well i have commitments summer 2012, winter 2013, summer 2013 but have winter 2013/14 left open and thinking Baja CA, Mexico as a destination... If anyone would like to join me or advise, I would love both... lemme know and lets plan...<br>
Thinking Baja 2014...
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Wow Steve. I have no idea how one plans for something that far away...but since you do, I can say that I regularly, at least yearly, go to Mexico and the last two years it has been Baja. I recommend it wholeheartedly and think you will have a ball there.<br><br>A forum I like to look at when I am thinking "Mexico" is the Baja Nomads:<br><br>http://forums.bajanomad.com/index.php<br><br>They are a hard core lot and since you said you have tough skin you will do fine. Tons of great current info from people who actually live there, so you won't get the standard "fear of Mexico and Mexican" B.S. you often get from people who don't go there and have never been.<br><br>They pull no punches and call a spade a spade and the fact that many of them are sitting around drinking cases of Corona, it doesn't help the conversation sometimes....you can pick up on that quick though and pass for the folks that are lucid...LOL<br><br>A Vandweller guy...Cisco...spends every winter in Baja or in Mexico somewhere, living in his van and always has a lot to say when he is around. I forget if he is on this group or not. Maybe just Vandwellers Yahoo forum. He is still down there but should be back in southern CA where he summers soon.<br><br>I will talk to you this summer when we meet up about it. <br><br>Bri<br>
dragonflyinthesky
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I'm up for it as long as I can avoid noxious drunks, not that I don't have a drink now and again myself. I have a house that SHOULD close in Sept of 2013, its on land contract now. I am trying to get everything prepaid and off my plate before I take off.<br>Thanks for the invite. Can't commit yet though.<br><FONT color=#00ffff size=3><b>Dragonfly</b></FONT><br>
Thanks Bri for the info, i will spend a lot of time lurking before I speak... Do you know the price of gas in Mexico and is it constantly changing like here in the states...<br><br>I am still in the early stages of planning and will position my self closer in the SW to make the trip a little less costly...<br><br>Dragonfly, there really is no way I can say what type of people are down there, but Bri has a good feel for them, take that for face value... As for me i enjoy a cold beer or brandy, but going through life tanked is not my idea of fun...<br>
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Steve and Dragonfly, Since oil in Mexico is nationalized the fuel is the exact same price in every single Pemex gas station in Mexico. It has customarily been cheaper than it is in the US. Here is a chart to keep current on price of fuel...<br> <br> http://www.mexicomike.com/database/runner/public/mx_fuel_prices_list.php<br> <br> It does change but I can't tell you how much or when...this chart should tell you and remember to convert the currency, I think they have that on the chart too....<br> <br> Dragonfly, It totally depends on you and where you want to be and who you choose to hang with. I haven't had a drink of beverage alcohol or a drug in over 30 years and I have no problems about going about a sober life in Mexico. In fact Mexico has many, many AA meetings that I can attend in every single tiny town. Mexico Mike is recovering and his site has a current list of English speaking AA all over Mexico.<br> <br> Remember it is a huge country and even Baja is two states. Norte and Sur.<br> I like Mexico. Absolutely everything about it...but I really like the quiet beaches on Baja and the little towns. On the trip I made this winter I went down to San Felipe to start out and stayed a couple days and then drove across Mex. Hwy 3 to Ensenado and during the next 3 or 4 days drove down to Mulege and Bahia Concepcion and camped for about a week on Playa Coyote...I was essentially alone except when I wanted company. Every morning a couple that was camped a hundred feet or so away had a campfire and morning coffee and great B.S. session. Every evening someone way down the beach had a happy hour...I didn't go to that as you can imagine.<br> <br> At the risk of being controversial I will say that I NEVER meet conservatives when I travel to Mexico...they just aren't there. So you find progressive, or liberal thinking folks who are interested in the locals and many of who have good friends amongst them. Most are Canadian since we here are more subject to all the US media fear mongering and the Canadians just laugh at it all and are grateful to have nice empty beaches. <br> <br> While parked on Bahia Concepcion on the beach, wherever you are, there will soon be a Mexican local come by and ask you if you want to go fishing or if you want to buy blankets, etc. Then along will come one...at least one.... who has a pickup bed full of everything from water to eggs, to produce of all kinds, pastries, fresh seafood, and if you ask, beer, sodas, whatever you want. You literally never have to leave the beach! If you want to stay in touch with folks you can drive up to one of the cafe's that have internet access....