So despite the pull of the planets, we headed north to the Nicaraguan border, hope in our hearts and a little extra bribe money in our pockets. But after hosting our first surf, yoga and writing retreat, it was the only window of time we had if living our van-life journey were to actually happen. Mercury went retrograde the morning we left home, notoriously a time when travel plans go awry, communication gets wonky, and all the little details get mixed up into chaos and confusion – not exactly the most auspicious moment to be embarking on a month-long surf adventure across countries that make moms everywhere lose sleep when their daughters get up the guts and go.
And as for staying gone as long as I wanted? Well, with real-life commitments of a thirty-something surfer girl on the hustle to make ends meet while living dreams of my own design, a month would have to do. In our badass converted 2004 Dodge Sprinter van, complete with solar panels, a big comfy mattress, and all the camping gear we would need. We’d make the trip backwards, from Costa Rica north to California. Pedro, my Venezuelan surfer-babe boyfriend would be sitting shotgun as surf-partner-in-crime, personal security, self-appointed DJ and co-pilot with a mind for engine mechanics. And in the process, plans changed a little to fit my current life circumstances. I was 20 years old, hell-bent on hedonistic freedom, single as the day I was born and crazy enough to actually do it.īut as life would have it, more than a decade would pass before the stars aligned and all the pieces fell into place. I’d buy a car in California, find a dog to keep me company, and hit the open road on my own, chasing those sweet southern swells to my insatiable soul-surfing heart’s content, camping on the beach along the way, and staying gone as long as I wanted – or at least until I ran out of cash. Probably since I started surfing, just after I moved to Costa Rica – now going on thirteen years ago. A surf trip, driving overland, through Central America had been my dream for as long as I can remember.
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