21 Days of Van Life in Baja Mexico (driving top to bottom)

We are spending the next two weeks driving from San Diego all the way to Cabo at the tip of the Baja Peninsula in our converted sprinter van. There's a lot that could go wrong.

We have done stock run inspection, but.

That'S nothing new for the two of us. You're not going over it, are you? So join us as we cross the US Mexico border. Eat delicious street food. It might be the best taco I've ever had. Explore Mexico's wine region. Attempt to surf in freezing cold water.

I can't feel my toes.

I can't feel my hands.

Can you get clean water washing your body with salt water? If you add soap.

Wake up on beautiful beaches, meet the friendliest gray whales and have two new people move into our van before we leave it behind in Mexico. We've compiled our Baja Vlog series into a huge vlogumentary. So sit back, grab some tacos, maybe a margarita and enjoy.

Say.

Walmart. Good morning from our home away from home. We are about an hour north of the Mexico border and today starts our adventure down the Baja peninsula. In a couple hours we are going to be crossing the border into Mexico and we have a couple options. First, we could cross in Tecate, which we've heard is the quieter, quicker, less eventful option. Or we could cross in Tijuana, which we've learned is the world's busiest land border with over 50 million people crossing every single year. So this morning we're driving to Tijuana, but first we need to grab some cash.

Got it.

Print out the Mexican car insurance that I bought last night. Got it. Fill up with diesel. This is going to be painful. When we bought this van in early 2020, I paid $40 to fill the tank up and it wasn't even completely empty this time.

In typical Karen Nate fashion, we are crossing the border today and don't know where we're sleeping. Guadalupe is about an hour south from the border and it's actually Mexico's wine region. We're part of this service called Harvest Host that lets you sleep at wineries for free. But you have to call and they have availability first so let's hope that they do. Hi, how can I help you? Good morning. We were wondering if you had availability for us to park there tonight.

Great, thank you so much. You too.

Bye.

Woohoo.

Off to a good start.

It was going to sleep in Mexico. Oh, so excited. So far today has gone so smoothly. I know I'm jinxing us here, but.

Here we go.

Yeah. Go drive this van down to Mexico. Oh, my gosh.

There it is.

We have been stopped for an inspection. Buenos dias.

No, you don't speak Spanish. No, no, don't worry. I speak English. Ah, perfecto. Trash can. See? Nice. It's awesome.

Hey, you're on tip to go, which is gracias. Well, that was super easy. I think we're on our way.

The whole process was less than five minutes. Tijuana.

Are we here? I don't know what just happened. I don't think that was the world's busiest land border.

Are we in Mexico right now?

They didn't even check our passports. I am so confused. The biggest problem now is that we were supposed to get some tourist visas. We came across the border, and we obviously missed wherever they're handing those out.

We've been to Mexico several times, and we've never bought a tourist visa because we've always flown in. But apparently, if you're crossing the land border, you need this thing called an fmm and you can get in trouble if you don't have it. We didn't see anywhere to get it at the border, and now we're just here.

We're just driving in circles in Tijuana.

This says you must get your FMM stamped at the border.

Yes, well, we already didn't do that today.

Wasn't going away too well.

All right. Heading back to the U.S. oh, this is where the line is. I cannot believe we did this.

I'm scared to even see how long this line is.

According to Google, it's an hour.

Are you serious?

Yeah. We were so close to tacos. According to the research that we did online, they used to issue the FMM cards at immigration offices like anywhere in Mexico. However, they've stopped doing that now, and the only place to get it is the border. So we are now in line to cross back into the US and then we'll cross back into Mexico, and we'll make sure we get our tourist card. That this time, everything at the border happened so quickly and it was so unexpected that before we knew it, we were in Mexico and we didn't have the car.

To be fair, we came to this border crossing specifically because we thought it would be an adventure. This is just not what we were picturing.

As Kara said before, today wasn't going way too well. Also, it's pretty amazing all the things that are being sold to the cars waiting in line. I see army men with parachutes, ice cream, churros, piggy banks, fried plantains. Oh, you can get a coconut statue of Jesus oh, gracias. I think I have too friendly of a face. I smile when I'm uncomfortable. And so all the people that come by wanting to sell us stuff, I'm smiling at them. And then they tend to hang out by our car a lot longer than other people's car. I just feel bad, like, not making eye contact and being nice. But it will get better. We just haven't traveled internationally much lately.

Our hearts will harden with time.

Well, this felt more like the world's busiest land border. An hour later, we are almost there. He is attracted to our van.

The dog is now making a second circle around our van. Is he coming back around again?

Yeah. Third time.

I got my heart racing. I can't imagine the stress.

Being a border person.

No, of being a smuggler. Like, can you imagine sitting here knowing that you have something illegal in your car?

I would never get away with it. I'm nervous, and I'm like 100,000% certain that we're not doing anything wrong.

Hey, how's it going? Good, thank you. What were you guys doing in Mexico? So we've literally been there for 30 minutes. We forgot to get our tourist Visa card on the way in. So we're about to go back to Mexico. Do you know anything about that? No. They gave you a hard time about it or something? They haven't yet, but, like, just everything we read said, like, at the military checkpoints and stuff, you needed to have it. Really? Yeah. I think I know what you're talking about. I've seen it. Okay. They're so hit or miss whether they force anything, so. Yeah, we'll get it figured out. Yeah. All right. Good luck.

Thank you.

All right, we're officially back in the U.S. that was the world's shortest trip to Mexico.

Okay, round two.

Nobody else is getting stopped. And I bet we get stuffed again. Okay. We're going to get searched for a second time.

Hola. We're back.

Of there. Okay. Gracias. We just missed the parking lot the first time.

USA. USA. USA. USA.

U.S.A. what makes you think this is the border?

So after the inspection area, take a hard right to the parking lot.

You're welcome. Yeah, there's no signs or anything that tell you to go over here. Okay. So far so good. Wish us luck.

Well, once you find the place, it's a super easy process.

We're official.

So it turns out this is the exact same form that you fill out when you come in on an airplane, but apparently the cost is included in your airline ticket when you fly to Mexico it all makes more sense now. Now we eat tacos. Did you pour water all over yourself?

Ah, feels even better the second time. So a girl who used to live in Tijuana emailed us and told us about the best tacos in the whole. She said they're from a taco stand that doesn't exist on Google Maps, but she sent us the GPS coordinates and she promised it would be there. So let the Mexican food adventure begin. I'm so excited.

Whoa. Look at this sky.

Wow.

There it is.

All right. This is just blind faith in a stranger on the Internet. Hola.

Wow.

Ah. Muchas gracias.

I have no idea what we've ordered. This van is very nice and it looks so good. Look at all that fresh cilantro.

It might be the best taco I've ever had. He fried these corn tortillas with, like, the spicy oil. I think we need to order more.

Wow.

Round two.

I can't believe this is our life right now. We just drove our van into Mexico and we're already eating tacos on the street. So happy.

