Traveling is a quintessential part of the study abroad experience.
It is easy for the hordes of American college students who flood Europe every spring. The continent’s complex and wide-reaching network of high-speed rail and abundance of budget airlines make traveling from tourist city to tourist city exceptionally easy. A 20-year-old studying in Rome can reach Athens, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan or Paris in a matter of hours.
I did not go to Europe for my study abroad. I came to San Miguel de Allende for a nine-week journalism internship with Mexico News Daily. I never expected to travel much.
Part of that was knowing that Mexico did not have the best infrastructure for travel. High-speed rail is nonexistent, and highways travel is not recommended at night. The other part was simply not knowing what central Mexico has to offer. If my study abroad experience took me to Rome, I would have made a laundry list of cities I wanted to visit before I even started packing. I could have taken a train down to the Amalfi Coast, seen the ruins of Pompeii or even flown to Egypt.
Central Mexico, meanwhile, is off the beaten path. Few have been. Few want to go.
That’s why I had never heard of San Miguel de Allende until I applied for the internship, let alone Guanajuato city or Querétaro. Nobody that I knew had ever been here. The only place I knew I wanted to visit was Mexico City for the World Cup, which I got to experience after just 10 days in the country. From everything I had heard about Mexico in the United States, the center never seemed like a place that had destinations to visit. Even though I was coming, I felt just as ignorant as the rest of my compatriots.
Mexico is known as a tourist destination for Americans, but they rarely visit the center. Popular resort towns like Cancún, Cabo or Puerto Vallarta routinely take in the swarms of U.S. beach-goers and college kids on spring break. I was shocked when I went to Querétaro a couple of weeks ago — a town that I found beautiful, clean and historic — and saw it nearly untouched by international visitors.
Travelling through Mexico has been easier than I expected. The buses — which are clean, affordable and safe — can take you almost everywhere. Uber is unbelievably affordable and if you are traveling with a local, services like BlaBlaCar can cost less than $20 USD for a trip spanning multiple hours.
Mexico City has become an internationally renowned tourist hotspot. Querétaro has kept its colonial charm while simultaneously transforming into a high-end tech hub. San Miguel is known for its colorful streets, food and many churches.
But last week I went to a city that blew them all out of the water.
That city is Guanajuato. It is a city brimming with color. Where towering mountains force density, which manifests in beautiful winding alleyways. A city where sprawling tunnels are a primary form of transportation and a city with incredible churches, food and bars.
I was only there for about 24 hours, but I fell in love with the city. The hour-long drive from San Miguel weaves through canyons and mountains before reaching Guanajuato city. I was immediately struck by the streets, which felt like stepping into France or Spain. The churches and landmarks were some of the most picturesque that I have seen so far in Mexico.
And the viewpoints. Standing on top of the Pípila, overlooking the city and the rolling hills. Seeing the magnificent churches and the mines in the distance was breathtaking.
Like most of my experiences thus far in Mexico, visiting Guanajuato made me wonder why more Americans do not visit Mexico. I have been to some of the most famous European cities, and Guanajuato, while significantly smaller, was more impressive than many of them.
Guanajuato was not hard to get to. The city was walkable and accessible by ridesharing services.
Yet this beautiful city was unknown to me. Unlike Querétaro, Guanajuato is known for its abundance of Mexican visitors and tourism infrastructure. It is a place where Americans can see something truly unique — a place more colorful than any city in the U.S., with great food and nightlife. But they still don’t go.
Traveling to Mexico is easier than you think. Traveling in Mexico is easier than you think. And Mexico has the cities, the nature and the experiences that warrant the trip. Guanajuato is proof.
Guanajuato, Querétaro, San Miguel and my 24 hours in Mexico City are just the tip of the iceberg. There is pristine coastline to the east and west, Oaxaca to the south, and rainforest to the southeast. I have still seen so little of this beautiful country.
So why do more Americans not come here? Is it for lack of a sense of adventure? A lack of pre-packaged trips? I am still trying to find out.
Jared Tucker is a summer intern at Mexico News Daily in San Miguel de Allende and a rising senior at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he is the sports editor for The Daily UW. He was previously a fellow at TheFulcrum.us, where he covered public participation in American democracy.
