“If it weren’t for bad luck….”

[72 tigger]

A casual friend that I grew up with who lived a mile away has always had the worst luck- anything that can go wrong for him usually does. He recently decided to buy a used fifth wheel camper and head to Cabo San Lucas for the winter. Things went well for most of the journey until he reached New Mexico (he did lose his new front steps somewhere around St Louis- no big deal). In New Mexico he hit something on the road that took out a trailer tire. While getting the tire replaced, they noticed the springs were cracked and decided to replace them also. The next day as he’s about an hour away from the border he sees that the next gas station is 18 miles away and he’s getting low on diesel but he can surely make that. He didn’t realize that he was going to be going up 3000 feet in elevation- he sputtered to a stop 200 yards short of the station. 4 hours later he’s up and running and makes it over the border before nightfall. Christmas morning he gets up and is checking his trailer tires and decides he really should replace the tires and rims for peace of mind. He camps one more night and finds new tires and rims in the morning and heads for Cabo feeling really good.
He’s not sure how it started, but he noticed smoke from the trailer and pulled over. He desperately tried to get the truck unhooked, but couldn’t, and lost everything including his Harley stored in the back of the trailer. He’s trying to figure out how to get back to Indiana without any documents or passport (all in the trailer). I feel bad for him

[MySons68C20]

That is awful! Talk about bad luck Shleprock for sure!

[Accelo]

A co-worker just had his passport picked-pocketed in Mexico. The Mexican Embassy could not or would not help him. Ended up the Cuban Embassy helped him. He had to flly to Cuba and they fixed him up with documentation so he could get home.
It was a crazy story. Not as bad as this one.

[sixty8HDC30]

I have similar luck as your buddy, which is why I rarely leave the hill.

[Sheepdip]

Oh Lordy! Hope his insurance takes care of him. I have a buddy with constant bad luck but about 99% of his is self-inflicted.

[LS short box]

What bummer. Glad no one was hurt.
In regards to the pass port I would just show up at the US border with pics of the truck/RV burning and a MX police report.
For work for over 20 years I traveled all over MX. Always kept my passport on my person. Never left it in my carry on or in the hotel room

[CG]

Wow thats heartbreaking. All you can do is watch it burn.

Like LS said if I was somewhere that required a passport I would always have it on my person carried in such a way as to not lose it or get it stolen. Course Im super paranoid about that kind of thing.

A friend and her daughter recently went to Ireland and the daughter (30's) lost her passport. It was such an ordeal to get correct paper work to allow here to leave.

[Steeveedee]

That's a terrible run of luck. I think he should go to the US embassy. He can give them a fingerprint, which they can verify, and get a temp replacement for his passport.

[weq92f]

.

This is why we pay insurance premiums. Hopefully this person will be made right soon with truck, camper, harley and all the other stuff he lost.

Sometimes I feel like my luck is bad but then something like this pops up and I reevaluate.

Thanks!

-Kevin

[57taskforce]

Marry Christmas and a happy new year… sheesh that is terrible. I can’t imagine how he must be doing right now.

[4u2nv]

That brought a tear
I feel for the guy

[Dead Parrot]

OUCH!

On the passport front, you can get something called a "Passport Card". IIRC about a $10~20 add to the cost of a normal passport. It is about normal license size and last time I checked, good enough to get back to the US from Mexico.

[LS short box]

Is there a "mini" US embassy in Cabo? Other wise its off to Mexico City.

[72 tigger]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions! He’s back on American soil- in San Diego. He’ll fly home tomorrow