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Crossing Border Into Mexico Interior

450 Miles South of the U.S. Border in San Luis Potosí

Crossing Border Into Mexico Interior
Wild camping outside La Ciénega de González in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon

There goes my resolution to write daily. But no time for self-abasement–there’s too much adventure to share! Here’s a quick rundown of the first two days of our overlanding trip into the interior of Mexico.

Saturday, Jan. 5, 2018 | Crossing the Border Into Mexico

Laredo-Columbia Crossing Into Mexico
In line for the banjercito at the Laredo-Columbia crossing

Our crossing at Laredo-Columbia could hardly have gone more smoothly than it did. The steps (pasos) were clearly marked: migracion, copias, banjercito. The only line was at banjercito, with only one person in front of us. Once we were at the window, it took about 20 minutes to get all the paperwork completed.

The only hiccup was we didn’t know the TIP decal for our Jeep cost $60USD on top of the $400USD deposit. So two thirds of the U.S. currency we set aside for our FTP visas went towards the decal. Fortunately, we could pay for the FTPs with our credit card.

We breezed through the border inspection and the police checkpoint getting onto the 85D toll road to Monterrey. Before we knew it, we were cruising into the interior of Mexico.

Brief Stop in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon

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A post shared by Overlanders | Highland Family (@jeepsies)

Monterrey is the ninth largest city in Mexico and anchors the third-largest metro area in the country. Navigating to the city center was a two-person job. We only made one error. We made a left turn onto a four-lane, one-way road with a median down the middle. We should’ve turned into the right-most two lanes, so we could make the upcoming right turn. Instead, we turned onto the left side of the median.

Fortunately, our most serious driving error of the day wasn’t too painful!

We set Google Maps for Museo de Palacio, which is at the northern end of Monterrey’s grand Macroplaza. We basically drove through and around the Macroplaza until we found a good parking lot. We ended up parking on Juan Zuazua at Jose Maria Morelos (those are both street names). It was a clean, fenced lot with an attendant and we felt confident parking there.

We walked across the Macroplaza and down Jose Maria Morelos, a pedestrian-only street. As we tried to soak in our first stop, our goals weren’t super glamorous: find a bathroom and eat lunch. We accomplished both, enjoying a torta (sandwich) and tacos de barbacoa (barbecue meat tacos) for lunch.

We left the ice alone (an issue when Eric and I were in Cancun in 2016), and avoided the water since it wasn’t bottled. We’ve been taking Culturelle for over a week to boost our digestive systems. Our plan is to play it safe here at the beginning of our trip, and branch out as our systems get used to the new food.

Having said that, I don’t obsess in this area. I had coffee, which contained water that may or may not have been boiled. And then Caspian is sitting next to meet licking two halves of a lime, which probably wasn’t washed. And if it was, then it was washed in nonpurified water. So there you go.

Finding Our Camping Site in the Mountains

Camping Full-time Overlanding Family
Our first night of camping as full-time overlanders

We were in a bit of a rush, trying to get to our campground before 3 p.m. This is the cut-off time we’ve set for ourselves during this whole trip. We want to be at any camping spot and set up well before dark.

So we headed south out of Monterrey and into the mountains near Santiago. Our goal was El Salto, a wild camping spot we found on iOverlander. The drive was beautiful and impactful. We twisted along mountain roads, through towns full of hard-working people–some of them displaying artisan work of wood and stone, and others cooking delicious-smelling meals outside their homes.

Then a rookie mistake. We entered the site coordinates into Google Maps and blindly followed until “you have arrived.” When we actually looked at the map, we realized Google had taken us as close as possible to the coordinates…at least, on the nearest mapped road. But our coordinates were well off the road, and we should’ve taken an earlier cut-off.

By this time, it was 3:30 p.m. We were mentally exhausted from the long day (and not sleeping much the night before) and didn’t want to go searching for the unknown. Instead, we looked around where we were: what appeared to be a rocky, dry riverbed with a couple of ATV trails running through it. We chose a pull-off near the cliffs where we could see the road, but no one on the road could see us.

