Mexico 2026 - Guadalajara - The Journey Turns South

 What's travel without a little adventure, right....right? Our adventure began with the taxi from the airport. The driver told us what it would cost in U.S.dollars and we settled in for the ride to our hotel. Along the way a policeman on a motorcycle rode up beside the cab and asked the driver something in Spanish. The driver replied, gesturing to us in the back seat. The back window was rolled down, the policeman peered at us, the window rolled back up and we were allowed to proceed. Arriving at the hotel we tried to pay with 3 different credit cards, 2 of mine and one of my Travel Buddy's. All were declined. We paid him in U.S. dollars the amount we had agreed on, checked in and were shortly receiving fraud alerts on our phones. The cab driver had attempted to charge us over $400. The next half hour was spent on the phone straightening out the whole affair. 

Next order of business, getting pesos. Nowhere in the vicinity of the hotel could we find an ATM that allowed translation into English. None of the locals we encountered spoke English. I was getting verklempt.

We had dinner at a small place across the street from the hotel. We discovered that there was only one menu option I could eat as I don't eat red meat. We paid with a credit card, this time it was accepted. 

It was 5:30  in the afternoon, 6:30 Chicago time. I had been up since 2:30 in the morning. I was done. I returned to the room, bleary eyed, exhausted and peso penniless.

I figured tomorrow had to get better, right...right ?


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