Cancun to Playa del Carmen

First we needed to weigh our bags and distribute the weight accordingly because the one way non-refundable tickets from Indianapolis to Cancun only allowed 18kg (40lbs) for checked bags. After taking Kevin’s 2kg bag of mixed protein powders and cinnamon we were under the weight and ready to check in.

Let me start by saying I spent the entire day before we departed worrying about Kevin not informing himself or myself on how ESTA works and visas with the US and Mexico being neighboring countries and we previous bought and 20 hours later cancelled a single flight to Belize so he could actually enter the US for Christmas holidays, much to our surprise the frontier ticket counter person didn’t flinch to issue our tickets, check our bags and off to security we went. The night before my dad had literally told me to stop foreseeing and worrying because we won’t know till we get there and that played out to be great advice and something I have been keeping in mind as we travel.

We spent 3 hours drinking coffee, reading, playing guitar and practicing handstands waiting for our flight to board. 3 hours later we landed in Cancun with some local advice from another passenger to visit Bacalar if we want a beautiful non-touristic location on our journey south. Next task, clear customs and hope our bags arrived with everything in tact.

When we arrived at customs the Mexican lady did not like Kevin’s Swiss passport and questioned why he spoke Spanish and comes from Switzerland. She didn’t love that we only wrote Playa del Carmen as our location and didn’t have a set address we were visiting or staying at. Eventually, she had me write my phone number down (hope that doesn’t come back to get me when I exit Mexico or in the future) I thought about writing down a fake number but her glare burned through me and being it was our first day in Mexico I felt I should be truthful and follow her rules. As soon as we left customs I told Kevin he should start listening to me and letting me look up things off the internet and put down any address to not cause any red flags of suspicion, he rolled his eyes reluctantly semi agreed and we grabbed our bags and went to catch the bus to Playa del Carmen then walked around once we arrived, got a hostel, went to Walmart for water and made a plan for the next day as follows:

• Find gas for our camping stove ✅
• Find 2 cheap bicycles 🚲 ✅
• Get our bags to stay on the bikes ✅
• Eat and just go till before dark ✅

I guess you could say we were following the “KISS” principal…Keep, It, Simple, Stupid. All was well it worked and we departed Playa del Carmen in search for the beach and less touristy things. Our family took votes how long our bikes will last before major repairs and only time will tell.

Added info: First night in the hostel was brutal in a shared room, love camping way more. People flicked the lights on and off till 3:00 am and they slept till noon the next day and snored like a drunk sailor.