When I wrote the first What Not to Do (WNTD), I knew it was the beginning to a series because this isn’t my first rodeo, friends. Literally the one good thing achieved when making bad decisions is an arsenal of what to not repeat (and, for me, a good story to write). WNTD#1 was about avoiding the spew of negative talk. WNTD#2 was a heed to employers while I endured the Great Staple Debacle of 2019. The 3rd came along when I gave refurbishing a kitchen table a go. And now, after a trip to Mexico with the fam (which includes 4 teenagers) I’ve acquired a few What Not to Do’s when it comes to traveling.
I’m not exactly sure what has changed in the world since I applied for my passport in 2014 (other than a world-wide pandemic). 9/11 had already occurred and it was a rather simple process if you had an original birth certificate. (I didn’t, so I ended up taking 4 flights in one day, but that’s another story altogether). This go-round, I was applying for my 3 children’s passports, aged 19, 16 and 14. My WNTD#4 advice on this one is Do Not be in any kind of a hurry.
For anyone that is divorced and still has a great line of communication open with the ex, I extend a “Bravo!” to you. For me, communication was an issue during marriage so add in the factor of divorce and let’s just say Daddio isn’t trying to get my To-Do list done in any hurry. Luckily, I had two partners on the ‘inside’: a Step Mom & a son that is as kindly pushy as any salesman you’ve ever met. I began filling out passport forms on April 3rd. For anyone under 16, a special form has to be completed by the other parent, notarized, and a copy of the identification used accompanying the form. I finally had everything I needed to make an appointment with the US Postal Service on May 11. This included:
- said forms
- the passport-specific pictures I had taken each child to Walgreens on separate trips to collect
- birth certificates
- social security cards
- driver’s licenses
- (and on some kind of blessed whim I knew to grab) my originally stamped and signed 24 page divorce decreeÂ
Scheduling a simultaneous appointment for 3 teenagers that attend different schools is a feat, but the day arrived, schools were informed of pick-up times, texts were sent and it was On. Until the Post Office called with the news that the one Passport Capable employee called in sick that day. A new location was called, a new appointment was made for later in the day, more calls & texts occurred. And, again, it was On.Â
Luckily, I brought that official decree; I had to show legal proof of my name change. With a price tag of $642.68 (we paid an extra $105 for expedited services), our passport receival time was now in the hands of the U.S. government. We received the mug shots, I mean passport books, on June 11. (The official documents were returned weeks later.)
The next hoop to jump was acquiring enough money to take a family of 6 out of the country for a week while still having money for bills, life, retirement, etc. In February I had a buyer for my house, paying asking price, as-is. We used just one realtor for the transaction. It seemed it was going to be a pain-free process. The closing date was moved from June 1st to June 15th, to June 30th, to July 15th to July 22nd. I started to wonder if a family trip was going to be possible before school and sports started back up. (Repeat of lesson: Do Not be in any kind of a hurry.) After a ‘Dry Closing’, which I’ve now learned means you sign your name a lot and still don’t leave with any money, a wire transfer was finally scheduled and confirmed. Late in the evening of Friday, 7/23, we began looking for a place to call home for a few days in Mexico.
In case you didn’t see it coming, Here is the Big What Not to Do lesson in this story (which we had to learn again later in the trip) WNTD#5: Do Not make a large purchase after an entire day of working, adulting, or living in general that is coupled by an evening drink or two. In other words, no big decisions should be made while exhausted or tipsy or both. Maybe some of you are smart enough to already know this, but to the two eager beavers leading this excursion, this was apparently a needed lesson. Â
I would like to now go ahead and throw Travelocity under the bus, right where they deserve to be. My neighbor is currently in a similar battle with the company, where it seems they have adopted the model that if they make it too hard, the customer will give up.
On the company site, we chose a filter that stated family friendly was a necessity. Hotel Mousai came up as an option, and after browsing other options, it was a Go. The kid’s ages all had to be inputted for airplane tickets. 12 hours later, after a night of rest, we read the fine print in the email confirmation. All guests had to be 18 or over. We’re not sure how the the Travelocity site hadn’t blocked or flagged our attempt. We began calling them and were put on lengthy holds, one of which was dropped on their end and one of which I gave up on after an hour and a half wait. I began Instant Messaging the company on FaceBook, as well as posting publicly on their FaceBook page and contacting their customer service website. In the end, we were told to contact the Hotel, which we did, and then waited a few more hours for their manager. We were open to a sister hotel but there were no rooms available. We asked to move the reservation to later in the year when we could go back kidless. That wasn’t an option. The hotel agreed to refund 1 night of 3. Travelocity agreed to reimburse half of one night. Price tag on this WNTD lesson ~ approximately $1,000.
Of course, as all things happen for a reason and in due time, after a long Saturday of phone calls, screen time and margaritas, we booked a beautiful AirBnB in Puerto Vallarta for the same three nights. Although the glass doors weren’t the most functional (especially during a windy storm), I wasn’t able to take a ‘hawt’ af shower (not even once) and there was extremely loud jack-hammer construction from 9-5:30 every weekday…the beautiful view & lovely conversations with the maid, Candy (Dulce ie espanol), made up for any annoyances. The teenagers LoVeD this place along with its infinity pool. In hindsight, we should have ended the vacay at this boujie location.Â
Thursday was moving day and you can’t win ’em all. We had created our 2nd reservation at another AirBnB while on a party boat with an open bar, headed out to hike, snorkel & banana boat. When we woke up, we realized it was 1,000 miles away. So, back to the updated WNTD#5, Do NOT make travel reservations when complete focus isn’t able to be given, (i.e. tired, tipsy, etc.) Lesson price tag ~ $500, because AirBnB is more forgiving than Travelocity. Our two views from where we eventually ended up, Canto del Sol, were endearing mountains or endearing pigeons and their gobs of poop.
At this point in the trip, we had to concede that we were in Mexico being blessed with free time with the family, so we couldn’t really complain. However, since you can’t make this stuff up, on the last full day of our stay, the room phone rang. My family communicates through cell phones, so I almost didn’t answer. However, realizing the oldest two males of the group were M.I.A., I figured I had better get this one. To my surprise, in broken English, I was told we were going to have to move because “the government was coming and shutting down the electricity.” The man assured me we were being moved to nice rooms at no charge to us. The bug bites on our legs and chemical smell in the elevator didn’t go unnoticed while we dragged our luggage across the cobblestone street to our new 6 rooms for our last night in Mexico. We appreciated the hospitality but we have found that we don’t enjoy the bland food or weak drinks that come with an all-inclusive package.
I love Mexico and the Spanish language, so I’ll definitely head south of the border again. I am sincerely happy that my children’s horizons have been expanded. I have plenty more food and memory lane stories to share, but when it comes to the 1st 2 steps in international travel, I urge you to learn from my lessons & save yourself some grief, even if it lends itself to a witty blog post.
