Who she is: A 24-year-old logistics coordinator for a transportation company. She lives in Southern Ohio and has four siblings.

Where she’s been: Cancún, the Bahamas, and all over the U.S., most recently Las Vegas, New York City, Orlando, Florida, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Niagara Falls.

Top of the bucket list: Greece, London, Paris, China (particularly the Great Wall), the Pyramids of Egypt and all the wonders of the world.

Her solo story: Ashley Bilbrey didn’t tell anyone about her first solo trip until it was booked. She knew they’d try to talk her out of it.

Ashley booked a flight from Ohio to Cancún and a made a reservation at all-inclusive resort to celebrate her 24th birthday. Only then did she tell her family, friends and co-workers.

They all had pretty much the same reaction.

“I told my sister a month before I was going to leave and she told me I was going to get kidnapped,” Ashley said a little over a week after returning home safely from Cancún. “And then my best friend, she said the same thing: ‘Ashley, you’re going to get kidnapped.'”

Then Ashley’s boss, also her former youth teacher from church, found out about the trip three days before she was going to leave. He immediately offered to buy her dad a plane ticket for $800.

“I had to explain he didn’t have a passport,” she said. “And then he tried to convince a co-worker to go with me. And then he tried to convince me to just not go. He was going to pay me not to go to Mexico.”

Luckily Ashley found some support in a somewhat surprising person: her dad.

“I was like, ‘Dad, guess what? I’m going to Mexico?;” she said. “And he was like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome. Who are you going with?’ ‘Nobody, I’m going by myself.’ He’s like, ‘Well, good for you, Ashley … Don’t let anybody tell you not to go. Don’t let their fears be the reason you don’t chase your dreams.'”

Though Ashley felt bolstered by her dad’s support, she had plenty of doubts leading up to the morning of take-off.

Just a week before Ashley’s trip, four innocent Americans got caught up in a drug cartel shootout in a remote area of the Gulf coast. Two of them were killed and two were later rescued after being held captive for days.

At 1,200 miles away, the shootout in the border city of Matamoros was nowhere close to Cancún. But it still gave Ashley pause.  

“I’m worried, this is scary,” she remembers texting to a co-worker just before heading to the airport. “I think if I would have had any reason to not go, I probably wouldn’t have gone. If I would have slept in too late, if somebody couldn’t watch my dog _ just any reason at all.”

Luckily Ashley got on the plane, landed in Cancún and proceeded to have the time of her life.

The first day she met two young Canadian women and they went clubbing together, something that wasn’t even on Ashley’s itinerary. The next day she went horseback riding, swam in a stunning cenote (natural pit filled with groundwater), ziplined in the jungle, did a tequila tasting and rode ATVs.

The day after that, Ashley’s 24th birthday, she hopped on a boat to visit Isla Mujeres _ a tiny, stunning island Cancún _ did shots with some travelers from Los Angeles she met who were also celebrating birthdays, and then went clubbing with the Canadian women later that night. The day was capped off by a birthday cake delivery to her room.

“Celebrating with the girls that I met from L.A. and the girls from Canada, and the cake … I didn’t feel alone at all,” she said. “I still had all of my friends and family texting me and calling me all day telling me happy birthday. Honestly, it was probably my best birthday ever.”

During the trip Ashley also met a solo female traveler who lives only about 90 minutes away in Indianapolis and an Italian woman who has already invited her for a visit in Italy.

But first, Ashley will go on her next solo trip to Greece in July. She’s already booked an adventure with a tour group to make the logistics easier on herself. She plans on many more solo adventures in the coming years.

“I was really scared to do it at first,” she said. “Now I don’t know if I go on a trip with friends and family if I’ll have as much fun as if I go by myself, and I never would have thought that but it’s the truth.

“I didn’t have to depend on anybody or rely on anybody, or wait on anybody, or do anything that I didn’t want to do,” she continued. “It was the best feeling ever and I will cherish the fact that I did it forever.”

Follow Ashley’s future adventures on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bilbrey_ashley/.

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A note from the author: I have been to Mexico more times than I can count. I did a solo trip to Guadalajara for 10 days, staying in a hostel. I did a college trip to Monterey for another 10 days. I’ve been to Mexico City, Cancún, Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Peñasco, Cabo San Lucas and more on various trips with my fiancé, family members or friends.

I have always felt safe there but I also always make sure to read the latest news and any warnings from the State Department when considering a new trip. I urge everyone thinking about a trip to Mexico to do the same and decide what’s best for themselves.

The reality is that tourists rarely get caught up in crime but there have been some disturbing tragedies, such as the one in Matamoros referenced above.

As of April 2023, the State Department was warning Americans that violent crimes including homicides and kidnappings were “widespread and common” in Mexico.

“The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted,” according to the warning. “In many states, local emergency services are limited outside the state capital or major cities.”

The warning has a list of Mexican states Americans should avoid at all costs, including Guerrero, Sinaloa and Zacatecas. Many of the most popular tourist destinations, including Cancún and Mexico City, are considered far safer, though the State Department warns visitors to exercise caution.

I am personally planning a couple trips to Mexico within the next year, including to Oaxaca and a return to trip to Isla Mujeres, one of my favorite places on the planet. It’s a beautiful culture with a rich culture and lovely people, and it can be a great solo destination, as Ashley discovered.