This picture, the inaugural shot, was taken by Chris at the Austin bus station. After saying goodbye to him and Karin, I walked up into the reception area eager to get going. But something was a little off - the desk clerk and I were the only two people in the room, and there wasn’t a bus in sight.

Because of course, it had already left. At 1:15 ¡de la noche!, as the clerk explained (at night, or 1:15am). I guess I’d grown used to the AM/PM system which is used exclusively in the States, and the website’s Mexican bus timetable was on the 24hour clock with all buses leaving after midnight, disguising this fact from me.

So back to Chris’ apartment it was, and we spent the afternoon chilling in the pool, eating a final tasty BBQ dinner at Rudy’s, and drinking frozen margaritas on the balcony. The bus company was happy to put me on the next bus at midnight, no extra charge, but I decided to take it as a sign that I wasn’t ever meant to do the border crossing at Los Dos Laredos. Probably a good thing, and there wasn’t anything specific I had planned for that area.

I was going to fly from Monterrey to Puerto Vallarta on Monday, so I instead bought a flight from Austin via Houston to Vallarta. From there, I’ll hop on a bus that’ll take me 45 minutes north to a seaside town called Sayulita. The first stop is a hostel called “The Amazing Hostel” which is owned and operated by a couple who won The Amazing Race. 5 minutes from the beach, with consistent surf conditions and fish tacos for sale right along the sand.