About Us
our mission
We're two California-based surfers who have decided to spend the next year of our lives doing something unfamiliar. We're driving from San Francisco to Patagonia via the Pan-American Highway, and we're going to travel with purpose.
The act of travel has always been about losing ourselves in the cultural fabric of the countries we visit. Yet, the majority of the travel content we encounter focuses on the art, the landscape, the food – often without learning about and from the people who live and sustain that culture every day. We are going to push back against that paradigm – proactively engaging in dialogues with local people to gain perspective on their lives, their concerns, their ambitions and their experience. We're confident that this context-gathering mission will help us dissolve gaps in language, culture and geography – using nothing but the power of conversation to shatter misconceptions.
Writer, Chief Translator
Christoph von Ruexleben
Christoph is German-born and US-raised. He grew up in constant motion – moving 10 times before he was 23 years old. He now calls California home, but the habit of frequently uprooting has become an addiction – fueling his desire to experience as much of the world as possible. Christoph’s passion for surfing and travel has driven him to ride waves on 6 continents (Antarctica, watch out!), and dive into adventures in many far corners of the globe. He is proudly trilingual, and has a deep passion for absorbing unfamiliar cultures – something he expects to do plenty of during this journey.
Beyond traveling and surfing, Christoph has deep marketing roots – having spent his early career working for large surf brands and startups alike. Most recently, he led business development for Venables Bell & Partners – a creative agency in San Francisco.
PHOTO-JOURNALIST, LEAD MECHANIC
DAVID GROTTING
David is a surfer, entrepreneur and outdoorsman with a slight addiction to Mexico. Whether it’s doing big surf trips through the seven sisters of Baja, or working on his surf casa in Rosarito, he spends many of his weekends south of the border. David has prioritized travel in his life, and experienced nearly 40 countries to date. His favorite way to capture travel experiences is through videos, which he plans to create for this Pan-American adventure.
David has a business and technical background and has spent recent years as a Product Manager at early stage technology companies in San Francisco. Prior to that, he was working on a stand up desk company, Standee, that he co-founded out of San Diego.
Car
Bessie
Bessie is our pride and joy, our source of forward momentum and our home for the duration of this trip. Acquired by David on April 19th, 2016 after spotting her on Craigslist, she has been tested in Baja previously, but the Pan-American Highway is her biggest challenge yet.
The Details:
2003 Toyota 4Runner
4.7 Liter V8
Drink of Choice: Mobil-1 Synthetic
Biggest Prior Trip: 700 mile round trip in Baja
Starting Odometer: 188,114 miles