And we popped the rooftop tent and got set up for the night.

Our First Night Camping as Full-time Overlanders

Rotopax Water Container for Overlanding
Prepping our fresh water for an evening of cooking and cleaning

We had a handful of passers-by before nightfall, on ATVs or other 4×4 vehicles. They were curious about our tent, but didn’t stop to talk. They were just out enjoying their weekend recreation.

When we first arrived, the landscape seemed harsh and uninviting with the rocky ground. But once we got out and the setting sun started lending us some shade, the area seemed quite lovely. Caspian ate some Cheetos while I started dinner. He had no shirt on, since he got into the mustard and squirted it all over himself.

Two Year Old Playing Harmonica
Caspian “playing” harmonica at our camp site

Our grilling setup of Jetboil + cast iron cooktop worked well, once the cast iron heated up. We had a simple meal of bratwursts in tortillas with cream cheese, a keto/Seattleite favorite for us.

After dinner, Caspian, who just started potty-training, did his business in the middle of the Mexican mountains. Yes, we’re potty-training while overlanding.

#LittleNomad went straight to sleep in his sleeping bag. Eric and I sat up for a short time, reflecting on the day and trying to absorb where we were. That it was all really happening. Like I mentioned, we were absolutely spent. So we turned in early, cuddled up in our new Big Agnes Dream Island double sleeping bag. Eric had to talk me into springing for it, but it really is amazing.

Sunday, Jan. 6, 2018 | Up Before the Sun for Drive to San Luis Potosí

Jeep Wrangler Overlanding in Mexico
Departing for our drive to San Luis Potosí

We got up around 6:30 a.m. I passed things down for Eric to load in the Jeep, while I got Caspian up and dressed. Normally, I’d feed Caspian breakfast first-thing (he normally eats at 7 a.m.). But Eric wanted to “drive up the road” and get breakfast at a local place.

It didn’t take long to run into a couple of issues with that plan. First, it was early Sunday morning. No one was awake, not to mention serving breakfast. Second, we actually weren’t going back the way we came. Instead, we were headed west through the mountains, to eventually connect with 57D south to San Luis Potosí.

Nuevo Leon Mountain Road
Through the mountains of Nuevo Leon

One and a half hours later, we were on the toll road. Having realized we weren’t going to find the breakfast spot he dreamed of, Eric found a dirt pull-off. I opened the tailgate and got some yogurt and blueberries out of our ARB fridge. I had a bowl of cereal myself. Then, I found a sunny spot for Caspian’s potty at the front of the Jeep (out of sight of traffic). He seemed to enjoy his vantage point, as the semi trucks whizzed by. What a kid.

It was a long driving day, including a stop for lunch and a couple of stops for gas (we aren’t going below half a tank, especially with the fuel shortage). We’re only driving about 60 mph, which is the official speed limit. No one else follows the speed limit, but we don’t want to be the one vehicle that’s targeted. We’d rather take 15 minutes longer to get somewhere, then spend an hour on the side of the road with the police.

A big positive to 60 mph is our fuel consumption. Even with the heavy load, we booked about 18 mpg today. Eric’s pretty proud of that.

Dream Come True in San Luis Potosí

Exploring San Luis Potosi With a Toddler
Caspian adores his horse on wheels that he named “Meatball”

For the next 10-11 nights, we’re staying in an Airbnb apartment just off San Luis Potosí’s main square. The area is stunning and we’re thrilled with our apartment. This one is going to be hard to beat.

As we stepped into the square, the cathedral towering over us, I felt a wave of emotion. When we first started dreaming of this trip to Mexico, we watched a YouTube video of an overlanding group visiting here. I was captivated, and latched on to this place as a personal goal. And after all these months of intricate planning, with no small amount of stress and nerves, I’m here.

