Dispatches - 11 May 2025 - Last Times

It's almost time to leave Tulum. In just a few days, I will board my American Airlines flight out of the city for the last time for a long time. Tulum is my home away from home. I've made friends here, learned to relax in the cenotes, fell in love with diving, and used its coffee shops to kickstart my writing endeavours. I'm crossing off several "last times" as the days go by: last haircut, last laundry, last time eating at La Fonda, last time to have my sheets changed, last draw at the cashpoint, and the list goes on. Pretty soon, it will be my last day, last coffee at La Fournée, last concha from Pan Tulum, and last time walking out of the door. I wouldn't call it bittersweet, necessarily. I love Tulum, but I have to admit I'm ready for the next place. But it is weird to think I'm leaving my home of five months behind.

It has been a frustrating week on the book front. Amazon KDP threw error after error on my manuscript for reasons not even their helpdesk could figure out, so I had to totally reformat it. It's not in the font I wanted anymore (Minion Pro), which looked really good with the advance copies I got, but at least using Times New Roman will increase royalties thanks to the decreased page count. Barnes and Noble, too, has been frustrating, but that's just par for the course with them. They're requiring me to use a unique ISBN for their platform, won't let me use my desired font, are unresponsive to emails, won't update the thumbnail to my revised cover, and won't let me set the publication date to 25 May instead of 8 May. The workaround I'm using is to simply hold off on pushing the button to make it available for sale, but we'll have to see how long that works. Hopefully their customer support people get back to me soon...

I went diving with Hector Friday. We did a great two dives in closed cenotes. I've been in closed cenotes many times before, but this was the first time I was in a truly closed environment. We dived through long, flat caverns totally immersed in water, swam through gaps just big enough for a diver, and glided over silty sediment on the bottom. These dives took a lot of buoyancy control, something I have gotten worse at since leaving Tulum last year. Even so, I did fine enough. It cost more money than I wanted to spend my last week in Tulum, but it was totally worth it. I was wiped by the end, though, and sunburned from the surface intervals. Such is life of a professional diver!

Hugo, a server at La Fournée (my usual coffee shop), told me Friday that he is leaving Tulum. He is heading home to Vera Cruz for a few months before going off to university in Merida. Hugo is a good kid; friendly, always with a smile, and wide-eyed and bushy-tailed about the world. He bought one of my books from me "for my personal development." He's trying to improve his English (he already speaks very well) and learn about the world. Hugo also wants to join the military and join Mexico's version of the Navy SEALs. A lofty goal, but one I am certain he can attain if he puts his mind to it.

What stuck with me, though, were Hugo's words: "I really admire you." That came as a shock. After all, I'm just a customer. Not to him, though. I was the closest thing to a real-life adventurer he had ever met (and maybe ever will). A former soldier turned world-traveller and writer was a concept he'd learned about in school, but I made it real for him. I hope that stays with him. He has the potential to do some really cool things in this world.