Being raised in a small town in Iowa, there was a lot about the world that I didn't know.
Small and large details that never would've come up to my attention if I didn't begin traveling.
If you had asked me "what comes to mind when you think of a taxi driver?" I would've told you someone who takes you from Point A to Point B.
With time traveling around Latin America and now a fourth of my life abroad, I sing a different tune.
While most taxi drivers are normal people just trying to put food on the table, I did write this article here about how much I hate taxi drivers in Latin America given my experience with them trying to fuck me over (especially in Colombia).
But there's another detail that I never would have realized if I had stayed in small town Iowa: taxi drivers in Latin America can seemingly be quite helpful if you want whores (and assumingly drugs) in Latin America (and likely other parts of the world).
Let me give you a few stories.
The Side Hustle of the Colombian Apartment Owner
When I lived in a Colombian city called Barranquilla about 7 years ago more or less, I stayed at this apartment building owned by a somewhat sketchy character.
A skinny Colombian man not too young but not too old.
Who, whenever I needed a taxi to drive me somewhere, he'd sometimes be a real bro and negotiate for me.
As I wrote here, the dude would be on the verge of almost screaming about how "we won't take your deal. Every day we get a better price with other taxi drivers. Don't be a faggot, NO JODA!!!"
Thankfully, the dude never gave me his wrath himself while living there.
Though we did get into a minor disagreement one time when he wanted to charge me higher prices for using the washing and drying machine in the building but it never amounted to anything tense between us.
Anyway, this dude also had a side hustle outside of running an apartment building.
The apartment building itself was small and was actually used for both long term stays and folks staying for just a few days or a few weeks.
I don't remember many too people staying longer than a month there in hindsight.
And the owner of the place -- whose name I completely forgot -- was almost never there while he had "front door women" running the place, cleaning the floor, etc.
So while the owner wasn't there often overlooking the place, he did seemingly have a side hustle of sorts.
At the front desk where the "front door women" would be, there were a bunch of cards that anyone could pick up.
One set of them had just basic info about the apartment building itself: the address, phone number, etc.
The other set seemed to be for some type of strip club in the area that had whores for any man tired of his wife to enjoy.
Interesting enough, the owner of the place always had a few cards to donate to any taxi driver that he never got too tense with.
While he was often tense in any negotiations (period), sometimes he would be a little bit calmer than other times (like not saying NO SEA MARICA!!!).
On many occasions anyhow, he'd hand over a few of the cards to the taxi driver who would agree to whatever price to take me somewhere (usually to Universidad del Norte).
Both cards anyhow -- one for the apartment and another for the strip club.
Basically, he seemingly tried to recruit them perhaps to spread word about the businesses?
Of course, I've never ran any apartment buildings or strip clubs.
Have no idea how the business goes when it comes to that.
Do the taxi drivers get a commission for any guy they bring along looking for a place to stay or a place to look at whores?
I'd guess so as I think about this now but I have no idea how true what I'm saying is because I'm not involved in strip clubs or anything.
Still, over the years living in Latin America, you notice as a young man from small town Iowa how things are different here and how much taxi drivers love taking you to whore houses and strip clubs.
Having seen MAYBE how the relationships begin between said strip clubs and taxi drivers, what about when you are pressured to go to one by said taxi driver?
Te Gustan Chicas?
For the other "small town Iowa bros" out there who are 18 years old like I was and limited in exposure to the world, I will let you in on a little secret: when a taxi driver asks you "do you like girls?" he is asking if you want to see whores.
No, he isn't asking if you are gay as shit.
Obviously, we all like girls, don't we?
He's just starting a conversation to see if you want to go to a strip club or a whore house.
Like I said, I've come to the conclusion that these dudes get a commission for every dude they bring to these places.
When I first arrived to Mexico City years after Barranquilla, I remember going apartment hunting.
I was staying at a hotel in Centro Historico and decided to check out a place by Condesa.
The place was around 7000 to 7500 MXN a month (350 to 375 USD) and it was a very small apartment to myself that was VERY basic and VERY small.
And, on the outside of the building, there was a lot of construction work being done and an entire street that looked very fucked up (so I obviously chose a not very nice part of Condesa).
Anyway, I didn't pick that place (the outside street had me thinking otherwise) but I remember the taxi ride over.
