Anthony Bonello is a filmmaker, motohead and dad based in Squamish BC. We caught up with him after a 2.5 month long trip to the Baja with his family with truck and trailer.
Quick Bio: Who are you? What do you do? Where do you live? What makes you happiest?
I am a father of 2 young boys living in Squamish, BC, Canada. I am a filmmaker working in the adventure documentary world. I'm the happiest outside adventuring and spending time with the family.
Describe your vehicle/trailer: make, model, etc.
We recently upgraded from a popup tent trailer to an enclosed 17ft trailer pulled behind a GMC Canyon pickup truck with dirtbikes, surfboards, paddleboards and mtn bikes all in tow.
Describe your favourite feature of your trailer.
The best part about the trailer is being able to pull over and cook lunch, use the toilet for the kids, and crucially, transition the kids to bed. On a recent trip from BC to Baja, Mexico, we would put the kids in their pyjamas after dinner and they would sleep in their car seats and allow us to drive greater distances into the night before pulling over at the classic Walmart parking lot. Being able to put the kids straight into bed without having to set up camp was a huge convenience. Once we got to Baja, we slowed down and enjoyed the journey, driving less and most importantly, not driving at night. The other nice feature of any trailer is the ability to detach and go explore without having to pack up our whole camp.
Describe your trip. Where to? With who? How long?
We left Squamish in the middle of an atmospheric river in October, 2024 and spent the next 2.5 months exploring the entire Baja Peninsula. We covered 12,000kms and camped on the beach for most of it. The goal for my partner and I was to spend time with our 2 kids who are 5 and 2 years old and it was awesome. A lot of work, but awesome.
Most epic stuck/breakdown/wrong turn/misadventure on the trip?
We definitely got Baja-ed. Leaving a remote surf break after camping in the dunes for 5 days, we broke one of the leaf springs on the trailer suspension. The axle was effectively detached from the trailer and we couldn't even move the trailer off the road. One advantage of the trailer is that we can detach and so we were able to leave the trailer and go search for the part. Fortunately we were relatively close to La Paz, the largest city in Baja and through some connections we were able to find a replacement the same day. After a surf the following morning, I was back on the road, albeit the replacement proved a little more complicated than I had planned. But it's not an adventure until something goes wrong, right? It was a good reminder to always have extra food and water if you do get stranded, and to have tools.
Advice to anyone doing a family Baja trip?
Safety was a big concern for my partner before the trip, but we had only great experiences. We didn't drive at night mainly because of how rough the roads are. We generally camped at RV parks or on private land for a small fee as these usually gave us the easiest access to the ocean with a trailer. The Sea of Cortez side is much friendlier than the Pacific Ocean for small children. Beyond that, we quickly learnt that traveling for an extended period of time with small kids isn't exactly a vacation. We still had all the same tasks as we do at home: breakfast, lunches, dinner, bathtime, etc, just with less water, less space and no clothes washing machine. Haha. Whenever our kids felt a bit overwhelming, we just stopped what we were doing and engaged with them and it was transformative. We wanted to spend time with them, and when we did that, it formed the best memories of the trip.
How did RUX come in handy on the trip?
I use some form of RUX every single day at home, and in Baja we used multiple RUX products every single day. Beach towels, sun cream, life jackets, wetsuits, etc lived in a RUX 70L. I used a second 70L for storing my motorcycle gear. My partner used her RUX Waterproof bag everyday for snacks, water bottles, baby wipes, grocery shopping, you name it, the bag never left our shoulder. With limited space we didn't carry a hard cooler so the 25L Soft Cooler was great because we could pack it in the trailer easily when not in use, but it would keep ice with beers or fish cold when needed. In one instance, we gathered a haul of clams and used the cooler to keep them cool while the clams filtered out the sand before eating them. Finally, we used a Cooler Cube to pack a few beers in the RUX bag for spontaneous sunset missions or for kids snacks.
