Slow Baja

When Jonathan Roldan was departing for a year-long job at a remote hotel on the East Cape of Baja, he needed a break. He had already had multiple careers as a fishing guide, deckhand, chef, broadcast journalist, 900-number entrepreneur, and, most recently, an attorney. A year in Baja would be a nice break from his stress-filled life as a courtroom litigator. After he got fired from that hotel job,...

In this Father's Day Edition of Slow Baja, we talk to fifteen-year-old off-road racer Jax Redline. At two-years-old, he started riding a Yamaha PW50 dirt bike with training wheels. He was so fast, his father had to tie a rope to the bike to keep young Jax from racing away. By the time he was in kindergarten, he had competed at national events like the AMA Amateur Motorcross Championship at histori...

David Kier is a humble historian who has been traveling to Baja since the early '60s. With a copy of Gerhard and Gulick's Lower California Guide Book -known as the "Baja Bible," he sat between his parents on the bench seat of the Jeep Wagoneer as their trusted navigator. He read the map, followed the odometer, the "bible," and kept his father abreast of what to expect on the road ahead. On his fir...

Geoff Hill is not your average Insurance agent. Since his first surf trip in 1990, he hasn't been able to escape Baja's pull. After surfing his way to a degree at UCSD, he joined Baja Bound Insurance in 2003. As VP of Business Development, Hill spends his time sponsoring events that bring people to Baja. When our Lucha Libre Racing Team took on the grueling La Carrera Panamericana in 2006 -we reac...

Stephanie Nisan founded The Animal Pad (TAP) in 2010 after adopting a dog that was about to be euthanized. TAP is an all volunteer-run 501c3 non-profit that rescues dogs from the streets of Tijuana and Ensenada. They work through a network of volunteers and shelters in Northern Baja that locate and capture the strays. The dogs are in terrible shape, malnourished, abused, and with life-threatening...

Hayden Roberts and Scott Toepfer race mid-’60s vintage British Dirt Bikes in events like the NORRA Mexican 1000, NORRA Baja 500, and The Mint 400. Roberts, originally from England, is now a fixture in the So Cal Motorcycle scene, crafting and customizing bikes at his shop Hello Engine, in Santa Paula, California. Toepfer, a top lifestyle-photographer with a specialty in motorcycles, met Roberts wh...

Andrew Szabo created the zany Budapest-to-Bamako Rally and the 3000-mile-no-support-Baja XL Rally. In this podcast, we discuss adventure travel, Africa, Baja, off-roading, and how not to get shot when you steal a farmer's tractor to pull your car out of a silt bed! The 2019 Baja XL Rally featured some 300 entrants in 140 vehicles hailing from 30 different countries. In 2017, Szabo created The Baja...

Ruben Valenzuela Hernandez is the owner of the BCB Tasting Room in Tijuana. With 42 beers on tap and another 400 in bottles, BCB is a mecca for craft beer drinkers from both sides of the border.  In this podcast, we discuss the booming craft beer scene in Tijuana, the rise of the Valle de Guadalupe, Bichi Wine, tacos, and Ruben's favorite restaurants. Please note we taped this conversation in...

Recently Slow Baja spent a day exploring Tijuana. We had a great time eating, drinking, and recording. Our first stop was at the charming Casa Cacao for a late breakfast. The artisanal chocolate shop and mole restaurant -located just a few doors off of Ave. Revolution is a tiny slice of Oaxaca. Owners, Rosa, and Jose were eager to share their love and knowledge of cacao and its many healthful prop...

Adalberto Pérez Mellión is an artist and printmaker who operates Taller Pérez Mellión—initially opened as Galleria Pérez Mellión in 1988. In the beginning, he specialized in selling the art and crafts of the Paipai and the Kumeyaay Indian tribes of Northern Baja. He spent years traveling to their remote communities by four-wheel-drive vehicle trading for their handicrafts. After an artist-in-resid...