It was a young man in a very beat up looking vehicle and we made some very minor small talk along the way.
Not much talking as I'm not much of a talker to be honest.
But he asked me the question: "te gustan chicas?"
"Do you like girls?"
And of course I'm going to say "yeah, I like girls."
But, in the moment, I was a little bit confused even though I shouldn't have been.
It wasn't my first time traveling to Latin America.
I should've known what he meant by "you like girls?"
I had been asked the question before by other Latin American taxi drivers.
In the moment, I was probably tired or whatever and not thinking clearly.
Regardless, I was confused by why he was asking me this as I didn't think of those past experiences and said "yeah, I like girls."
With my mind thinking "does this dude think I'm gay or some shit?"
But then he immediately counters with something about how he can "show me a good time."
Long story short, I insisted that I had to get to this building to check out an apartment but he gave me his number and some card.
Though I never reached out afterwards to see "the girls," it was a memorable moment given it was within my first few days in Mexico City.
He dropped my off.
I checked the apartment out.
Didn't like it.
Went back home (took the metro actually as I wanted to better figure out how it works).
So Do YOU Like Girls?
It's a small detail to life not just in Latin America but around the world.
The point is that you grow up in a very different community and get exposed to very different shit when you travel the world.
Never before I left Iowa did I truly ever think that taxi drivers would be dudes who can get me whores.
Like I said, I always thought that they were just people taking me from Point A to Point B.
And, in small town Iowa, I never needed to take a taxi anyway.
While I never had any interest in "the whores" while in Latin America, I did one time (and only one time as of this writing in 2022) visit a strip club.
But that was in Krakow, Poland and NOT Latin America.
Did I like it?
Not really.
The chick dancing was kinda ugly and they began pressuring me too much to "take her back" given I was the only client in the place.
Walked out.
It's a story anyway and I'm not sure if I ever told it on my blog or not.
Since then though, I never had much interest in strip clubs because that one experience wasn't very interesting and I never cared for whore houses.
While I get why dudes would go to a whore house down here given how cheap girls are, I'm cool with just Tinder.
Still, over the years here, you take the occasional taxi driver and you get the offers for the whore house, strip clubs, etc.
Most won't pressure you into it though but you get the occasional once in a blue moon driver who wants to offer you "the girls."
On that note, I also wonder is it a good idea anyway?
Let's say you do want to fuck a whore, would a taxi driver be good or would he likely rip you off and give you the gringo price?
I guess for professionals who travel down here with lots of money, it doesn't matter as much, does it?
New to Latin America, they probably want something "safe" where the driver takes them there and can pick them up when they are done (or wait?).
The irony though is that the taxi driver probably does "beef up" the prices but these same foreigners could find whores easy enough.
In Mexico City (and other Latin American cities), there are no shortage of them all lined up along certain streets of the city.
...But -- for the gringo with no Spanish and no time in Latin America -- I guess that is more intimidating to approach than a taxi driver.
But what about drugs too?
Being honest, I've never been the type to buy drugs.
In my 7 years here in Latin America, I've probably smoked pot maybe 3 times or something.
Not into it versus just drinking.
Still, thinking about it now, I wonder how much a taxi driver could help you find drugs?
Not encouraging it but I guess it makes sense as I think about it now.
If they can find you whores (as legal as they are), then I'm sure you can get drugs with them too.
Anyway, as I like to try to end my articles on a positive note, I ask too this question: is this a solid business opportunity?
The reason why I'm writing this article is because my sister's husband recently on the phone brought up the idea of starting a "brothel tour" or something like that from what I remember (it's been a few days).
Or something anyway to introduce foreign men to whores or whatever.
Honestly, not the worst idea but I never could.
I've heard stories of foreign men promoting whores down here and getting fucked up from it by the locals.
Also, while I've seen plenty of shit down here, I'm not the type to get involved in shit like that because I have no experience with whores, whore houses, etc.
Have no contacts with that part of the world.
But, given the amount of foreigners coming to live in Latin America, I guess it does sound profitable.
The demand is there.
Not encouraging it but it is there.
Anyway, the conversation mentioned reminded me of this topic and I figured I'd throw a few cents on it all.
Got anything to add?
Drop a comment below.
And follow my Twitter here.
Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt
Interested in dating Latina women? Check out more articles HERE.