I Went Overlanding With My Cat Near the Mexican Border
It's one of the best camping trips I took without the RV.
In January 2021, I came across this spot while driving from Winterhaven to Las Vegas. I could see the mountain range from the California road and promised myself that I’d return. I did visit the area again before leaving for Joshua Tree that year, but I never got the chance to camp in this spot—until recently.
I needed a break.
After a lot of hard work, I finished six of my 10 grad school courses in five and a half months. That left me with two weeks of my six-month semester where I couldn’t take any more classes.
Needless to say, after all that work, I was excited to do less of what I had to do and more of what I wanted. I messaged two sets of my nomad friends to see who wouldn’t mind some company. The ones in Winterhaven answered almost immediately, so I packed my things and headed south to see them.
I knew there was no way I could go back there and not stay at my bucket-list spot. So, though my friends were at another campsite, I set up camp here.
I brought the eBike.
I knew where I was headed had wide open spaces, so I took my e-bike. Those rides were some of the longest, most beautiful, and terrifying I’ve ever taken. I went so far out that it seemed like civilization was a world away.
The bike took a brutal beating, and I lost a screw or two, but it’s working just fine.
I did some hiking and enjoyed the sunset views.
There’s nothing quite like looking around and seeing and hearing no one. Some people might dislike that solitude. For me, it was a chance to recharge.
Shadow hung out in the rooftop tent.
When I first got my overlanding setup, I thought Shadow would prefer the ground tent because it’s bigger. But it’s the RTT that he likes to hang out in. The high vantage point and views on 3 corners mean he can see almost everything around us, and he loves that.
While I slept, he stayed up and watched the stars. Sometimes, scrambling over my head to get the best view while listening to the coyotes. It was already starting to warm up this late in February, so I kept him inside, away from slithering critters and the howling ones.
My friends came to visit.
I hadn’t seen these friends since we parted ways in July 2022. I had spent a month on their off-grid acreage in New Mexico. When I left them, I headed to Mexico and lived there until moving back to the United States in October 2023.
It was nice to catch up with them and hear all they’d been up to since I left America. We discussed my plans to move to Spain, and they shared their future plans for Portugal.
Who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll be caravaning together in Europe.
I went RV park hunting.
At the end of the weekend, I packed my things and headed out to visit several RV parks on my shortlist.
When I first returned to California, my initial plan was to stay put until I had taken all my grad school exams. But by early January, I decided it was time to leave. I had a pretty nice shortlist of RV parks and knew the general area I would head to next. The only questions were which one and when?
I visited several of them on the way back to camp and made my decision pretty quickly. It tacked on a hell of a detour to my drive time, but it was worth it.
On that note, I say my goodbyes to Cali this week and head to Arizona. If you’re a paid subscriber, next week, I’ll tell you where this overlanding spot is and share a new hiccup in my travel plans. See you then!