April 1, 2026 • 21 mins
Episode Title: Episode 28: How Do We Do Worldschooling in Mexico?
Hosts: Astrid & Clint, creators of The Wandering Daughter
(Intro clip sourced from 3:32 — Astrid describing how Mexico became a country their family keeps returning to, year after year, even after long stretches elsewhere)
Mexico holds a special place in the worldschooling journey of The Wandering Daughter family — it's the country where they started their full-time travels, and the one they keep finding reasons to come back to. In this episode, Astrid and Clint answer the question: how do I world school in Mexico?
They start with the practical: why Mexico is one of the most accessible destinations for families from the US and Canada, from six-month tourist visas to a strong domestic transport network including buses, flights, and a newly opened train through the Yucatán Peninsula. They also cover cash-based logistics and the importance of at least basic Spanish once you're outside tourist zones.
But this episode quickly becomes a masterclass in just how much Mexico has to offer curious learners of every age. From the layered histories of the Maya, Aztec, and Zapotec civilizations to the lasting imprint of Spanish colonialism, Mexico invites deep exploration at every turn. Astrid and Clint walk through some of the country's most powerful worldschooling experiences: watching Aztec dancers perform in front of a Catholic church in Mexico City, exploring archaeological sites like Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan, and Monte Albán, releasing baby sea turtles into the ocean in Puerto Escondido, swimming with whale sharks in La Paz, and following the monarch butterfly migration to Michoacán.
They wrap with personal city recommendations for worldschooling families — Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Mérida, Puerto Vallarta, and Oaxaca City — and offer an honest, grounded take on safety in Mexico that pushes back against the fear-based narrative many families carry into their first trip.
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📋 Episode Chapters: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:20 – Welcome to Worldschooling Q&A 00:01:01 – Today's Question: How Do I World School in Mexico? 00:01:15 – Mexico Overview: Size, Diversity & Getting There 00:03:32 – ↩ Source of Intro Clip: Mexico — A Country They Keep Coming Back To 00:04:55 – Culture & History: Mayan, Aztec, Zapotec & Colonial Heritage 00:07:25 – Archaeological Sites: Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan & More 00:08:57 – Nature: Whale Sharks, Monarch Butterflies & Sea Turtles 00:11:49 – Connecting With Locals & Learning Beyond the Tour 00:13:33 – Top City Recommendations for Worldschooling Families 00:18:18 – Food Notes for Vegans & Safety Realities in Mexico 00:20:11 – Outro & How to Support the Show
👉 For full show notes, resource links, and a complete episode guide, visit: https://thewanderingdaughter.com/episode-28-worldschooling-in-mexico
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(00:00):
And then we went other places.
And then the next year we came back, or like a couple of years later, we came back toMexico.
And then we uh left again and then came back in 2023.
So this is just a country that we always just keep coming back to.
This is World Schooling Q &A.
I'm Astrid, creator of The Wandering Daughter.
(00:22):
As a traveling family, we've spent four years traveling full time to over 18 countries andsix continents.
Wherever we go, we try to learn as much as we can about the countries and cultures wevisit.
While we didn't coin the term, we like to call this world schooling, using the world asour classroom.
Each week, my husband, Clint, and I will answer one question about world schooling andshare our experiences of traveling the world with our kids.
(00:49):
Ready to get started?
Great, let's dive in.
Okay, this week we're switching gears and we're going to start deep diving into thecountries that we visited as a family.
And the first question for this series is, how do I world school in Mexico?
(01:14):
I think I'll just start with kind of giving you a quick overview of Mexico in general andjust arriving there as a full as a family.
Keep this brief because we'll dive into like just talking about the highlights that wehave over Mexico.
But Mexico is a big country.
Lots of people from the US are afraid to travel there just to be frank for some reason.
(01:35):
uh But you don't have to be.
It's an amazing, it's an amazing country with lots of diversity, a rich, rich history.
incredible like diversity in nature and people.
It's got amazing food.
So it's really incredible overall place to go to.
(01:55):
And for anyone based in the United States and Canada, it's a great place to start becauseit's so close to home.
It's really easy to get there.
They allow up to six months tourist visas.
you are travel visas.
that you don't need to apply for in advance.
So you can get there very easily, show up, say you're there for six months and theyusually will grant you that or however long.
(02:19):
And then it's easy to get around, domestic flights.
can drive.
