Giving Up Christmas

I was tired of the stress and costs of preparing for Christmas.  Holiday shopping in chaotic malls for my thirty relatives, plus friends, was getting tiresome.  Figuring out what to bring to the family’s Christmas Eve dinner, attending midnight mass and then coming home to hand out the gifts (which took at least an hour) was getting old to me.  The tradition lost its spark.  Don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with my family during the holidays but to be honest, it was a gathering that wasn’t any more special than our usual gatherings, aside from the holiday lights and songs.  I wondered about whether or not my daughter would remember each year’s unique celebration or expensive gift that she thought she was entitled to just because it was Christmas—probably not.  So, Dakotah and I (of course, I convinced Dakotah it was the right thing to do) decided years ago to forego the traditional Christmas celebrations of tree decorating and gift-giving for creating unforgettable memories, going on adventures during the holiday season.  The first year we invited the family to join us in Lake Tahoe, when only my mom and dad showed up.  We then traveled to Maui… just us again, then Las Vegas.   We got the hint that the family wasn’t interested and understood that it would be difficult for any family to give up such a huge tradition so we stopped asking the family to come along.

Then I met my boyfriend John.  For many years he has migrated South during the relatively cold winters in San Diego to the warm waters and weather of Southern Baja.  Of course, when Dakotah and I was invited to go we jumped on board.  

Fast forward—this is the fifth year that we’ve journeyed through Southern Baja as a family.  This is not a trip for everyone.  To put things in proper perspective, we travel in a Toyota Tundra 4x4 (so necessary) long bed with a camper shell.  It provides our sleeping quarters for all three of us and all the necessities we need for survival off the grid.  (I could go into detail about what we’ve done to upgrade it year to year to make it the bitchin’ rig it is but I’ll save that for another post.)  Every year is a new adventure.  We travel to very remote places that require a 4x4 with good tires.  We’ve camped in places such as Coco’s Corner (route for the Baja 1000), on remote beaches with the best surf, and under big Cardons (huge hundred-years-old cactus).  That’s the best part—we can go wherever we want.  We take our time, taking four to five days down to our final destination of Todos Santos, to stay a week and then head back for the journey home.  We usually bring lots of toys, such as surfboards, SUPs, and dirtbikes.  This year our trip is a little different than our historic search for waves.  This year we brought two Hobie pro-angler kayaks and traversed through mangroves to catch fish as easily as it is walking into a grocery store.  So, this is why we gave up Christmas-- for Southern Baja to build memories that you can’t be put under a Christmas tree.