So according to the sign, which I did not see until after we were finished eating, there were only two things on the menu. Head tacos cabeza and tongue tacos. And I know we didn't have tongue, so I'm pretty sure we just ate four head tacos for $5.

And they were absolutely incredible.

It's been a very long time since we've had meat, so I didn't even notice.

From here, we have a two hour drive to the vineyard.

Adios.

Barrel houses.

Those are crazy.

So we turned off the coastal road and started going inland. Went over this mountain, and now we're just in this valley with vineyards everywhere. If you dropped me right here and asked me where I was, I would not say Mexico. I kind of feel like I'm in Europe. Like a mountainous Eastern European place. Wow. Lined with olive trees.

This is not what I expected at all. But it is so beautiful.

All right. Home sweet home. Could not ask for a more beautiful place to camp for our first night in Mexico.

A little bit less than $20 for one of their fancier wines. Looks nice.

Oh.

What?

I didn't hook up the propane.

What?

I forgot I moved the propane tank. I was scared.

I have to reconnect the propane before I can cook popcorn before I can drink wine.

You know what? I'm just not even gonna hook this up right now. I'm gonna consider it done until it's time to cook.

Wine. Popcorn.

Ow.

Not a Bad way to enjoy our first sunset in Mexico or really properly break in our roof rack for the first time.

I never thought I'd be in the middle of Mexico, hearing birds chirping, surrounded by palm trees, mountains, and vineyards all in one place.

You better not spill wine on my new roof rack. Cheers.

Cheers.

To making it to Mexico.

We're actually doing it. It was pretty good.

This is amazing.

This is amazing.

I love my life.

I really just can't get over this right now. We just drove our home to Mexico. This is just such a crazy experience for us. We've had a lot of experiences. We've been exposed to a lot, but this specifically, we're getting to do all the things we love about travel. We're in a foreign place with a foreign language, with a different culture, different food, different experiences, but we have our home with us.

I said this in Morocco when I was with Eamon and Beck, and I'm having those same feelings all over again. It's two worlds that I'm intimately familiar with separately. Van life and international travel. But, like, combined together. It's this completely new foreign feeling experience.

I'd read a lot of emails and messages that we've been receiving when we said that we were driving over the border, people telling us that it's unsafe and to be super careful and this and that. And I'm a little embarrassed to admit that some of them kind of got to me, and I was getting a little nervous this morning the closer we got to the border. But you saw our day.

Also, just to make today even better, we just learned that our first nephew was born.

Or the first nephew on the Buchanan side of the family was born, not our first nephew.

Y' all know Kayla and Barrett. They just had their third child.

Sorry to get you down off your soapbox. No, I totally agree. There were a lot of people who tried to talk us out of this trip.

Just think of it this way. Maybe it's just me, but when I make a purchase on Amazon, I read all of the reviews and say, 8 out of 10 times, I read enough bad ones that I talk myself out of buying whatever I need. There's always going to be people, how.

Many incredible products you've missed out on Amazon because you read the bad reviews.

If we would have let those messages, like, truly get to us and we would have canceled this trip, we wouldn't have this experience.

I'm just really grateful. I love it here.

This wine is really growing on me.

I think it's amazing.

Yeah.

Drive this van down to Mexico. We've been singing that song for months and we're finally here.

It's pitch black and we had no idea it was about to start raining. Now we are frantically throwing everything off the roof and getting inside and hoping that all of the holes that have been freshly drilled don't leak into our van. Hola. So sorry to interrupt. Really hope you're enjoying our Baja blogumentary. So much has changed since this trip, but there are a few things that have remained the same. One, clearly we still love van life and two, we still love AG1. They are the amazing sponsor of this video. But trust me, we drink this stuff both on and off camera. You can ask anyone in our lives and they will confirm.

I just realized it is officially our four year anniversary with AG1. It is so crazy to look back at the last four years and just see all the places we've brought this stuff around the world. As you know, our life is pretty much 100% on the go. So whether we're living the van life on a cruise to the North Pole, on a hike, in an airport, on a boat, we don't go anywhere without AG1 as full time travelers, it is so tough to get the nutrients we need from our diets alone. But AG1 makes it so convenient. Just one scoop or travel pack mixed with some water contains 75 vitamins, minerals and whole food sourced ingredients. And that includes pre and probiotics which are essential for a healthy gut and digestion. And AG1 is backed by research studies and they found that 97% of participants felt more energy after 30 days of drinking AG1. So if you have not tried AG1 for yourself yet, now is the time. If you click our link in the description below or scan this QR code on the screen with your phone camera, you will get the AG1 Welcome Kit. Your first purchase includes so many things. This shaker, the jar, the product obviously. And they're throwing in five travel packs for free, plus a free bottle of immune supporting D3K2 drops. This is such a great deal and I hope you love it as much as we do. Okay, back to Baja.

Good morning. It is officially our first full day here in Mexico. We have now been here for almost 24 hours and our surfboards have yet to touch the water. So today's goal is to change that.

Wow, these are beautiful. But first we have to pick up some food because the popcorn you saw us eating last night was our dinner. We just stopped on the side of the road at this cute little market and he has Beautiful produce.

Oh, jalapeno. That'll last us the entire trip.

Do you want some bananas?

Which is crazy. Wow. We just bought all that fresh produce for less than $5.

He told us the price in Spanish, and Nate went with the strategy where you just hold out some money and let him take however much it's worth. And it worked.

To clarify, I don't just hold out money. I usually just give a bigger bill than what I think is needed to pay for it and then just see how much change I get back.

Garlic, cilantro. Oh, my gosh. Look at all these ones.

Look at these homemade chips. Might eat these for breakfast.

So we're at the big grocery store next door finishing up our shopping, and when I say big, this is pretty much it. We're grabbing stuff for tacos and guacamole. And check this out.

Oh, my gosh. These are homemade tortillas. They're warm for being in this cooler. This is the best day ever.

Guess how much I paid for this giant bag of chips? Homemade tortillas, Our new favorite hot sauce. A bunch of cilantro, a whole head of garlic, and 15 limes.

200 pesos.

1 30. This would be $6 at Whole Foods by itself. I love Mexico. A lot of van lifers have a cute produce hammock. I don't have one of those. I have this small basket, but it will do the trick.

We lasted zero days as vegans in Mexico. We are eventually going to go surfing.

We passed a taco stand that we just could not pass up.

Wow. That's better than yesterday. Yeah.

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

This is the best decision we ever made.

Oh, Mexico. La.

Mine is coffee with chocolate on the inside.

Wow. Mexico is amazing.

Let's go to the beach.

Let's go to the beach. Beach, turn right.

Can we camp?

Just 1, 250. Okay. Thank you so much.

This might be the best campsite we've ever had. It's so beautiful.

Literally, we can pull up right to the edge of the cliff.

Let's do it. Oh, my God.

Look at that.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. There's a puppy. Come here, puppy. Come here, come here.

