To Baja or Not?

The Adventure Truck® is scheduled to be picked up the day after tomorrow for delivery to Yuma, Arizona, where it's being staged for the Super Epic - Super Pacific Road Trip: Baja Edition.

Spending three weeks on the road in Mexico, driving the length of the Baja peninsula, is an overlander's dream.

Wild camping on deserted beaches.

Dark-sky stargazing.

Swimming with whale sharks, excellent snorkeling, and killer surfing.

I decided to take the trip on a whim since a conference I am attending takes place in Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip.

"Hell yeah," I thought, "I'll drive!"

It started as a group trip, but the other would-be road trippers bailed, leaving me to drive solo on the way down. Julia will fly in after the conference and spend ten days on the return trip with me.

Since traveling alone is second only to traveling with my woman, it suited me just fine.

But I've had this nagging feeling about it.

Like, is this really safe?

One thing that's been bothering me is that I can't take firearms, leaving me with only sticks and stones to protect myself from any bad guys who want to do bad things.

And bad shit happens down in Mexico, like in 2019 when some overlanders were randomly murdered execution-style.

Or last week, when three surfers were murdered and their bodies dumped into a well by bandits who wanted the tires from their truck. Their bodies and burned-out truck were recovered a few days ago.

Of course, bad shit happens in the US all the time, too. Regrettably, it's so commonplace that we don't even consider it.

Another murder in Chicago?

Yawn.

Predictably, most of my friends are trying to talk me out of going. My friend Peter, in particular, has been vocal about it.

But as the news of the recent murders spreads, he's not the only one.

Two of my closest friends have reached out this morning.

"Dude, you have to change your plans. Don't be stubborn."

The US State Department issued a travel advisory for Baja last year. Following the murders last week, the moderator of BajaTalk.net, who has been a resident for twenty years, wrote an editorial saying, "The reality is, the dangers of traveling to and camping in remote areas are outweighing the benefits anymore."

At the same time, I've been talking to several people who have recently traveled alone or in small groups in Baja without issue.

"You HAVE TO GO," they say, "it's the adventure of a lifetime!"

It's rare that I don't know what to do.

But this is one of those times.

It is difficult to discern whether I'd be missing out by being overly cautious due to a tragic event that could happen anywhere or if the moderator from BajaTalk.net is right.

Maybe Baja's heydey really is over.

Maybe the juice ain't worth the squeeze.

I'm not sure, so for today, I'll continue my preparations.

But I may drive around Arizona rather than Baja and let American Airlines get me to and from my conference.