Baja California: Your Slow Travel Reset (ft. Naomi Grevemberg)

It takes courage to answer the call, especially when it
goes against the road laid out before us. Sometimes the
journeys that change us don't begin with a clear man.
They begin with a feeling, the restlessness, a longing, an
inner voice insisting there must be another way forward. So
what happens when we choose the road less traveled, even
when it scares us and dares us, only to discover
an entirely new way of living we could never have
imagined before. This is Wayfinder, Life Changing travel. This podcast
goes beyond the guidebooks into the heart and soul of
real life travelers as they journey around the world. I'm
your host Daniel Scheffler for writer and Van Leifer Naomi Grevenburg.
Leaving behind a conventional life for the open road wasn't
just about seeing the world. It was a search for
something she couldn't quite name. When she and her Van
Life community traveled to Baja California in twenty eighteen, she
had no idea what lessons would be waiting for her
and the ways it would connect her with both her
past and the future. She was finally excited to create.
I grew up in the Caribbean in Trinidad, a little
village on the southeastern coast of the island, and we
lived very close to nature. Like my family were fisher people,
they were hunters, so nature was just a part of
who I was, you know, growing up in a little village.
We didn't do much travel. We were poor people, we
were living off the land. So it was all about
our connection to community and nature. When I say, my
village was small and we had fifty people in that village,
and I wanted to get out. I wanted to experience
something different, and the American dream was that different. I
wanted big city life. I wanted a little bit of
the unknown. So I moved to the US at seventeen,
and I bounced around from state to state for many years,
just soaking in all the new smells, the sounds, the cultures,
and falling in love with a wild vere of life.
And I followed that path, you know, college, marriage, settling down.
And while that worked for me, I had a really
incredible life. I was a coastal scientist and I was
able to like be on boats, and I worked on
amazing projects with amazing organizations. But this pull from that
normal path became louder and louder that life just started
to feel like a cage. I kept asking myself, there's
got to be more than this. The monotony of the routine.
It was killing me literally. I got really anxious, I
got depressed, I got restless. And then something changed in me.
I had this urge that I needed to get back
on the road, and I had this dream in college
to get a van and reconnect with nature in that way.
So I decided to disrupt it all and dig up
that old dream of van life and visiting all the
national parks. And I found this oval swagon van and
hit the road.
Why van opposed to plane or horseback or I don't know,
train or whatever.
I love the idea of being able to have a
kitchen with me, having my whole wardrobe with me, have
my home with me, and also being able to reach
the out of reach places to drive out on dirt
roads and just be out in nature.
Tell me about the van set up.
It's an old Folkswagen vanagon in nineteen eighty five and
it came with a lot of stories. There was a
professor from San Francisco that did a one year road
trip in it, and it was handed down to him
from his father. So I love the idea that it
had such sentimental value, and the moment I saw it,
I knew it was the one. It was very old,
very used, broke down all the time, but it had
everything I needed and we did some upgrades along the way.
So I had a little closet.
I had a tiny kitchen inside the van, a little refrigerator,
a pull out bed, a beautiful pop top with a
bright blue canopy, and the pop top had another bed.
So when friends came to visit on the road to
experience van life, they.
Would stay in the pop top.
It's quite a squeeze, but it was so much fun.
And we added some solar because we started working on
the road. We added a little canopy outside to extend
the living space.
Does this van have a name? Yes?
Her name is Iri and Irie is a Caribbean patois
and it means like everything is good, so it's a
state of feeling great.
Oh my god, that's the perfect name. I love that.
Yes.
For Naomi, her van wasn't simply a means of transportation.
It was a moving home that connected her to a
new community, one that eventually migrated down to Baja California,
Mexico for a journey that would ultimately redefine her life.
Can you tell us about your first trip to Baja
in twenty eighteen.
Oh, my goodness, Yeah, that trip changed my life. In
the beginning, it was supposed to be this one year
road trip from New Orleans to Alaska to see the Aurora,
then back to our regularly scheduled life. And then we
found community on the road. And I think that the
community was really solidified on this caravan to Baja, where
everything really slowed down and we were able to truly
get a sense of place and create a sense of
home on the road. It started out when we were
stuck in a blizzard in Oregon. We blew ahead gasket
and broke down. We were actually going skiing and we
were elbows deep in engine Greece for two weeks trying
to fix the van ourselves.
