Keep'n it Scrappy

Beegs and I are keeping it super scrappy and having a great time at it. We just spent the last three days on the coast. We hitchhiked to the coast then hiked overland to a sweet surfer destination, found someone who let us borrow boards for free, had about $6 worth of beans rice and vegetables, ate fresh fish given to us by fisherman, drank fresh water from a nearby spring, harvested coconuts for eating and drinking and we camped under a tarp that I brought. For three days we ate well, surfed a couple times a day, hung out on the beach all for about $6 total. Then we hiked back into town and went to a little market to buys some beers to drink on the beach before hitchhiking back to Beegs’s family’s house. We were about to pay for the beers and this guy walked in and said “hey guys let me buy those beers for you”. No kidding this guy said we reminded him of his sons and wanted to hook us up. That’s the joy of hanging out with Begin.

The waves were breaking right off of the point in the distance, apparently one of the best places to surf int he area.


Jungle trek to get to the surf spot Jon wound up with about 75 ticks all over his legs (and higher if you no what I mean). I wore pants and still had about 20.


Shelter tarp jimmy rigged with the surf boards


Fruit picking is pretty standard lately. Mango season is approaching quickly.

Jon is getting a fire ready for a fish dinner

Thanks for keeping up,

Much Love from Brent and Jon

The Latest

It’s been a while since my last post nearly 4 months in fact. From Ecuador Cassie and I headed back to Portland to continue our educations at Portland State. I took a term in Portland but got antsy pretty quick and decided to head south again. I am currently taking classes online to finish out my degree focused on International Development. After 8 years of on and off university study I graduate in June!

I am currently writing from Guadalajara, Mexico. I have been in Mexico for a couple of weeks so far. I've been hanging out with my good friends Jon Begin and Stephen Fisher. I am taking classes online and will finish my degree in June.

I flew into Puerto Vallarta, with the following instructions from Steve. “Get on a bus or hitch to a little town north of Puerto called San Pancho. When you get to the town go to the beach and take a left. Go past a lagoon watch out for the alligators (literally) and just past a small-forested area, look for a gray tent near some coconut trees.”

So that’s what I did and this is what I found:



Within a couple of hours our good friend Jon Begin followed the same instructions and found us sipping on coconut milk. Then We went fishing.


And collected more coconuts via Jon Begin



After a few days surfing and chill’n on the beach we headed to Guadalajara to check out what Steve has been doing the last few months.


It worked out for me to be here on Steve’s birthday so naturally we threw a steller rooftop party complete with a Pinata, Salsa music and mixed drinks from fresh coconuts, pinapples, mangos and limes.


I tried my hand at Salsa, apparently it was more humorous then anything
I was a little smoother as the night went on


I have been very happy to get a bit more insight into the work that Steve has been doing addressing water pollution issues here in Mexico. I have shadowed him on a couple of different interviews and workshops. We have been to a few areas in which sewage and chemically polluted water canals and rivers flow right through neighborhoods. This is an intense issue that will not go away without concentrated efforts by people like the ones that Steve has introduced me to.

Much Love thanks for taking the time to here my update.

Brent James