Todos Santos, Mexico
Todos Santos is small and there’s not a lot to see. People love it because the weather is breezy, it’s next to the beach and has a small-town hippie feeling.
I heard I should visit the Earthship, out in the beach area where all the expats live. The guys at the taco stand warned me it would take an hour or more to walk there but I don’t really have a busy schedule.
I did a bit of digging to discover this was not the only Earthship, there is a movement to promote sustainable design and create buildings that can exist anywhere in the world while providing electricity, drinkable water, contained sewage treatment and sustainable food production.
I found this Sweet Green Dreams site of one of the people who made it, she recounts the process. It’s pretty incredible.
This kind of stuff fascinates me and is why I went to hang out with the Hare Krishna in Peru, who do this with the Truly village. I want to meet people who think and act differently. So while I am a self-professed lazy traveler who hates hiking, walking somewhere for an hour is nothing.
An hour later I triumphantly walked up to the front door and knocked.
No response.
Perhaps I should have called in advance, after all this is low season in Mexico and this is used as a hotel. I knock again. No response. No one is home. They are probably all at the beach like everyone else on Sundays.
I resign myself to walking back to town, the clouds have cleared and it’s getting hot but I’m not letting it get to me. Five minutes into the long way home a truck stops. It’s one of the construction workers who is building some foreigners house, he is going back into town and asks if I want a lift.
If you have never been to Mexico you would be wary but this is common in small towns. I hop in and meet Manuel who works 7 days a week building foreigners’ home, he tells me it’s too hot to be walking and I have to agree.
This would never happen at home. Everyone would probably just drive past me and think wow that girl must be hot.
And that makes me smile because I said I wanted to meet people who think and act differently. I didn’t see inside the Earthship but I did meet Manuel.
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I'm Ayngelina and in my mid-thirties. I left an amazing job, boyfriend, apartment and friends to find inspiration in Latin America. I'm creating a new life choosing what I want instead of what other people think I should do.
I have never seen anything like it. It reminds me of a gingerbread house!
Chrystal McKay recently posted..Dubrovnik from Above
It is definitely an odd structure.
Wow this is just so cool and different, love it!
Andi of My Beautiful Adventures recently posted..30 Years Of Andi
You can stay in a room as a hotel. I am going to keep my eye out as it would be an interesting experience to sleep here.
Oh wow this project just looks amazing. Stuff like this intrigues me because it amazes me what people can do with waste and other things to make a more sustainable planet. Oh & love that you got a ride back… that is so true about Small Towns in Mexico.
Jaime recently posted..A love story with an expiration date.
People are afraid of Mexico but the people are so much nicer than most places in Canada and the US.
What bizarre houses?! Still, kudos to the people of Earthship for doing what they want to do and not following the norm that people may expect them to do.
And Manuel sounds like a sweetheart. The same would happen in the UK too with people thinking “wow he/she must be hot!”. Well, if it were ever warm enough that is.
Waegook Tom recently posted..Boryeong MudFest, Or Where I Get Shirtless
I have started to see a bunch of alternative housing lately, it’s interesting that people are rethinking it.
It would be very interesting to see inside of that house.
Vi recently posted..Incredible thieves in India
I know, if only!
If you’re interested in the earthship stuff, there’s a great documentary you can watch on youtube all about this kind of thing. Just search for the garbage warrior. Eye opening
Laurence recently posted..Travel blogging tips from the experts: Four Jandals
Fascinating design!
I wish I had been able to see inside.
My best friend is obsessed with earthships, I reckon her and her partner will build one soon and then I can go stay there – woop woop! so lucky that lovely guy gave you a ride back, i would have been so upset they weren’t home!
Izy Berry @ The Wrong Way Home recently posted..By: Izy Berry
I had a sneaking suspicion as I walked up the driveway that I should have called in advance, it was Sunday after all.
Such a cool concept!
Amazing! I can totally see myself living in a house like that one day and rescuing stray animals
Hannah recently posted..The truth shall set you free
It looked fascinating from the outside, one day I’ll see inside…
Wow, really fascinating. What a shame there wasn’t anybody home but it was really nice of that man to stop for you.
Ceri recently posted..48 Hours in San Miguel de Allende
In the end I found what I was looking for. I guess that’s all that matters.
I wish it was safe to pick people up or accept rides everywhere. I am not a huge fan of small towns, but Mexican small towns are so great!
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