Family Travel in Mexico: A Final Road Trip Through the Yucatán

The family leaping for joy at Chichén Itzá

The first time I ever set foot outside the United States, it was into Mexico. Just barely into Mexico. I was visiting a friend in San Diego and we took a day trip down to Tijuana—not exactly the crown jewel of Mexico, but fun in its own gritty way.

So when our plane touched down in Mérida, deep in the southern Yucatán, it felt like coming full circle. This was going to be a different kind of trip. A bigger one. And it meant more than just checking a box on the map.

We had three weeks in Mexico. And more importantly, we had all five of us together—maybe traveling all together for the last time. It had been a year since our family’s year-long round-the-world adventure, and this was our first big trip since then. My oldest had just returned home from her first year of college. The other two weren’t far behind.

We knew the odds: this might be the last time we all traveled together.

And we were right.

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The plan was simple: a road trip around the Yucatán Peninsula.

We rented a car in Mérida and made our way to Cancún—not for the beaches (we live in Hawaii, after all), but to catch a boat to Isla Mujeres. There, we planned to swim with whale sharks as they gathered offshore. From there, it was on to Valladolid, where we’d explore tiny towns, swim in cenotes, and gawk at the ruins of Chichén Itzá. Then it would be back to Mérida for museums, markets, and all the street food we could handle.

Daughter 3 in Valladolid

And that would be the close of a chapter. A big one.

I was a little sad. But also deeply grateful. Because this trip—this one last ride—felt like the culmination of something important.

But I was confident that my strong relationship with my kids would persist even once they lived thousands of miles away from me. In part, because travel.

Because travel, I got more time with my kids before they turned 18 than most fathers get in a lifetime.

Because travel, they had grown strong, confident, and adaptable—able to navigate unfamiliar places and uncertain plans.

Because travel, they carried a depth of perspective usually earned much later in life.

Because travel, we have a bond that’s not easily shaken. One born not just of love, but of shared adventure. Of shared jellyfish salads and sketchy street meat. Of shared sunrises over cloud-drenched peaks. Of shared bioluminescent swims and noodle carts on chaotic streets. Heck, we have even shared food with monkeys, both voluntarily and otherwise.

And soon, we would all be sharing the water with whale sharks.

Because travel, we have this.

And that will last long after the backpacks are put away and the boarding passes fade.

Daughter 2 in Valladolid