I recently partnered with Alaska Airlines helping promote their new nonstop flights. They offered to send me on a vacation and document everything along the way — my route was Portland to Puerto Vallarta. Shoot some photos for a free weekend in paradise? Sign me up!

While I was only in Mexico for three days total, it was an unforgettable adventure that included practicing my español with the locals, getting lost in a jungle, and enjoying the most expensive dinner of my life at a swanky French restaurant (complete with escargot, compliments of the chef).

I think the best part of traveling to a foreign city by yourself is that you're able to completely do what you want to do, when you want to do it. There's no compromising. If you want to sleep in, you can; if you want to wake up early for some sun salutations, rad. I spent a lot of the time sunbathing and reading.

But mostly I just explored.

Since most of the photo work I've done is for social media projects, I've fallen into a bit of a bad habit: relying on my iPhone too much. I tried to challenge myself this trip by documenting as much as possible on my DSLR too — I didn't bring a super fancy setup, just a Canon 40D body with a 50 mm lens. For this adventure, it was perfect.

Here is my photo story from my weekend escape to Puerto Vallarta. The first half or so are from my iPhone 6; the latter half are "real camera." All edited with VSCO. Enjoy >>>

While I typically prefer enjoying these kinds of experiences with others, it was beyond refreshing to escape on a solo Mexican vacation for some much needed alone time. I highly recommend traveling alone if you haven't already!

Huge thanks to Alaska Airlines for making me your Portland → Puerto Vallarta Weekend Wanderer! I'm already planning my next trip back :)