Two Locals, One Love for Baja

I moved to San Diego in 2003 and discovered that living 20 minutes from the Mexican border changes your entire perspective on travel. My first trip to Tijuana was for tacos — and honestly, that's still the main reason I cross. But over the years it expanded: weekend wine trips to Valle de Guadalupe, surf sessions at K38, lobster in Puerto Nuevo, camping in the desert outside San Felipe.

I got my SENTRI card early on and it changed everything — 100+ border crossings and counting. I've watched TJ's food scene explode from street tacos to world-class restaurants. I've driven the entire Baja peninsula twice. I've learned which lanes to use at San Ysidro, which hours to avoid at Otay Mesa, and exactly how long the CBX pedestrian bridge takes on a Sunday evening.

I'm not a travel blogger. I work in healthcare IT. But Baja keeps pulling me back, and I finally decided to put everything I've learned into something useful — a site with real local knowledge, honest prices, route planning from San Diego, and an AI trip planner that builds itineraries from our combined experience. It's the resource I wished existed when I first crossed that border.

Growing up, food was always the center of everything. Family gatherings, celebrations, road trips — it always came back to what we were eating and where. That's why Baja felt like home the first time I crossed the border. The food culture is real, it's personal, and it's everywhere.

I've eaten at every taco stand worth visiting in Tijuana — from the birria spots in Colonia Cacho to the fish tacos at the Ensenada fish market. I know which Valle de Guadalupe wineries have the best food pairings and which ones are overrated tourist traps. I've spent weekends at Finca Altozano, browsed the Mercado Hidalgo for produce, and I know exactly where to get the best lobster in Puerto Nuevo without overpaying.

The food in Baja isn't just good — it's a bridge between cultures. Mexican-Mediterranean fusion in the wine country, Japanese-Mexican fusion in Ensenada, street food that rivals anything in Mexico City. When Scott plans the logistics and the routes, I plan where we eat. Scott has the route planning obsession and the technical skills. I have the palate and the local knowledge. When Scott finds a "hidden gem" on a food blog, I usually already know the better version around the corner. Together, we want you to experience Baja the way we do — not the tourist version, but the real one.