Baja Roadtrip Checklist

We’re Baja bound!

The challenge of Baja, the prickly, peligroso saltiness that gives everything an edge and makes it an adventure, captured our hearts in 2015. We spent 2 months south of the border that year and we’ve been planning a return trip ever since. We’re finally leaving tomorrow! Sand in my hair and tacos in both my hands, hola! 

We learned un poco on that first trip so I put together a list of things I didn’t want to forget this year :)

• First of all, toilet paper is almost always scented since it gets put in the trash bin instead of flushed. “Por favor, tirar papeles en la basura.” I mean, it was impossible to find TP that didn’t smell like a perfume shop, which I think is creepy, so I’ll be bringing a decent stash of my own toilet paper. Maybe I’m a hippy… whatever.
• Same with laundry soap. Everything we found literally said something like, extra-high-concentrated with artificial scents. After a laundry day in Loreto we had trouble sleeping on our poisoned sheets. The smell lasted forever. Definitely bringing our own detergent.
• Shade is gold. I’m stoked to have an ARB awning on our new house truck….
• We invested in a Berkey water purifier which means we won’t have to buy as much purified water and we’ll be able to purify water wherever we are… YES.
• The obvious things: Snorkels, First aid kit, coffee, Mexican auto insurance, shovels, sunscreen, tools, lots of tools…
• Instead of inflatable kayaks, we have a rigid and an inflatable SUP now, which I think will make getting on the water a lot more fun with less hassle. We prefer the Sea of Cortez side over surfing on the Pacific.
• Privacy tent / Honey bucket for primitive camp sites without latrines. We didn’t really mind the hike into the desert to dig a hole where bathrooms weren’t available, but there are a few beaches that it wasn’t convenient. It might make or break a campsite. 
• We have more fresh water storage and a diy solar shower... yahoo..
• Finding propane was tricky for us on our first trip. But we figured out the Gaspasas outside of town will fill our tank super cheap..
• We are definitely bringing a rake so we can clean up our wheel estate and surrounding beaches.
• Quarters for laundry. A few RV parks we stayed at took US quarters and exchanging our pesos to quarters seemed silly…

sea of cortez

Most importantly, we will bringing open minds with us. From my experience, Mexico is pretty underrated by its neighbors to the north. Americans are scared of damn near everything, am I right? My Canadian friend once said “America is clean and boring, yo quiero dirty Mexico.”  We agree, Greg. (and we miss you!) 

If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don’t know why. -Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez