The Adventures of Familia Bajaboy

I recently had an epiphany that has greatly altered how I see myself.  I am going to do my best to put into words that realization and what it means for me moving forward. After teaching in public schools in San Diego for 15 years as a math teacher, we made the choice to submit our leave of absences and move to Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico.  For many, the decision seemed abrupt and irrational but not for me.  After strugglng through Covid and watching politics invade public education, I knew the future was bleak, at least for me and my happiness.  People who know little about what happens in the classroom were on television making wild claims and accusations that were far from the truth.  It was too big of a battle for me and I knew I would be misearable moving forward.  While I am speaking for myself, my wife, Tracy, was sharing similar fears.  So our decision was very well vetted and thought out and our kids were also driving forces in the decision.  We packed our bags, sold almost ev

One of the most asked questions about our decision to move to Mexico was if we were going to homeschool Mikayla and Gabriel.  After all, Tracy and I have been successful teachers for many years.  Well, we decided to make a video and share our thoughts and experiences after a few years living here.  Gabriel also has some great perspectives as well.  I hope you enjoy!

 We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the founder of Tacos Don Ramon here in Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico.  He explained why he decided to open a taqueria selling fish in a village of fisherman.  Now after 14 years, he is as busy as ever.  Enjoy the interview

 One of my favorite ways to start the day is by taking a walk around town.  Tracy and I try and walk anywhere from 3 to 5 miles depending on our time constraints.  This morning we had time to walk around three miles. While our route varies, some things are always the same.   We can always count on mostly nice dogs along the way, a lot of waves and smiles from friends and strangers, and plenty of things to look at.  In addition, Tracy and I have good conversations during our walks.  In fact, we hatch up most of our crazy ideas while walking, hiking, riding, or running.   This morning was especially beautiful as we had a nice, steady rain last night.  The air was crisp but not cold and everything seemed relatively clean.  If all goes well, we might even get out for another walk after Tracy's first class of the day. In addition to writing about our adventures, I plan on posting more videos on our YouTube channel.  I hope you suscribe and follow us along on our journey.   https://www.y

  I have been drinking craft beer for most of my adult life.  It was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, still one of my favorites, or St. Stans IPA that started it for me almost 25 years ago.  I lived in Fresno, California back when I started drinking beer and back then the craft beer scene was non-existent.  But we did have some decent options at the liquor store.  Some of my early beers that I remember were Liberty Brewing, Russian River, and Stone Brewing. Over the years, I found myself gravitating towards pale ales and India Pale Ales.  I never considered myself a beer geek and still don't to this day.  I do love hanging out with friends and enjoying a good beer, though, whether it's at home, camping, at the beach, brewery, or dive bar.  Hands down, it's one of my favorite activities. So when we started seriously considering moving to Mexico full time, I knew that I needed to learn how to brew beer.  Now don't get me wrong, there is a thriving brewery scene happening in Mexico

 Here we go!  Hurricane Kay is on the way.  After 15+ years, I think our village will finally get a taste of a hurricane.  In the past, most of severe weather has veered west or east of us due to the cold water currents.  But it looks like Kay will arrive in full force tomorrow during the day as a Cat. 1 Hurricane. I had to head north again to turn in paperwork for the kids' residency.  Our great friends Hector and Letty came to the rescue.  They spent about four hours helping Tracy and the kids secure the house by boarding up the windows and tying down the roof.  I defintely feel we're in a great shape now.  It's so rewarding living in a village where people look out for one another. I decided to take down our Starlink dish and secure it on the side yard with sand bags and rocks.  As long as we have electricity, we should be able to provide updates along the way.  As of 7 pm, it's lightly raining and a slight breeze.   We took a walk around town and noticed a lot of pe

After a two year break, the Bahia Asuncion Traditional Festival is back in action.  Yesterday, the beach festival took place with all kinds of activities and competitions.  I was asked to help judge the sand castle contest which was a lot of fun. The festival has a variety of things to do.  There is a carnival area with games and rides.  Close by is a dance with top notch bands from Sonora and other states.  Last night, there were two bands and the music went until about 3:30am.  Here is a video from our deck: We woke up today and decided to get some chores finished.  I brewed up a nice Pale Ale and Tracy is doing some touch up paint.  The kids are busy filming videos as well.  I thought I'd share how we recycle our spent grains from brewing here: Later today, we are going to watch the horse races which are a favorite of ours.  I'll definitely post some videos and pictures.  Thanks for following along!

