Cliff divers, Texas BBQ and my Florida travel conference

Hello Reader!

It feels like I barely unpacked my suitcase this month.

At the end of April and the beginning of May, I spent ten days in Mexico. My visit was incredibly special because I was an invited international media guest and top content producer for Tianguis Turistico 2026.

Exploring Acapulco and Michoacan

I spent four days in Acapulco, one day in Taxco and four days in Michoacan. Even though I have been to Mexico before, all these destinations were completely new to me.

I shared some of the best things I did in Acapulco and Taxco, including seeing the world famous cliff divers.

In Michoacan, I met some truly legendary people. I met the creator of the clay Catrinas and I even got to paint my own miniature version. I also spent time with a master chef of traditional Mexican cooking who taught me a few of her culinary secrets. Watch it here.

Plus, I finally got to test out my Freedom Mobile roaming on this trip and it was very good overall (aside from dead spots during road trips which is understandable).

Texas BBQ in Toronto

I returned to Toronto for about a week and a half before my next trip. While I was home, I attended a Travel Texas event held at the new Smoque N Bones location. There was plenty of Texas BBQ involved of course.

It was a great opportunity to reconnect with destination friends and meet new ones from El Paso and Laredo.

It was also wonderful to see McKenna from Visit Houston again since we previously worked together when she was at Visit Lubbock.

Heading to Florida for IPW

Then I was off to Fort Lauderdale for my third IPW, which is the largest travel conference in the United States.

Storytime at the airport: While I was at the airport lounge, someone approached me asking if I'm Raymond the Travelling Foodie. Turns out he was a YouTube subscriber. He showed me his phone which was already on the YouTube app on my channel, congratulated me on my recent award, and asked for a selfie. So grateful for this community.

At IPW, I met with over twenty US destinations at the Media Marketplace and on the show floor, and it was fantastic connecting with old and new friends in the industry.

It was also really nice to experience Fort Lauderdale beyond the cruise port since my very first visit there was simply to catch a Holland America cruise.

New Toronto restaurant finds

I spent the last week of May back in Toronto and got to try three new spots for the very first time. I checked out Nobu Bar for some relaxed casual fare with live DJs. The salmon nashi pear and the crispy rice spicy tuna were definitely my favorites.

I also tried Isaan Der, which specializes in Northeastern Thai cuisine. I highly recommend the softshell crab tom yum pad Thai, the Isaan pork sausage and the watermelon salad.

Finally, I visited ChaTraMue. This is the first Canadian location for the iconic Thai tea brand and their Thai milk tea and soft serve were both amazing.

Check out what they're like here.