San Ignacio //
I’m sitting in the camper at dawn doing my morning writing session while Mark is outside making coffee when I hear Adam come outside and greet Mark with a happy birthday. “Feliz cumpleanos Señor”. I smile as I write. One, because we’re now two for two on birthdays spent in Mexico in 2024 which feels like a win in itself. And two, because I love that we’re all slowly but steadily expanding our Spanish vocabulary.
It’s a leisurely day around camp. Hannah plays with the other kids at the campground, the guys go for a hike up the rugged hill that our camp backs up to, and Darci, Heather and I enjoy engaging in deep conversation with one another. While walking back from the bathroom to our trucks I find myself in disbelief that we somehow assembled a group of such amazing travel companions. Now that the seven of us have reunited, I’d love to take the opportunity to introduce you to Adam & Heather.
In 2023 Mark & I spent two weeks at a campground in Dillon, Colorado. One morning while we were out for a walk, the camp hosts, out on their morning rounds in their golf cart, stopped to say hi. The camp hosts were Heather & Adam. Little did we know at the time but Adam is an introvert just like Mark and I and without Heather’s insistence, he never would have stopped the golf cart that morning. Just like with Josh & Darci, the common denominator of us and Heather & Adam having Four Wheel Campers was what broke the ice. We went on to quickly connect over the fact that we all live on the road full-time. That night we sat around a fire together and got to know each other. A few days later something completely unpredictable happened.
I had rented an AirBnB with four friends for the week and those four friends all had to delay their flights out to Colorado by a day. I’d unexpectedly found myself in a 4,000 square foot house all by myself (Mark had gone back to our property several hours away) and was feeling lonely. I took a shot in the dark and sent Heather a text asking if she would want to come hang out. Honestly, I’m not sure what came over me. It would have been way more like me to enjoy a quiet night watching You Tube. Heather & Adam showed up later that evening and we went on to have hours of deep, heartfelt conversation. The ways in which Heather & I bonded over the loss of our brothers left me in awe. My brother had passed away three months prior and Heather so randomly appearing in my life felt like some kind of gift from the universe.
Heather & Adam had plans later in the year to make their first trip to Baja. I was excited at the prospect of us getting to spend more time together. At the end of 2023, after staying in touch for the previous three months, we crossed paths on a beach halfway down the Baja peninsula. I was as eager as I was nervous to see if we would all hit it of the way I thought we might. Just because I immediately bonded with Heather didn’t mean we’d all connect seamlessly as couples. But living side by side in campers and cohabitating from sun up to sun down is a quick way to find out. It only took 24 hours together for me to feel optimistic that we might make great travel companions. We had just made plans with Josh & Darci to meet up for Christmas and I decided that we should see if Heather & Adam would want to join us. The way the six of us hit it off felt like magic. We didn’t part ways until three weeks later when Heather & Adam had to make their way back to Ohio. We’ve only grown closer as friends ever since.
And so here we are, all back together in Baja. Seven strangers from all corners of the US brought together by serendipity (and our Four Wheel Campers). I love the way the road has a way of bringing people together that never otherwise would have met. It’s been a gift, especially for introverts like us.
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I find Heather & Adam’s origin story incredibly inspiring. If you want to get to know them and what led to their decision to quit stable jobs and sell their dream home so that they could pursue a travel-centric lifestyle, check out the interview we did with them below.
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