That's My Story

NOTHING TO DO? – Published March 05 – Western Outdoor News

I’m not often at a loss for words, but I got a phone call just this week from a gent that wanted to bring his family of 10 down to Baja. It went something like this:

Him: I wanna bring my family down to Baja. We don’t want to go to Cabo, but we’re looking for something around the East Cape, La Paz, or Loreto.

Me: That’s great!

Him: A couple of us wanna do some fishing so can you help us out and hook us up?

Me: I’m sure we can or I can at least point you in the right direction!

Him: We’re looking at being there a week or 10 days and don’t want to fish every single day and some don’t want to fish at all so what’s there to do?

Me: Well, that’s no problem. There’s SCUBA and snorkeling and hiking and kayaking and…

Him: (cutting me off) But what if we don’t want to do anything around the water? What if the ladies want to go shopping and stuff?

Me: Well, the East Cape and La Paz and Loreto aren’t exactly great spots for shopping. Maybe you should go to Cabo instead or San Jose del…

Him: (cutting me off again) We’ve been there and want to try something new. There’s too many people at those places and it’s too touristy.

Me: (Now getting a little perplexed) Well, sir, other than say…hanging out at the pool or beach or participating in something around water, or heading out into the desert, there’s not much else.

Him: (getting a little testy) What do you mean there’s nothing else? Aren’t there some museums or aquariums or places like that?

Me: Not anything you can’t walk through in just a few minutes. It’s just not like that in…

Him: (really getting a bit demanding) So, what are my family going to do then?
And this is when I was finally at a loss for words. I had to pause because I didn’t see how this was going anywhere. No fishing. No SCUBA. No kayaking. No shopping.

Me: I guess there’s NOTHING for them to do.

Him: What do you mean, “Nothing?”

Me: Just that, Sir. Nothing except maybe hang on the beach with a good book. Watch the waves. Have some conversation with family. There is absolutely NOTHING for your family to do!

Him: I’ll get back to you. (hang up…dial tone….)

It was such an unusual phone conversation, I put the phone back on the receiver and pushed my chair back from my desk. I had never told a potential client there was “nothing” do to.

You know Jimmy Buffet has a song title that I’ve always loved, “If The Phone Doesn’t Ring It’s Me.” What’s so wrong about nothing? To me, that’s an incredible word. No phones except a shell you hold up to your ear? No freeway except the congestion at the bait receiver in the morning? No TV except the panaroma of the ocean passing in front of you as you stick your toes into warm sand? No boss except the little guy in your head that tells you it’s time for another frosty one? No agenda or schedule except knowing that the sun is either up or down? I thought folks came to Baja to get AWAY from “SOMETHING” to hopefully find a little “NOTHING.” It’s one little changing corner of the planet where there are still places where you can find absolutely nothing and revel in it. What’s so incredibly bad about a good book on the beach or some good and real conversation and laughs with family or friends? Nothing to do but watch waves crest and fall and swirl up to your ankles? Can I have a second scoop of nothing?

Baja is changing rapidly from a place of nothing to a place where everyone can find something to do. Baja is trying to be “something” on the map of tourism, economics and development. I can only sigh and remember when so much of it was a place where there was nothing to do. Not a condo in sight. Not a jet ski to be found. The dirt road led into a wash. There was always sand in your shorts and and a ride on the local bus might mean you shared the seat with a chicken and a guy who smelled like one and you both laughed all the way into town and he invited you for dinner in a house with a dirt floor…but it was the cleanest dirt floor you ever saw. And the days…yes, the days. They lasted 36 hours long and there was nothing to do. You know what? It was impossible to be bored. There are still so many places on the Baja that are still to be discovered. Places where there is nothing. Hopefully, at sometime before it’s too late, you’ll find one of those places and therein maybe find a little “something” inside yourself that you might have lost long ago. One E-ticket to nothing, por favor!

That’s my story…
Jonathan