
Tulum
Sayulita
Todos Santos
Lucy: The Sweetest Soul in the Universe
Lucy came to us from the beaches of La Ventana as a tiny puppy, and somehow this little beach dog became one of the greatest loves of our lives.
We called her the sweetest soul in the universe because that is exactly what she was — gentle, loving, trusting, and full of a kind of goodness that is hard to put into words. Losing her to cancer left a space in our hearts that will never fully close, but her memory is still with us everywhere: in our stories, our home, our hearts, and now here.
Of all the gifts La Ventana gave us, none was more precious than Lucy.
Grillo: The Beach Cat Who Came Home
Grillo found us on our very first night in La Ventana.
Sanaz had accidentally left a window open at our Airbnb, and when we woke up the next morning, there was a cat sleeping peacefully between us. It turned out he belonged to our Airbnb host, who was shocked. In all her years of hosting, he had never done anything like that before.
His name was Grillo — pronounced Gree-yo, with a soft Spanish rolling “r” — and somehow, he had chosen us before we knew we were looking for him.
His owner loved him deeply, but she knew he needed a better life than being cooped up in a condo in Mexico City after years of roaming freely near the beaches of La Ventana. So Grillo came home with us too.
And he is not just any cat. Grillo has a huge personality — an alpha cat in the neighbourhood, confident and full of character, but inside our home he is the most loving, gentle soul. He has become such a deep part of our daily life that it is hard to imagine home without him.
La Ventana had already given us Lucy. Then, somehow, it gave us Grillo.
Mexico has been different from our other travel stories.
It has been less about backpacking and big adventure, and more about warm escapes, familiar places, meaningful memories, and the kind of moments that quietly become part of your life.
It gave us sunshine, ocean air, beautiful food, our wedding memories, and two new family members we will love forever.
And we know we’ll be back — for a few more days in the sun, a little more Mexican culture, and the cuisine we never seem to get enough of.