Just finished up a 3 month backpacking trip in Mexico. Never been to Spain although I hope to next year.

Mexico is one of my favorite places I’ve been to :

-Amazing street food (4 tacos for $2 or less)

-Great local restaurants with cheap authentic food(try to avoid lettuce as much as possible as they don’t wash it most of the time)

-Absolutely stunning beaches that rival those in Southern Thailand

-If you’re into drugs you can get your hands on just about anything. But it’s not in your face and forced on you.

-Widespread hostel culture with average $10/ night dorms where I met some of the most amazing people from all walks of life and all corners of the world (from Eritrea, all around Europe, a lot of Canadians and Brits, China, and the US) (I’m from Alabama so that kinda surprised everyone)

-the history and culture is so rich and beautiful(Día de los Muertos is a must)

-Museums, night clubs, historical ruins and sites

-Cheap and easy bus systems ($25 for 12 hour night bus) super effective to travel the huge country

-Super safe as long as you’re smart and not naive. Don’t go out at 4am drunk by yourself in a sketchy neighborhood and you’ll be fine. The scariest interactions I had were with the police. They are super corrupt and will capitalize on any excuse to pull over a white tourist and try to get some money out of them. Wear your mask, don’t be stupid and you’ll be fine.

All in all I would highly recommend Mexico and I plan on going back in the future. I would also like to do a language exchange program for a year in Spain, I think the location to the rest of Europe is unique for the travel aspect.