 About 20 years ago, I first heard of David Goggins.  He spoke at one of the San Diego Tri Club monthly meetings.  Back then, I was getting into Olympic distance triathlons and was amazed listening to Goggins talk about some of his adventures.  Little did I know where my journey would take me. Fast forward to today.  I am signed up to do the very difficult Baja 50K, Oriflamme 50K, and finally Angeles Crest 100 mile in August.  It's been over two years since I have taken on a big adventure.  Hard to believe my last official race was the San Diego 100 Endurance Race.  Some days, I wonder if I will ever finish another long race.  I've been training almost daily but can't seem to mentally cross back into beast mode.  Something has to give. About a month ago, I recalled the Goggin 4x4x48 Challenge ( Link to Goggins Challenge .)  It's exactly what I need to jump start my training.  So beginning tomorrow, Friday, March 4 at 9:00 am mountain standard time, I will run 4 miles ev

Most mornings, I walk through the garden and inevitably find myself pulling weeds or doing some other task.  I figured it's been awhile since I've shared any progress so here we go. Our garden seems to be happy and thriving.  We had a good summer crop of tomatoes, peppers, and squash but the dirt still needs a lot of work.  I keep adding spent grains from our home brews, torn up cardboard, compostable food, and yard waste, too.  Slowly but surely, the dirt is getting better.  We also break up peanut shells and thrown them around, too. In this bed, we have orange butternut squash, tomatoes, two types of lettuce, assorted bell peppers, arugula, and beets. Here is our tomato invasion.  These are all volunteer tomatoes. We planted a second round of spaghetti squash because it does great here. Super excited to see so many flowers on our mango tree.  Our blood orange and sapote have a lot of flowers as well Here we have butternut squash, a few varieties of tomatoes, basil, arugula, s

 Trash is a big problem in Mexico.  Fortunately, there is a growing population that is addressing pollution and taking steps to mitigate it.  Today, our village encouraged people to come out and clean up trash around their houses.  We took advantage of the opportunity to get out and do our part.  Here are some pictures from this morning.  Mika helped out as well but didn't get into any pictures. We decided to focus on an empty lot just to the east of our place.  Most of our neighbors do a great job of keeping their properties clean.  But this lot has been a dumping ground for many years. Our town is collecting the plastic lids from bottles.  There is a program that gives out money for the lids.  So we removed any lid we found before putting the plastic bottles in trash bags. Gabriel found an old carpet halfway buried in the dirt.  He finally managed to extract it. The city garbage truck will come by and pick up our haul.  We picked up a lot more than we had planned, which is good a

 This morning we ran one of my favorite routes nearby.  From our house, we head west towards the beach and run north about 3 miles.  Then we go up to Family Mountain.  Years ago, we found a natural pile of rocks on top of this mountain.  We started a tradition of placing a rock on the pile to commemorate a special person or memory.  Over the years the rock pile has grown.  From there we return south along the ridgeline and return along the Backbone trail behind our house and village.  The route is just under 7 miles with about 1600 ft. of elevation gain.  I hope you enjoy! Running along Long Beach Looking back towards Bahia Asuncion, Baja California Sur, Mexico San Roque is in the distance. Starting the climb up Family Mountain.  Boogie Board beach and the horse race track in the distance. The Family Mountain memorial.  So many great memories there! Running the ridgeline with Family Mountain in the distance. San Roque Island in the distance and Tracy hammering a fun section of the trai