First: Post/Expedition - Glad I'm not alone

L

londonist

New member
Hello all

First - cheers for all the marvellous advice and entertaining tales I've read while lurking.

Secondly - I'm a photojournalist from London not unused to adventure, but finally gearing up to hit the world.

Wife and I have been down and up the West of the US from Vancouver, having bought a Saab convertible there, but we're now back in Canada, trading the Saab for a 4x4, and will be driving to Mexico with great haste in the next two weeks to kick off the second leg of a proper world tour - I'm working on various photo stories, mainly about water and climate change, but anything that I find along the way.

Always up for meeting anyone en route...
 
jcbrandon

jcbrandon

Explorer
Welcome aboard.

When do you leave Vancouver? Where are you headed en route to Mexico? There are a million great stories along the way, whichever way you choose.
 
spikemd

spikemd

Explorer
Welcome to ExPo. What is your route from Canada to Mexico? There are a lot of folks all along the west coast. What vehicle are you taking? How are you outfitted? Where are you headed south of the border? Good luck with your preparations. There is a lot of great info out here...
 
N

nfpgasmask

Adventurer
California is awesome...

...but a detour through the center of Nevada is even better!

Have fun in Mehico. :costumed-smiley-007

Bart
 
L

londonist

New member
Well, hellooo and thank yoo

So, we started in NYC in November, legged it to Toronto, flew to Vancouver and bought a Saab convertible, and then drove through Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and then to San Francisco, and then up the 101. You have to see the West Coast in a convertible.

Saw some great spots, met some top top people (apart from Salt Lake City - that place is the only place so far in the entire USA I found actively unfriendly) and long may it continue.

After Christmas and NY in Hawaii - top place - we pegged it back to Vancouver to trade the Saab in, and we found an Infiniti QX4, 1999, for decent money and bought it. Yesterday. Bit underpowered but lovely for distance so far.

So I'm back in Portland and trying to find someone who'll fit me some extra lighting, but no dice. Trying to find a cargo cover to hide the kit in the back. No dice.

So, to hell with it. We're going to drive to San Francisco on Monday, pick up some books I'm having printed in Berkeley, and then head to San Diego and then into Mexico.

The rest... is mystery :)

vv

vishvish.com
 
L

londonist

New member
Ok, so more details about us and the trip :)

I have an Infiniti QX4, not the most obvious vehicle for an expedition, but choices are pretty limited in and around Vancouver, believe it or not.

My first choice, Land Cruisers, are rare and overpriced. I can pick up a 2003 LC in London for about £4000 - ($7000) and they're about $15000 in Vancouver. Ouch.

So I added some extra lights to the front, need a cargo cover to stow away luggage and that's it for now.

We're heading to Mexico through Tijuana this weekend sometime, but true to form, have no idea where we're going that night - any hints on where to go and spend the first night in Mexico?

Oh, and latest picture from San Francisco last night - beautiful, beautiful town.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vishv/4308824966/sizes/m/
 
1leglance

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
First of all I would cross anywhere else but Tijuana...Mexicali, Tecate, anywhere but that armpit :)

After that it is all about checking out where the wind blows you ...check out the wine region near the border, the beaches (I like the East coast of baja better) and what ever you find

Then report back and tell us all about it :)
 
Intentional Wanderer

Intentional Wanderer

Observer
While everyone wants to head over to Baja... and I don't blame them... don't short sell Sonora. Okay, so I am a little biased - I live between Bisbee, Arizona and Naco, Sonora.

I will have to second the don't cross in TJ suggestion. Unless you have business in TJ, I would head to points east to cross. It is the busiest international crossing on the planet... with all that entails.

The one word of advice I will offer on traveling in Mexico, if you are anything like me - and I suspect you might be - little out-of-the-way places are where 99% of the charm is...

For instance, there is a hot springs at Aconchi, Sonora that is so far out in the middle of nowhere that I had to ask passing cowboys (yes, real cowboys on horseback... really working livestock) if I had missed the turn... they laughed and told me to keep going! When we got there, we were the only gringos around. The small crowd of locals were having a picnic (there is ALWAYS a reason to have a family picnic...you see them often) and invited my wife and I to join them for the BBQ and beer. We ate, drank and laughed until the evening wore on. My Spanish is passable, my wife's is slightly better, but it didn't much matter. We spoke the international language of the pleasant experience. Sitting under the live oak trees, beside the fire, eating real Mexican BBQ, quaffing a Dos Equis, listening to the sounds of the children playing, the music, the laughter, smell of the desert going to sleep.

You cannot buy that experience anywhere. It just happens.

In Mexico, it happens often.
 
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