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After reading several threads of different boards I have to ask. Why Baja? I understand many people head south across the boarder due to a lower cost of living. I know of people retiring to South America to get a better bang for their retirement dollars. I researched it a little and crossing the border is a bit of a pain but doable. I see adds for caravan tours of Mexico and that campgrounds change from year to year. The peninsula of Baja looks to be pretty but I can think of many areas of the US that appear similar. There also seems to be a debate about personal safety but Baja rates well in that regard.

Then again, I'm not sure I would be interested in sitting in the desert at Quart Site either. I've been to the desert and I can see spending a couple of days but not sitting there all winter. Don't get me wrong I'm not a fan of snow/cold and have looked at moving south but now is not the right time.

Is it just somewhere to go to avoid winter? Is it economics? A combination?

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This is my personal reply only.
Different people will obviously have different reasons.

1) Winter escape
2) I will be traveling with people I like (some of them, anyway. Oh, wait - Vickie's not going)
3) Never been there
4) I HATE crowds (kinda goes along with the noise thing)
5) Have always loved adventure (George and I did that well together)
6) I will continue to learn from my more experienced travel partners

ON EDIT: OMGosh - I can't forget REASON #1 - Finding My Pedro!
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#5....it's a new adventure!

#6 Beaches we don't have to kayak with the dolphins.
#7 it's warmer than anywhere in the U.S. except maybe Death Valley most winters.

It's not all desert. And I'll definitely reiterate the less crowded.

and me....

....They don't let dogs on many beaches in FL.
....I visited Key West for a week last winter, enjoyed it and know how much it costs....
....I love being around water....I love being on and or in the water....
....I expect that money will go a lot farther by boondocking.
....I have spent a couple of winters in FL now but have never been to the Southwest.
....I know some wonderful folks that are planning to go to Baha and admit to myself that if I don't go with this group of crazy ladies it is possible that I would never venture there totally on my own. (Though apparently I will go play cowgirl by myself! )
....Travel in the USA is beautiful and I don't think that anyone can run out of wonderful places to visit and see but I am also ready to visit other countries and cultures. Part of Judy's quote by Mark Twain....to broaden one's perspective. The world is such a big place and our experiences of economics, religion and culture in the USA are only one tiny piece/ glimpse of a much larger fabric...

Fish tacos, tequila, swarthy men, joyful music, colorful clothing, whales.

Thanks for all the replies. It all sounds good except for the fish tacos. I like fish and I like tacos, but fish tacos just don' sound good. But, I am willing to try one before I make my final ruling.

It's odd that I enjoyed my trips to Europe and Canada but going to Mexico makes me hesitate.

and I am just priming for Europe and other far away places!

Melissa, I'm with ya on the fish taco thing, I like fish and I love tacos but somehow the two words put together just don't seem right. I do
however plan to taste one sometime in the near future, can't be any worse than the turkey tacos my daughter fed me at baby Jacks birthday party. (guess I really am a beef person)

MelissaD wrote:Thanks for all the replies. It all sounds good except for the fish tacos. I like fish and I like tacos, but fish tacos just don' sound good. But, I am willing to try one before I make my final ruling.

It's odd that I enjoyed my trips to Europe and Canada but going to Mexico makes me hesitate.

Some fish tacos are downright awful. Other fish tacos are absolutely amazing. My current favorite is grilled firm white fish with poblano sauce, cabbage and a bit of chimi churi. I could eat it all day long. My previous favorite, the place went out of business because the guy was under capitalized for a small restaurant, was deep fried white fish, a sweet creamy salsa of some kind, cabbage and cilantro. It was sweet and spicy and about a gazillion calories. I ate the very best fish tacos of my life in Baja a long long time ago. They might have been the best because they were the first and food is about my favorite thing in the world. How can anybody have so much to say about fish tacos?

I don't think it's odd that the idea of traveling in Europe or Canada is easier for you than Mexico. Even though Mexico shares a border with the U.S., it's very foreign compared to Canada or even Europe. And it's a lot more foreign now than it used to be. Poverty and crime and drugs and political corruption and American television have a way of changing a place. Living in Texas, near San Antonio, which is as much Mexico as the U.S. in many ways, has given me a whole new sense of our southern neighbors and their home. Such a beautiful country and people, but not what it was even twenty years ago. But people travel in all kinds of ways for all kinds of reasons, wanting very different experiences. If I could turn the clock back to about the 80s, I'd enjoy traveling the way I used to, Mexico included. But not these days.

I use to run loads to Laredo were we'd swap trailers with the MX drivers. Enjoyed the food at the border but never crossed. You always had to be very careful inspecting a trailer returning from MX cause they'd steal everything they could off of the trailer itself. I'd swear it would go in new and come out with bald tires, lights missing etc. Any new part they could swap out for an old one they would. The MX drivers would drive through the median and their trucks always looked like they would fall a part. I'm sure that taints much of my opinion about heading south of the boarder.

Laredo is probably one of the worst border towns- and one I'd never cross at. It's bad on BOTH sides of the border, not something to blame MX for.

Have you ever lived with farmers or in farm country? OMG, my cousin visited us in Chicago and crossed medians and went over high lane dividers - because he was used to driving anything they had in the fields. Not much difference.

All this said - you are probably safer in MX than in almost all our big cities, and many of our smaller ones. Not going to harp on it ... but unless you've been there and seen it - you really don't know. (Those same vehicles getting trashed in Laredo - go to the south side of Chicago and park for an hour - you'll most likely come away without tires, etc etc ... same for many other areas. My ex had to pay locals to watch his truck - in the 70's, 80's and 90's when working in many areas to make sure when he came out it would not only be there, but in the same shape as when he went in - he worked a job that sent him to any part of the city). And for a big city, I love Chicago ... love NY, etc ... but you need to know where you are and be aware of your surroundings. Unfortunately MX has gotten a bad name that, for the most part, it certainly does not deserve. The borders are bad on both sides! where it's bad.

Nikki, blame tv and radio etc - not poverty - we have that here also and in all countries. The poverty isn't the problem. Drugs, yes - here also. In fact, they are providing the drugs to the drug lords HERE - this is where the money comes from.

Since I've had a home in Mexico for years, I guess I'd better throw in my two cents worth. The border area is no-man's-land, its own culture, and like Beth says, that applies on both sides. When I cross, I cross early and drive as far as I can that first day. I spent a few weeks in Ensenada, driving back and forth between Baja and San Diego, and other than the crossing being the busiest one, maybe in the world, I didn't find that same border culture in Baja, other than, I suppose, in Tijuana. But you don't really go near the city, and heading south from the border along the coast, the Baja is one of the most laid back beach areas you'll ever find. I think perhaps that laid-back atmosphere of Baja is why people go. It's legendary. I haven't been there for about 6 years so I'll be waiting to read reports from the Baja Babes.

I wasn't going to put my two cents worth here because it is about Baja - but will any way. We spend three to five months every winter in main land Mexico not Baja. But we go because we love the country and the people. We cross the border at the truck route just west of Nogales. Our first overnight stop is appx 150 miles south of there in Hermosillo. Have never had any problems on the road or with camping or just enjoying the culture. Now days the roads and semis are equal to ones in the US. During the last seven years we've traveled as far south on the west coast as Acapulco and inland through Mexico City, Guadalajara, Querétaro and many many small towns. We spend a lot of time in Mazatlan and the surrounding small towns and have many good friends there.
I feel safer there than I do in Indianapolis, IN. - we live 40 miles south of Indy.

Thanks for the info. I guess I should put Mexico on my list of places to visit and see for myself.

Mark Twain:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”