Like the rest of the world, we spent most of the past year social distancing. For Sona, her life didn’t look much different, as she’s in the medical field and, therefore, work was pretty much business as usual. For me, though, it meant that I went from an uber-social work setting, wherein I am accustomed to interacting with dozens of students and colleagues every week, to the isolation of a laptop, a not-so-comfy-chair, and an empty house.

This is to say, while Sona and I both needed to get away, I really felt like my mental health was hanging on by a thread. So, when my parents offered to watch our kids for a week in March, as they do every year (thank goodness for grandparents, am I right?!), we decided we’d pounce on the opportunity to leave (the house, the city, and the country), and we headed to Baja Sur, Mexico, which was a sleepy enough spot that we felt like, although there were still some risks involved with travel, we’d have a decent shot of a safe and mostly distanced vacay.

Todos Santos, specifically, has been on our radar for a few years. It’s one of those places that very few people knew about a decade ago. However, thanks to social media, it has become one of the “most undiscovered spots in Mexico”–albeit, not for long.

Generally speaking, Sona and I always try to avoid a lot of the Greatest Hits destinations. We often joke that, if you want a good travel experience, you should fly into a really touristy spot, and then drive an hour or two away. That has been our experience all over the world, and we often find a lot of sweet spots by doing just that. This time, that meant flying into Cabo, hopping in a Jeep (Sona’s dream car), and taking Highway 19 about an hour and a half north, past more cacti then you ever thought possible, until you hit Todos Santos.

While Todos Santos checks all of our off-the-beaten-path boxes, it also, ironically, is home to a very hip and chic hotel by The Bunkhouse Group, which really sealed the deal for us. We wanted quiet and an escape from the rowdy crowds that Cabo has in abundance, but we also needed a little pampering. That is, having a boho lux hotel, plopped right into the middle of the otherwise undeveloped desert, was exactly the kind of salve our travel-starved, COVID-weary souls craved. Enter: Hotel San Cristobal.

Located at the end of a questionably dusty road–one enough to make even seasoned travelers a bit squeamish–sits the sort of 70s-inspired, bohemian paradise your Baja dreams are made of. The white stucco hotel, which is the only building on a Pacific bay where we never saw more than a handful of people on the beach at any time, provides a good respite from days spent driving up and down the desert, eating fish tacos, and adventuring around the peninsula.

Because of the pandemic, the hotel was at 20% capacity, which means that, most days, we felt like we had the entire place to ourselves. (The property only has 32 rooms. So, I imagine it still feels small, even at full capacity.)

Each night, while the property was still and the Pacific waves roared, we sat by the fire, drank mezcal cocktails, ordered plate after plate of churros, and watched the stars.

Then, come morning, as we’re always want to do, we would adventure. There’s really so much to see and experience and EAT in the area, if you’re willing to drive a bit.

We spent a good bit of time just wandering around downtown Todos Santos, which, although there are some corners geared toured tourists, still feels mostly authentic and unspoiled, especially if you work to find the local spots.

We visited the many, many art galleries–it’s an artists’ town–and tried every fish tacos the place had to offer. (Go to the blue and orange street stand, across the street from Hotel California, for the best!)

We spent a day at Cerritos Beach, watching the many surfers on the water, and stopped at the Justina Blanket Factory on the way.

We didn’t get to have sunset cocktails at Hacienda Cerritos, but we hear it’s a great spot! We also loved Barracuda Cantina, where we got great shrimp tacos and passionfruit cocktails with our toes in the sand.

We spent a day at sea, swimming with Whale Sharks and sea lions, as the former is what originally piqued our interest in the Baja Peninsula to begin with.

During the excursion, we stopped at Balandra Beach, outside of La Paz, which is surrounded by pink mountains, and widely considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It did not disappoint.

We ate the best carnitas of our lives at Carnitas Machin, a roadside stop in El Pescadora–and area really worthy of exploring and eating your way through.

We found that, after a difficult year wherein we often had to be together, we actually still liked being together. (Something that all long-married couples, but especially those with kids, need help remembering every now and then.)

And we spent night after night, driving across town to a somewhat hidden beach, where we’d heard they sometimes release sea turtle hatchlings. Four nights we went, and four nights we found the makeshift hatchling tent empty.

Then, on our very last night in Todos Santos, just as we were walking back to our car, somewhat defeated, we saw an ATV come rambling up the beach, park at the tent, and a volunteer go inside.

So, we spent our final night watching the sun set and trying to coax turtle hatchlings into the water. Everyone left, even the volunteer, and Sona and I sat alone on the pitch-black beach, watching over the handful of timid hatchlings that were taking their time.

Did I mention that we also saw grey whales spouting from that same beach?

It might have been the fact that we hadn’t truly traveled in well over a year or the release that was having a week of unrestrained joy after pandemic living, but we completely fell for all that Baja Sur had to offer, and it was the perfect reminder, after a year of feeling so isolated, that there is a big, wide, beautiful world outside of our front door, even if we can’t always see it.

Our Baja Sur faves and recommendations:

• eat all of the fish tacos, but especially the ones at the blue and orange street stand in Todos Santos and at the very local-oriented Compa Chava
• stay at Hotel San Cristobal 
• spend a day in Cerritos, eating lunch at Barracuda Cantina and watching surfers on the beach
• shop for woven blankets at the Justina Blanket Factory
• eat lots and lots and lots of carnitas at Carnitas Machin
• eat the catch-of-the-day turned sushi at Derek’s
• visit the many art galleries in Todos Santos; we especially liked La Sonrisa de la Muerte
• spend a day on the water with Explora Baja
• if you go during the right months, watch baby turtles be released at Torugueros Las Playitas
• grab pastries and coffee at Talle 17 and wall down Calle Benito Juarez (the street with all of the hanging flags)
• spend a lazy afternoon eating lunch and exploring the organic gardens at Hierbabuena
• get the passion fruit sorbet at La Paloma
• have a “fancy” dinner at Jazamango, and order the whole fish
• check out the mezcal pop-up at El Refugio, Tues-Sat
• spend a lot of time sitting in the sand, doing absolutely nothing, other than watching for whales