Meet your hosts / Rob & Diane

Rob and Diane met in the early ‘70s, in a university biology class. They later joined forces as graduate students, where they shared a passion for the outdoors, biology, and of course, each other.

After a few years they grew weary of academia and bailed. Rob started a solar design and construction business, developing a nationwide dealer network for his finely crafted sunrooms. Diane joined the business to help keep it on track. Twelve years later, an investor who’d gained a controlling interest decided on a change of management. Rob and Diane were out.

They responded by selling everything they owned, buying a couple of mountain bikes, and taking off around the world. Two years, 20+ countries, and 20,000+ pedaled kilometers later, they landed in the San Francisco Bay Area and settled into working lives. Before long, Rob got the entrepreneurial itch again and launched an outdoor gear company based on a camping oven he’d invented on their bike trip. A couple years later, he introducing the Platypus line of collapsible water bottles and hydration packs.

Success at last, they sold the business in1996 and settled in Cabo Pulmo. Rob learned to surf, play tennis, and mix margaritas. Diane was finally free to pursue her passion for making art (and tennis, too!).   

Five years later, Rob was lured back to the Bay Area to lead a technology start-up. When that fizzled, the couple set their sights further south: a remote jungle beach village in Costa Rica, with awesome surf and amazing wildlife. Rob was in paradise, but Diane quickly grew weary of jungle life. They separated and eventually divorced. Diane set off on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, later settling in San Miguel de Allende.

Rob and Diane missed each other, and after a few years rejoined forces in San Miguel, where Diane is thriving as an artist (see Diane’s Art). Rob is dedicated to his encore career in sustainability, including his work with the water nonprofit Caminos de Agua (plus the occasional escape to a certain jungle surf beach in Costa Rica). They both enjoy frequent returns to Cabo Pulmo and their beloved El Encanto.