A trip to Mexico is more valuable than even the best book, says a prominent economist

• Books are overrated and travel is underrated, economist Tyler Cowen said in a recent podcast.
• Experiences shift people's perspectives the most, he said.
• He recommended going to Mexico, which has been a hot spot for travelers and nomads during the pandemic.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Books have got nothing on travel. Especially if you're going to Mexico.

So says economist Tyler Cowen, professor at George Mason University and coauthor of the blog Marginal Revolution. In a recent episode of The Ezra Klein Show, he discussed how books are overrated because experiences shift people's perspectives the most.

"A lot of very smart people maybe overinvest in books, under invest in travel," he said. After all, "we as humans are creatures of the body," and Cowen said he takes that "very literally and very seriously."

When Klein asked Cowen his top three underrated places for travel, his answer was simple: "Mexico, Mexico, and Mexico."

His reasons were plenty: the country is accessible, inexhaustible, affordable, and safer than people think. "I think I've done 31 trips to Mexico in my life," he said. "I'm never bored when I go there."

He added: "The food is amazing. People are very warm. There's an incredible sense of the dramatic and the tragic there. And my goodness, you will never stop thinking about Mexico once you start going. And I mean, not just in Cancun."

Mexico as a pandemic hot spot

Cowen isn't the only one taken with Mexico. The country has become a pandemic hot spot for both vacationers and digital nomads thanks to cheap flights and lax entry requirements.

Even though the US and Mexico agreed to close their shared land borders to non-essential travel at the pandemic's peak, Mexico never required COVID testing or a quarantine, opening up a loopholes for travelers.

Beachside municipalities, such as Los Cabos, have been most enticing to Americans. The Washington Post reported in late December that the Riviera Maya had welcomed more American tourists than ever before. Quintana Roo, home to Tulum and Cancun, saw a 23% increase in American visitors compared with 2019, The Post reported, with about 100 flights from the US were landing in the region every day.

Some are remote workers, typically millennials looking to take advantage of wi-fi in paradise. No longer chained to their office desks, a growing movement of digital nomads have been picking up and moving to some of the world's most remote places - and Tulum has been on their radar.

While Mexico may be all fun in the sun for visitors and expats, the travel boom has taken a toll on the country. As David Kushner reported for Insider, nomads are creating a permanent strain on infrastructure in Tulum and exacerbating issues already plaguing the town like water pollution. And Mexico saw a surge in coronavirus cases over the winter as American tourists flocked to its shores.

After a year locked up, it seems that people are over solitary leisure activities like reading books and are now craving experiences like travel - perhaps recognizing that they need to put their body "out there," as Cowen put it.

"You can see things now that you will never have a chance to see in your life," Cowen said. "So I would say the imperative to travel has never been stronger...conditional on absolute, 100% precautions being taken."