We've driven a ton in Mexico.
Yeah.
There's buses too.
There's a bus system that you can take advantage of.
And in the Yucatan Peninsula, they just opened up the train that goes throughout thatregion.
So we haven't ridden it yet, but I think that is a good way to, you know, get from placeto place in the Yucatan Peninsula.
(02:47):
Yeah, I think, you know, the largest city is Mexico City.
A lot of families will tend to fly into Mexico City because that's where most of theflights go to, but then immediately go somewhere else.
I recommend just hanging out in Mexico City for a bit.
It's an amazing city.
We're city people, so we like that.
But, you know, every major region, how many states is there in Mexico?
(03:09):
Like 32 states, every major, every state has like a major city that we've been to ahandful of them and they're all
They're all awesome in their own ways.
Yeah.
So, and we like small towns too.
But anyways, it's a great place to start.
think that was where we started.
Technically, our world's going better, even though we had traveled to other places before.
(03:30):
We went full-time, it was Mexico.
Yeah, and the thing is, so when we were traveling full time, we went to Mexico and spent,originally intending to spend like four months there, but ended up extending it to six
months.
And then we went other places and then the next year we came back, or like a couple ofyears later, we came back to Mexico.
(03:51):
And then we left again and then came back in 2023.
So this is just a country that we always just keep coming back to.
Yep.
I think just a couple of logistics.
Paces is the main form of money.
It is mostly cash based system.
So you can have cards, but mostly just have a debit card so you can get cash.
You can use a normal debit card from the US or Canada, but cash is going to be, it's goingto be what you use the majority of the time.
(04:19):
So be sure to carry that out.
It's really easy to get cash, grocery stores, there's love.
And they speak Spanish there, so you should at least learn a few phrases in Spanish.
I have a Spanish phrase book that you can download from my site, so the link will be inthe show notes.
Yeah.
And Spanish is critical there because once you get outside the airports and stuff, there'sactually not a lot of people that speak English very regularly, unless you're in touristy
(04:48):
zones.
But we don't spend a ton of time in touristy zones, so we mostly end up speaking Spanish.
some things that world schoolers might enjoy in Mexico or what might be some like goodopportunities for learning while you're in Mexico.
Oh man, I mean, this is why we spent so much time in Mexico because there's just a wealthof experiences that you can do there.
(05:14):
Yeah.
First and foremost, like this is a cliche sometimes, but like just the diversity in peopleand the histories is incredible from the Yucatan Peninsula and the mostly Mayan there.
They have a really rich Mayan history throughout, especially the small towns.
to Mexico City in that area, whereas it's mostly Aztec-based.
(05:36):
There's desert areas, there's the monarch butterflies.
mean, there's a ton.
could go on and
And like Oaxaca state, you know, you have like the Zapotec culture there.
And then over in the Pacific coast is like, no, no, I feel maybe I'm butchering this.
But it just so many different like mixes of cultures.
(05:57):
And then you have like, you know, it was a former Spanish colony.
So then you have for better or for worse, like the influence of Spanish culture viacolonialism.
uh
overlaid on top of Mexican culture or like the indigenous culture and sort of seeing howthat plays out has been interesting to experience.
(06:21):
And I think that it's like, it's the Spanish, the Spanish colonial, like look from anarchitecture standpoint that really gives Mexico what we think of at least the United
States is the quintessential Mexican look.
And it is quite beautiful.
mean, it is definitely a problematic history.
There are some cities that have some great colonial architecture.
(06:43):
Oh yeah, I mean, some bigger cities have it.
Obviously Mexico City does.
But like a great one is like Puerto Vallarta down in the Romantica zone has some great.
San Miguel de Allende is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
So it's really preserved some of that.
Throughout Mexico, you have these towns, they're called magical towns.
(07:05):
So Pueblos Máticos.
Oh Pueblos Máticos, yeah.
And it's like, all of those are preserved in some way.
because largely because of the architecture and the history, but also because of the artand things like that.
I think that's probably our favorite.
Then on the other side, there's like cities where it's so like, you can learn about someof the indigenous history there.
(07:32):
like, you have so many archaeological sites that have been like preserved or restored.
You know, the popular one is Tijonitza, but, and Tiwaka near the city, but we've been tolike Monte Alban near Oaxaca.
We've been to like some of the smaller.
archaeological sites in the Yucatan Peninsula and like in central Mexico.
(07:57):
So like learning about indigenous culture has been unique and wonderful for the kids.
And it's, it's, they're really in few.
mean, it's, really is a mix of indigenous and, and colonial, colonial history there.
It's, it's a fascinating mix.
I think the majority of the country is still pretty much Catholic, but infused in that oneof our earliest memories is being in Mexico city and literally being in front of a
(08:23):
Catholic church.
Yeah.
And there's like Aztec dancing happening in the square right in front.
And yeah, it's, you know, it's.
You can find the indigenous culture everywhere.
think in Merida and on the Yucatan Peninsula, that's a Mayan hub, like a Mayan market hub.
So there's big Mayan markets there and all the surrounding towns are small Mayan townswith that traditionally have created goods to bring to the market.
(08:52):
So yeah, I could go on and on and on about the culture and the history and stuff, butyeah.
like some natural nature related things.
Yeah.
I you talked a little bit about the diversity in nature.
What are some of the highlights for you?
oh
wow.
Well, I mean, there's whale sharks.
We, we swam with whale sharks in La Paz.
(09:13):
It's one of the migratory paths for the whale sharks.
It's in fact, the entire west coast of Mexico, west and southern coast of Mexico ismigratory paths for all whales.
So depending on the time of year, you can see humpbacks, can see, you know, tiger sharksor not tiger sharks on whale sharks.
mean, just everything comes through that area.
(09:35):
manta rays come through.
It's just, we saw manta rays jumping out of water, like they were like mosquitoes.
There's so many of them just literally coming out of water.
It's also a migratory path for the monarch butterflies.
So central Mexico near Mexico City and Michoacan, right?
Yeah.
And the state of Michoacan is where the monarch butterflies is the southernmost pointwhere the monarch butterflies migrate to.
(10:03):
That's only certain times a year.
Yeah, and these are all like throughout the year, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
One of the things that I liked and we did a fantastic tour with this company called PuertoEscondido Eco-Adventures.
And so this was in the town of Puerto Escondido and that is in Oaxaca state.
(10:25):
And it was a baby sea turtle release.
So that was such a fun experience because before we did the experience of kids and Iwatched it.
a video to kind of learn about baby sea turtles or like just sea turtles in general andlike their life cycle and why they're endangered and some of the like hazards or dangers
(10:48):
that they face even in the first like moments of life.
And then we take this tour with that with them and they take us to like the sea turtlenursery or sanctuary where they they have like the the eggs there and then we
saw some of the baby sea turtles that had hatched and put some in a bowl.
(11:09):
They put some in a bowl and then they like, we carried it out to the beach so that we canlike release them into the ocean.
And so the kids kind of saw, you know, like just even that 15 meters going to the waterwas like dangerous for them because like the birds are like swarming around.
(11:30):
We're trying to like.
Swallowing the seagulls because that's like good food for them.
But yeah, it was like the, think those types of experiences was what helped them likeclick the like, oh, I'm watching this in a video or I read this in a book and now I see it
in real life.
think it's also important in things like that to those types of experiences, to reallytalk to the people behind it too.
(11:56):
Yes.
Because we kind of befriended the owner of that and talked to him more in depth.
And you learn things about that.
Like we learned that those kind of, quote unquote, touristy activities that they do torelease the turtles are geared towards to try to bring income into the organization.
And that most of the turtle releases and stuff
(12:18):
happen at night because that's when the predators are not going to get them and they youknow so like it's in the it's not just them like yeah what a what do we push there's a
woman who sells cheesecakes along a main street and we sit and talk with her and we get toknow so that's just one of the things too I think that we kind of back to the people on
(12:38):
channel yeah yeah are there any other nature things you can think of
They, oh, know, in Guanajuato as well, the city is like surrounded by mountains.
So we did like a horseback riding experience there.
And then, yes, you're right.
Like snorkeling.
think the Yucatan peninsula was like the Cozumel was great for that.
(13:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
it's just, there's so much diversity there and so many.
so many UNESCO sites too.
I think it would be a miss if you are going to a world school and you skip Mexico.
Yeah.
I see.
Oh, so if you were, I want to end the episode with like your recommendations.
(13:26):
If somebody was to go to Mexico, if you wanted to send a family there, what would be like,these are the places you can't miss.
Well, I know we have a little bit of a problem recommending this, but I would recommendthe right next to each other.
So it's not hard to go to, but San Miguel de Allende, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
(13:49):
It's absolutely charming as a small town.
It is leading with a lot of tourists.
So you have to take that into consideration.
A lot of foreign tourists, which can be a turn, you know, can not be a thing for somepeople.
Yeah.
And it's a thing for us to like we also are a little bothered by but yeah, 30 minutesaway.
(14:10):
Probably one of our favorite if not favorite cities not only in Mexico, but like in theworld.
And that's Guadaluato City.
Yeah, Guadaluato City is incredible.
There is there are some foreign visitors there.
foreigners that are living there.
It's a growing number of foreigners that are living there.
But it's actually mostly Mexican tourists, think.
(14:31):
that come to Guararacha City.
And it's like this mini metropolis.
I mean, it's just incredible.
It's artsy, it's beautiful architecture, it's set on these really steep hills.
It used to be a mining community, so there's all these crazy tunnels that the taxis willdrive through.
(14:51):
It's just such an amazing, interesting city with all the amenities of a city, right?
There's movie theaters, malls, all that.
there's kind of like a newer outer part but then the inner part is this really incredibleplace so those those would be my two recommendations i have another one but i'll reserve
for
I would recommend three places.
(15:12):
And again, these are all cities as well, because we're city people, but one is Merida inthe Yucatan Peninsula.
It's also one of the safest cities in Mexico, if not the, supposedly the safest city.
But we love it because it's a good mix of like, there's the colonial architecture, butthere's also like the Mayan heritage and so much good food.
(15:36):
I forgot to mention how much like there's.
Mexico, Mexican food is like way more than just tacos.
Although we love tacos.
But yeah, so Merida is one and it's, you know, you can, it's kind of accessible to thebeach if you wanted to take like a 45 minute drive out to Progreso.
Puerto Vallarta was another city that we fell in love with.
(15:56):
And something that we liked about that was like, it used to be a spot for, so the Spanish,they colonized Mexico and...
and the Philippines, but they never had a direct connection to the Philippines.
And we didn't know about this until we learned about it in Puerto Vallarta, because theSpanish would come to Mexico via like Veracruz, go across the country to like Puerto
(16:20):
Vallarta, like Acapulco, and then go to the Philippines from there.
So Puerto Vallarta was like a, a like pivotal city for that Mexico, Spain, Mexico,Philippines kind of.
connection route.
So I would recommend that if you were going to go just to like, not only for like thathistorical part, but there's some beautiful like snorkeling, swimming opportunities too
(16:47):
over there.
I would echo Puerto Vallarta is probably, if you are only going to go to Mexico once orit's the first time you're going to Mexico, I would probably recommend Puerto Vallarta
because it's got a mix of the ocean, so the snorkeling, it's got mountains and kind of ajungle, it's got jungle feel, it's got the colonial history of it.
(17:11):
There is some indigenous, maybe not as much indigenous representation there as say otherparts of Mexico, but it's...
It's really vibrant.
You're going to get a it's it's a cruise stop.
So there are a lot of foreigners there and tourists.
So that's one thing maybe to keep in mind, but it's absolutely incredible for some.
Yeah.
(17:31):
And then the last place would be Oaxaca City.
love food and that is probably one of the best places to be in Mexico if you want to trydifferent types of cuisine or like just try like the cuisine of Mexico.
Yeah, especially the food markets.
Yeah.
There's so many food markets and all through Mexico, the food markets are amazing.
(17:54):
But I think Oaxaca specifically, the food markets are amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anything else we didn't cover?
No, and if you want to learn more about some of these cities that we highlight, I lists orI have articles about different cities in Mexico on my website.
And I also have a separate website dedicated to Mexico travel called Mexico Family Travel.
(18:17):
So check that out too.
I do want to mention two more things about food real quick.
One, it is a little hard for vegans to go and eat food ordered.
Now there is growing like vegan number of vegan restaurants and things, but cooking is noproblem.
Yeah.
Easy to buy ingredients to cook vegan friendly.
The other thing is I think it'd be a mess if we didn't say anything about safety.
(18:40):
Yes, food safety or just safety in general.
So one reason I think folks in the US that don't go to Mexico very often is because ourmedia tends to have a very negative view of Mexico.
Some of it justified, some of it not justified.
The thing you remember, Mexico is huge.
It's about, I think, the third size of the United States.
(19:01):
It's incredibly large.
And there are pockets that are really dangerous because of, cartel action or things likethat.
And then there are pockets that are completely safe and residential.
The thing is, all throughout the country, people live, people survive, people work, peoplehave good lives.
(19:21):
And there are families in Mexico.
you know, I always think like, if there are families that are living in this place, thenit's, you know, there's a way to be safe there.
we're always like, we will go to Mexico anytime.
we're like, any of our friends, family, whoever is hesitant about going to Mexico, youknow, plan a trip together, we'll go, we'll go to and we'll, we'll show you some spots
(19:50):
because it's, once you get there and realize like, this place is amazing.
It's easy or it's easy to kind of push away some of those negativity, some of thenegativity.
But anyways, it's just I want to mention that because that is a country that gets
I think a lot of conversation or debate about that.
(20:11):
Cool.
All right.
Well, that's all for today.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of World Schooling Q &A with Astrid and Clint.
Be sure to check out the show notes for any links we mentioned in the episode and visit mywebsite, thewanderingdaughter.com to dive deeper into world schooling and family travel.
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(20:34):
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(21:22):
forward slash podcast.
Until next time, happy travels.
Bye.
And then we went other places.
And then the next year we came back, or like a couple of years later, we came back toMexico.
And then we uh left again and then came back in 2023.
So this is just a country that we always just keep coming back to.
This is World Schooling Q &A.
I'm Astrid, creator of The Wandering Daughter.
(00:22):
As a traveling family, we've spent four years traveling full time to over 18 countries andsix continents.
Wherever we go, we try to learn as much as we can about the countries and cultures wevisit.
While we didn't coin the term, we like to call this world schooling, using the world asour classroom.
Each week, my husband, Clint, and I will answer one question about world schooling andshare our experiences of traveling the world with our kids.
(00:49):
Ready to get started?
Great, let's dive in.
Okay, this week we're switching gears and we're going to start deep diving into thecountries that we visited as a family.
And the first question for this series is, how do I world school in Mexico?
(01:14):
I think I'll just start with kind of giving you a quick overview of Mexico in general andjust arriving there as a full as a family.
Keep this brief because we'll dive into like just talking about the highlights that wehave over Mexico.
But Mexico is a big country.
Lots of people from the US are afraid to travel there just to be frank for some reason.
(01:35):
uh But you don't have to be.
It's an amazing, it's an amazing country with lots of diversity, a rich, rich history.
incredible like diversity in nature and people.
It's got amazing food.
So it's really incredible overall place to go to.
(01:55):
And for anyone based in the United States and Canada, it's a great place to start becauseit's so close to home.
It's really easy to get there.
They allow up to six months tourist visas.
you are travel visas.
that you don't need to apply for in advance.
So you can get there very easily, show up, say you're there for six months and theyusually will grant you that or however long.
(02:19):
And then it's easy to get around, domestic flights.
can drive.
We've driven a ton in Mexico.
Yeah.
There's buses too.
There's a bus system that you can take advantage of.
And in the Yucatan Peninsula, they just opened up the train that goes throughout thatregion.
So we haven't ridden it yet, but I think that is a good way to, you know, get from placeto place in the Yucatan Peninsula.
(02:47):
Yeah, I think, you know, the largest city is Mexico City.
A lot of families will tend to fly into Mexico City because that's where most of theflights go to, but then immediately go somewhere else.
I recommend just hanging out in Mexico City for a bit.
It's an amazing city.
We're city people, so we like that.
But, you know, every major region, how many states is there in Mexico?
(03:09):
Like 32 states, every major, every state has like a major city that we've been to ahandful of them and they're all
They're all awesome in their own ways.
Yeah.
So, and we like small towns too.
But anyways, it's a great place to start.
think that was where we started.
Technically, our world's going better, even though we had traveled to other places before.
(03:30):
We went full-time, it was Mexico.
Yeah, and the thing is, so when we were traveling full time, we went to Mexico and spent,originally intending to spend like four months there, but ended up extending it to six
months.
And then we went other places and then the next year we came back, or like a couple ofyears later, we came back to Mexico.
(03:51):
And then we left again and then came back in 2023.
So this is just a country that we always just keep coming back to.
Yep.
I think just a couple of logistics.
Paces is the main form of money.
It is mostly cash based system.
So you can have cards, but mostly just have a debit card so you can get cash.
