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rogerj1
Nomad
Posts: 265
Registered: 4-29-2004
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
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Traveling baja alone or with my 10 year old son?
I've come to the realization that my long awaited trip to Baja would go down a lot easier with my wife if I take our 10 year old son with me. He's a
handful. She would like the break. I see two possible outcomes: We have a great time together and form memories for him that will last a lifetime or
he plays his game boy the whole time and let's me know every 10 minutes that he's bored. I could take a portable energy pack that would allow him to
play computer games to his heart's content on the long stretches of highway at the risk of him missing out on some fantastic scenery. Anyone else had
to make this decision?
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Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
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Yes...
Either way, take the boy.
We always took the game boys and then sooner or later the kids would find other things that interested them. Over major extended vacations they found
books we had brought and toy trucks that we picked up along the way, and would go "sploring" on the beach and swim all day long. Their worlds changed
and we grew with them and became closer.
And even if your son doesn't, at least he won't blame you for ruining his vacation. While I hate the concept of letting my kids, back then, close
their eyes to difference, they opened up and now love Baja.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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how right you are Mike...
We also have many entertainment options but the kids always find a fun thing to do. Water is such a calmative for children. It wears them out so the
angels sleep all night long...... Take the boy, mom will be happy too.
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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greybaby
Nomad
Posts: 182
Registered: 10-8-2004
Location: Idaho - formerly Cantu
Member Is Offline
Mood: Missing Baja
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The first time we came down here we "forced" our then 12-year-old to come with us. He really thought it was a dumb idea. Through the course of the
trip and many experiences along the way, he fell in love with the people, the culture, began learning Spanish and says today - at the age of almost 24
- it changed him forever. As a soldier in Iraq a little over a year ago, serving in Baghdad, one night their base was bombed and he came very close
to being hit. He said he went outside under the stars and was just so thankful for having had the experience of being in Mexico at such a young age
so he could really see what was important in life - and how much it helped him while at war. Surprised us to hear this from him as we hadn't realized
that it had that kind of an impact. Yes, take him along. You'll never regret it - nor will he.
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Bringing your son along is the best thing you can do. I have a 9 year old that I have been taking to Baja since he was five year old. The bonding that
we have achieved during these trips, I believe, could not have been accomplished in any other way. It's not just the memories that he and you will
have. Through these trips you develop a relationship that isn't just parent-child. Those usually end as he enters adulthood and leaves home. You
develop something more like a best friend or partner. Someone you want to share in your adventures.
As far as bringing car toys to make him more manageable my feeling is as follows. If the drive is boring he has every right to be bored and no car
toys are going to make him like baja more.
I treat my baja trips as discovery and educational outings for him where he explores a new world. I never make trips for less than a month and I drive
slowly and have a very vague schedule. We stop frequently and explore anything that piques our interest during the drive, whether it's for hunting for
lizards with a noose, or climbing the boulders at Catavina, or hiking up some dry arroyo with binoculars and a bird guide, or examining the salt flats
near Guerrero Negro to see and taste the crystals. It's just endless. You just need time. Don't follow a regimented schedule. Just react to what you
encounter and your son's natural curiosity will take over. You will, of course, have to participate.
I read reports of trips where a journey is made to Mulege in a single drive and I am amazed. What a waste! These people are missing so much. I have
also flown to various airports on the peninsula on commercial airlines to stay at some resort and those kind of vacations are also much inferior to a
slow journey down that long highway.
I used to keep a travel diary of my trips but now I just construct a webpage which keeps the trips fresh in my mind. Here is my first trip with Alex
to when he was just 5 years old.
http://www.peninsulaflyfishers.org/Fishing_Tales/bajaAlexDoncov/baja_with_alex_1.html
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lewm
Junior Nomad
Posts: 50
Registered: 11-9-2003
Location: Montana
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son
Don't forget the fishing pole. I'll never forget my son's first encounter with a yellowtail at the Bay of LA.
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yankeeirishman
Banned
Posts: 1070
Registered: 3-5-2004
Location: Kalifornia
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make him eat a fish taco!