<br> <br> What isn't paradise about that????? Plus you are on the nicest beach and water in North America....yahoo, let's go!<br> Bri<br><br>These are pix from that trip and the lady looking at petroglyphs was a very nice doctor who is now traveling in New Zealand on bicycles with her husband and planning on working for a couple months with the indigenous Maori people there.<br><br>The beach I am parked on there cost $7 a nite but after I paid for two nights, I never saw the guy again so it didn't cost anything for the next few nights...funny...<br><br>
Oh my God, this looks amazing. Who knows where I'll be in 2014 but I might try to get to Mexico sooner than I thought. I always figured that would have to be a completely different research path, trying to go down there, but sounds like you guys cross the border a lot.
yup this is what i seek... maybe a good meal at night, brandy on the beach and a cool wind to sleep to... I feel this draw very strongly and maybe as a group we can explore what is known to many as paradise... Either way i am planning to get my ass in the sand come 2014, cold beer or not...<br><br>winter Baja, summer Colorado... perfection...<br>
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<br> <br>Well there you go, I'm giving bad info like the "media"<img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/redface.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"> <br><br>Sorry Owl and more power to you. Glad to hear you travel and I only wish more folks would, it certainly has a way of broadening ones outlook on the world.<br> <br>Bri<br><br>
cargovanconversion
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<p>I went there a couple of times with my travel trailer about 20 years ago. Great place and even better people.</p><p>Wonder how crime has or has not changed that.</p><p>Van.</p>
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<br><br>Hi Van,<br>I can give you my view and I have been going there for about 20 years.<br>As you know, everything changes...that is the state of the universe...change. The things that strike me the most is that there are far fewer tourists than ever before in my experience. Lots of reasons US citizens don't go I'm sure, not the least being the news and bad press as well as the reality of the drug violence.<br><br>One result of that is people there are turning to other things than tourism to make a living. That translates in fewer campgrounds and RV parks whether they are just closed or they build in the area that was a campground as in Oaxaca where there is no campground these days. Also fewer tourist things like handicraft shops and bars, restaurants, etc. <br><br>The Baja peninsula seems to be doing ok in many respects and there is the appearance of little change but if you look deeper you see it.<br><br>There seems to me to be a larger middle class in at least mainland Mexico and I am told that is due to Nafta and the drug trade. The maquilladores (sp) have generated work although it is low pay and grueling work and there are many disadvantages to them, they do employ people and that means more money floating around.<br><br>I think there is a great deal of spin-off to the drug trade besides the violence and the main one is money. The more we stay away from Mexico, the more young men will rely on the drug cartels for employment and the more our appetite increases for drugs, the more there will be coming through Mexico. A consequence of course is the drug killings but at the same time much of that money filters out into the local economies. That is good for those far enough away from the source but still being affected by the wealth.<br><br>If you stay away from the places that are well publicized as dangerous, you will likely have nothing affect you. I have never in 20 years of Latin America travel, had a bad experience. <br><br>Another thing I have noticed is that prices for anything that is tourist related are continually keeping pace with the US. If you go there to live like the locals, you can live for dirt cheap. If you shop at Walmart, Sam's Club or Costco or Home Depot (which are all more expensive there than here) you will spend a lot. <br><br>If you need hookups for a motorhome, etc. you will pay a lot, if you can camp on the beach and be self contained or at least be ok with an outhouse, it will be cheap. <br><br>There are still a lot of places to camp for little or nothing but crime is in fact increasing, nothing like here yet, but still increasing...they will run off with your ATV if you leave it out tempting fate...That makes me less likely to just boondock by myself...except maybe certain areas of Baja. If I can't find a campground I usually opt for parking in an all night Pemex station.