You can use a normal debit card from the US or Canada, but cash is going to be, it's goingto be what you use the majority of the time.
(04:19):
So be sure to carry that out.
It's really easy to get cash, grocery stores, there's love.
And they speak Spanish there, so you should at least learn a few phrases in Spanish.
I have a Spanish phrase book that you can download from my site, so the link will be inthe show notes.
Yeah.
And Spanish is critical there because once you get outside the airports and stuff, there'sactually not a lot of people that speak English very regularly, unless you're in touristy
(04:48):
zones.
But we don't spend a ton of time in touristy zones, so we mostly end up speaking Spanish.
some things that world schoolers might enjoy in Mexico or what might be some like goodopportunities for learning while you're in Mexico.
Oh man, I mean, this is why we spent so much time in Mexico because there's just a wealthof experiences that you can do there.
(05:14):
Yeah.
First and foremost, like this is a cliche sometimes, but like just the diversity in peopleand the histories is incredible from the Yucatan Peninsula and the mostly Mayan there.
They have a really rich Mayan history throughout, especially the small towns.
to Mexico City in that area, whereas it's mostly Aztec-based.
(05:36):
There's desert areas, there's the monarch butterflies.
mean, there's a ton.
could go on and
And like Oaxaca state, you know, you have like the Zapotec culture there.
And then over in the Pacific coast is like, no, no, I feel maybe I'm butchering this.
But it just so many different like mixes of cultures.
(05:57):
And then you have like, you know, it was a former Spanish colony.
So then you have for better or for worse, like the influence of Spanish culture viacolonialism.
uh
overlaid on top of Mexican culture or like the indigenous culture and sort of seeing howthat plays out has been interesting to experience.
(06:21):
And I think that it's like, it's the Spanish, the Spanish colonial, like look from anarchitecture standpoint that really gives Mexico what we think of at least the United
States is the quintessential Mexican look.
And it is quite beautiful.
mean, it is definitely a problematic history.
There are some cities that have some great colonial architecture.
(06:43):
Oh yeah, I mean, some bigger cities have it.
Obviously Mexico City does.
But like a great one is like Puerto Vallarta down in the Romantica zone has some great.
San Miguel de Allende is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
So it's really preserved some of that.
Throughout Mexico, you have these towns, they're called magical towns.
(07:05):
So Pueblos Máticos.
Oh Pueblos Máticos, yeah.
And it's like, all of those are preserved in some way.
because largely because of the architecture and the history, but also because of the artand things like that.
I think that's probably our favorite.
Then on the other side, there's like cities where it's so like, you can learn about someof the indigenous history there.
(07:32):
like, you have so many archaeological sites that have been like preserved or restored.
You know, the popular one is Tijonitza, but, and Tiwaka near the city, but we've been tolike Monte Alban near Oaxaca.
We've been to like some of the smaller.
archaeological sites in the Yucatan Peninsula and like in central Mexico.
(07:57):
So like learning about indigenous culture has been unique and wonderful for the kids.
And it's, it's, they're really in few.
mean, it's, really is a mix of indigenous and, and colonial, colonial history there.
It's, it's a fascinating mix.
I think the majority of the country is still pretty much Catholic, but infused in that oneof our earliest memories is being in Mexico city and literally being in front of a
(08:23):
Catholic church.
Yeah.
And there's like Aztec dancing happening in the square right in front.
And yeah, it's, you know, it's.
You can find the indigenous culture everywhere.
think in Merida and on the Yucatan Peninsula, that's a Mayan hub, like a Mayan market hub.
So there's big Mayan markets there and all the surrounding towns are small Mayan townswith that traditionally have created goods to bring to the market.
(08:52):
So yeah, I could go on and on and on about the culture and the history and stuff, butyeah.
like some natural nature related things.
Yeah.
I you talked a little bit about the diversity in nature.
What are some of the highlights for you?
oh
wow.
Well, I mean, there's whale sharks.
We, we swam with whale sharks in La Paz.
(09:13):
It's one of the migratory paths for the whale sharks.
It's in fact, the entire west coast of Mexico, west and southern coast of Mexico ismigratory paths for all whales.
So depending on the time of year, you can see humpbacks, can see, you know, tiger sharksor not tiger sharks on whale sharks.
mean, just everything comes through that area.
(09:35):
manta rays come through.
