Mexico Adventure with my Mother

I recently got back from my Mexico adventure with my mother. I owed her a vacation after our Malaysian adventure got canceled last fall. We spent 2 weeks backpacking around Central Mexico, enjoying the warm weather, tequila and mariachi music!
Guadalajara Mexico

Table of Contents

I recently got back from a Mexico adventure with my mother. We went down for a quick 2 week trip because I owed her a vacation from last fall. Our Malaysian adventure got abruptly canceled last fall due to my tuk tuk accident which sent me home before she was to fly over and visit me. I picked Central Mexico because I explored this area a few years ago and I knew it would be a destination that mom would enjoy. Also, still healing from the accident, I was not up for a far flung adventure which made this close destination perfect.

San Gabriel Hacienda Guanajuato
Mesmerized by the garden
San Gabriel Hacienda Guanajuato
Mom’s favorite day was at the San Gabriel Hacienda

Central Mexico, specifically the Jalisco & Guanajuato areas are a great travel destination, here you can experience local culture, see beautiful architecture and enjoy warm weather without being completely surrounded by tourists. This area of Mexico is home to fresh tequila, mariachi music and has a rich history. Mom had never been to Mexico and I wanted to show her a more traditional area that was still easily accessible for us. The route I planned has us going in a straight shot east visiting 5 towns before heading back west to fly home.

Mexico Adventure with my mother - Outsidevibes
Our two week route

We booked our airline tickets as one ways, flying into Puerto Vallarta and out of Guadalajara. This allowed us to avoid extra backtracking on our route and the flight prices were actually cheaper than a round trip ticket from either destination. Being less visited than the Yucatan or the Baja, Central Mexico’s flights can be cheaper to find and the flight only took us 7 hours! Which is great coming from North Dakota.

Mexico Visa
Visa Visa!
Puerto Vallarta Beach
Nothing better than a cold beach beer after a long day flying

Puerto Vallarta provided us a much needed relief from the lingering winter cold at home. We quickly got to our hotel in the Old Town district, checked in and went straight towards the beach. Puerto Vallarta has plenty of sights to see and being a resort town it was an easy introduction for mom to Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta Beach
Mom strolling the beach
Colomitos Cove Puerto Vallarta Mexico
Hiking to Colomitos Cove
Puerto Vallarta Sunsets Mexico
Sunsets on the beach
Puerto Vallarta Malecon Sculptures Mexico
Some of the incredible statues that line Puerto Vallarta’s Malecon

From there we went to the chaotic city of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city with a population of over 4 million. Guadalajara has a few distinct zones that are diverse and worthy to explore but with our time constraint we stuck to sightseeing just the Centro Historico zone.

Guadalajara Centro Historico Sculptures Mexico
Tourist things, wandering around Guadalajara
Guadalajara Centro Historico Sculptures Mexico
Enjoying a day being tourists
Guadalajara Centro Historico Sculptures Mexico
Finger sandwich

Being in Guadalajara you have to at least make a day trip to the tiny pueblo town of Tequila! Yes, home of the drink, this area of Mexico contains almost all of the world’s Agave plants and these plants are actually what are used to produce tequila. Mom and I went on the same tour I did years before and we had a blast, I think….too much tequila. Really though it was fun, we toured a distillery and sampled the differently aged tequila along with other products made from the Agave plant. After the tour we were taking shots of tequila while being serenaded by a local mariachi band before our tour took us to the town of Tequila to explore.

Tequila tourists Mexico
Tequila tourists!
Tequila Mexico Church
Top of the church in Tequila
Tres Mujeres distillery Tequila
Exploring the grounds of Tres Mujeres distillery

Hangover mornings after our Tequila trip consisted of us on a bus to our next destination San Miguel de Allende, a good sized city known internationally for it’s are scene. Mom who was not feeling well, not because of the tequila, she actually got sick the day before we left home and had been sick throughout the whole trip and I was hurting from all of my travel injuries, decided to use are time in San Miguel de Allende to relax in our boutique Airbnb. We slowly explored some San Miguel while mostly catching our breath from the past week’s worth of travel.

Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel Mexico
Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel
San Miguel de Allende mexico tourist
San Miguel selfies
Night out in San Miguel de Allende
A night out in San Miguel de Allende
Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel Mexico
San Miguel de Allende’s main church the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel
Streets of San Miguel De Allende Mexico
Strolling through the cobbled streets

Our last stop on our route was the picturesque, colonial mining town of Guanajuato City. This has to be one of my favorite cities in all of Mexico and a place I could spend a lot of time in. The city is dotted with small walking streets and is bustling with a young atmosphere. Being well rested mom and I packed in quite a few activities during our time here.

Guanajuato City Mexico
View of Guanajuato City
Guanajuato City Mexico
Strolling the streets of Guanajauato
Guanajuato City Street Art Mexico
Guanajuato is a great city to wander around
San Miguel de Allende Streets Mexico
view of the church and painted streets

One thing I am glad we did not miss was visiting the San Gabriel Hacienda. I actually had something else planned for that day but due to a bout of sushi induced sickness, don’t get sushi in Mexico stick to the tacos, I was not up for the pre-planned full day’s activity.

San Miguel Hacienda Guanajuato Mexico
San Miguel Hacienda
San Miguel Hacienda Guanajuato Mexico
Strolling the grounds
San Miguel Hacienda Guanajuato Mexico
Exploring the hacienda
San Miguel Hacienda Guanajuato Mexico
Favorite spot of the trip

Finishing up in Guanajuato we spent our last day on a bus back to Guadalajara to catch our early morning flight. I am grateful how this trip went and that we actually managed to cram a lot into our short holiday. The highlight for me was being able to introduce mom to my budgeted travel lifestyle and this trip was a great way to show her how I survive day to day along with what I have been up to these last few years traveling abroad. Our adventure together was fun and I hope to be able to do more with her in the future!

Primera Plus bus Mexico
Bus life
Local bus ride Mexico
So many bus selfies
Puerto Vallarta Street Art Mexico
Perfect life motto

Final Thoughts

All in all the trip went great. It helped me with my newly acquired travel anxiety and it finally got me out of the house, after almost 6 months healing from the tuk tuk accident. I had a blast traveling with my mom, we haven’t had any mother – son bonding experiences in quite a few years. I just felt bad that mom got sick the day before we set off to Mexico and spent most of the trip feeling under the weather but she had high spirits the whole time and kept up with all of the activities!

If you want more detailed information for each of our stops, visit my Destination Mexico page or check out my 2 Week Backpacking Guide to Central Mexico.

Mexican Flag
Viva La Mexico

San Gabrial Hacienda Guanajuato MexicoSocial

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Sheridan

Sheridan

Sheridan is a full-time adventure seeker, professional photographer, and creator of Outsidevibes. Having a serious case of wanderlust Sheridan has traveled extensively around the world. He has overcome multiple, serious injuries from traveling but he is determined to continue experiencing life to the fullest.
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Hey, I'm Sheridan.

I’m a full-time adventure photographer, coffee creator, van builder, and writer!

Welcome to Outsidevibes, the BEST resource for all things travel, outdoor, hiking, backpacking, and nature-related. As an adventure person, I aim to share honest information, passionate stories and promote positive inspiration for those who love travel and the outdoors.

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