Christmas at the Watkins took on a whole new look in 2021. For the first time we decided to use our holidays to check some items off our bucket list.  After the last 21 months of the pandemic putting a damper on our love of adventure, it was time to test the waters of international travel and head to La Paz and Todos Santos, Mexico in the Baja.  

It was October when I started thinking about what to get the kids (ages 20, 17 & 14) for Christmas.  I had an overwhelming sinking feeling when I thought about having our usual Christmas.  I knew in my heart that there wasn't anything I could wrap and put under the tree that would give my kids what they really needed this year.  All of us, Josh and I too, needed different gifts this year.  We needed the gift of confidence- that the world isn't a big scary place.  We needed the gift of having an adventure, and it not getting cancelled.  We needed the gift of seeing different places so that we could appreciate the precious home that we have. We needed sunshine and salt water and learning to surf.  We needed to see how other cultures are dealing with this pandemic.  We needed to see that the world is still alive and function despite what the news says. We needed to accept and successfully navigate the new hoops covid has put on travel. We needed a break from our every day life because we were all on BIG TIME burn out.  Because necessity is the mother of all invention, the Watkins created #bucketlistchristmas which focused on giving our souls what we truly needed.

Why did we choose Baja, Mexico? Selfishly, swimming with the whale sharks has been on my bucket list for decades.  There aren't many places you can do this and it's definitely a seasonal adventure. La Paz, Mexico just happens to be the closest location to having a close encounter with a whale shark.  There were other reasons for the Baja too: 1- it's a direct flight that's only around 3 hours 2- Mexico is letting people in to travel 3- Jonas is in AP Spanish and we wanted to use his skills 4- La Paz has a fun Christmas market we knew our kids would love 5- you can get great Airbnb's for a great price.  Josh and I took a trip to La Paz 4 years ago for our 20th anniversary and have been itching to return ever since.   

Our itinerary consisted of flying into San Jose Del Cabo and driving 2.5 hours north to La Paz for 3 nights on the Sea of Cortez.  Then we headed west and south for 80 minutes to Cerritos Beach, just south of Todos Santos on the Pacific side of the peninsula. Ending with 2 nights in Cabo to clear our covid tests and be close to the airport.  There is almost no similarities between Cabo and La Paz or Cerritos Beach.  Although fun for 24 hours, Cabo is the Las Vegas of Mexico and definitely too busy/touristy for our taste.  The whole trip was fabulous, easy with the most wonderfully fresh food.  All of us would repeat the whole trip, skipping Cabo since it's a once and done kinda place. (Although our Cabo Airbnb was a luxurious, brand new build at a steal of a price.)

Our Bucket list highlights included: Swimming with the whale sharks, exploring Isla Espiritu, snorkeling with the sea lions, Christmas Market in La Paz,  street churros and gorditas, learning to surf, fresh pineapples on the beach, exploring the tide pools, enjoying our Helinox chairs, fresh food from land and sea, Jo speaking fluent Spanish, enjoying each other's company and taking a break from reality.

We spent our last 2 nights in Cabo so that we could take our covid tests.  It turned out to be super easy because Delta has partnered with eMed and we brought our covid tests with us from home and just took them online with their customer support. Each person took 3o minutes via video call but sitting in out gorgeous Airbnb made it effortless.  I highly suggest using this method when traveling abroad if you can.  

At the end of the trip everyone felt recharged and ready to return to reality, but we were coming home more confident than when we arrived.  As Josh mused, "it's time to just learn to live with all the changes covid has brought to travel rather than avoid traveling." We feel more confident now that we can start to roam the earth again knowing how to bring covid tests with us. I wish we could always travel for the holidays because it makes me skip all the frivolous purchasing and give the gift of time and adventure to my family - and isn't that really the goal?