Notes from the road #20: recovering and returning to the road

Welcome to Notes From The Road, a monthly recap of where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to over the last 30 days.

I’m very happy to report that this edition of our monthly digest is coming to you from a beautiful beach in Baja. While we’ve spent our winters in Mexico for the last four years, 2026 got off to a very different start. The need for major surgery—which took place on the last day of 2025—meant that we were bound to Colorado for as long as it would take me to recover. After seven weeks of sitting still in the same place, I had healed enough to return to life on the road.

I may have had all the time in the world to write while I recovered, but my brain had no interest. I was wholly dedicated to my recovery and figured no one wanted to hear about our sedentary life. For that reason, I never shared a January edition of Notes From The Road. In hindsight, I can now see the value in sharing what it was like to overcome a major health ailment while living on the road full-time. Therefore, this little life recap will be a January/February combo.

We hope you enjoy this monthly peek behind the curtain of our nomadic lifestyle.

Navigating the need for surgery while living on the road

After we found out that my surgery would take place at the end of December, we had to figure out where and how we wanted to live. Grand Junction, Colorado, is where the surgery would take place. Even though we own a beautiful parcel of land an hour away, the fact that we don’t have any utility hookups meant RV life would be too challenging during the short, cold days of January. Solar production would have been a constant game of trying to catch up on our power needs, and the potential for freezing pipes would have kept Mark constantly keeping things from breaking—or fixing things that did.

With that option off the table, we were left with two choices: rent a furnished house or stay at an RV park. We scoured every rental on FurnishedFinder.com, and nothing felt like a worthy exchange for the several thousand dollars it would cost us. The thing I would need most was a comfortable bed, and we couldn’t exactly go around and test all the beds before committing to a rental. I wanted my own bed and my own home to recover in, but I also wanted to be parked in a nice environment.

RV parks come in all forms, from fancy to run-down, and I wasn’t excited about our options around Grand Junction. That was until we came across a new RV park in a nice area of town. Camp Eddy is located on the Colorado River and is adjacent to green space and a network of rec paths. When we stopped by to take a look, we knew we had found what we were looking for.

We’re so used to living off grid in our RV that seven weeks of living with full hookups felt like easy living. Additionally, we had access to nice on-site laundry facilities and could receive packages at the front office. Mark thoroughly enjoyed the rec path system, and I enjoyed views of Colorado National Monument out our window. It felt strange to be in Colorado during the winter months—it’s been nine years since our last Colorado winter—and I wasn’t used to spending so much time indoors. But my surgery went great and seven weeks flew by.

RV park life isn’t necessarily our cup of tea, but for the time and circumstances, it was the perfect solution. However, we definitely missed the darkness and silence of off-grid living and are delighted to be back to the life we love.

A rough re-entry to truck camper living

Once I got the all-clear from my doctor, we were excited to pack up the truck and head to Baja. After several days of prep, we tucked our travel trailer away in storage and pointed the truck south. I had been feeling good up to this point and was ready for a change of scenery. But I had no idea how my body would do on a cross-country drive. Five consecutive days of driving drained me of all energy, and by the time we got settled at a beach in Baja, I had no desire to move again anytime soon. I quickly realized that moving every 2–5 days, as we usually do in Baja, was more than I was up for.

Once again, as we’ve had to do many times over the last few months, we re-evaluated our options and adapted to the circumstances. That’s the beauty of this lifestyle: there are always a variety of options. You can go somewhere new every day or sit still for months on end. You can camp in the middle of nowhere, at an RV park, or a variety of options in between. You can be alone, seek out friends and family, or find community in fellow nomads. We love that there is always an option to suit our needs and desires.

And so we decided that instead of prioritizing adventure this year in Baja, we would structure our travels around rest and recovery. We are now well into two weeks living on the same beach and we’re loving the slower pace. It’s allowing us to live in sync with the rhythms of nature, to get to know the sea life that inhabits the beautiful bay, and is relieving the pressure of figuring out where we’re headed next. It’s proving to be the perfect way to ease back into life on the road.

Our candid opinion on safety in Mexico

In case you missed it, in light of recent cartel violence, our last post was all about our thoughts on safety in Mexico:

Why we’re not afraid to travel to Mexico: our candid opinion on safety

While this is hardly a riveting post, it’s an honest look at what our life on the road looks like.  If there’s one thing we strive for here, it’s sharing all sides of our lifestyle, not just the highlights.  Thanks so much for reading!

Cheers,
Michele & Mark