Look at this place. Without a doubt, the most beautiful place we have ever slept in the van. We're just parked up here on a cliff alone overlooking the Pacific ocean. It's pretty much like being on the Pacific coast highway in California, except we paid $12 to Camp Oceanfront. But I'm not gonna lie. These waves are a little intimidating. Kara and I are very Much beginner surfers, and I had read that this was a good spot, but currently I don't see anyone surfing. There's just like a million waves out there. How do you pick one? Hopefully we'll be a lot better at this by the end of this trip.

That was easy.

Feel like I'm putting the roof rack on again. Like the same screws I used.

Okay, wish us luck. Your boy looks so good.

Yeah.

It is so cold. My feet are gonna be numb for sure by the time we finish. All right.

Boards are wet. Goal achieved.

Oh, my goodness. I can't feel my toes.

I can't feel my hands. The cold water was the least of my worries. It was cold and choppy and really hard to paddle out there. But we both stood up. Nate stood up twice.

I think that there was a reason that no one else was out today.

But I'm proud of us for doing it.

Okay. We've heard they have free cold showers at this campground, so yay.

Hey.

I'm not scary like you.

It's even colder than I thought it would be.

Fun fact. This Dr. Bronner soap that we've been using in the van to wash our hair and our bodies is actually, according to a label, supposed to clean vegetables as well. So we're gonna give it a try.

This is true multi purpose. If it cleans our body and vegetables also. I didn't think this would happen, but we currently have the heater cranking, and it feels so good.

A dash in a bowl of water to remove residue from fruit and veggies.

Rinse, clean. Oh, it's a dash. Are you rinsing every one of those?

Yeah. Do you want soapy veggies? They're sitting in soap, water van.

Life is all about conserving water, so this is just painful to watch. This is all the water that was used, which is less than half a gallon and totally worth not having the poops.

Agreed.

Kara's in charge of the guacamole. I'm in charge of the margs. And if we time this right, we will be having happy hour right as the sun sets, which we will watch from our bed.

Now it's guacamole time. It's guacamole time.

Oh, yeah. Is this a real song?

I haven't made my own original guacamole song yet, but we do have lots of cilantro. Yes, I do. I love cilantro. I can't remember what came.

How about you?

I love that you knew the words and I didn't.

All Right. We gotta hurry. We're gonna miss the sun. Oh, tragic. 10 second rule.

I love Mexico.

Okay, so the margarita recipe that we've been taught is 2 ounces of tequila, 1 ounce of contro, and one lime.

Smells like happy hour.

These are the tiniest limes.

It'll be a mystery on who got the ice cube that fell on the ground.

Let me go open the doors.

How good is this?

As you can see, we didn't quite get the guacamole made, but we do have margaritas.

Thank you. Wow.

Cheers.

Wow. It does not get better than this. Look at that.

This is so awesome.

I've said this a few different times, but our life might have peaked. We are sitting in bed drinking margaritas in Mexico, watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Here's my feet, here's the ocean.

This might have to be, like our finale trip. We just might need to retire after this because it doesn't get any better.

There it goes. Two successful days in Mexico. Even the National Guard came out here to enjoy the sunset.

The National Guard is taking pics. He just handed him his phone to take his picture on his crutch. We're all just humans trying to get the ground.

Any parting words?

I'm just so thankful that we're able to do this. Like, we've been through so much in this dang van. So many ups and downs, and I just feel like we made it, you know?

I love Mexico.

Good morning. From just north of Ensenada and what has to be the most beautiful campsite we have ever stayed at. We slept with the doors open to this view and this sound.

I'm not sure how it gets much better than this, but I think there's a chance that this week it will. Today starts our first big driving leg of the trip. And over the next few days, if everything goes as planned, we are going to drive 300 miles south to Ojos de Libres to hopefully meet some very friendly. Well.

Yeah, next time, if we can leave that wrapped up, that'll save me some time.

So we have two different options for going south. Option one is taking highway one.

Yep.

One. Highway one down the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula. Or we can take Highway 5 down the Gulf side. We're really hoping to do a lot of surfing on the second half of this trip on the Pacific side. So we've decided to switch it up. We're going to take Highway 5 today.

First things first, Pre washed greens.

How much cilantro is too much cilantro?

We've heard it can be a bit barren through this next part of the drive. So we've made a quick pit stop in Ensenada to stock up on a few days worth of food, which pretty much means guacamole and taco supplies.

This giant fridge that Aiden and Bet gave us last year is just the gift that keeps on giving. There's no way we'd be able to stock up on multiple days of meals without it.

Oh, I forgot. You got more cereal. I have to live under your pillow. All right, south we go, actually.

Oh, my gosh.

Okay. So we thought we'd take a little break from tacos and try a torta, which is basically a taco, but with bread instead of a tortilla. He stuffed this so big.

Mmm. Best sandwich of my life. The bread is outrageously good. Everything in between is just so juicy and satisfying, I could cry. We might have another carbonara situation on our hands. Bon appetito.

How many did you get?

Eight.

Okay, if you're ever in Ensenada, you have to come to a place called El Palamazzo.

Trailero.

Come to El Charloro, get the torta, and then go next door to El Flamazo and stock up on popsicles.

Oh, my gosh. Is this one Oreo?

Yeah, but I didn't get you an Oreo. Coffee? Yes. And chocolate.

They had chocolate this time. Well, today is the best day ever. Do they all fit?

They all fit.

Should we get more?

We could have gotten more, but no, I think we should wait.

I don't know if this is. Yes. Okay. Gracias. I'm pretty sure this guy is going to fill up my tank for me, but he's just standing there. How do you say excuse me in Spanish? Pardon sounds French. Pardone sounds more French.

Hey, Siri, how do you say excuse me in Spanish? In Spanish? Excuse me later on. Yeah, no, I was right the first time.

Those guys are juggling fire at the intersection.

Wow.

Perfecto.

1138 pesos.

Easy enough. Okay, we have a full gas tank, full fridge, full bellies, and it's finally time to leave Ensenada. According to the GPS, we have five hours and 27 minutes of driving. And according to my watch, we have about five and a half hours of daylight left. Everyone says you shouldn't drive after dark in Baja. And I don't think it's fear of, like, people. I think it's more dangers of potholes, speed bumps, and cows. So the goal is to make it to our campsite before dark.

Dedicated to a clean shot. Much better. We're currently driving from one coast to the other across the peninsula, and we've only been in the car for about 30 minutes, and the landscape is already completely changed. All of a sudden, we are surrounded by mountains with these giant boulders. When we were planning this trip, I was picturing enjoying the coastline the whole time, and I did not even think about the mountainous part of Mexico.

All right, we are just approaching our first military checkpoint. Kara made it out of the bathroom just in time, only to get Gracias.

Did he tell you to go?

Yeah, he just waved me through.

Well, that's shocking.

Got my heart rate up a little bit.

Yep. What do we do here?

It just feels wrong to pass a military vehicle.

They're going slow.

All right, truck's going for it.

Following him. Oh, he got a wave. Should I wave?

Yeah.

Hello. He waved back, and I think he smiled.

Military checkpoint number two.

K's not in the bathroom this time. We're already off to a better start.

