🤠 About Pathfinder Vacations LLC
Family-Run • Purpose-Driven • Hill Country-Rooted
Pathfinder Vacations was founded in 2023 by the Woods family—Joanna, Terry, and Tomas—from Preston, England. What started as a wild dream on a road trip across the U.S. turned into a heartfelt mission to create a home base in Texas Hill Country and share it with others lookin’ for a getaway with soul, comfort, and a little bit of adventure.
But the road to Fischer, Texas? Well… it’s been one heck of a ride.
🏁 Where It All Began – A Wheelchair, a YouTube Video & a Dream
Back in 2019, our son Tomas—just 11 at the time—received his first wheelchair. Like many kids adjusting to a big life change, he was feelin’ uncertain and embarrassed. That all changed one Christmas morning when he showed us a video of a guy named Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham doing backflips in a wheelchair off the Nitro Circus ramp.
We laughed at first. Self-propelling was still a challenge—let alone stunt work! But Tomas wasn’t discouraged. He dug deeper and found that this wild thing he’d seen wasn't just 1 crazy American it was actually a real sport: WCMX (Wheelchair Motocross). And just like that, he had a new dream—to ride skateparks in his chair.
🛹 One Kid. One Skatepark. Big Plans.
In January 2020, we visited Graystone Action Sports in Manchester, UK. Tomas tried WCMX for the first time and was hooked. When the pandemic hit a few weeks later, training stopped—but the dream didn’t. We spent lockdown watching WCMX videos and dreaming up a future road trip to the World Championships.
Once the parks reopened in July, Tomas teamed up with a coach and trained like never before. In October, he entered the online WCMX World Championship in the Intermediate Division—coming in 4th place overall and earning the title of #1 ranked male in the UK!
🌎 From Competitor to Champion
From 2021 to 2023, Tomas’s passion (and passport) went full throttle. Switzerland, Germany, and finally California—where he placed 4th in the world. By that point, WCMX wasn’t just a sport; it was our family’s life.
That’s when the next idea hit: what if we bought a home in Texas?
We loved the Hill Country and figured if we could stay out here more affordably, Tomas could train, we could host other travelers, and maybe—just maybe—start something bigger.
🏡 The House We “Couldn’t Afford”
In Summer 2023, we were house-hunting in Canyon Lake. We lost a house just days before flying home, but weren’t ready to give up so moved our flights out. Then we toured the house we thought was out of reach. It needed work, but we loved it. On a whim (and with Tomas leading the charge), we submitted a bold offer the day before our flight home.
And wouldn’t you know it—they said yes.
By October 2023, the house was ours. It needed a new septic tank and had no furniture—but it was ours. We landed just in time for the 2023 World Championships, moved in with airbeds, a coffee maker and Buc-ee's blankets… and one week later, Tomas was crowned World Champion, defeating the same legend he’d once watched on YouTube. There's nothing quite like building furniture and unpacking the very many deiveries to bring a World Champion back down to earth but 3 weeks later we were ready for our first guests. 2024 he did it again now back to back World Champion we this time returned to convert the Rec barn, update the fire pit and build the Grill Shack and 2025 we have more big plans for the place.
💪 Giving Back — The Tomas Woods WCMX Foundation
We’ve now proudly launched and support the Tomas Woods WCMX Foundation — a nonprofit that helps grow WCMX in the U.S. by offering training and support to nonprofit disability sport organizations, skateparks, and individual riders across the country.
Our goal? To make WCMX accessible to more kids like Tomas—those who just need the opportunity to roll up to a skatepark and discover what they’re capable of. For further information or to donate check out www.woodswcmx.org
🧭 Why “Pathfinder”?
Because we believe in forging new paths—whether it’s a young rider chasing a dream, a family reconnecting under the Texas stars, or a guest discovering the Hill Country for the first time.
Every stay at our place helps support something much bigger. So come kick back, soak up the sunshine, and make some memories. You’ll be part of a story that started with one little boy in a wheelchair—and rolled all the way to Texas.