We were basically stuck.
So after two weeks of that, we decided we needed
some warmth and we needed some serfs, so we decided
to drive down to Baja. That's what all the van
lifers did. It's like the Great Migration of the vans.
So it turns out that we heard of a few
people from Instagram that we wanted to meet that were
already down there, and before we knew it, we were
about rolling six vans deep Volkswagens, a vintage Camper, an
Econa line van. It was like this little van life
tribe just caravanning through Baja. But it was such an experience,
you know, just chasing the warmth and that sense of freedom.
Baja is truly a very special place.
Yeah, it's so unique. I mean, Mexico so varied, every
state is different, but Baja in particular feels to me
really really special and interesting. I mean, it's like the
desert at the sea, right. Yeah.
You travel down the coast and there are these beautiful
beaches and bays that you can just camp out and
go fishing and surfing and all that.
And then you can cut.
Inland and you're in these beautiful small towns where you
can really immerse yourself in the culture, eat some good food,
beautiful restaurants and cafes, and there are some big cities
along the way, like Lapase that's the one we usually
stop at. And if you go inland to the mountains,
you could visit wineries, and then you continue down and
you can cut in again to the beaches and the
landscape is otherworldly. It's the coast, but it's the desert,
and then they are beautiful mountains. Everything just felt like
it slowed down, like time didn't even have meaning down there.
It feels otherworldly, like we'd park on beaches, fishing campfires,
cooking meals together, and not a worry in the world.
It truly equates the sense of freedom that I would
say people imagine van life to be. We had this
home on the move and a community that was in motion,
but it was so slow, and it just forced me
to really rethink my entire van life travels.
Naomi wasn't just discovering a new place, She was renewing
her relationship with time when days became shaped less by
schedules and productivity and more by tides, sunlight, shared meals,
and the quiet rituals of living close to nature.
Some of my favorite places in Baha are the beaches
for sure. Foraging for muscles on the beaches is sharing
stories around the campfire, laughter and food. Spearfishing on the
reef was extremely gorgeous. That was one of my favorite
experiences in Baja, just camped out on the beach for
a week and swimming out to the reefs and spear
fishing for our food.
I love beaches.
I'm from an island, of course, I grew up on
the coast, so I grew up fishing and all of that.
But I learned to fly fish in Baja and spearfish
in Baja, and that's something that I always really wanted
to learn ever since watching National Geographic as a child,
like I saw all these videos of Montana and wyoming,
but doing it in.
Baja was really magical.
We would fish, we would catch our food, and we
would cook simple meals on the beach. I grilled fish,
but my friends they were fillaying the fish, and that's
not something we do in Trinidad. You know, it just
feels like such a waste to filet a fish in
my culture. So I decided that I was going to
show them how we do it Truney style.
So I would slice the fish with the bones in.
They thought that was appalling, but yeah, I always travel
around with Frinidadian curry curry powder. I tell people all
the time, I bleed curry and I would make curry
fish right on the beach over an open fire in
a cast iron pot, and that was such a beautiful
experience to be able to share with my community a
little bit of my culture that and when they fillate
the fish, I showed them how to make bone broth
out of it too.
That experience, I mean, I know, when you cook with
people and you teach something that seals to people, there
is something about that. So what did that experience teach you?
I grew up in a culture where that was just
a part of what we did, you know, community cooking together,
So it's something that is so ingrained in me and
food is a love language for me. So it was
really special to be able to to share curry powder
and curry dishes from my country and show them how
we use the entire fish when we cook, and they
were so open to it. And it was such a
special moment that my friends told me that as they
travel they shared this with other people as well, because
I send everyone away with a little mason jar of
curry powder as a way Kiah And yeah, they said
that as they traveled along they passed it along. So
it was a really special occasion. And just to smell
the curry powder on the beach, locals would walk up
what are you cooking? You know, it smells really good.
So it was truly a special experience and I love
doing it.
I do it everywhere I travel.
That's inspiring me. Now I'm feeling like maybe I need
to take something on the road that I can pass
on and give people. We should inspire our listeners to
do the same, because that's how you create community.
Yeah, I still have friends in Baja, locals that live there.
