I Got Held Hostage In Mexico 🇲🇽

In This Issue:

• I was “slightly held hostage” on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with my then-girlfriend, my father, and his friend for Thanksgiving back in 2023.

• Quick thinking saved my girl and I from some serious problems.

• The “Party, Texas” Pitch - I’ve got a plan to steal South Padre Island and turn it into an “American Cancun” so tourists don’t have to go to Mexico for that vibe anymore.

The week we spent in Cabo was pleasant, relaxing, & mostly unremarkable. A lot of sitting in one of the pools at the resort & drinking weak (albeit bottomless) frozen margaritas plus a couple excursions to go fishing or snorkeling - you get the idea.

The most memorable happening of that trip was right at the end - and unfortunately, it wasn’t a great experience.

My girlfriend and I were riding in a private shuttle - an SUV I’d hired to take us from our hotel to the airport, about an hour north, and about 20 minutes before we arrived at the airport, our driver took a short phone call. Despite growing up in Fresno, CA, I didn’t know quite enough Spanish to keep up with what was being said, but after he hung up, he pulled off the freeway we were on and stopped on the side of the road.

He turned back to look at us in the backset and explained (in dramatically worse english than he used when he greeted us at pickup) that we weren’t the party he was sent to pick up - and that he’d have to take us back to the resort instead of the airport.

We’d built in plenty of time to get to the airport well before our flights - but not the 3+ hours it’d take to make the trip north all over again. We were going to miss our (very expensive) flights unless I could convince the driver to take us the rest of the way!

Despite my autistic challenges around social cues, I recognized almost immediately that we were being squeezed for cash. He had us by the balls, and he knew it.

What could I do? We were in a stranger’s SUV in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country. My girlfriend and I had no cell service - and no time to deal with this!

I promised him I’d tip him the $200 I had in my wallet if he took us straight to the airport instead of back to the resort. He was content with this, and some 10 minutes later, we pulled up to the airport’s “unloading” lane for international departures.

During those last 10 minutes of the ride, my girl and I were each typing into our respective notes app - flashing silent messages back and forth about what we should do. She wanted me to just pay him off & let it go. I wasn’t so sure.