Denied Entry to Mexico in a School Bus: Two Border Crossings, Zero Stamps, One Hard Lesson A cautionary tale about vehicle weight limits, bureaucratic technicalities, and the humbling perspective that comes from standing at the wrong side of a border. When people asked us about our adventures after we returned to Maine for the summer, they expected the highlights reel. And honestly, we had a spectacular one. We could have talked about Base Camp — the school bus we'd bought from the local district, gutted, and rebuilt into our rolling home after our sailboat Tiny Bubbles II sold. We could have told them about the manatees that joined us while we swam in the crystal springs of Florida, floating alongside us with the serene indifference of creatures who have never once had a schedule to keep. We could have described the world-class bouldering at Hueco Tanks , 32 miles northeast of El Paso — a 4,000-year-old landscape of pocketed syenite rock that climbers fly in from...

How We Infiltrated Mexico Twice from a National Park (And Why You Should Too) A Complete Guide to Crossing into Boquillas del Carmen from Big Bend — With Burros, Bureaucracy, and a Four-Year-Old in Full Firefighter Gear The border crossing that a U.S. Customs agent couldn't get through without laughing. I have now led my family across the Rio Grande into Mexico twice. Once on a spontaneous Sunday in 2019, in the middle of a minivan circumnavigation of the United States, with three boys, no plan, and a four-year-old dressed head-to-toe as a firefighter. And once in 2022, without our beloved overloaded skoolie (converted school bus), which had been diplomatically informed by the Mexican border that its presence was not required. Both times were absurd. Both times were wonderful. Both times ended at a video kiosk where a U.S. Customs officer in El Paso had to compose himself before clearing us back into America. This is the story of both crossings —...