Whenever I go down there, I go see them because
they're just such beautiful people. They'd bring us fresh fish,
they'd show us secret spots to go forage for muscles,
teach us how to spare fish in the reef, and
they knew exactly the kind of fish that we could
catch and the ones that were illegal. And some of
them will take us on their boats to like sparkling
spots where you can only get to buy water. And
just being with them and learning from them, learning skills
and how to interact with the land and the sea
in Baja was really special and such a unique way
to forge community. Honestly, it was the first time in
my van life travels that I experience this type of
pure connection with the locals, and it's something that I
seek out in my travel, So it really changed the
way that I interact with the spaces and the communities
that I need along the way, and just having our
little van tribe in.
Its own rhythm.
We would work together as a community to plan where
we're going to go next, Like we'd pull out maps
and plan our days together. Some days we would work,
you know, we'll go to a nearby town, find a hotel,
get showers, do laundry, and stock up on groceries together.
And other days we'd be on the beaches, surfing, fishing,
hanging out. And we moved as a group, but everyone
had to say in the plan that we were creating
together that caravan and that balance freedom and togetherness.
It really made the whole trip feel like a moving home.
And there's something really grounding about that, you know, just
knowing in your travels that you had people to rely on,
sharing meals and stories, but also the space to still do.
Your own thing.
And it made that experience in Baha and the lifestyle
in general feel a little less lonely and more like belonging.
Wow, that's so beautiful. I really hope we can inspire
people to do more of this on the road because
the first step is to find any connection you can
to people and just to start talking. And there's all
the stuff you can learn from people. And in a
world where we're so divided for whatever reason, it does
feel like this is what I want to do. I
want to find people to connect with and talk with
and learn things from. Like this is the stuff that
I really wish for people when they travel, to do
more of this, because it's hard, but once you do it,
it does feel like it's worth it. Yes, people ask
me all the time whether I feel unmoored or not
because I travel, I mean, two hundred and fifty days
a year. I'm always in the world somewhere, and my
husband comes a lot, and so does the dog, and
I meet up with friends all over the planet. So
to me, it never feels like I'm not home. Home
is where I am right and sometimes home is even
more special to me because I leave and because I'm
able to kind of do that. So I don't know,
how does that feel to you? Does it feel like
you're saying you're creating home? But does it feel unmooring?
Does it feel mooring? How does it feel?
Yeah, I think that's a part of it, you know,
just being able to create that sense of belonging wherever
we go, and I think that trip to Baja allowed
me to really be able to do that. When we
first started on the road, we were moving a lot,
so it was really hard to create that feeling, and
I think at times it forced me to rethink the
idea of being on the road full time, because I
just wanted to have a sense of belonging, a sense
of place, and I think what was really missing was
the community aspect, and being able to really forge that
in Baja gave me that sense of home.
Another transformative moment arrived beneath the waters of Baja, when
Naomi encountered one of travel's greatest gifts, a shift in perspective.
Swimming with the whale sharks in Baja changed my life forever.
They're so big.
Oh my god, they're so big. Yeah.
The day before, the rain came and the water was
really murky, so we weren't sure we were going to
see them, but we went anyway, and it turned into
one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. I
remember that morning just feeling really nervous and excited as
we slipped into the water, and the water was so cold,
and the sounds of the muffled water, it just sharpened
my senses. And then suddenly this massive, graceful whale shark
gliding by. These creatures are so massive, and I felt
so tiny next to them, but also connected to something
so much bigger and magical.
And we went with a company.
That was really dedicated to preserving the natural habitat of
these amazing animals. So that felt really good. And I
always tell people if you're going to do something like that,
make sure it's with an organization or a group that's
really dedicated to that, because the experience was such a
gift and such an honor to do that in such
a beautiful, beautiful spot.
And for future travelers headed to this bountiful region of Mexico.
Here are a handful of Naomi's favorite recommendations from her
time in the Baha.
I would say Tacos el Mulai.
It's a food truck, but I think they have a
restaurant now as well. It's in Guerrero Neegro, and oh
my goodness, they are literally the best that I've ever eaten.
To this day.
I advise people to go see some whales do a
whale tour. I love the gray whales in Goerro Negro,
and then stop and get some tacos there.
That's the way to do it.
And then in Loreto there's, oh my god, this amazing
taco spot called I think it's l Ray del Taco
and they catch fresh fish every day and you have
to go early because they usually run out.
It's fantastic as well. And one recommendation that I do want.