It's just, we saw manta rays jumping out of water, like they were like mosquitoes.
There's so many of them just literally coming out of water.
It's also a migratory path for the monarch butterflies.
So central Mexico near Mexico City and Michoacan, right?
Yeah.
And the state of Michoacan is where the monarch butterflies is the southernmost pointwhere the monarch butterflies migrate to.
(10:03):
That's only certain times a year.
Yeah, and these are all like throughout the year, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
One of the things that I liked and we did a fantastic tour with this company called PuertoEscondido Eco-Adventures.
And so this was in the town of Puerto Escondido and that is in Oaxaca state.
(10:25):
And it was a baby sea turtle release.
So that was such a fun experience because before we did the experience of kids and Iwatched it.
a video to kind of learn about baby sea turtles or like just sea turtles in general andlike their life cycle and why they're endangered and some of the like hazards or dangers
(10:48):
that they face even in the first like moments of life.
And then we take this tour with that with them and they take us to like the sea turtlenursery or sanctuary where they they have like the the eggs there and then we
saw some of the baby sea turtles that had hatched and put some in a bowl.
(11:09):
They put some in a bowl and then they like, we carried it out to the beach so that we canlike release them into the ocean.
And so the kids kind of saw, you know, like just even that 15 meters going to the waterwas like dangerous for them because like the birds are like swarming around.
(11:30):
We're trying to like.
Swallowing the seagulls because that's like good food for them.
But yeah, it was like the, think those types of experiences was what helped them likeclick the like, oh, I'm watching this in a video or I read this in a book and now I see it
in real life.
think it's also important in things like that to those types of experiences, to reallytalk to the people behind it too.
(11:56):
Yes.
Because we kind of befriended the owner of that and talked to him more in depth.
And you learn things about that.
Like we learned that those kind of, quote unquote, touristy activities that they do torelease the turtles are geared towards to try to bring income into the organization.
And that most of the turtle releases and stuff
(12:18):
happen at night because that's when the predators are not going to get them and they youknow so like it's in the it's not just them like yeah what a what do we push there's a
woman who sells cheesecakes along a main street and we sit and talk with her and we get toknow so that's just one of the things too I think that we kind of back to the people on
(12:38):
channel yeah yeah are there any other nature things you can think of
They, oh, know, in Guanajuato as well, the city is like surrounded by mountains.
So we did like a horseback riding experience there.
And then, yes, you're right.
Like snorkeling.
think the Yucatan peninsula was like the Cozumel was great for that.
(13:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
it's just, there's so much diversity there and so many.
so many UNESCO sites too.
I think it would be a miss if you are going to a world school and you skip Mexico.
Yeah.
I see.
Oh, so if you were, I want to end the episode with like your recommendations.
(13:26):
If somebody was to go to Mexico, if you wanted to send a family there, what would be like,these are the places you can't miss.
Well, I know we have a little bit of a problem recommending this, but I would recommendthe right next to each other.
So it's not hard to go to, but San Miguel de Allende, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
(13:49):
It's absolutely charming as a small town.
It is leading with a lot of tourists.
So you have to take that into consideration.
A lot of foreign tourists, which can be a turn, you know, can not be a thing for somepeople.
Yeah.
And it's a thing for us to like we also are a little bothered by but yeah, 30 minutesaway.
(14:10):
Probably one of our favorite if not favorite cities not only in Mexico, but like in theworld.
And that's Guadaluato City.
Yeah, Guadaluato City is incredible.
There is there are some foreign visitors there.
foreigners that are living there.
It's a growing number of foreigners that are living there.
But it's actually mostly Mexican tourists, think.
(14:31):
that come to Guararacha City.
And it's like this mini metropolis.
I mean, it's just incredible.
It's artsy, it's beautiful architecture, it's set on these really steep hills.
It used to be a mining community, so there's all these crazy tunnels that the taxis willdrive through.
(14:51):
It's just such an amazing, interesting city with all the amenities of a city, right?
There's movie theaters, malls, all that.
there's kind of like a newer outer part but then the inner part is this really incredibleplace so those those would be my two recommendations i have another one but i'll reserve
for
I would recommend three places.
(15:12):
And again, these are all cities as well, because we're city people, but one is Merida inthe Yucatan Peninsula.
It's also one of the safest cities in Mexico, if not the, supposedly the safest city.
