Jer and I purchased an online auction item to Cancun, Mexico. Shortly after the 2008 economy spiraled into a downturn. We were feeling the pinch, since we had just purchased a small business before this. Before out time ran out to use it, we booked our flights and off we went.
We carefully figured out how much we had to spend each day but found our hotel was no where near the main strip. Not restaurants around except the one at the hotel. In the process, we realized our return tickets weren’t out of Cancun. The Concierge helped us plan our departure by working backward.
We needed to rise early to catch the shuttle to the airport, where we would then board the bus to Playa del Carmen. From their we would take a ferry to Cozumel where we would fly to Denver, CO, go through customs and take our last flight home. Sound complicated? It was.
I needed to use the bathroom before we left that morning but Jer had accidentally incapacitate it. That’s fine, I could use the one in the lobby but when we got downstairs, they rushed us to the shuttle that was waiting to leave. Okay, I can hold it for a few more minutes and use the restroom at the airport.
The problem was the eager and overly helpful bus attendants grabbed our bags and ran us over to their bus before I had a chance to run inside. It was a forty-five minute drive to Playa de Carma. I longingly looked at the little restroom on the bus but refused to use it.
We finally arrived at the bus station where I ran upstairs to the restroom but it had a turnstile. I needed a peso. I rushed back to Jer, then back upstairs, and watched three women in front of me use the turnstile without any issue. When I put my peso in, plunk. It fell straight through. I tried three times before it worked.
A female attendant stood in the restroom. I didn’t understand why until I realized there was no toilet paper. I had no coin for it anyway.
Luggage in hand, we walked through town to get our ferry ticket but this is where things really went wrong. The concierge had the ferry times backwards. They were about to leave and we didn’t have the money exchange on us. Jer ran to a machine that seemed to eat our money, then into a restaurant while I guarded our luggage.
While waiting, I thought to ask if they would take a credit card. Of course, they would but it was too late.