<br><br>Unfortunately a lot of tourists, both Canadian and US, go there with rigs that are worth the yearly income of some of the little towns they pass through. You decide how that must make a dirt poor campesino feel...Oddly enough there is still less crime overall than here but I wonder what they must think....<br><br>Just by the simple fact that we have the money to be able to take a half a year and go there or travel around there makes us MUCH more wealthy than the average middle class Mexican, so I think it is no surprise that they look at us as meal tickets.<br><br>If you are sensible, pay attention to those that go or have been recently, ignore anything that is said second hand or from someone who does not go, you will have a great time.<br><br>The more money you can take and spread around...(I am pretty poor but I don't shirk at a reasonable charge and I don't try to beat them out of anything) the less reason a Mexican national will have to come to the land of milk and honey to support his or her family. That actually saves lives and is positive all the way around.<br>Cheers,<br>Bri<br><br>P.S. Van I love your work, you are a fine craftsman....<br><br>.<br>
Wow you said a mouthful... So for instance where to buy food ect and clean 'filtered"water... How about ice for those of us without a Dometic... How easy is it to get cash out of my bank and get it put into pesos... How about if i know no Spanish, problems... What about hi-way information signs, are they easy to interpret... What is the closest good site on the beach, to stay for an extended stay... How hot does it get in the winter, or is cold a problem also...<br><br>i know allot of questions, but they all need answers before i get serious about planning...<br><br>thanks, Steve<br>
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Steve, it is not much different than here for all the things you are wondering about...especially Baja...it is like an extension of California with less people. It is totally set up for tourists. There are markets, agua purificada storefronts to fill your jugs...<br><br>I would say to start reading and researching the internet for the things you want to know. There are some great internet resources for Mexico....I like the book "People's Guide to Camping and RVing in Mexico by Carl Franz...excellent read. Also the essential book Mexican Camping by Mike and Terri Church. I would not travel in Mexico without the Church's book. It is the most current and their website:<br>http://www.rollinghomes.com/<br>Has a section for people to update as you find out stuff.<br>Remember that Baja is the playground for anyone with an offroad vehicle or boat in CA so you need to go south to find a good place with less people.<br>Shoot for the Bahia Concepcion area south of Mulege...it is absolutely stunning.<br><br>Good luck and if I can make it to your campsite this summer, we can talk more.<br><br>You can't get all your questions answered to the point you are going to feel confident...you just have to go. You will learn as you go, even some Spanish...that is what is spoken and even though there is a lot of English spoken...it is a Spanish speaking country and you should learn enough to get what you need.<br><br>If you have never driven to and camped in Mexico, I will guarantee it will change your life...<br><br>If you are prone to have guns in your rig in the US, be ABSOLUTELY sure there is no remnants of anything related in your rig when you go...if they should look and find an empty brass or a holster....or anything....gun cleaning kit, etc. you will be in for a vacation drama you don't want. 99% of the time they will not do any more than a quick look through your rig at some of the federale and military stops but do not take any chances...as you can imagine they are really sensitive about it....although there is a lot of gun violence there these days with the narcotraficantes...guns are not commonly carried around. It is nothing like states where so many people carry guns and as a tourist you are not allowed a gun, period.<br><br>There are ATM machines and banks in nearly every little town and they give peso on your debit card...that is the best way to go....I always try to have some pesos with me for the first couple of days...(you can buy them in some US border towns) and then just use an ATM....you will also get the current rate of exchange.<br><br>Temperature in the winter can be pretty cold down as far as Loreto or Mulege...hot in the summer....<br><br>People swim in the SOC in Concepcion Bay usually but it is too cold for my liking...I am not much of a swimmer and definitely don't like cool water...<br><br>Bri<br> <br>
