Tiago Sardo is a 24-year-old Portuguese travel photographer who's passionate about creating content (photography and video) and loves to travel and live different experiences. What he likes to photograph the most are landscapes that, in some way, surprise him and enjoys filming content that somehow tells a story.
Tiago Sardo 
Last July, between the 3rd and 11th, I had the opportunity to leave Europe for the first time in my life and spend a dream week in the Riviera Maya, near Playa del Carmen, with my sister and my mother. The three of us hadn't traveled out of the country since 2014 and we thought we needed to have these days to ourselves and go back to having good adventures. My mother had already been to Cancun on her honeymoon with my father, but more than 25 years after their marriage, she would like to go back to see what had changed and remember what had stayed the same.
Tiago Sardo
A trip like this never happens without overcoming challenges, however small. Fortunately, everything went well throughout the trip, but even so, I consider that the pandemic was the biggest hypothetical challenge we had to face. Traveling in a pandemic time is not easy. At the time, none of us were vaccinated and, although we weren't asked for tests to enter Mexico, we needed to take a test to return to Portugal.
We wanted to make the most of the trip, but we had to be careful not to be prevented from returning and having to stay in a hotel in a different country, on a different continent. That couldn't even happen, because we had commitments in Portugal, namely our jobs. Fortunately, at that level, everything went well and nothing happened to us, but the mental challenge of 'fear' was our biggest obstacle that, even so, did not stop us from enjoying the trip.
Tiago Sardo
When we chose Riviera Maya as our destination, we did so for several reasons. One of the things that motivated me to go was the possibility of having some unique experiences so far in my life, namely seeing Chichén Itza – one of the 7 World Wonders – and swimming with whale sharks. I managed to do it, but luckily the trip was much more than that! I swam with cat sharks, visited the incredible Xcaret Park, did a purification ritual with a Mayan family and enjoyed great moments of celebration and relaxation on the beaches and pools of the Caribbean. It was really a dream! Oh and I still ate crickets, without a doubt what I liked the most when I went there!
Tiago Sardo
• Pay attention to the amount of sargassum on the beaches. Unfortunately, we went at a time with a lot of sargassum and that prevented us from enjoying much of what some beaches had to offer.
• Analyze the waves of the sea, before choosing the day to go swimming with the whale sharks. This activity was complicated because there was a certain swell and we were all very seasick on the boat.
• Use the Revolut card, so you don't lose too much money on currency conversions. Still, if you don't want to use the card, there are many currency exchange offices scattered on the streets. If you go to Playa del Carmen, on 5th Avenue, you'll find several, with different conversion rates. It's a matter of choosing the most rewarding one.
Tiago Sardo
And last but not least:
• Enjoy every second of being there, because I missed that place from the moment my plane took off back to Portugal.
As a travel photographer, this adventure was heaven for me. I was able to have fun and enjoy every second, while it was very easy for me to create content, whether in photos or videos. Fortunately, I had a very sturdy backpack from f-stop (Guru 25 L UL Camera Backpack with One Medium Shallow Internal Camera Unit) that allowed me to take my Canon 750 D with two lenses, as well as my DJI Mavic Mini and my DJI Osmo Pocket. Since then, I don't leave my suitcase for nothing when I travel!
You can find Tiago's work on his Instagram and Website.
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