They selling snacks?

Yeah.

Those Personas out okay?

No problem.

Yeah. Kind of smells like a cigarette in here now. So far, we're two for two on not getting checked on our tourist visa. That took us an extra hour and a half.

We are still a very good ways away from where we hoped to end up tonight. Starting to get dark, but thankfully, it looks like there's a lot of camping options. We're just driving down the coast, and every few miles, There is another sign advertising camping.

I think we're gonna be able to find something.

There were a lot of other campgrounds back there that did not require leaving the basement.

Actually, left option.

Google maps really wants me to go, right?

I mean, that's where it looks like all the action is.

Yeah.

But, like, what are all these characters?

This is interesting.

She just said, drive over the hill, and we can pay on the way out.

That's trusting.

All right. Can we make it over the hill?

We're up and we are alone.

Left looks very bad.

How do we feel about this?

I haven't felt any reason why we should feel unsafe.

I guess we'll just go park by one of these palapas back here, and.

We'Ll call it a night.

I don't know who recommended this spot, and I can't remember why we're here, but at some point, as I was reading a blog or something on the Internet, Someone said they had a good experience here. So I had in my head, this is where we needed to end up. And we passed up a lot of places where we could have slept directly on the beach. And now we have the sand dune that we're on right there separating our van from the ocean. I mean, it's not too bad.

We have nobody to, like, vibe off of.

I think it was really just an expectations thing. This wasn't really it.

This is pretty, pretty sweet. Look, we have this whole bay all to ourselves.

We have zero Internet out here. So the only thing we have to to do this morning is sit up here in the sunshine and sip our coffee. It's really nice to be forced to slow down.

We were a little unsure about this place last night when we got here and nobody else was around. But this morning, getting to wake up and have it all to ourselves, it's pretty awesome.

Okay.

Today we have about a three and a half hour drive to what is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Baja.

Back on the road. Yee. We've just connected with Highway 1. So whether we would have chosen the Pacific Road or the Gulf Road, this is where we would have ended up. It's just been barren land with cactuses and boulders and mountains and dirt and sand.

That sign just said 140km until we get to gas.

Do we have enough?

Yeah.

Wow.

Wow. We have just entered what I am calling the valley of the cactuses. Cacti. Cactuses.

We don't have Internet, so we can't Google it.

This is without a doubt the highest concentration of cacti I've ever seen in my entire life. We decided to have a little picnic on the roof.

It's only 10 in the morning, but I've decided it's guaca clock somewhere.

Also, this massive thing of guacamole only cost $2 at the store.

Yesterday this would have been at least $8 at Whole Foods.

Two people have honked at us. I don't know if they're nice honks or like, you need to get out of here honks. Hopefully. Nice. We just wanted to sit up here and enjoy this landscape for a minute. Like, this is so cool. And I wanted some guacamole. This gave me an excuse to eat it.

Oh, that was fun. Back on the road.

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. What are these?

Wild horses maybe.

There are five horses just running through this field alongside our van. Wow. Do you see him bucking? He's kicking his back legs up in the air.

This is the most beautiful experience of my life.

Look at that.

Oh my gosh. I wish they would come closer. We have guacamole.

And that is why they tell you not to drive at night in Mexico.

Wow.

This is awesome.

What a view. So we read about this place right on the edge of town, but it feels like we're in the middle of nowhere. We haven't passed any cars out here. We're officially on a dirt road. And I'm pretty sure you just find a spot and call it home. Oh, what does that say? Welcome. Welcome to La Gringa. According to the Internet, it's paradise. It seems like people have differing opinions on how easy it is to get there. Some people are like, oh, you totally need a 4x4. Even my 4x4 got stuck. And other people are like, any car could get here, no problem.

This could be a huge mistake. Or it could be a huge win. All right, let's go check this one.

All right.

You seem confident.

I seem confident that we're gonna try and go that way.

Okay.

I think what we should do is we should both get out and walk up here and make the decision together.

Okay. Fair enough.

It's happening. Let's do this.

All right. We're in agreement that this isn't a horrible idea. Yeah.

Should I get out so there's less weight?

I really need to turn around.

All right.

We totally got this.

Believe in yourself only early driving on the beach for the first time. But we're doing it backwards.

You're good. You got it. We're doing it.

That feels pretty fun. Home sweet home.

How are we doing this?

This is exactly what I pictured, but I pictured driving our van now.

This is amazing.

This is amazing.

This has to be our most beautiful campsite yet. The only thing that would make this better is if there was surf. Wow.

I can't believe we're here.

So on this beach, there's a camper way down there, then just us, and then over here on the other side, you have one, two, three other campers.

This is nuts.

Not in a hurry to go anywhere. See it? Whoa, there's two.

Alright, I'm gonna whip this up. A quick, quick snack for lunch. I cannot believe we're having peanut butter banana tortillas for lunch. But we needed something quick and simple because one, it's already way past lunchtime, and Nate has some big plans for us this afternoon.

That equip I don't get a whole banana.

I'm gonna open another one.

Why didn't you put one banana in one and one banana in the other?

Adult sprinkles. This is actually such a great idea.

Now you come around too.

Lunch is served.

We're definitely doing these again. Price Amazing. I could eat that every day for lunch for three weeks, no problem.

Yeah.

Got it. In the last year, we have done a lot of crazy physical challenges, but none of them scare me more than what we have coming up in less than two months. I'm the one that signs us up for these things, and normally I'm super excited, but this is me facing my biggest fear. I'm not gonna go into too much detail now, except to say that we've been told in order to complete it, we need to be able to swim 90 minutes in open water without stopping. And we need some really cool goggles. I haven't worn goggles like these since I was a kid jumping in a swimming pool. Since we can't surf, we couldn't think of a better place to go on our first practice to swim. Today we're going to figure out how long can we swim without stopping with no training.

Yeah. I would like to add that not only have we never trained, but, like, we don't swim.

I swam laps in a pool once when I was in high school.

Wish us luck going on a swim.

Are you okay?

Let's just say we have a long ways to go.

That was nuts. At first, I really felt like I was kind of panicking, like I couldn't breathe.

You just started swimming straight out into the ocean. I was like, what is she doing out there?

I was panicking.

We lasted for 15 minutes, and now I have the full body stakes and a brain freeze.

Swimming back against the waves. Anytime I come up and get a breath, it would, like, splash my face. I'm like.

I can feel myself, like, shaking the camera.

Good morning. This beach is almost perfect, but it's missing two necessities, water and Internet. So today is going to be a bit of a life admin day to find both of those things. Normally, not having Internet for a few days wouldn't be a big deal, but we didn't know we weren't going to have Internet. And I was supposed to be on three business phone calls yesterday. They haven't checked in with our family in a while who are kind of on high alert with us driving our van to Mexico. So we just need to let some people know that we're okay. And then we need water for obvious reasons, mainly coffee.

All right.

A while. Who were kind of on high alert with us driving our van to Mexico. So we just need to let some people know that we're okay. And then we need water for obvious reasons, mainly coffee.