But we love it because it's a good mix of like, there's the colonial architecture, butthere's also like the Mayan heritage and so much good food.
(15:36):
I forgot to mention how much like there's.
Mexico, Mexican food is like way more than just tacos.
Although we love tacos.
But yeah, so Merida is one and it's, you know, you can, it's kind of accessible to thebeach if you wanted to take like a 45 minute drive out to Progreso.
Puerto Vallarta was another city that we fell in love with.
(15:56):
And something that we liked about that was like, it used to be a spot for, so the Spanish,they colonized Mexico and...
and the Philippines, but they never had a direct connection to the Philippines.
And we didn't know about this until we learned about it in Puerto Vallarta, because theSpanish would come to Mexico via like Veracruz, go across the country to like Puerto
(16:20):
Vallarta, like Acapulco, and then go to the Philippines from there.
So Puerto Vallarta was like a, a like pivotal city for that Mexico, Spain, Mexico,Philippines kind of.
connection route.
So I would recommend that if you were going to go just to like, not only for like thathistorical part, but there's some beautiful like snorkeling, swimming opportunities too
(16:47):
over there.
I would echo Puerto Vallarta is probably, if you are only going to go to Mexico once orit's the first time you're going to Mexico, I would probably recommend Puerto Vallarta
because it's got a mix of the ocean, so the snorkeling, it's got mountains and kind of ajungle, it's got jungle feel, it's got the colonial history of it.
(17:11):
There is some indigenous, maybe not as much indigenous representation there as say otherparts of Mexico, but it's...
It's really vibrant.
You're going to get a it's it's a cruise stop.
So there are a lot of foreigners there and tourists.
So that's one thing maybe to keep in mind, but it's absolutely incredible for some.
Yeah.
(17:31):
And then the last place would be Oaxaca City.
love food and that is probably one of the best places to be in Mexico if you want to trydifferent types of cuisine or like just try like the cuisine of Mexico.
Yeah, especially the food markets.
Yeah.
There's so many food markets and all through Mexico, the food markets are amazing.
(17:54):
But I think Oaxaca specifically, the food markets are amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anything else we didn't cover?
No, and if you want to learn more about some of these cities that we highlight, I lists orI have articles about different cities in Mexico on my website.
And I also have a separate website dedicated to Mexico travel called Mexico Family Travel.
(18:17):
So check that out too.
I do want to mention two more things about food real quick.
One, it is a little hard for vegans to go and eat food ordered.
Now there is growing like vegan number of vegan restaurants and things, but cooking is noproblem.
Yeah.
Easy to buy ingredients to cook vegan friendly.
The other thing is I think it'd be a mess if we didn't say anything about safety.
(18:40):
Yes, food safety or just safety in general.
So one reason I think folks in the US that don't go to Mexico very often is because ourmedia tends to have a very negative view of Mexico.
Some of it justified, some of it not justified.
The thing you remember, Mexico is huge.
It's about, I think, the third size of the United States.
(19:01):
It's incredibly large.
And there are pockets that are really dangerous because of, cartel action or things likethat.
And then there are pockets that are completely safe and residential.
The thing is, all throughout the country, people live, people survive, people work, peoplehave good lives.
(19:21):
And there are families in Mexico.
you know, I always think like, if there are families that are living in this place, thenit's, you know, there's a way to be safe there.
we're always like, we will go to Mexico anytime.
we're like, any of our friends, family, whoever is hesitant about going to Mexico, youknow, plan a trip together, we'll go, we'll go to and we'll, we'll show you some spots
(19:50):
because it's, once you get there and realize like, this place is amazing.
It's easy or it's easy to kind of push away some of those negativity, some of thenegativity.
But anyways, it's just I want to mention that because that is a country that gets
I think a lot of conversation or debate about that.
(20:11):
Cool.
All right.
Well, that's all for today.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of World Schooling Q &A with Astrid and Clint.
Be sure to check out the show notes for any links we mentioned in the episode and visit mywebsite, thewanderingdaughter.com to dive deeper into world schooling and family travel.
If you like what you hear, please consider supporting The Wandering Daughter on Patreon.
(20:34):
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You'll also get exclusive perks like episode transcripts, additional resources, access tooffice hours with us, and more.
You can find us on Spotify or the podcast app of your choice.
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(20:54):
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(21:22):
forward slash podcast.
Until next time, happy travels.
Bye.
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