?Every 10 minutes that he's bored?. Hey?are you talking about my 10-year-old son? On the boredom of the road ?.I allow my kids (son and grandkids) to
play their hand held gamers while I am driving the city highways. Taking Route 5 or 99 as such?really is a drag to them, and to me! I pack the kids
goodies in an icebox, good books, and the gamers. Only when we reach the ?scenes? of the road, do the books and games get put away.
Yes?do indeed take the boy! You may want to ask him if he has a friend (or cousin) he would like to take along. It is always a little easy to have a
friend the child, they self entertain themselfs most of the time.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64857
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Your son is part of you... He will be the best reason for going to Baja... camping, fishing, etc.
Here is my son (he's now 16) on his first trip to Baja... to Nuevo Mazatlan.
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
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Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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the trick about children on vacation is to plan to do some things they want also not just what you want . when we travel with our kids we do some
thing that they want every day and then they don't complain so mush when we do something that doesn't interest them. also don't try to make it an
educational experience they will bolt every time the education will come naturally. buy a Pizza or hamburger every once in a while. give them some
pesos to budget through the vacation. lots of hiking and camping is good also for boys and shopping for girls.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64857
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Here he is at 13 1/2 at the onyx springs west of Gonzaga Bay...
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bajalera
Super Nomad
Posts: 1875
Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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By all means bring him along. And if you don't already have one, you might consider getting a copy of Greg Niemann's book Baja Legends, which includes
a great assortment of Baja lore--some of it way cool--that you could pass along to him. [Alibris.com currently has a copy at less than $10.]
The more you know about the peninsula, the more likely he'll be to find it interesting.
Lera
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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The Sculpin
Nomad
Posts: 401
Registered: 9-3-2002
Location: Back in the Saddle
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Mood: Riding into the Sunset, looking for a sunrise.
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My gawd....this shouldn't even be a decision point! As you can see from the responses, this is a no brainer. Just make sure you get the notarized
consent form your wife to take him into another country.
We took our kids down at a very early age, and it was priceless. One Xmas, we were camping at Santispac, and my 3 year old was wading in the shallows.
The water was very clear, and he was enjoying chasing all the tiny bait fish. He left his bucket in about 6 inches of water and waded off. Several
minutes later, he returned to get the bucket, and started screaming about a "horrible, terrible thing" in his bucket!!! While he was gone, a baby
octopus had crawled in. To this day, we still laugh about that one!
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El Jefe
Super Nomad
Posts: 1027
Registered: 10-27-2003
Location: South East Cape
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Our children's fondest memories of their youth are our family trips to Baja. We made the trip every spring all the way to the tip, as well as several
trips to closer spots during the rest of the year. I'm not a big fan of gameboys or videos since these tend to isolate the kids from their parent(s)
or the environment swinging by the window.
Some of the things we did to keep us all from going crazy were: Talk - you don't get enough of this in our busy day-to-day lives. Talk about what you
see on the road. Talk about what is going on in your lives. When you are almost forced to talk to your kids, amazing things come to light.
A favorite time passer of the boys was to pick up a bowl of pebbles at the side of the road and use them for ammo for pelting road signs. They would
sit shotgun and gently lob the pebble out the passenger side window when a sign came up, timing the lob to plink the sign. We had a whole scoring
system set up based on the type of sign. Careful...not allowed with on-coming traffic!
When they were 12-13 we would listen to books on tape. They will never forget listening to "Captain Blood" on a road trip to Puerto Villarta and
beyond. I would stop the tape now and then to help them understand what was going on, but they got the gist of it and enjoyed it greatly.
My boys were a handfull at around 10 years old too. And we did several father-son trips to far off surf spots without Mom and little sister. These
were exceptional bonding times for us, but a lot of work for dad. Looking back, sometimes I don't know where I got the energy to pull it off. Yet we
made memories that will last forever. Don't go without him.
[Edited on 4-20-2005 by El Jefe]
No b-tchin\' in the Baja.
