Will and Bill Exit Mexico & Only 2 Scams! (May 14, 2026)
I love Will and I’m going to miss him over the next 6 or so weeks. I still don’t have my plans for Peru worked out, so I don’t actually have an exit date … yet. That’s going to be a problem I need to solve for May 26th as the new rule of customs in most countries is that you must have an exit flight before entering the country. I get it. But even when you’re granted 90 days on a travel visa, you’re locked in to your exit destination and date.
When I bought pizzas for Will and I at Pizza Hut, they are doing a promotion for the new He-Man movie. They gave me two … I have no idea what you’d call them. They aren’t glasses, not quite crowns … I guess you could say they are partial masks? Anyway, as my final “good bye”, I asked Will if he’d be a good sport and put on the He-Man mask. I was not disappointed. (You’re welcome, Dennis. Will gave me permission to share these).
Will as He-Man. Unlikely to use this in any upcoming ComicCons ;-)
Our incredible concierge, Leo, has been helping us with arranging our travel plans. Once I let go of my desire to have a rental car (see related post for the rental car scam #1), I’ve managed really well on a few bus trips outside of Cancun and through the ride share app, Didi. (Uber is supposed to work, but doesn’t seem to have enough drivers in Mexico to be reliable. I made several attempts).
Leo, our hotel concierge, and me in front of a dragon statue outside
Leo offered to get me a van for our trip from the hotel to the airport, but I decided Will and I would be fine grabbing a Didi this morning at what seemed like a great cost savings. Instead of $750 Mexican Pesos (about $44 USD) to hire a driver to the 30-minute ride to the airport, we opted for a Didi for under $300 MXN (about $16 USD). It pays to use the services that the locals use when you can.
Will and I went to Terminal 3 where he caught his American flight back home. After ensuring his bag was safely checked through to JFK and Will had his ticket, I gave him one final hug at the security line, told him I loved him and to pass on my well wishes to Elena and Violet when he sees them both later today. And ended with “I’ll see you in a few weeks. Bye!”
Okay, so now I’m at Terminal 3, but my international fight is at Terminal 2. No big deal, right? I ask a security guard and they say it’s about a 10-minute walk in that direction. Great. So I head out side where I’m stopped by a different security guard who greeted us on our way in. “I thought you were flying American.” No, I explained, my son is flying there, I’m headed on a different airline in Terminal 2. I was told it’s about a 10 minute walk that way.
Scam #2
“Unfortunately, you can’t go on foot.” Really? Why’s that? “It’s not safe. See, it’s just trees over there. There’s no walking path.” It’s true that I didn’t see a clear walking path, but I was also far away. Who knows what was there. Instead I was shuttled over to another guard who asked, “What time is your flight?” I was still thinking of Will’s flight, so I answered 11:30am (my actual flight was at 12:30), it’s 9am now. I have plenty of time. “Well, you can take a free shuttle, but the next one isn’t until after 10am. And so it went. Welcome to scam #2.
In the movie version of this, I would have had the conscious thought to take a picture of both the first and second security guards as well as the driver in the van. They were wearing official-looking uniforms. The first in blue, the second in black. They both had those picture ID badges on a pull string. I was escorted to a van to take me a five-minute drive away. How much? $20 USD. More than the 30-minute ride from our hotel. I should have ended it right there with “No thanks” and walked back into the terminal and had a conversation with the information booth and/or local police to confirm what I was told.
Lesson learned.
I think I get to work on my own inner peace when talking with authority figures. I wasn’t robbed, but I was certainly taken advantage of. A foreigner in a foreign country. Easy prey. At no time did I feel truly threatened or unsafe. Scams happen because of a false sense of urgency. I had more than 3 hours. Even if I was prevented from walking (and I’m not sure that’s actually true), I could have thanked both guards and went back inside, talked to information and figured out an alternative plan of action.
Trust my gut.
When my gut is firing off the, “DANGER!” signals, I need to listen to myself – even if there’s someone with a badge in front of me. Afterall, this person in front of me is just another human being. Slowing everything down is where I need to focus. No quick decisions. Seek to understand. Get another opinion and more feedback. Hell, I could have called Leo and he would have told it to me straight.
But in those moments of tension, I see how quickly I seek to resolve rather than stay in it. My mind went like this. “I need to get to Terminal 2. My plans appear to be unworkable according to these men in positions of authority. They have another solution. Let’s go with this and get to where I want to go.”
Instead, it could have gone like this. “I need to get to Terminal 2. My plans appear to be unworkable according to these men in positions of authority. They have another solution … but rather than go with it, why not thank them for their help and seek another option?”
There’s always another way. And at 53, I’m still learning; still working to improve. It’s not perfection I seek, it’s unconditional inner peace. Here was a condition that was beyond my experience. I didn’t handle it the way I would prefer to have handled it, but no real harm was done. Did I pay way too much to get from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2? Yes, I believe so. But even that is an expectation I can notice and work on. Yes, I feel taken advantage of, but it’s just a feeling and it will pass. The money lost can be replaced. I’m safe. I’m making my way to another country and won’t let this experience sour an otherwise great time I’ve had here in Mexico.
Everyone wishes to be free from suffering. If I were practicing the eight-fold path of Buddhism, I’d turn this whole thing around. Both men were suffering. They saw me as a means to lessen their suffering. I allowed myself to be their means to lessen their suffering and, at the same time, learned to be slightly more compassionate to all beings.
Is this true? Why not? Until I am a fully enlightened being, I see the truth that I’m a “meaning making machine.” If I’m going to go ahead and make a bunch of things up (and then believe them because I forgot I made them up) why not lean into a positive reframe of what happened. The ultimate truth is something else entirely. Until I can live that ultimate truth, I’ll settle for a little more inner peace from each of these experiences. If I can be just 10% more peaceful, I can have the experience of being on the right path.
At some point, I may discover the path I’m on no longer serves me. At that time, I’m change paths. So be it. Today was full of lessons for me. I’m sure every day I choose to be fully present in will have just as many lessons available. What I’m committed to NOT doing is holding onto any of this.
One of my virtual teachers from Insight Timer (Davidji) said it this way, “Imagine yourself as a hole in life’s flute. Nothing to hold onto when you’re a hole. Allow it all to flow through you.” My intention for today is that I will allow life to flow through me and hold onto nothing. And I fully admit, writing this all down allows me to fully let go.
I had an experience. I learned a lesson. I wrote it down. Now I can release it. I feel better already. And, with that, let me see if I can go make someone else’s day today with even more love and light. Thanks for reading this and being on this journey with me.
Below are final images from Mexico I kept seeing in the mall Will and I visited for quick lunches or buying something that would be helpful on our journey through Mexico.
