One night in Mérida, Mexico, I was invited to a team dinner. Someone else had picked a place — a nice, fancy spot — but when we arrived, it turned out to be completely packed, with over an hour of waiting time.
It wasn’t my call, but I looked around and said, “Hey, there are like twenty different places here — let’s just find something else.”
I had never been to that area before, but I started walking anyway, just scouting the street to see what else was around.
Most places looked exactly how you’d expect — busy, predictable, nothing particularly interesting. Then one spot caught my attention. From the outside, it looked completely empty, almost like it wasn’t even open, but at the same time I kept noticing people quietly walking in.
So I said, “Let’s try that one.”
We stepped inside, and the lobby was empty again, which didn’t exactly help my case, but they handed us menus, everything looked fine, and they started walking us further in.
Then we reached the backyard patio.
The lights were off, and suddenly there was this massive mural of a Katrin skeleton, animated and moving with the cumbia music, like the whole wall was alive.
Everyone just stopped for a second. Open mouths. Total surprise.
It felt like we had stumbled into something hidden in plain sight.
That moment stayed with me.
A lot of the best things I’ve found didn’t come from planning or recommendations, but from moving first, even when there wasn’t a clear signal that it would lead anywhere. That place looked empty twice — from the outside and again in the lobby — and by most reasonable assumptions, it wasn’t the obvious choice.
But something didn’t fully add up, and that was enough to give it a try.
I’ve told stories like this before, and usually people don’t quite believe them. It sounds like luck, or like I’m overstating how often these situations happen, but this time they were there and could see it unfold in real time.
Within minutes, phones were out, WhatsApps were flying, and suddenly what started as a small dinner turned into a group of fifteen.
So I tend to follow a simple rule: if something feels slightly off — not clearly good, not clearly bad, just different — it’s usually worth checking.
Most of the time nothing special happens, but sometimes you find something you wouldn’t have found any other way, and over time those moments start to stack.
That’s gogetthism in practice — moving first, even when the signal isn’t clear.