All right. We got out of our first sandy beach Spot. No problem. Which is great news, because hopefully there will be lots more beach camping in our future. I'm so excited. Whoa. Look at those big birds on top of that cactus.

I just connected my phone to the Internet for the first time in three days.

Let's see if anyone panicking.

Oh, no. They're panicking. Call home. I'm a little worried. This is my dad. How are you, sweetie? Please call. And then my sister said, now dad has me worried. Oh, I feel so bad. Wow, this place just keeps getting better. Avocado toast.

Good morning from the coldest and least picturesque campsite that we've stayed at on this entire trip. But we have good reason for being here today. We are going to experience something that doesn't happen anywhere else in the entire world. Every year, the gray whales migrate down from the Arctic to have and raise their babies in the warm, protected waters off the coast of Baja. For some reason, these whales are super friendly. Like, they will swim right up next to the boat and let you pet them. I know. I was super skeptical, too. I figured they had to be feeding them or something. But in all the research I've done, these whales genuinely enjoy interacting with humans. It.

Safety first.

If all goes as planned, this is going to be the best day of my life. I'm way too excited.

No way.

Sea lights.

They're telling us hello. Or R. R?

R.

So in addition to Bo Negro being the best place in the world to interact with gray wells, it's also home to the largest salt production facility on the entire planet. These big barges that we're seeing, they're completely full of salt.

I was under the impression that the wells were in a bay, but I'm pretty sure out in the open.

Oh, go see the whales, they said.

Also, I went to take my seasickness medicine this morning, and it was empty.

Those waves over there would topple the boat.

Everything's fine. It's gonna be fine. I just saw a blowhole hole.

The blow hole.

A blow. The blow. The breathing hole.

Kind of feels like we're in a washing machine right now. At one point during the drive out, I thought, I don't care about wells anymore. Let's just turn around because I don't want to die today.

Come on. Little wave.

Big wave.

Oh, my gosh. Under the boat. He's under the boat.

Whoa.

Look at it.

Oh, my God. Oh, look, look, look.

Look at his fence.

Oh, wow.

My gosh. There are two now. It was already all wor.

Is that his?

Whoa. Look at that.

I feel like I'm gonna cry. We have these 30 to 40 foot whales swimming under our boat. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

I wanted to get close enough to pet.

I feel like I'm gonna cry. We have these 30 to 40 foot whales swimming under our boat. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my God. I wanted to get close enough to pet.

Whoa.

Oh, my goodness. I touched the whale.

I'm so jealous. Whoa. Wow.

They're everywhere.

Oh, my goodness. I touched the well.

I'm so jealous. Whoa. Wow.

They're everywhere.

They're doing, like, synchronized dancing.

Wow. It's so big.

Whoa.

Oh. We almost shook hands.

He just waved at us.

Doing, like, synchronized dancing.

Yeah.

Wow. It's so big. Whoa. Oh. We almost shook hands.

He just waved at us.

Wow.

That was a good one.

This is your moment.

Come on. Come on. Come on.

This is it.

I love you so much. Wow. That was a good one.

This is your moment.

Come on. Come on.

Come on.

This is it.

I love you so much. I bet you that was the best moment of my entire life.

I love. I love you, too.

Do you think he's like, oh, my gosh, the human pet me.

Oh, good one. Petty Peter. That was the best moment of my entire life.

Hello. I love you, too.

Do you think he's like, oh, my gosh, the human pet me.

Oh, good one.

This is the best day of my life.

Wow. Look.

Wow.

He has little hairs on his nose.

This is the best day my life.

Wow. Look.

Wow.

He has little hairs on his nose.

Hi. Hi. I can't stop smiling.

Look at that.

This is amazing.

This whole experience has been mind blowing. But one of the craziest things that I've recognized, that I've never heard before, is the inhale that the whales take before they go back under.

You'll just hear this big, like, it sounds like wind.

They're just circling our boat. Wow.

Look at those nostrils.

Hello. Wow.

For the brief moments when the whales are right up beside the boat and I'm about to get to touch one, I forget how nauseous I am. Look at them all.

What are they doing?

Those are kissing.

Oh, my God.

I have, well, snot all over my face and it's all over the camera.

It feels so good not to be nauseous anymore. That was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. But in the moment, I wasn't quite sure how to feel about it.

Don't worry. I enjoyed it enough for the both of us.

This afternoon. We have about a three and a half hour drive to the town of mulehe. But before we leave, we are going to attempt to fill up with fresh water for the first time since arriving in Mexico. And I think I found a place where we can fill up up with water that will be good for our American gut. It's the first time, so we'll see how it goes.

Okay. Oh, there we go.

We're doing it.

So far, the process has been super straightforward. We pulled into a parking.

Mas. No mas. Gracias. The process has been super straightforward so far. We pulled into the parking lot, we moved the bed around so I can get to our new water filling point, and he pulled this hose out of a window. My arm is getting very tired.

We've been in Mexico for eight days now, and we're just now filling up for the first time. 40 gallons in eight days. It's pretty good.

Listo mucho agua agaro. 44. 0 gallons.

120. Okay. Gracias.

$6 to fill up the entire tank. And I'm pretty sure we can drink it without getting sick. All right. Picking up our first hitchhiker.

Really?

Yeah. He was on the well tour this morning.

Hello.

Do you mind sitting on the bed? No worries. What's your name?

Dukka.

I'm Nate.

I'm Kara.

Kara and Nate.

Yep. We spent the next hour listening to Lucas crazy stories from hitchhiking through Baja. We would have driven him further, but we realized a military checkpoint was coming up, and we weren't sure if they would be happy about us having an extra passenger without a seatbelt on. We felt a little guilty dropping him off at the next town. But five minutes later, he sent us this picture, Letting us know that a local had already picked him up. We're halfway. This giant whale skeleton marks the halfway point on the Baja peninsula. We're also just outside the town of San Ignacio, which is a real life desert oasis. All of a sudden, we're surrounded by green flowers and palm trees. But this is not our final destination. Back on the road, military stop number five.

Four.

Sorry. From guerro negroes.

See, we're surfing.

I think he enjoyed watching a squirm trying to respond in spanish.

We've arrived in mulahe.

All right. Hopefully.

Well, it's been a big day, and when we pulled in, the guy that owns the campground told us that there are two Floyd margaritas at the restaurant. Cheers.

Salsa test.

That is good stuff. That's beautiful.

Oscar Wilde.

Oh, my gosh. Is this my first avocado today? It's okay. I'd rather have Whale experiences than avocado.

It's been a good day.

Morning.

Yuck. We clearly have not washed a single dish this week because we are trying to conserve water now that we have a full tank. I could wash them in here, but why would I do that?

This campground has a sink. They have and provide the soap.

This is gonna take a while.

All right, we've got to get out of here before we get too comfortable. Not only do they have WI fi at the campsite, but we also found the first hot shower that we've had in nine days. It doesn't look like much, but it was beautiful.

We have a couple of things that we need to do before we leave Mulahe. The first one is go to an atm.

