Truck Camping Baja Mexico!

This is my first time driving across the Mexican Border! I was excited and nervous but knew this would be an adventure of a lifetime!

Preparing to Drive to Mexico

There were a few things I have to do prior to the trip:

• Purchase Baja Insurance (I went with Baja Bound which ended up being ~$130 for 7 days for both my truck and truck camper (GFC)
• Paper Copies.. of everything 🙂 Drivers licenses, Passports, Truck Registrations and Insurance info. I also emailed/stored copies of these documents electronically in case something went wrong like Lost wallets or anything like this.
• CASH Money. I ended up bringing about $800 USD with me in a variety of different bills (mainly 10s and 20s). My uncle recommended I take USD, most places in Mexico take USD and will give you Pesos back for an change. Places also do Credit card but I only used mine for larger venues like the grocery stores and/or gas stations. You can use the ATM (just make sure to go to legit banks) in Mexico but I opted not to.
• Sanitize the truck and my belongings – making sure I didnt have any weapons (guns and bullets especially), I also removed any knives I didnt need from the truck bec- there were mixed reviews about Knives being weapons in Mexico so I went the safe route and only brought a Leatherman and an Axe in my camping box.
• FMM card (Tourist card) – I actually did not get one bec I was in Mexico for less than 7 days but if you plan on being in Mexico for longer, make sure to get this Tourist card RIGHT when you get into Mexico. There is a special place to right after the border crossing to get this.
• Extra fuel can (but make sure its not filled bec they will tax you at the border)
• Bank Alerts – let your bank know you will be traveling internationally so your Debit/Credit cards continue to work
• AT&T and cell phones – AT&T is now free data/text roaming in Mexico so I didnt pay anything extra there. Just make sure your plan includes free roaming in Mexico!
• Bush up on some Spanish using DUOLingo 🙂

The Start

The journey started on a Sunday, I hit the road from Las Vegas and made the 5 hour drive down to Yuma Arizona! I ended up staying at an Airbnb for the night and hanging out in Yuma.

The next day I met up with my Uncle and the race team to load up and hit the border. We were gearing up for the SCORE San Felipe 250 Race. We ended up crossing at Calexico (right before they closed so make sure you know the border open/closing times) and heading straight to San Felipe. Yuma to San Felipe is about a 2 hour drive. You will run through one Military Check point on the way. A few Tips for going through Military Checkpoints in Mexico:

• Drive Slow coming up to the Check Point
• Roll down ALL your windows so they can look inside
• Following their instructions (don’t drive into other lanes coming up to the checkpoint like I did lol)
• Remain Calm and let them do their thing. I was pretty nervous going through these but overall it was a positive experience we we didnt get harassed or anything. Sometimes check points may ask for free stuff (the other truck we were with they asked them for a soda and T shirts bec they were towing the race truck)

We FINALLY made it to San Felipe!

The following days were filled with craziness – pre-running the race, lots of beer, good food, exploring the area, and beach front camping over at Pete’s Camp next door!

Heading Home

After the Race on Saturday, we slept for about 5 hours and hit the road at 2am to get to the US border right when it opened at 6am. This is a GOOD decision because coming back to the US on a Sunday can get CRAZY. We ended up going to the San Luis border which had zero traffic and we sat in line for about 20 minutes before getting back into the US! Getting through was easy, they asked us a few questions, looked at our passports and sent us on our way