More Than You’ll Ever Know: A Book-Inspired Journey in Mexico City, Mexico
Earlier this year in May 2024 we hosted a group experience in Mexico City with ten women from the United States, Canada, and South Africa inspired by Katie Gutierrez’s book “More Than You’ll Ever Know.”
More Than You’ll Ever Know is a true crime story told in alternating timelines split between Laredo, Texas and Mexico City Mexico where Lore Rivera is married to two men at once, until on a baking hot day in 1986, one of them found out and shot the other. The city itself becomes a character, with its bustling streets and hidden corners mirroring the complexities of Lore’s world.
Our exclusive 5-day trip gave our travelers an experience Mexico City through Lore’s eyes. We delved into the city’s vibrant culture, from fine dining at award-winning restaurants to hidden street food gems. We journeyed through the canals of Xochimilco on a colorful trajinera boat, just like Lore imagined. And soared above the ancient city of Teotihuacán in a hot air balloon for a breathtaking sunrise experience. Each day of the trip was inspired by a quote from the book.
Prior to the trip our travelers got the chance to have a private book discussion with the author Katie Gutierrez as she talked about the inspirations behind her book and why it being set in Mexico City was critical to the narrative. You can see a recap of that conversation here.
Day 1: Opening Dinner and Book Discussion
“Lore is hungry for so much, an appetite that seems to yawn and yawn and never be filled.” pg. 191
A tenet of BOOKED Trips is giving our travelers the freedom of solo travel with the community that comes with group travel. Each woman who books our trips is given a single room in a 4-star hotel, no sharing rooms or single supplement required. We stayed at Boutique Casa Prim, a boutique hotel in Mexico City’s Juarez neighborhood.
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All of our BOOKED Trips experiences begins with an opening dinner and book discussion at a local restaurant that highlights the taste and culture of the city we’re visiting. It is an opportunity for our travelers to more deeply connect over a meal while having a facilitated book club experience of our trip read “More Than You’ll Ever Know.”
We hosted the group in a private room at Rosetta, an award-winning restaurant named one of the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America. The restaurant is helmed by chef Elena Reygadas who was named the 2023 Best Female Chef in the World.
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Day 2: A Taste of the City
“She is greedy for all the world she has not tasted.” pg. 46
After a free morning to ease into the day or do some independent exploring of the city we met up for a half-day food tour in Centro Historico. This area is where Lore and Andres meet at a wedding at the Gran Hotel and set off a chain of events that change their lives forever.
(The group at the Gran Hotel in Mexico City)
We got the chance to visit the Gran Hotel and taste the culinary diversity of the city with our local partners Sabores Mexico at 15 stops from street food to cantinas.
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Day 3: Women Who Break the Rules
“She’d rather stay longer in DF…play tourists (which she is, of course) and take Penelope and Carlitos on a trajinera at Xochimilco” pg. 191
Lore, the protagonist of the book led a life that was unconventional for the expectations placed on women so we wanted to explore the city through the lens of women who break rules.
We visited Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s studios in the San Miguel Neighborhood. We learned about not just their legacies in art, but the social impact of the architecture of their studios and their creations at the time they were alive. They had two separate residences conjoined by a bridge that represented their two separate and independent lives bridged together by their love.
Our next stop was the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). This is significant both as a place where Lore and Andres have their wedding ceremony in the book, but also where Audre Lorde (famed black feminist writer) studied in 1954.
We ate lunch on a trajinera boat in Xochimilco with a live mariachi bandh. Not only was this a quintessential Mexico City experience, but it’s something Lore imagines herself doing time and time again.
We ended our day in the Coyoacán neighorhood where we visited the feminist bookstore U-Tópicas, the Artisanal Craft Market, and the Frida Kahlo Museum (known colloquially as Casa Azul). It is an excellent museum that tells Frida’s life story in a personal and affecting way.
Days 4 and 5: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon, Teotihuacán & Closing Dinner
“Dizzily she thinks of Teotihuacán, where she and Andres took Penelope and Carlitos early on.The kids had run before them down the Avenue of the Dead, racing to the Pyramid of the Moon as if this were a giant playground. She and Andres had walked quietly, holding hands. The Aztecs had named Teotihuacán—the City of Gods—but it had first been inhabited by farmers and artisans who’d mined obsidian, sharpening the dark rock into blades and trading it across the Americas.
They’d been thought to be a peaceful people, a hundred thousand or more who fled mysteriously around 300 BC. But just recently, the remains of 137 bodies had been found in mass graves near the temple. Their beaded shell necklaces had been carved into the shape of human teeth, hands bound behind their backs. Unwilling sacrifices. How much could you ever know about a people who disappeared?” – pg. 210
On Day 4 our travelers enjoyed a free day to explore the city independently with our included city guide. We came back together for a sunrise hot air balloon ride and guided tour of Teotihuacán, a UNESCO heritage site.
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After our tour of the pyramids we will have a home-cooked mole lunch at our tour guides’ grandmother’s house along with tastes of pulque, a pre-Hispanic fermented beverage, from their family-owned distillery.
After some time to rest back at the hotel, we had an incredible closing dinner with Tabula Rasa where a local couple, Luís and Ángel host curated meals with the express purpose of bringing people together. The chef made a menu inspired by the wedding where Andres and Lore meet with foods that are typically served at Mexican weddings. We ate everything from tacos de nopales (cactus tacos) to a beautiful Mexican-style wedding cake in honor of Lore and Andres. It was the perfect way to bookend our BOOKED Mexico City Trip!
Interested in traveling with us?
Our first two trips of 2025 to Panama City, Panama inspired by Cristina Henríquez’s “The Great Divide” and Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa inspired by Trevor Noah’s “Born A Crime” are sold out BUT we have new trips that open starting in March 2025!
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Want help designing your dream trip? We plan private experiences! We have existing group itineraries in Nairobi and Diani Kenya, Cape Town, South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Accra, Ghana, Cartagena, Colombia, Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, Mexico, and Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica that can be customized. Fill out our private trip interest form or email jalisa@bookedtrips.com for more information.
