What to Pack for a Trip to Mexico

Traveling to Mexico soon? Good idea. You won’t need to bring much, and the most important things don’t go in your bag: an open-mind, a friendly attitude, curiosity about culture, adventurous tastes, and common sense.

But what about that bag, what do you put in it? And which bag do you choose anyway?

The bag

I have a particular loathing for roller bags. Sure, they’re convenient, but on an adventurous trip with several destinations, the wheels get neglected as you end up carrying it up and down stairs, or on and off busses, like any other bulky, heavy bag.

A backpack is therefore essential, but keep it simple. There are few sadder sights than the traveler in dirty clothes carrying a $1,000 backpack and arguing over the price of a bag of fruit. The bigger the backpack, full of expensive electronics and who-knows-what else, the worse the image becomes.

Good quality, functional backpacks can be inexpensive. And in general, smaller is better. It’s no fun hunching under a heavy bag that towers over your head. It’s a lot of fun keeping it under your feet on a bus, and not worrying about it in the luggage compartment below, or worse, precariously tied to the roof.

Fortunately, in Mexico all you need should fit in a medium-sized backpack.

Be sure to bring:

• A sweater or hoodie, for chilly nights and overly air-conditioned buses
• Jeans or long pants, to blend in when not on the beach (Mexicans are more formal)
• One nice outfit, for that night out
• Sunscreen (it’s expensive in Mexico)
• Sunglasses (the cheap ones in Mexico don’t have UV protection)
• Tiger Balm. This stuff cures mosquito bites, trust me. It’s being promoted as relief for sore muscles, which it is, but it’s much more valuable for treating bug bites. Don’t buy the red, “extra strength” one — it will stain your clothes.
• Swim suit. Even if you aren’t going to the beach, your hotel may have a pool.
• Flip flops — for the beach or the hostel shower. Though you can get cheap ones in Mexico, the best are rugged and comfortable Havaianas from Brazil.
• A money belt or pouch to hide the essentials while you’re between hotels on public transportation:
• A tiny, inexpensive, collapsable day pack.
• A packable raincoat if you go in rainy season
• If you are addicted to coffee and want to save time and money by making it yourself, get a hotel with a kitchen (to boil water), buy a bag of locally-produced coffee in a market, and use a collapsible, travel-friendly pour-over coffee maker.
• Fun things: frisbee (hard to find here), guitar or other instrument (lots of musicians around), sketchbook, camera, etc.

Please see my article How To Pack Light for Independent Travel for more packing tips.

Books

You don’t need a Spanish phrasebook — you can find all the basics online. Plus, phrasebooks don’t really teach you anything. You’re better off downloading Google Translate.

If part of your Mexico objective is to finally learn Spanish, then Madrigal’s Magic Key is the best book I can recommend. A lightweight paperback, it has plenty of content for daily study. You can do a page or two in the morning and then practice on the street that day. (Tip: don’t write in the book — go back and do the exercises again.)

For pleasure reading, there’s no shortage of great books about Mexico and Mexican literature. I’ll add to this list later; for now here are two tried-and-true favorites.

Magic is real in Magic Realism, a literary genre strong in Latin America (Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, many more). Like Water for Chocolate is a popular Mexican contribution, also made into a decent movie. As usual, the book is better — and it has recipes!

Written by an gringo who spent 12 years living, traveling and researching in Mexico, Aztec is as epic as epic gets: 1,000 pages of blood, sex, and adventure as good or better than Shogun or Game of Thrones.

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