To give to the listeners is a desert oasis with
a waterfall and it's called Rancho ecologic code Soul de Mile.
This place is just extraordinary. It's a little ranch and
they have little houses that you can stay in and
it's built next to a beautiful waterfall.
It's a mussy for people.
On this first trip to Baja California, there came a
moment when Naomi noticed her rhythm of life had completely changed.
Her grounding getaway imparted lasting lessons that stayed with her
long after Baja disappeared from her rear view.
When we were down in southern Baja, we planted ourselves
on a beach I don't even remember the name of
the beach.
For about two.
Weeks, and we would only pile into one van to
go do grocery shopping if we needed it. And we
just parked on this speech, five vans deep, and all
we did was we'd wake up, we'd swim out to
the reef, then we'll come back.
We'll probably work together.
The girls would do yoga, others would surf and paddle board,
we'd share skills, help each other with our businesses, and
just live that routine for a while. And I think
that is when it really set in into my body
that wow, I can do this at a natural rhythm,
a rhythm that feels so raw. You know, nothing was forced,
Everything was simple and grounded, and there were no distractions.
And that's when slow travel really hit me, you know,
not just moving slowly, but really living in the moment intentionally,
like waking up and watching the light change, and then
watching the light change again at some and said and
just feeling that in your body, like that deep exhale,
that moment of truly being present. And I think that's
why I love Baha, because it really pulled me into
that present moment where what was right in front of me,
the people, the place, the connections, and that moment, that's
all that mattered.
I just felt pure joy.
Since then, the slower pace of travel has been my way,
and I feel like in those little routines, like buying
coffee from the same cafe, chatting with the neighbors, it
really helps to build that real community connection instead of
rushing to see and do everything like we were doing
in the beginning. And that's the kind of travel that
I think makes me feel more connected to the culture,
to the people, to.
Nature around me.
It's really a way of life that feeds my soul,
not just my passport. And that's something again, going back
to what you said, it's like, I want more people
to experience this kind of travel.
I like that. What I find really interesting about you
is that somehow all of this has made you seem
very zen, very yoda, Like you seem wise, like the
road has wisened you for some reason. You know, sometimes
I think the road can make you hard and make
you cynical, and make you tough and make you all
those things, because the world is such a well, it's
a complicated, difficult place, right yeah, but it seems to
have made you just zen.
Travel changes you.
You know, people travel and they think that it's automatically
going to give them this new perspective, But I think
it's something that you have to truly want to experience
and be open to. And travel really showed me a
different way of life, a life that's less complicated than
we are taught in regular life and stationary life. And
I've found the simplicity and the intentionality to be really
beautiful and something that I've chosen to carry with me.
If anything from my travels is that there are many
ways to live a good and happy life. And this
is my way to live, simply to live in connection
with nature and with community, and to really embody that
in my life and to also share it with others
that I come in contact with, because I want more
people to know that there are many different ways to live.
I mean, my life on the road wasn't just travel,
it was home. It was a lifestyle, and I'm able
to bring that.
You know.
Now I have land in Joshua Tree, and I'm building
my own little ranch and farm here, and I want
to bring those lessons with me, and this is how
I'm choosing to do that on my land, is to
really embody that sense of community and that sense of
belonging and simplicity of life. And I think that that's
where my calm and my sense of peace comes from.
It's wonderful. Naomi took a leap when she left behind
the track she thought she was supposed to follow for
a life on the open road and along the beaches
of Baja California, surrounded by campfires, shared meals, and a
moving community of fellow travelers. She uncovered a new way
of moving through the world, rooted not in urgency but
in presence, not in isolation but in community, and not
through permanence, but through openness, curiosity, and trust.
My message to future travelers to Baja California is to
show up to the discomfort, to new people, and to uncertainty.
It was raw, and in.
That rawn as I've found a kind of freedom that
I hadn't known before. So lean into those moments when
they show up in your travels.
Wherever your journey takes you next, may you find the
courage to slow down long enough to feel fully grounded
right where you are. Wayfinder Life Changing Travel is a
production of Iheart's Ruby Studio. I'm your host Daniel Scheffler.
Our show's executive producer is Sierra Kaiser, supervising producer Kelly
Kyle and story producer Ryan Amador, with post production supervision
by James Foster and sound design and mixing by Sierra Spreen.
Don't forget to subscribe to Wayfinder and please rate and
review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for
listening
Him