I was so nervous sticking my card into that atm because based on my research, that was the only ATM within an hour drive in any direction.

And then we're going to go to our first tortilla Ria.

Found him.

So unfortunately, the owner of the tortillaria was not a huge fan of the camera.

But we did come away with three packs of tortillas and two mystery cheeses, all for US$5. You buy tortillas by the kilo in Mexico. This is a half kilo of tortillas.

Oh, my gosh.

This cheese is so good.

Oh, it's like super salty and tangy.

Life changing.

It just melts in your mouth.

I was getting borderline hangry. I don't need this snack.

All right, from here we have about a 20 minute drive to a beach called Santis.

Sound it in French.

Santis. And we've heard that it has a completely different vibe from anywhere else we've been.

We about to come out of nowhere here.

Whoa. Is that where we're going?

Yeah. Look at that.

Oh, look at the color of that. That water.

It's going to be a party.

Oh, my gosh. Welcome to the Bay of Conception.

See?

No problem.

I was saying it, right?

Yeah. Just with a little bit of a French accent.

Wow. This is is insane.

Man, that beef is annoying.

Now that's more like it.

Via Menitos.

Wow.

Can I stand, please?

Help me. Oh, don't worry. I got this.

Day. All of my Baja dreams are coming true right now.

Somehow.

It's day 10 and it's the first time I'm lying on the beach, warm in the sunshine. It's beautiful. And even though it's the middle of a Saturday and we are one of hundreds of people on this beach right now, somehow it's still so quiet. There's just a light breeze. The water's so calm. I just couldn't be happier.

So there are a lot of vendors roaming around the beach selling stuff out of the back of their cars. And we decided that today we're just going for the full experience, and we're gonna buy one thing from each person that approaches approaches us. This could be a terrible idea.

Small, Medium, Large. Almost free. Almost gift for your mother in law.

Quest.

400 pesos. 400?

I thought you said almost free.

Almost 3, 500.

We're going to his van to see his inventory.

Oh. Mucho blancas palaciesta. No, gracias. Solo. So wrong. The price? 300. 350. No fleet coin. No, no. 350.

I think it's worth.

Okay.

200 at most.

Flip coin. 200 or 400. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. Do you have a coin? Okay.

Ego. Which one?

Okay. Asking.

Okay.

The eagle.

Eagle.

Okay.

Oh, that's son.

Okay. It was fair. Can you get change? Bitcoin sometime. Made money sometime. Okay. Nice doing business.

That was hilarious. Thank you for my $20 sarong.

Past me would be so disappointed. I would have haggled so hard to pay as little as possible for that sarong. I know. I just paid way too much. I was in a losing situation as soon as that coin went into the air. Even if I won, I was still paying way too much. We're in a different place now than when we first started. We're not on that backpacker budget anymore. And I know that that 10 extra dollars means way more to him than it means to us. At the same time, it almost feels wrong not to haggle because nobody likes getting ripped off. And I don't want to set the standard that any Americans that come down to Mexico are just gullible and can be taken advantage of.

But 2016, you would have just walked away and discussed that price.

Well, I would have walked away four times.

When we decided we were going to say yes to all the vendors, I thought we were going to be eating, but that guy gave me the choice between sunglasses or a sombrero. I already have sunglasses. It was $12. And now it will be less burnt. Hurry.

You're asleep.

She's selling wind chimes.

Oh, my gosh. Is that okay?

We don't need a wind chime for the V.

It worked.

We didn't break the rules, and we didn't buy a wind chime.

Win. Win.

This hammock has been riding around in the back of the van ever since we moved in two years ago. And this is the first time that I've ever set it up.

Before we left the U.S. we stocked up on some plant based plants proteins and oh my gosh, we only got two of these, but I wish we would have gotten 20. I've never heard of it before. It's called Abbott's butcher Pea protein chizo. I can't think of anything better to put on our fresh corn tortillas for dinner tonight.

But first.

It's guacamole time. It's guacamole time. I just couldn't be happier. I feel like I've said that a lot of times this trip, but it truly does just keep getting better. Every new place we go is my new favorite place.

Wow.

No, no.

Oh, you're brave.

I dare that seagull to try to eat one of my tacos. Look at that.

Oh my gosh. I mean, I know I made this so I can't like talk too highly about it, but might be my favorite.

Taco I've ever had.

Wow. Oh, and that cheese is so creamy.

Ah, you guys are above it all.

Pretty great.

Cheers. What a community.

I mean it is so funny.

Oh, the sun has gone down and I believe the party has officially started. A truck of people just pulled up and started blasting mariachi. I have a good feeling it's not going to stop for a while.

Morning. Today's the one day a year that I get up before Nate and make him coffee.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Happy birthday.

Thanks.

33 years.

Nate loves all things breakfast, especially when it's sweet. Sugary donuts, pancakes, waffles. All the things that I hate. So he usually doesn't get it. It's for his birthday. I'm gonna make him a little breakfast treat. Melt some coconut oil, add some honey. Just put a bunch of sweet stuff and cinnamon in a pan. Just chopped up some bananas, threw them in there. If you don't actually have any sugar, I would add that too. That is where I draw the line in this family.

These are beautiful.

He never relaxes like this. It's kind of turned into a sweet Mexican quesadilla. French is served.

You know how they have dessert pizza? It's like a dessert quesadilla.

Do you love it?

Thanks.

Welcome. This is strong.

Starts at 33 years. All down here.

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Nate. I bought you a banana bread out of a bag of a ladies truck.

Thanks.

I don't have any candles. Maybe I'll stick a lighter.

We never even use these.

This campground has a toilet and It's a little on the rustic side, but hey, a toilet's a toilet.

We just got to dump a little sea water in there. No problemo. It is. Bring your own toilet paper, though.

Vinegar, water.

All right.

Pretty good.

Yeah.

Little dirty.

Thank you.

So this area that we're in is called the Bay of Conception, which weirdly, is an appropriate place to be celebrating my birthday, I guess. And we're about to move to another campsite inside of the bay.

But first, tamales.

Man, I could get used to this. It's one of those foods that isn't pretty on camera, but that's so true, man. Is it good?

Goodbye. Most beautiful campfire that we've ever had.

We have about a 20 minute drive to our campsite for tonight. And turns out the Bay of Conception is the bay that keeps on giving. So we kind of felt like we had found this, like, beautiful hidden gem of a campground. Literally every two miles, there is an identical bay that looks just like where we slept.

There is perfect picture. Picturesque camping every two miles.

It's crazy. Baja just keeps getting better. That should probably be the title of this video, but we can call it Baja, Birthday Boy. No, no.

I think we may have managed to find an even more popular beach than the one we left.

Hola. See?

Okay, perfecto. Gracias.

Wow, this is beautiful.

It is quite packed, that spot.

What if we backed in right next to it?

Hola. How are you?

Good. Do you remember me from Cerritos Beach?

Yes.

Really?

Yeah.

All right, Sounds good.

What?

We met them on the beach in Cerritos in December.

