My first business trip to Mexico City was a little loco! I always wanted to visit Mexico City, as it is one of the largest cities in the world, with 21 million people. I had the good fortune to fly Aeromexico’s business class and had a very enjoyable experience. Mexico is part of my territory for Global Traveler, and I was looking forward to learning more about the business culture there. Unfortunately, I had a cold that quickly developed into the flu on my first day. This is a traveler’s worst nightmare! The thought of potentially getting sick is always in the back of your mind when you travel, but when it actually happens, it feels like death! I landed in Mexico City and met up with our Mike Donahue, director of sales and marketing at Global Traveler, who had arrived earlier than me. We took a taxi to our separate hotels and parted ways to get settled and rest up for meetings over the next few days. I stayed at the Four Seasons Mexico, D.F., located in the Paseo de la Reforma neighborhood, the first night, and thank goodness I did! They saved me, literally. As soon as I checked in, my sickness escalated, and the next thing I knew, I had the full-blown flu with a 105-degree fever. Dios mío! The Four Seasons has a doctor on call, and he arrived around midnight to treat me. Imagine a doctor who makes house calls from the 1940s with a three-piece suit and a true doctor handbag; he was adorable, and a savior. I am eternally grateful to the hotel for having a doctor available; without his treatment I’m not sure what I would have done. Getting extremely sick in a foreign country when you are alone is terrifying. I never really experienced this before, and let’s hope it does not happen again soon. I’m glad I went to the pharmacy ahead of time to get certain medications that helped the recovery as well. I would recommend anyone traveling internationally to go see your doctor and get prescriptions in case of emergency. You never know what can happen while abroad. I was unable to attend our first day of meetings but was able to make it for the second day. We had a successful week with our international rep, Fernando Palacios, and I am grateful to him for showing us around and making sure we were taken care of. Muchas gracias, amigo! Mike and I also stayed at Las Alcobas, located in the Polanco neighborhood, and had a very pleasant experience. I was able to sightsee a bit on the last night; the famous Palacios de Bellas Artes (see picture) was magnificent, and all the tiled buildings around the city (see picture) were true to Mexico’s culture. Hasta la próxima, Mexico City! — Rafie Iannello, account director, Pacific Rim