This is a post I have been anxiously waiting to share for almost a year.

Last February in the thick of my final semester of school, me and Hanna Scott wanted to make a sweet girls trip happen. We were getting antsy, but with our often conflicting schedules we found a short and hectic window to do it. So, between finals and assignments, we booked our flights and we flew into Mexico with high hopes of warmer water and epic waves, or at the very least, an abundance of tacos and tequila.

We spent nearly two weeks zig zagging the magical peninsula of Baja Mexico and finding waves. We had little expectations going there, and just like getting drunk is an omen for perfect waves the next day, with little expectations comes enjoyable surprises and we scored great swell hitting both sides of the peninsula. A bit of a freak occurrence for mid-February.

As I am sure many of you can relate, words don’t really do justice for a coming-of-age trip with your girlfriends, and even at the age of 27, that is what this was for me. I had never been on a “surf trip” to focus on photography and like any exciting and somewhat-painful “growing up” experiences, whether in life or business, you learn a lot.

There were many magical things that turned this trip into the perfect storm of visual ectasy, including the bright colours that woke up the streets and ourselves.

The early mornings, cheap smoothies, and abundance of cactuses that decorated the pastel skies.

The incredible waves and the wind that made a lack of them.

The laughing.

Sleeping in board bags over coals we had propelled deep into the sand, pointed in the direction of the point break, bringing the sweetest views to wake up to.

The endless bagged beans.

The lack of cell phone reception and the disconnect you learn to embrace.

Hanna’s leaf shirt & the dog named Leaf.

The friends we made.

The reality of the cartel we experienced.

The humpback whales that painted the horizon.

Most importantly, the pictures we took. The tangible reality that brings us back to a place where things were a bit more magical and a lot more fun than an average night on the couch.

With all the pictures we got and all the pictures we didn’t, Hanna and I came home so stoked that we did it. We made it work and we had a hell of a good time in the process. We were proud of ourselves, in a way that we know we have many more of these trips together in the future.

Check out the rest of the story in the latest edition of Damaged Goods Zine ( http://damagedgoodszine.com/2017/12/dgz-issue-21/ ).

Getting Groovy in Mexico