An Unexpected Problem in the Yucatan

Cancun, Mexico –

I never thought that I would be writing about this on my first ever travel blog post. I actually considered leaving this part of my journey out. However, I have always told myself that if I’m finally going to start a travel blog, it will be honest, raw, and comprehensive. So here goes…

I have now traveled extensively to over 30 countries for over the past four years. For the first time I found myself in a foreign country with no cash, credit or debit cards. My flight from Lafayette to Cancun, Mexico took just over three hours. This situation could have been a lot worse had I been farther from home in a less populated or third world non-English speaking country. Luckily, I was is one of the most modern and touristy cities in Mexico. Like most cities, the airport is set on the outskirts of town so to get to Zona Hotelera it takes about 25 minutes by bus/shuttle. I had two nights pre-booked at one of the top rated hostels in Cancun, Mezcal Hostel. The hostel was only about a 10 minute walk from the bus station so I usually decide to walk as opposed to taking a cab. Upon arriving at the hostel, the desk worker asked that they hold some form of idea during the length of my stay. It was their policy and is typical of many hostels but not all of them. Most hostels make a copy or just write your information down. Anyway, I had already produced by passport but figured I would give them my drivers license instead. I usually always travel with one small and one large backpack. As I reached for my wallet, both to pay for the room and retrieve my drivers license, I realized the wallet wasn’t there. A quick check in my jean pockets and my large backpack resulted in no luck either. This is not starting out good. I explained to the desk workers what was happening and they suggested I head back to the bus station. They would hold my bags until I returned. I asked for my passport back in case the bus station needed some form of ID. I also grabbed a map with the contact information of the hostel where I hoped I’d still be staying. As much as I travel, I rely far too much on my phone GPS device. I left my phone charging at the hostel and found the bus station pretty easily. It was a quick, nervous run. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes at the information booth of the bus station, I explained to the clerk what had happened. He simply looked at me and said, “No one has turned anything in.” He did not offer to take my name, phone number, or hostel information. I quickly realized that I would most likely never see my wallet again. I explained to him again the situation, that I had no ID, cash, or credit cards and it was my first day of two weeks vacation in Mexico. He asked me to wait for a minute while he called the airport bus attendants. Another manager also said that he would call “the lady” that cleans the buses. This was a pretty big bus company (ADO) and I found it kind of strange that one lady cleaned all the buses. After waiting for both phone calls of which I could not understand since they were in Spanish, no luck from either party. Both managers were reluctant still to take down my contact information. In fact, they refused me several times. It was time to head back to hostel and figure out my next move.

A quick jog back to Mezcal Hostel to start calling my credit card companies. I arrived in Cancun about 4pm but now it was after 6. My first choice was to call American Express Global Assist. I thought I had remembered that they would wire money to Platinum card members in situations like mine. I was right, however, it took nearly an hour to get on the phone with the right person. While waiting I was looking in through the window at several bowls of homemade spaghetti being served to the hostel guests and wondering if I was going to eat tonight. Unfortunately all of the moneygram wire transfer places were closed by now and American Express informed me that I had to wait until the morning. Immediately after hanging up the phone the hostel manager told be join the rest for dinner while until I figured everything out. A bowl of homeade Mexican style spaghetti helped the situation out quite a bit. This hostel, not only being one of the cleanest and friendliest I have ever been, serves free breakfast and dinner every morning and evening. Originally, the hostel clerk told me that they were only accepting cash. I also overheard some other guests checking in say something about a paypal payment so I was pretty sure that problem was going to be solved.

The next morning I arranged through a combination of my Hostel manager and my parents to wire me cash via Western Union. You might ask, of all the traveling that I have done should I have not been better prepared for when this happens? And that is the moral of this story. I have read dozens of travel books about how to prevent this almost nightmare. I normally separate my cards and cash between two, sometimes three places. I was treating this trip, only two weeks and in Mexico, almost as if it was a domestic trip. One of the reasons why it took so long for American Express to locate a bank was because it was a national holiday in Mexico and most of the banks were closed. I didn’t take any cool photos or doing any thing fun during my first 18 hours in Mexico because of a careless situation that could definitely have been prevented. The only photo I took after arriving in Mexico was this awesome Chinese food I ate next door to the Western Union immediately after receiving my cash. All is good, I am on day three now as I am writing this, and I’m gonna heat up the leftovers now! The next few days were awesome so stay tuned for my next post!

Namaste,

Toby

Cajun Traveler