Emma’s Note: In 2003, Tom Dyson contacted Bill and offered to work for him – for free! When that didn’t work out, he quit his job in London and took to the road… with no money and no credit cards.

In this short essay series, he tells us about that trip… and his efforts to meet Bill…

In today’s installment, we hear about his lonely voyage across the ocean from Mexico to Cabo San Lucas – as a stowaway on a cargo-only ferry…


Over the last couple of days, I’ve been telling you about the adventure that brought me to work for Bill Bonner… about how I left my job in London and flew to Mexico… and traveled across Mexico by freight train… arriving in Mazatlán on Mexico’s Pacific coast…

In Mazatlán, I climbed down the side of the gondola, picked my way over three strings of parked railcars hemming me in, and made my way out of the freight yard.

I walked toward the ocean. A large ferry was docked at a quay. Eighteen-wheelers were lining up on the wharf. They were loading them one by one onto the top deck of the ferry with a pneumatic elevator built into the ass of the boat.

I went over to the little office and poked my head in the door.

“Where’s the ferry going?” I asked.

“San Lucas.”

“What time?”

“Tonight.”

“Can I get a ride?”

“Cargo only,” he said.

I walked to the wharf. A port official was standing by the loading ramp.

“Puedo pasar?” I asked.

“Prohibido.”

I retreated to some nearby shade to consider my options.

Stow-Away

Then, as if a mystical force was intervening on my behalf, the guard lit a cigarette, walked off the quay, and disappeared!

I picked up my bag and walked up the ramp, expecting – with each footstep – to hear shouting behind me. There wasn’t any. I didn’t dare look around.

On the boat, I climbed a staircase to the second deck. There was a 20-foot-high hollow metal column shaped like the tailfin of an airplane at the back of the boat, among a tangle of marine-grade ropes and chains. There was an oval-shaped cut-out in one of its sides.

I crawled in and wedged myself inside it – out of sight – for the rest of the afternoon.

When I saw the late-afternoon sunlight suddenly pour in through the oval and paint a slow arc across the floor, I knew we’d left port.

All-Night Party

When I emerged from my hiding place, I found truck drivers gathered around a little canteen on deck, drinking and eating.

I couldn’t buy anything. I ate leftovers from trays that hadn’t been cleared…

The truckers partied all night… playing loud salsa music and drinking so much beer, they overflowed the ship’s dumpster with cans.

I slept on the metal deck.

In the morning, we docked at Cabo San Lucas. The drunk truckers got in their trucks and drove away. I walked off the boat and stuck out my thumb…

Tune in on Monday to see where my adventure took me next…

Regards,

Tom Dyson
Editor, Postcards From the Fringe

P.S. Traveling first-class was never my thing, as you can tell. Right now, I’m enroute from Florida to Alaska… in a small, pop-up camper van, which I’m sharing with my ex-wife and our three kids.

But when it comes to my finances, I go all in. I took a chance on bitcoin back in 2011, when it was so new, it was trading for just $6. And a decade earlier, I put everything I had into gold, right before it went on an almost 500% run.

And right now, I’m practically 100% in gold… I’m sitting on the sidelines in gold, waiting for the right time to get back into stocks. I’ve already handpicked the stocks I’m going to invest in. And one indicator will tell me exactly when the time is right to buy.

I held a special online briefing all about my strategy last Wednesday night. The recording is still available… Click here to find out more.


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