Road trips used to be my jam. After I quit racing full-time, I spent the next five or six years traveling around the world, racing in some amazing places and sharing my experiences in the pages of this magazine. It was awesome. Then I had kids and started my career in the fire service, and with the very limited free time I had, I just wanted to stay home and relax. Now, with my kids a little older, I wanted to hit the road again occasionally. When a great opportunity came up, I jumped at it.

One of the owners of Costa Rica Unlimited is Terry Beal, a longtime industry friend. When I heard about the venture, I loved the concept: create an exclusive compound right by the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica and host guided motorcycle tours to experience some of the most gorgeous landscapes in the world. Terry told me the housing is first-class, the bikes are in great shape, the staff is incredible—but those things can be a bit subjective, right? I’d believe it when I saw it.

I received my itinerary and was confused when my departure city read Tijuana, Mexico. Either this was a mistake or Terry was trying to treat me to one of the area’s infamous donkey shows. It turns out there is a massive parking structure on the U.S. side and a bridge that takes you straight across to the international terminal at Tijuana International Airport. Despite my skepticism, we made it across without incident or animal-themed entertainment. The two hours prior to my flight I spent texting love notes to my wife. As any married person can imagine, my wife was none too thrilled that I was taking off for Costa Rica for a week while she was left alone to handle the kids, work, meals, life, etc. Of course, I tried to explain that it was a work assignment and I was only doing it to provide for my family as the head of the household and to honor my contractual obligations as an editor of a motocross publication. She didn’t buy that load of crap for a minute; when I got back, she got a weekend in Palms Springs.