Is that the best spot, though?

It's the one all the way down at the end that you want it to stay at.

You're joking.

No. What if we backed it?

I can't believe this, birthday boy. Who's that hot 33 year old? After getting the perfect camping spot, we spent the rest of Nate's birthday enjoying this gorgeous beach. I know I'm biased, but he is so easy to celebrate. I tell him all the time that he is the only reason we've gotten to where we are today. Nate turned our passion for travel into our career, and I was just lucky enough to come along for the the ride. His determination, work ethic, and self discipline cannot be matched. Pair that with his sense of adventure and he is unstoppable. That's probably what I admire about him most. And of course, the fact that he brings me coffee in bed every single day. Another reason this day is so special is because 10 years ago on Nate's Birthday. He asked me to marry him on the beach in Destin, Florida. And here we are again on the beach in Baja, 10 years later, living a dream we. We didn't even know was possible.

Today we are seeking out one of the best surf breaks in all of Baja. But we've been told it will be quite the journey to get there. There are several ways to get to Scorpion Bay, but the route that we're taking today is supposed to be the smoothest, although it's a very roundabout way of getting there.

Oh, my gosh. We just saw our first Road Runner. It just ran across the road. I honestly thought it was just a cartoon character. That's the most interesting thing that's happened in the last hour and a half. We're just on a long, straight road through the desert.

The road has turned into one giant pothole.

I was wondering why Google Maps said we still had two and a half hours when we only have 40 miles. And now this makes a lot more sense. These waves better be really good.

Well, are we sure?

I don't know. This is what way Google Maps said to go. And I'm very glad that it's still light outside. I mean, there just aren't any more roads out here. This is it. I do feel like I should have read somewhere about this road.

Yeah, Maybe it, like, turns into pavement at some point.

Do we have to ford a river?

No.

What in the world?

There's no way, right? You're not going over it, are you?

We're not driving over that. Where are we?

So it looks like we missed something back here. I don't think the road that we're on is even on this map.

Well, that makes me feel better.

So, I mean, we could go back, but, like, according to Google Maps, that road doesn't exist.

What do we trust more, Google Maps or this map?

Currently, that is the way that Google Maps is trying to take us. I mean, it's very shallow. I feel pretty confident that the van could make it, but it also says we're still 40km away. So the question is, if we make it past this, what's next? I feel pretty confident that this is not the correct way, but, man, is it beautiful out here.

All right, I'm about to attempt to back out of this mess. Great. The backup camera is not working. I love it when that happens.

I can't really see you.

Hey, come towards me.

Is that not what I'm doing? Yeah, I think I'm good. All right, we switched. Nate's doing the steep part.

Hallelujah.

Oh, gosh. Oh, my gosh.

We made it out.

Yeah.

Okay. My purse and towel fell. Not a big deal. A whole bunch of spices and cans fell.

Oh, wow. Yep.

Literally the entire top shelf of my spice rack. I'm just gonna go ahead and put this little guy over here. All of my produce just blew out of the basket. All right, we're back on the paved road. And not too long ago, we passed a sign that said, sun. Where are we going? Sun when he goes. So plan B is we're going back to that sign and we're gonna turn and just see what happens.

Here we go.

Oh, there's another sign confirming that we're going in the right direction.

Oh, my gosh. Oh, I'm so hopeful.

I'm feeling really good about it. Yeah.

Yeah.

There's street lights. It's a miracle.

It's only 7:30, but it feels like midnight.

It really does. The moment the sun went down, it was dark. I feel like I just held my breath. Oh, goodbye, paper Google.

I'm not falling for this again.

Yeah, let's keep going on the paved road. Scorpion Bay restaurant and camping. That's where we're going. Oh, I'm so relieved.

We'll see if it was all worth it in the morning.

After all that, I don't want to sound negative or ungrateful for this beautiful spot that we're camping in, but we did come here specifically to surf. And the best way I could describe the water this morning is a bathtub. But our campsite is beautiful. That was a pleasant surprise. When we woke up this morning.

The.

Closest we got to surfing was sitting on top of our van looking for waves. The next good swell wasn't supposed to roll in for three more days, and we still had a couple places we wanted to check out before our trip drew to a close. So we reluctantly said goodbye to our cliffside home in search of a new adventure and better waves.

Goodbye, Scorpion Bay.

You've probably seen enough shots of us driving our van through Baja at this point, so let me quickly sum up a very long 10 hour drive. We found some delicious tacos, stopped for coffee, ate popsicles, went a little crazy, and finally, we arrived at a very remote beach just as the sun began to set. There's a whale she's welcoming.

After two weeks, we have officially made it from the US border to the tip of the Baja Peninsula, which makes me feel accomplished because we did it, but sad because it means this trip is shortly drawing to a close. But more importantly, we have finally made it to a beach that actually has a wave. And based on the number of people who are in this very remote location, it must be a pretty good. This place is like a parking lot full of pro surfers. And this morning, I woke up before sunrise, and there were already at least 10 people out in the water.

There was a massive whale.

Okay, now that it's nice and warm outside and I'm caffeinated, it's time to go surf.

We had hoped to be pro surfers by the end of this trip down the Baja Peninsula, but as you'll see, that dream didn't really pan out.

We know it doesn't look pretty, but we have so much fun in the water, and that's what really matters, right?

Surfing makes me so hungry, and I'm about to make some lunch. It's a dish that I've been wanting to try to make since we got to Mexico. I'm kind of making it up, but it's like a Mexican corn salad. We'll see how it goes.

While Kara is cooking, I'm gonna head up to the roof and do a little solar experiment.

All right, first and chop some veggies.

Hi, darling. You want to come live with us? I am completely obsessed with dogs. But no, we will never, ever, ever, ever, ever have one in the van. Sorry.

I hate to admit it, but ever since I installed the roof rack, our solar has been struggling. It's currently completely filthy, But I have a feeling that it has a lot more to do with storage, the surfboards up here on top of the roof than it does with the solar panels being dirty. So I'm gonna clean the solar panels, but I thought it'd be fun to do a little test. So with the dirty solar panels, we're getting 4.3amps of current, and we're getting 55 watts of power.

This might be called cilantro salad.

How beautiful is that? Okay, now for the fun part, slash the part where I'm completely making it up. I'm going to to attempt to make a creamy jalapeno cilantro sauce out of cashews. How hard could it be?

Wow, these things are so hot. Completely filthy. I think I'm just moving dirt around. Pretty satisfying, though.

In order for the cashews to work, you're supposed to either soak them overnight or oil them for a few minutes. I'm kind of doing a hybrid of those things. I soaked them whenever we went in the water to surf, and then I just poured boiling water. Pretty much the same thing.

Nooch of Course, chili powder, lime.

Jalapenos, lots of cilantro.

Can't turn the power on.

So somehow cleaning the solar panels is now giving us less current and less power. I'm just as confused as you are. But yeah, let's go ahead and throw a surfboard up here and see what happens.

All I have to do is cook the corn.