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3824
Registered: 2-9-2004
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Kids need to be involved and doing something so they're not just an observer. Get him a cheap camera so he can take his own photos; let him read the
map and calculate times/distances for you; have him decide when and what you're having for lunch and have him prepare it; he can make the campfires;
cook the hot dogs, marshmellows; take some small gift items to be donated and let him do the giving; take a simple phrase book and let him practice
words with you in the car and encourage him to speak Spanish words; fishing, hiking, snorkeling; identifying rocks, flowers, cacti, lizards (bring the
ID books); visit small museums. He can go into small tiendas and buy sodas and chips himself with pesos. Of course take the comic books, game boys,
etc., but keeping him involved in what's going on would be far stimulating.
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El Camote
Senior Nomad
Posts: 514
Registered: 9-7-2003
Location: Above the clouds
Member Is Offline
Mood: y Blues
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Golden
This advice from you older parents is golden! Keep it coming. We've got another 8 1/2 years until we have a 10 year old but I'm soaking up these
words of wisdom and experience like a parched desert traveler!
Just a thought on the gameboy: Don't bring along any more power for it than a fresh set of installed batteries. That way he's not being denied use
but will realize he has to budget the time he plays with it if the batts are going to last the trip.
My best memories with my old man involved camping/road trips and bet most others would agree. 
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DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
Member Is Offline
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Amen to all of that
Best thing my dad ever did for me was take me down to Baja for a couple of weeks, when I was nine years old. My two boys (seven and nine now) have
been going to Baja since they were infants, and they love it. Sculpin is right -- take your son, for sure, but don't forget the notarized consent. I
was asked to provide it the last time I got FMTs for my two boys in Ensenada when my wife had to stay home.
The long drives can be a drag, but books on tape are great, and we got a cheap VCR/TV-in-a-bag to play videos in the back seat. Mad libs books are
also good, although my guys have a tendency to favor one or two words I'd rather they not say at all, let alone dozens of times (but at least they
know how to spell, eh?).
As for Gameboys, my younger son broke his, so they have to share one, and the rule is that it can only be played when we're on the road, or after the
sun goes down. If it's light out, they have to be outside. Once they get over it, they end up occupying themselves with practically anything (some
ground rules are good here, like "never put your hand anywhere you can't see it" or "aim the slingshots away from the house and each other, please" or
"try to stay on the paths through the brush where the snakes are easier to spot").
I also recommend involving them in the work you're doing, especially anything involving power tools or anything physically exerting that'll wear 'em
out. Last time down it was hauling and stacking the firewood that I cut and split, and digging up, hauling and spreading dirt that slid near the
house because of heavy rains.
The sun goes down, we have dinner, and then we sit by the fire and read books to each other or make up silly stories for shadow plays or do puzzles or
play games ("ef" is not a word in Scrabble, by the way, no matter what the seven year old says). If you're looking for the whole point of existing,
those moments may very well be the answer.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64857
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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You know what my parents gave me to do on our drive to the tip, in 1966? Reading from the Lower California Guidebook about the road ahead and what
interesting sites can be found... Look at what that did to me: I got into drawing maps of the places in Baja we went, I documented the roads we
traveled with milages, etc., I learned to drive on the dirt roads and beaches south of San Felipe, I wrote and self published my first guide at age
15...
Anyway, how bad is it to catch Baja Fever as a child?
Here are my two in our 4WD on the beach at Bahia Santa Maria, about 1992...
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: In love!
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This is one of the best topics and posts I have seen in a long time! And my "kid" is in her mid forties!
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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PacO
Nomad
Posts: 173
Registered: 1-19-2005
Location: waiting for the sun
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If you don't you will both lose.
My older kids( now 19 and 16) have been going since I started camping down south in 1991-2 and my new twins have gone twice in utero and twice between
8 and 10 months old. Those times are like gold nuggets in my memory.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64857
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Yes, kids and Baja just go together! It will be great!
Hey, that's me (8 1/2) catching my first dorado in 1966... You can see Cabo San Lucas in the distance... We drove there in our Jeep, took 2
weeks...
[Edited on 4-21-2005 by David K]
[Edited on 4-21-2005 by David K]
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