I have so many thoughts. Thoughts about this city and the Mexican people. I have so much to say about safety, and safety concerns. I’m glad we’re settled for a few days, so I can have time to process everything and share it.

-B

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Written by:
Brittany Highland
Published on:
January 7, 2019
Thoughts:
14 Comments

Categories: North America, OverlandingTags: interior mexico

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Russell McFall

    January 8, 2019 at 8:41 am

    What a great adventure, stay safe. My mom moved to Mexico in the early 60’s me and my brother where 4 and 2. She was in a station wagon and we ended up in Oaxaca. If you get a chance visit Guanajuato and the mummies. Enjoyed your article best of luck!

    Reply
    • Eric Highland

      January 8, 2019 at 10:37 am

      Thanks! Everyone has been telling us to go to Oaxaca. It is too far south for this trip as we have to be at an event in Northern Alabama in March. Puebla City will be our furthest point south this trip. But if Mexico continues to be as amazing as it has been so far, we’ll be back for sure.

      Reply
  2. Trey Loughridge

    January 8, 2019 at 10:11 am

    Your trip looks amazing so far. Do be careful of the water and food cart foods. (The CG Corpsman port brief. LOL) need pic of the airbnb.

    Reply
    • Eric Highland

      January 8, 2019 at 10:35 am

      We plan to do a video of our AirBnB on Jeepsies FB and Instagram soon. We’ve been pretty careful of the water and food. But slowly introducing new things. Thanks for the brief though! hahaha!

      Reply
  3. Laura

    January 8, 2019 at 11:50 am

    What will be the mix of tent life versus airbnbing?

    Reply
    • Eric Highland

      January 9, 2019 at 7:36 am

      Honestly, we don’t know yet. For us our livelihood depends upon connectivity. We haven’t gotten into a rhythm yet with this new lifestyle. And Mexico is much different than the States for us where the WiFi is more abundant. So we’ll have to wait and see.

      Reply
  4. Rock Steele

    January 8, 2019 at 12:41 pm

    Your trip is inspiring. I have wanted to do similar, but my other half is not so adventurous. We are fulltime rv’rs 15 yrs, so she has come a long way. Maybe after reading your experiences here, she might he persuaded! Carry on!

    Reply
    • Eric Highland

      January 9, 2019 at 7:39 am

      Thanks Rock! Wow, 15 years, that’s pretty inspiring right there. Tell your other half that if she has any questions, we’d love to answer them for her.

      Reply
  5. Greg

    January 8, 2019 at 1:17 pm

    Terrific read. Looking forward to the next installment. Continued safe travels.

    Reply
    • Eric Highland

      January 9, 2019 at 7:40 am

      Thanks Shregg! We’re coming for some Q at some point…you know this right?

      Reply
  6. William Keyworth

    September 15, 2019 at 7:51 am

    Hey eric, great blog! fun fun fun… wondering about bringing the rtt into mexico and if they made you open it up for inspection?

    Reply
    • Eric Highland

      September 16, 2019 at 10:31 am

      Thanks William! So there were zero issues for us bringing the RTT into Mexico. I can’t say that is the way it will be for everyone. But once we crossed passed the border, there was a checkpoint where vehicles were being pulled over and asked to empty the contents of their vehicle. When we got to that point a young woman came up and asked us what it (the RTT) was. I told her it was a tent. She asked where we were coming from and where we were going. I gave her the info and she said, “adelante” or “move ahead” that was it. We didn’t empty a thing. Hope that is helpful. ~ E

      Reply
  7. Rose H

    February 23, 2022 at 7:12 am

    Love your story may I ask at what hotel or rental did you stay at SLP?

    Reply
    • Brittany Highland

      February 23, 2022 at 7:21 am

      Hi Rose! We stayed at the same Airbnb both times in SLP (2019 and 2021) and had wonderful stays. Justo and his sister manage it and take wonderful care of their guests. If you book there, let them know that Brittany and Eric from Hourless Life sent you! https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/26539810

      Reply

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