I can never light the stove unless I close the door. Okay.

Super close.

Can I try the sauce? Yes.

Well, I'm not so sure. I need another. I need another chip.

Wow, that is so good.

Are you lying?

Sometimes I tell Kara I'm not so sure just so I can have another bite.

Do you love it?

Yeah, it's so good.

So many colors.

So after adding the surfboard to the roof, the current is at negative 3.5 and our power is at negative 44 watts, which I guess just means the stuff that we have plugged in inside the van is pulling more power than what we're producing up here on top of the roof. Unfortunately, all the people in the comment section on the video where I installed this roof rack who were calling me dumb. We're probably right. Apparently, your solar panel is only as strong as its weakest cell. So if only the corner of your solar panel is being covered, you're still losing a massive amount of solar. It's pretty much non existent.

I had the best idea earlier. I'm gonna use this as a cup. Brilliant. And now a scoop of my cashew, jalapeno, cilantro, onion, lime sauce.

What about chips?

Oh.

Stored them in the bathroom and they can be like our croutons. It really is a like a Mexican salad. Lunch is served.

Oh, my gosh. It's amazing.

You're, like, becoming a real chef. I'm kind of how I feel right now.

I have a hiccups. Darn it.

Fun fact about Kira, when she eats spicy food, she gets the hiccups every time.

Did you just throw up a little bit? What happened?

Maybe. Aw. Today is the first day of the whole trip. No, we're not eating tacos.

My mouth is on fire.

I think this might be the very first time I've surfed twice in one day. I feel so cool.

Wake up.

That was fun. We're not on cold. Oh, this water is so warm.

So we really wanted to wash all of the salt and sand off, but we're running low on water, so we've just dipped our loofahs in salt water, added some soap, washed ourselves, and then we'll rinse off with the fresh Water in our shower. Can you get clean Washing your body with with salt water. If you add soap.

This is almost like ragbry.

It's freshening up.

Hurry. All the soap is drying on my body.

You feel clean.

I do. I think our hack works.

Nate fell asleep at approximately 8:47pm Surfing twice in one day. Really took notes.

Good morning. Today is our last day in the van in Mexico. When I had this realization last night, I seriously got so emotional. And Nate and I just laid in bed until we fell asleep. Reminiscing about all of the times that we've had good and bad in this van. I just can't believe it. We'll explain everything later. But first I have to deep clean because we are getting two new roommates today.

We've. We've really moved in here more than any other spot on this trip.

I think there's gonna be sand in here forever. There's so much sand and the bed. So this Mexico road trip was actually a one way journey for us. Nate's parents are on a plane right now to Cabo and they're going to drive our van all the way back to Tennessee for us. If this mess doesn't scare them away as soon as they get here. I'm actually really embarrassed. I know we can be pretty gross and dirty, but you really realize it when you like picture someone else living in here, like not taking a real shower. And over a week conserving water by just kind of wiping the pan out instead of actually cleaning it. The list goes on and on.

Just gave me the shivers. All right, we're shaping up back here. How's it going in the front?

Oh, gosh. Getting every last drop of it.

The vacuum just died pretty bad.

When you can sweep your bed.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. It took us two hours to get here. And an hour and a half of that was on a dirt road.

And it took us 15 minutes to get to the pavement.

This time I've gotta air up the tires.

It should be going.

Going.

Last time when we were on the side of the road taking the air out of our tires. And now this time when we're stopped on the side of the road putting air back in, every local who drove by stopped to see if we needed any help. So sweet.

Okay. Now I'm realizing that this is probably.

Our last drive together in this van, just the two of us. I'm feeling all of the. As weird as it sounds, I'm happy that we're sad we're ending on A good note.

The best note.

Pinnacle of van life.

I am so excited for my parents. I have been as excited for them to take this trip as I was for us.

For them to be put in this situation and just forced to figure things out. Like, it really reminds me of our first year of travel. And they deserve this vacation, vacation more than anyone in the world.

I'm not sure that they feel like they're going on vacation. I think they feel like they're helping us. So when they watch this back, they may giggle, but.

But it is.

We may be giving ourselves a little too much credit here.

You're welcome, Christy and James, for changing your life. Hi, Ms. Donkey.

All right. Why am I nervous?

You know, like, if they come and it's not a good time, like, it's our fault.

Should have gone in that parking lot. We can't fit, so that's not an option. I don't think we can drive up.

Oh, this is authorized vehicles only.

A blas ingles. The van is too tall to park. Cinco minutos. Wow.

Vip.

Vip. Cuz I told them we were too tall to go to the parking lot.

I think it's better if it comes in here.

We don't have much of a trunk.

We definitely don't have room for the suitcase in here. All right, all right.

So exciting. Ginveninos. Oh.

That'S awful.

We are very excited y' all are here.

We drove Nate's parents to a secluded beach about an hour north of Cabo and did our best to teach them everything they needed to know about living in our van over the course of a single afternoon.

Daddy didn't even watch the demonstration. I'm most worried about the electricity and the pee funnel. And I'm most excited about the snack box that's right up there in that top corner that I can reach up in there anytime. Well, you can be excited about the trip, too. And the trip that's next.

The hole at adventure is what I'm most excited about. And of course, I love nature. I would love to see whales. Paddle boarding and maybe the turtle release. All that. Most worried about. Don't want to get sick. And I guess navigating. We got a paper map. We can do it.

The right sunshade that you suggested. This is Karen I's bed for the night. The van's not built to sleep. Poor people. I hope it doesn't blow down in the middle of the night. Good night.

Good night.

Good night, Daddy. All right, see you in the morning. Enjoy your nice, safe home.

Thank You.

This is home for the night. We moved our memory foam mattress from the van to the beach. We're splitting pillows with my parents, so we get one and they get one. I think what I'm most scared of tonight is getting peed on by a stray dog.

Oh, gosh. Good night.

It's the little knob by the sink.

Oh, gosh.

I'm very excited. The stars are in.

This sounded like a better idea a couple weeks ago when I was planning it. Good night.

Good morning. The plan did not work. Look at this.

It got really windy last night and the tent would not stay up. So at about 11:30, we woke up and it was literally just laying on top of our faces. Look how wet it is. My face is frozen. Not a bad place to wake up, though.

So this is where I slept and everything else is soaking wet. Oh, what a funny night.

Scale of 1 to 10, how'd you sleep?

Maybe like a 3 second half of the night. I didn't wake up as much, I don't think. Felt like every 30 minutes for a long time.

Good morning. Did y' all get as cold as we did?

And on this note, that's a wrap on Baja Van Life. Two years ago, when this video was originally filmed, we spent the last few minutes of this series moving out of the van and back into suitcases. From there, Nate's parents started their own adventure north back to Nashville. At the time, we thought we were done with Van life forever, but thankfully we held onto it because biking across America last year wouldn't have been possible without it. And just last week, we moved back into the van again for the first time this year. Home sweet home.

That's flat. High grade.

Once again, it's going to be supporting a massive challenge that we'll be announcing in next week's video. See you soon.