“The new girl already quit,” said my girlfriend as she climbed into my car after work. “She only lasted two weeks and said she couldn’t handle it anymore. Nothing against me, she said the workplace …
June 19, 2024
Mexico
Tijuana call centers staffed heavily by deportees
Pick-up boxing in downtown Tijuana park a little bloody
“Come to my fight, this Sunday at five,” said ‘Tito.’ “Bring your camera, or at least film me with my phone.” I met Tito last summer when he was searching for a kickboxing partner. “I’m looking …
June 3, 2024
Tips for staying safe when camping in Baja
Given the recent tragic event south of Ensenada at a popular surf spot near Puerto Santo Tomas, there has been quite a bit of rhetoric flying in the press and on social media about camping …
May 29, 2024
The fakeness of San Diego as world design capital
You may not know it, but we’re smack in the middle of a cross-border celebration: San Diego and Tijuana were jointly awarded the title of World Design Capital 2024. Both cities are celebrating the power …
May 15, 2024
CDC puts up border wall against dogs traveling north
Due to Mexico’s sweeping rabies campaign and free vaccination program, they have been officially rabies-free since 2019, and the last two cases of dog-to-human transfer occurred in 2006.I have travelled across the border dozens of …
May 13, 2024
Gringos who drive to Zona Rio for mental help
“Everyone’s crazy everywhere,” quips psychologist Livier Celaya as she sits her office in the Zona Rio quarter of Tijuana. “It doesn’t matter what side of the border you’re on.”Photograph by Matthew SuárezI’m in Tijuana to …
April 24, 2024
Design guru Don Norman’s big plans for San Diego
These look like glory days for design in San Diego. Not only has the San Diego-Tijuana twin-city region been named the Design Capital of the World for 2024 — the first binational conurbation ever to …
April 24, 2024
Narco wars spill more blood in Tijuana
“Lo más seguro mataron a alguien” ("probably someone got shot"), I exclaimed to my girlfriend as I was driving down Calle Cuarta (4th Street) in downtown Tijuana on the afternoon of February 15. Yellow tape …
April 8, 2024
Mexican border area after the flood – dead sea lion, birds, flooded horse stables, emerging rattlesnakes
On March 19, Cristbel Adams was shaken to see a sea lion lying motionless in the sand by the Imperial Beach Pier. Since the December and January countywide floods, animals near the Tijuana River Valley …
March 20, 2024
New to Chula Vista, Las Ahumaderas invokes classic Tijuana street tacos
Video:New to Chula Vista, Las Ahumaderas invokes classic Tijuana street tacosI used to be one of those mythical San Diego taco fiends who could jump in the car to chase a craving, and wind up …
February 6, 2024
Reader writer explains how he broke out of TJ's La Mesa prison
A powerful blow to the side of my head sent me sprawling on the sidewalk. Then a strong hand seized the back of my pants and lifted me up from the sidewalk. About that time, …
January 31, 2024
WhatsApp date turns into smuggling two guys in her trunk
On the night of November 17, San Diegan Esmeralda Rocha (not her real name) was crossing the border back to her home from Tijuana as she regularly does every weekend, when in San Ysidro's International …
January 30, 2024
New Zealanders in Tijuana for gastric sleeve
The message arrived via my Tijuana Adventure Instagram on a Friday afternoon: “Any chance of a tour tomorrow?” A bit short notice, but I was free and quoted the fellow my price, which proved acceptable.“I’m …
January 3, 2024
Best way to fight San Diego steep cost of living?
As the holidays near, San Diegans feel the financial crunch more than ever — some are part of a 1.6 million group moving across the border, and others are also part of a growing mobile …
November 27, 2023
The beer scene in Mexico City is tiny compared to Baja’s
A flight to Mexico City from Tijuana can be cheap. I found a round flight for $12 through the Volaris website. With airport fees included, the total cost was $72. No bags were needed, I …
October 31, 2023