Mexico City

We went to Mexico City for New Year's. We didn't expect the city to be dead for the holiday, but it was. We walked around and took Ubers to places hoping to eat, but almost every business was closed. That said, there was something beautiful about it. For three days, people shut off work to spend time with family.

If you enjoy culture, art, and food, this is the place to be. There's an abundance of all three. It's true what they say: tacos in Mexico are unmatched. They bring a platter of 8 sauces when you order a single taco. On my last night in Mexico City, I had 7 tacos because they were that good, and I knew I was going to miss them.

Orinoco was my favorite spot. We did hear locals calling it a tourist trap, but my taste buds didn't care.

I went to a lot of museums. Museums aren't usually my thing, but there's so much history in those exhibitions that skipping them felt like a loss. Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, the list goes on. Even outside the museums, you'd find tribes performing dances that felt less like a show and more like a genuine community event, something they took real pride in.

One of my most memorable moments, almost a core memory, was riding a hot air balloon over the Teotihuacan pyramids. It was a last-minute decision: we were at a bar at 11pm the night before, convinced by a Reddit thread. We slept four hours, woke up at 4am, and took an hour-long Uber hoping they'd still have spots. I expected to be scared. Instead, it was one of the most calming experiences of my life. Seeing centuries of history below us, the sun rising in the east, beautiful colors lining the hills, it was serene. The playlist our pilot put together, Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers, was a nice touch.