On November 12th we crossed into Mexico after months and months of preparations! Our first send off was October 25th, leaving our hometown of San Francisco. This was a big milestone as it meant all the work around moving out of our homes and preparing for renting them was done. Then what followed was 3 weeks of tying up other loose ends: visiting family and dropping our dog Mochi off in Vegas (thanks Elaine and Hugh!), and visiting family and getting through our endless lists of van improvements in San Diego.
These last few weeks felt like a non-stop stream of amazon deliveries and home depot runs, some necessary upgrades (bug screens, flare sides, light bar) and some less necessary (bidet sprayers and planters). We were all on edge and ready to be on the road. When Indigo and Bowie were begging to start homeschooling we knew we had to cut ourselves off. We left a wake of delivery boxes in the garage (sorry YC!) and finally crawled across the border. Our trip had officially started, for the second time.
Our first border crossing was confusing but pretty smooth considering what every other crossing will probably be like. (Last time we checked, the border to Guatemala was closed because of political riots and going from Costa Rica to Panama is currently closed due to a mining contract conflict so we are in for some rough crossings ahead). We had two inspections at the border, both uneventful and the cats didn’t even get noticed so we kept quiet. 30 seconds after crossing into Mexico, the road we were supposed to take to the toll road was closed, so we were forced into the city streets of Tijuana. We had to follow the flow of traffic until Apple Maps reset itself to get us out of there.
One thing we noticed right away was that drivers seem to be more patient and much less likely to cut you off than in America, maybe a foreshadowing of some cultural differences. After about 25 minutes we finally merged onto the highway toward Ensenada. We made it to Playa Saldamando minutes before night fell although the Solis was lost in the dark for about 15 minutes getting to the site despite the Sprinter’s light bar and hazards being on. Driving into dirt roads with no signs or street lights at night is challenging to say the least. So, 2 hours into Mexico we already broke 2 of our rules for driving, compiled over the past 3 years of shorter van trips.
Rules for Driving:
- Stay together – this just makes sense for getting lost, having a breakdown and since 2 vans are better than 1 against warding off threat.
- Know our route – know roughly our destination. For the most part we are using iOverlander to find camp spots, water, gas and dump stations.
- Don’t drive at night – Trying to find our way through rough dirt roads with fruit and books flying around is no one’s idea of fun. Nor is getting stuck in mud or sand at night.
- When you can get gas get it.
- Empty the cassette toilet before drives (esp bumpy dirt roads).
- Try not to drive in the rain.
We had a pretty uneventful and relaxing 4-5 days near Ensenada at various campsites, making a point of not trying to do too much after our stressful last couple months exiting San Francisco and the US and taking time to get into our new homeschooling routine. Saldamando graced us with some opportunities for tidepool exploration and just a couple miles south, San Miguel had a nice, quiet albeit small, surf break. We had a beautiful camp site at El Mirador over La Bufadora (a large blowhole) with gorgeous views of the rugged BC coastline. In every location we enjoyed a beautiful sunset – something you have to work hard to avoid in van life.
The drastic shift in our pace of life was almost instantaneous once we crossed into Mexico. Yes, we are on most days juggling work or part-time work, homeschooling and traveling and the confines of living in a small space can have its own set of struggles, but there’s something so freeing about not being on a schedule and deciding day to day where to go, where to stay, when to zig and when to zag. It’s a feeling that will hopefully penetrate to the kids’ lives and remind us all to appreciate every day in this pretty amazing world.
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