Bom dia everyone. My name is Rebeca, also known as 'Becky Packer' for my newfound skill of packaging all of your online orders.
I'm the newest Baja Llama intern and I hail from Lagos, Portugal. This is my first time in America and what a bus ride it's been.
My boyfriend Richie is the head designer and helps create all the tip top clothes you wear. He asked if I wanted to come to America and go on an epic cross-country tour with him and the Baja Llama team. Of course I jumped on the opportunity and boarded the next flight out. Who wouldn't want to go on a misadventure with a bunch of people you don't know, visit places you've never been, and stumble along the way while crammed on a beast of a vehicle driving through the desert with no AC?
I packed my bags, got on the plane, and couldn't be more excited to rev that mammoth of a vehicle and start the tour.
NOT SO FAST. I arrived to California and thought to myself, what bus? All I saw was a big flaming pile of shiiet. An old prison transport bus that was mangled from the previous wanker (more on this in the near future) who was supposed to convert it into the dreamy mobile home that I see on Instagram all the time.
"Grab your hammer Becky, it's time to get to work!", This is what I heard for the next 4 weeks as I smashed my fingers and bled from my forehead to toes doing things I didn't even know were legal. The hammering was alright, it was those old prison bus locks that I had to drill out and change that were a nightmare. Are there no locksmiths in Concord? ''Only in America'' as my mum would say. I saw a cul-de-sac, Ace Hardware, Safeway, a couple of gas stations and a good ol' American dump during my first month in the Bay Area. The dump was my favourite place. What a treat it was!
4 weeks of hard work paid off though and we were on our way, with plenty of stories to tell.
Which Baja Llama team member would you say was on the other end of this scope....
Ok ok I haven't lost my shit completely yet but in my mind I may have pew pew'd. Although I did get yelled out for accidentally waving the empty pellet gun like a sprinkler head passing my new favorite coworkers heads. It was my first time holding a gun...Oops.
I've also become a seamstress of some sort. Measuring in inches is like putting an astronaut on the moon. Where is the metric ruler? Don't be mad at me if your shirt hovers around your belly button or the top secret new collection of pants, only make it down to your knee caps.
Don't worry, this won't be a novel. I can barely stay stimulated enough to write as I'm sweating profusely all over my 1999 Acer keyboard. Supposedly this isn't even considered a computer anymore?
Back to the bus. We worked our way towards the coast and our very first stop was Santa Cruz. Here we go! My first live action of the states. I was smitten!
It was great to see the team in action as well. I had no idea what was going on but that didn't stop me from finding the first pub to order a beer and watch from afar.
Each stop we would make, we'd walk into the stores that seemed to fit our brand most and introduce Baja Llama. BOOM, first store was a success! Berdels in Santa Cruz - and what awesome people they are. Definitely swing by their shop and say hello to Bubb and the crew!
We learned quickly that there are not many 40ft parking spaces so getting yelled at became a norm. Most officers and parking enforcers left with a smile and a few stickers though so I've made a lot of friends on the law enforcement team.
We zoomed through California as we geared up for Project Las Vegas. Las Vegas?! Yes please. I've only seen imagery and videos from movies of Sin City and I have no problem blending in there. I've never been in a building higher than the 4th floor growing up in my hometown so imagining the Bellagio or Paris Tower hovering over me like a sloth riding a llama just gets all my juices going. Not to mention dancing with a 70 year old man rolling his tits off made all my dreams come true. *We were dancing at one point, it wasn't just him looking like he was going to kill me.
The Expo turned out amazing and we opened 20+ new accounts. You'll be able to spot Baja Llama in new boutiques, surf shops, and Four Seasons across the world.
The team is excited to share the news in the upcoming weeks, but for now, it is time for me to wipe my forehead, take a shot of tequila, crack open a beer and get ready for a nice sleep at Walmart's parking lot ... Mmmhmmmm.
Next up on the travel diaries we explore UTAH!
