For the last few years, I've been lucky enough to take a trip with my brothers and father. By that, I mean we drive 38 hrs to our property in Baja Sur where we camp in the desert and surf every day. It is desolate, to say the least, and it is quite extreme. There are rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas, black widows and coyotes... just to name a few. But there is something so beautiful about this barren land. Each morning, I watch a huge orange ball rise out of the ocean, silhouetted by hundreds of birds on their daily migration. We surf in warm, turquoise water with sea turtles and dolphins. The locals from the nearby village have adopted us; we are no longer 'gringos' but locals ourselves, and are invited to all the family gatherings where we try to speak each other's languages, mostly just laughing and using a lot of body language. This is all such a gift...
But more important than all of this is the time we spend as a family. No distractions of work and computers or phones. We talk. We talk about our lives and what we haven't had time to say to each other over the phone as we maneuver through our busy days. We talk and we laugh and we enjoy each other's company, getting to know the year we all lived since our last trip together, and how we are changed from it.
But we're not doing that this year. Instead, we are heading to Indonesia. I'll admit I am a little sad we aren't returning to our haven in Baja... it has become a pilgrimage of sorts that my spirit yearns for. But it's time for an adventure, one wrapped tightly in a blanket of the unknown. We have no set plan, and perhaps that is the best way for us. I know that at some point we will be visiting our property, a slice of paradise on the beach with our own break out front. I'm quite positive there will be travel by van, by small aircraft, by rickety boats, and loud motor-bikes. I envision waves, some that I will be comfortable riding, some that will scare me and challenge me in a way I can't imagine, and some that will force me to sit and stare at the sheer power at a safe distance away on the beach. But the one thing I can say with complete certainty is that this trip, this adventure with my family we are about to embark on, will change each one of us forever.
This is a short video I put together from blackberry phone clips from our trip last year...