It’s only been five days and I’m already exhausted. Taking the train from Los Angeles to Vancouver sounded like a great idea at the time. I’ve yet to recover from 40 hours on the rails. I didn’t have much planned for Vancouver, other than it being a rest stop, which was an excellent choice, after arriving at 3:00 am. My hotel was booked using Expedia and my gold status gave me +VIP access at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront. I made sure to put the 20% discount on food and non alcoholic beverages to good use. So, other than walking a block to purchase snacks, at a trendy grocery store, and one short day of sightseeing, around Canada Place and downtown, I did very little in Vancouver.

Mexico City would be different. A friend from my Peace Corps Ethiopia days is living there, while waiting on staging for Peace Corps South Africa to begin. Plus, like all traveling nomads, I turned to YouTube and watched all the content I could find on Mexico City. I know all the tricks, like finding the Sear Department store to take the elevator to the café, for that great view of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. I also lined up a few places for “the best” street tacos, which would of course be followed by drinks at the hotel bar with the amazing view of the Templo Mayor.

Then … life happened. My flight from Vancouver to Mexico City had to return to the gate. Someone had carried their dog on plane, with no health certification or pet carrier. It took well over an hour to taxi back, get the woman, her child, and her dog, off the plane and get another spot in line for takeoff. I didn’t really care about arriving late. I booked an iZzzleep pod at the airport. Plus, traveling with my one small REI pack meant I sailed through immigration and customs. It took less than 15 minutes to step off the plane and walk into my hotel. Sleeping would be another matter.

Check-in wasn’t a problem. I received my key (needed for everything) a towel, earplugs for the tv, sock to wear around the property (all shoes must stay in your locker), and earplugs. The issue was getting set up. The WiFi code didn’t work, so I used my GloCalMe hotspot. This was the second time this purchase saved me. The first was needing WiFi to complete my ArriveCAN paperwork, while on the bus from Seattle to Vancouver, heading to the US/Canada border. Yesterday wasn’t that big of a deal. It was just that after getting into the pod, I didn’t want to get out again, walk to the front desk, and ask about the WiFi password. I just wanted to sleep.

Of course, sleep would have to wait. I had to post my arrival on on Instagram and Facebook, then reorganize my personal items for the next morning. The hotel leaves a bottled water in the room. You’re given a towel at check in, with all the rest of the gear. The room has three levels of temperature control. I put it on high. Then, I turned on the tv and attached the earplugs. I quickly found old episodes of NCIS and figured I could call it a night. I totally forgot that I was in another country. Another country as in used toilet paper goes in the trash can next to the toilet not in the toilet. And, all the tv shows are in Spanish. Well, Duh! Then, I couldn’t decide on how to sleep. I was too hot for the provided comforter, but I felt I’d need more than my silk sleeping sack. So, the tv went off and I entertained myself by tossing back and forth all night.

My full day of sightseeing in Mexico City was over before I even woke up … at 9:30 am. I checked my messages to find that my friend living in Mexico City had come down with COVID-19. There went my tour guide. Next, being old took over. After five days of travel from the US to Canada and then Mexico, I was beat. Good thing that this is only a test. I will clearly need to figure out my pre travel, travel and post travel schedule, giving my old bone the needed time to rest. Now, more than ever, I understand the need for the slow travel pace. I now totally understand why digital nomads are in a spot for a full month or two and only produce one or two vlogs. Clearly, they’re spending the rest of that time in recovery.

Time to get snacks from the 7 / Eleven and then get a nap! Next up, Puerto Escondido! xoxo — GGT