I’ve always loved traveling. The idea of going somewhere new, or just fondly remembered, excites me. Finding friends in strangers, learning about different cultures, and eating new foods. In my mind, I’ve always pictured travel as this beautiful, flawless thing. Let me tell you, friends, travel is not always perfect and beautiful. This, I have learned.

Recently, I traveled to Cancun, Mexico for a dear friend’s bachelorette party and it was…hot mess. Not the 5 shots of tequila, dancing on a bar, and funny pictures kind of hot mess. The Joanne the Scammer, “IT’S CANCELLED” kind of hot mess. The We’re the Millers, “NO RAGRATS” tattoo kind of hot mess. I’ll spare you the gory details and leave you with this incomplete list of our Mexican misfortunes:

• Missed flights (4 out of the 5 bridesmaids missed their flight, which meant I was flying to Mexico solo-dolo)
• Cheez-it’s for dinner (I love you SouthWest Airlines but would it kill ya to provide better in-flight food?)
• Tropical Storm (24/7 rain the whole weekend = no beach time)
• Ripped off
• Ripped off
• Ripped off (3 times y’all, THREE TIMES. Even as a Spanish speaker I apparently have tourist written across my forehead)
• Kitchen explosion (have you ever had to pick glass shards out of your afro?)
• Canceled zip lining reservations (ok, is this a joke? Where’s Ashton?)
• Police Detention (At this point we’re living in a bad remake of The Hangover)
• Food poisoning (it wasn’t me but the world is cruel, man)

As you can see, this wasn’t the picture perfect vacay I was envisioning,

BUT! There were some bright spots during the trip. For one, we mastered the art of laughing to keep from crying. In some situations you just don’t have any option but to laugh at yourself and keep it pushin’. This was definitely one of those times. Each time my friends and I were faced with another mishap we collected our composure and decided on an alternate route/activity/plan. I’ve never been more determined or worked harder to have a good time.

We shut a tequila tasting restaurant DOWN laughing and having a good time. We skipped arm and arm signing songs from The Cheetah Girls. We danced our booties off. We took silly photos. We encouraged each other. We reveled in our Magical Black Girl-ness.

Keep Pushing. Don’t let circumstances stop you. Keep Pushing.