Top Posts of 2019

As the year comes to a close, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on our most popular posts of 2019.

Some of the popular posts surprised us, including one of the very first posts I wrote as a travel blogger on a camping area in my home state. But other ones aren’t surprising at all. We knew a lot of our content on southern Mexico would bring needed information to the masses.

Get your bookmarks ready… Without further ado, here are the most popular Off Path Travels posts from 2019:

1. Red Feather Lakes Dispersed Camping

I am thrilled to see that our top post combines my home state of Colorado with one of my favorite activities, camping. Red Feather Lakes Dispersed Camping took the top spot for Off Path Travels in 2019!

Like most of our favorite locations, this is a relatively unknown and less popular camping area. And we were able to find an even more isolated section nearby. We even saw a few small moose when we visited.

2. Playa Zipolite and San Agustinillo: Incredible Beaches Near Mazunte in Oaxaca, Mexico

Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Oaxaca… I’ll go ahead and spill the beans: This state in southern Mexico is one of our most popular blog topics. If you’ve kept up with our posts, we’re sure you easily understand why.

Our second-most popular post covers a wonderful beach area along the Pacific coast in Oaxaca.

Playa Zipolite is a special place with a rich history of being an inviting and open-minded place. We cannot wait to return to this entire area. I recommend reading about Mazunte as well, another awesome vacation spot on Oaxaca’s coast.

3. How to Get to Caye Caulker Belize

Does it surprise you that one of our top-three posts covers an incredible island getaway? Probably not.

Caye Caulker is awesome. The neon-colored lizard juice drink flows freely, as does great energy and beautiful scenery. And Belize will always be close to our hearts. After all, we chose to get married near Caye Caulker in the wonderful town of Placencia!

Read our full guide on Caye Caulker and check out our post on why we decided to get married in Placencia to learn more!

Fair warning: You’re going to want to book a trip to Belize right after you read these.

4. Where to Eat and Drink in Oaxaca, Mexico

Whenever we talk to people about the wonders of Oaxaca, we always mention one topic: the food and drinks. Oaxaca is a gastronomical gem, filled with a long history of excellent food.

Come here for the mole and tylaudas, but stay for the mezcal and chapulines. What are all those things? One translates to grasshoppers, but I urge you to read up about Oaxaca to see what all the fuss is about.

Actually, don’t even read it. Just go book your flight. You will not regret it.

5. The Ultimate Guide to Bacalar Lagoon

Known as the lagoon of seven colors, Bacalar is a seriously impressive place. And we LOVE seeing this on our most popular lists as it is another personal favorite of ours.

It has a laid-back atmosphere, authentic Mexican cuisine, and an awesome lagoon to hang out in. Located a little bit south of Cancun and Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula, this destination is going to get much more popular as time passes. Beat the rush and check it out now!

6. The Essential Guide to Mexico’s ADO Bus System

What’s so special about a bus system? Before using ADO in Mexico, I didn’t ride buses very often. Sure, I used them to get around when I was in college, but are they really worth using when on vacation?

YES! ADO is an excellent bus system. In my opinion, it’s actually even better than air travel. They are quite punctual, the seats are comfortable, and it is insanely cheap.

There are some things worth knowing before you hop on. That’s why we know that this guide has helped countless travelers in Mexico. And that makes us very happy!

7. Swim in a Turquoise River at El Chiflon Waterfalls

Once again, one of our favorite destinations aligns with our readers’ desires.

El Chiflon waterfalls in Chiapas, Mexico are a sight to behold. A series of large waterfalls crash down into a lovely turquoise river. And the entire experience is amazing. Hike, picnic, and finish it off by going for a refreshing swim!

The drone footage of El Chiflon is pretty awesome. Even though we aren’t focused on YouTube right now, our video of El Chiflon waterfalls is worth checking out for the drone footage alone.

8. The Ultimate Guide to Palenque, Mexico

Palenque is located in the same state as El Chiflon: Chiapas, Mexico. While Palenque also has incredible waterfalls nearby, it is an amazing place for a variety of reasons.

Not only are the Palenque ruins just outside of town, this is also where most people start from to visit one of our favorite ruins in all Mexico (and the world): Yaxchilan. This incredible, secluded site will be something you remember forever.

Does it sound like Chiapas has a lot going on? IT DOES. Stunning nature, beautiful jungle, rivers, waterfalls, and ruins, and more. Here is a link to all our posts about things to do in Chiapas.

9. 25 Cool Camping Gadgets for 2019

Alright, that’s been a lot of posts from Mexico, right? That’s not all we have here at Off Path Travels.

We love finding the best gear around and sharing it with you!

In this post, we gathered some of the most innovative and impressive camping gadgets around. The Wacaco Nanopresso Ultra-compact Espresso Machine and the WEKAPO Inflatable Lounger Air Sofa are two awesome additions to anyone’s camping gear.

(And we can’t wait to use our inflatable kayak in Baja!)

10. Visiting the Monte Alban Ruins in Oaxaca

To wrap up our top ten most popular posts from 2019, we’re going back to Oaxaca.

The Monte Alban archeological ruins are a seriously cool place to visit. Perched on a mountain top overlooking the city of Oaxaca de Juarez, these ancient ruins transport you back in time.

This was one of the most important cities in all Mesoamerica, inhabited for about 1,500 years and with an estimated population of 35,000 people at its height!

Mexico Showcase

With so much of our top content on southern Mexico, I think it’s worthwhile to give you a small breakdown on where you can look to learn more.

Here is where you can browse our entire selection of everything in southern Mexico. But that’s a lot of posts and you might get lost. Let’s break it down a bit.

Oaxaca, Mexico

As you know, Oaxaca is one of our favorite states. Click here to browse all our Oaxaca posts, which include some about the capital city (Oaxaca de Juarez) and a selection of towns along the coast.

Here are some of our other favorite posts from Oaxaca: Our Dia de Muertos post brings back some awesome memories for us, as does our visit to the mezcal capital of the world in Matatlan. And down on the coast, the Ultimate Guide to Puerto Escondido is a good place to start.

Chiapas, Mexico

Click here to browse all of our posts covering the many things to do in the state of Chiapas. This is just east of Oaxaca and many people visit both states when they visit.

Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

And finally, you can’t talk about tourism in Mexico without mentioning the Yucatan Peninsula. Click here to browse all our posts on this amazing area full of beaches, cenotes, and more. There’s are plenty of reasons this area is extremely popular, and with our advice, you can step outside of the all-inclusive resorts and into a world of hidden treasures.

Other 2019 Highlights

Mexico wasn’t the only thing we did in 2019. We still have a lot of writing to do to show you everything, but here’s a quick rundown of our activities and related posts.

We started in Mexico, then went to Belize to get married, and eventually ventured to three different countries in Southeast Asia! We’re written a small handful of posts on them. As of right now, my favorite post on the region is the incredible town of Hoi An, Vietnam.

Although we don’t have any posts up yet, we also made a stop in Sweden and Denmark to enjoy some time with family. No surprise that we also were able to squeeze in some incredible adventures we can’t wait to share. Stockholm was my favorite part of the trip (besides being with family).

Then we started our overlanding adventure! We grabbed our vehicle from outside of Denver and camped all over Colorado, Utah, and a bit in California. We still have some backlog to get through, but here’s a look at some of our posts on Colorado.

And for those of you who have been staying up to date with our latest travel plans, have no fear, Baja adventures are just around the corner! Final preparations for our continued overlanding are well underway and we will be taking off soon.

We also have some other tricks up our sleeves which are set to launch before we go to Baja. Stay tuned for more!