Flying to Merida

Maya Likes to Live Dangerously

The flight was for 8am. I set my alarm for 5am. I woke up before my alarm. I also spent the previous night packing like a madwoman until pretty late. This should let you know how anxious I was about this flight. I wake up Izzy. I silence all her protests about how much sleep she didn't get. I allowed her to decide to stay up in exchange for not whining about being tired in the morning. To her credit, she kept to the deal.

A little before 6am, we're all dressed. I cut off the water, check all the doors to make sure they're locked, and out the door we go. Izzy reminded me that I forgot her tablet. After I ordered the uber. Okay, I run inside and grab her tablet and now we are ready to go.

What I will deeply regret going forward is that I left my bluetooth headphones. It's probably the least important thing I could have left, but emotionally, it's very important.

The uber arrives and I send Maya a text telling her that I really hope she's awake.

We get to the airport absurdly early because I don't trust the Atlanta airport at all. The lines can take over an hour sometimes. When we were in line, there was some poor woman begging to cut so she wouldn't miss her flight. We let her through.

I do get a chuckle that the airport warns only Asian travelers about petting the K9 dogs.

We get through TSA easily. Although I forgot about basically every electronic in my and Izzy's bag aside from my laptops. Yeah, they reran it all again, and then I had to repack it.

We are at our gate about an hour and a half early. I send a text to Maya hoping she's on her way while I wait for Starbucks.

I get back with the Starbucks after a long wait in a long line. Still no Maya. Just before I completely freak out, I do get a text that she's in line for security. Whew.

Ladies and gentlemen, she made it to the gate 20mins before boarding. That's a nail biter.

She tells me there was an accident blocking her in. She's calmer than I could have managed.

The Part Where Izzy Remembers She's Afraid of Heights

Boarding is unremarkable. We get to our seats and Izzy is so hype. She's always been enchanted by airplanes. Now she gets to ride in one. There is only one problem that I know and she doesn't: She's horrifically afraid of heights.

We take off and Izzy is so excited. We're flying. We're going up and up and up and... It's so high! 😖

Izzy will spend the entirety of the next 90 minutes alternating between the wonder of flight and the terror of height. I'm sorry people behind us for dealing with her opening and closing the window lol.

There Were Birds In Miami Airport

The bathrooms in the Miami Airport are disgusting. I only mildly forgave them when I learned later that the next nearest bathroom was closed. Not a lot, though.

Maya told me about the amazing triple dipper deal at Chili's, so I decided we would eat there. I haven't eaten at a Chili's since I was in college, so what the heck.

This would prove to be a mistake.

The service at this Chili's is by far the worst service I have ever received at a restaurant. The waitress was not aware of what kind of drinks they served. No seriously. She had to go check. The menu was extremely truncated, I'm told by Maya. No triple dipper for me today. The waitress gives my 6-year-old daughter a regular adult human cup. Predictably, Izzy immediately spills it.

I don't think I've ever been at an establishment where a waiter would even let this be an option. I ask if there are any lidded cups. Yes, it turns out. Now I will wait until we are nearly done with our food for the waitress to actually deliver that cup. I ended up pouring the drink into the tumbler I had on me.

I wasn't planning on leaving anything like a great tip. Turns out: There's an automatic 18% gratuity. For a party of 3. This explains why the waitress couldn't have cared less.

So, if you're in the Miami airport and you have the opportunity to eat at Chili's. Don't.

We left that disappointment and headed to our gate. We wasted time in the usual fashion. I pulled out one of my laptops and stashed it in a carry-on because carrying two laptops on your back is not a fun time. Maya then pointed out something strange: Birds. I couldn't see them. Because I was not looking at anything like the right direction. I was looking at the windows expecting to see some kind of exotic bird.

Y'all, no.

A couple of pigeons were living their best life inside the airport. One landed on some lady's bag. She wisely decided not to confront this bird, which had to have negative cares if it was living this deep in the airport and thriving.

I regret to say that I do not have a photo.

Why Was Landing Like That???

On this flight, Izzy had picked a side: the terror of height it was. The window stayed firmly shut. This did nothing for her nerves because this flight was turbulent which added a special kind of terror for my child who feared we would fall from the sky and crash into the ocean below.

This was another 90 minute flight. Even with the turbulence, it was pretty unremarkable. Until the landing. This was not a suffering for all on the plane, just people like me and my poor daughter who are prone to pressure building up in their sinuses. I could not explain to my poor child how to pop her ears. Nothing seemed to work like having her drink some water or chew on some gum. There was nothing to do but deal with her wailing as we went down.

Honestly, same, but internally. I was not feeling great when we stepped off the plane.

There Was Still Immigration

Izzy was beyond done at this point. Her head was hurting. My head was hurting.

There was a line to be processed by immigration. Izzy was offended by the concept of a line. I swapped out her shoes since she was not getting on with the pair she had on. The immigration guy was really chill. He gave Maya some extra time to be in Mexico. He told me I had 30 days to report to an office to do the second half of my long term visa.

The issue came after the baggage claim. My checked bag had been marked for inspection, which was mildly terrifying. I was also anxious because I had taken a gamble. I brought a personal and a work computer. Technically, Mexico only allows 1 tax free laptop or tablet per person. That would be pricy, given I had a Mac and a powerful machine for work. Great.

They open up my suitcase. Apparently, what triggered the search was my portable dryer. I tell the agent what it is and that it's worth about $100. He asks me if I have any computers. I say yes. He then says how many. I very carefully say that I have one on me right now. Which is correct. I put the other in the carry-on. Blessedly, they did not check the carry-on, but I have to say I am alarmed that we were questioned twice about my daughter's carry-on after a dog alerted on it.

Now we were free.

We got scammed by a taxi driver to take us to our Airbnb for 400 pesos. You know what, I wasn't even mad about it. I just wanted to lie down after 12 hours of traveling.

We made it to Mexico