I changed my website. I changed my attitude.

How does it look? Let me know.

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The start of July was slow. Well… it started with a great tour that paid me double, but then it slowed down. It was my girlfriend’s birthday, and I did nothing but make sure she was happy. And then I got depressed. Then it was my mom’s birthday.

And after that… I started feeling better. Seeing family is good.

And there’s only this one time life goes around. Sometimes I just want to be a normal bus driver or teacher or something boring. But no.

I have a weird life, and that’s the one I should embrace. And I’ll continue to do so.

I did more videos. And they have a good response and no hate. They also don’t have that many views. But they served their purpose. It was an ad for my shirts, and I sold a few after posting it. The video is about San Diego. I had to cross the border to send some shirts.

I finally sent the shirts!

My girlfriend joined me. The first video is in English. Here it is:

The second video is in español. Here it is:

I only have 5 black Aloha shirts. One 2xl, two 3xl, and two 4xl. I need new merch.

We had a lovely day in San Diego. This was the first time we went to San Diego together. Besides the time that we flew to Seattle. We do well traveling together. And we need it more. Ensenada was great. Seattle was great. And when we go out in Tijuana, we do great.

Great in general. That’s how I feel with her.

After sending shirts, we went to Ali’s Chicken, her choice; I wanted Cloud 9. But it was an excellent choice. Then I toured her around the San Diego I know. Like a tour guide. It was a lovely day to walk around. Seaport Village, Gaslamp, Pantoja Park, etc.

And we stopped by the church.

The Church by Lost Abbey. It’s a great brewery and an amazing location. Nearby is a pizza place that a lot of people in San Diego rave about… TNT Pizza. It was worth it.

It was a lovely day in San Diego. San Diego usually means work to me. But this time it was a nice vacation. We shall do it again.

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I’ve been doing TikTok lives. The app promises to pay me once I reach 20k followers. I only need 500 more.

Follow me on TikTok. I don’t need TikTok money. I have two tours scheduled this weekend and another tour next week, with inquiries about additional tours coming in daily. I’m curious about the TikTok money. Trying to get me some of that future money.

I need more avenues to make money. I could get a part-time job. But I can also keep on selling shirts. And growing in social media.

Elon Musk just tweeted something about Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey. So much cringe.

How could I get so sad over a little bit of hate when people like that exist? How can they go on through their day? Billions upon billions of dollars? But so much sadness. So much cringe.

My life is okay.

Follow my okay life.

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Tijuana Newsletter 1 and 2!

I created a Tijuana Newsletter on my other website, TijuanaAdventure.com. Here’s a link to Newsletter #2.

When I’m busy… I’m super busy. And when it’ slow, my days are nothing. Just drink and do nothing. Feel bad and wait for DotA. But no more.

I started blogging here every week to exercise my brain in writing. And I enjoy writing about food and drink, and some news here and there. And that’s what that Tijuana Adventure Newsletter will be.

I also need to accompany the newsletter with a nice picture format to post on social media. It’s going to be a bit of a bitch, but that’s the best way to reach more followers via text.

And that will grow Tijuana Adventure even more. And I’ll get more tours. And more money. And perhaps hire people.

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I need to make a new about me. A video about me. I have too many new followers who have no idea who I am. The about me that I have on this website is over five years old. That’s why I changed the website. I need to update the About Me.

It’s hard to start the about me though I’ve said it a million times before.

Hi. My name is Matingas. And so far, I’ve had an interesting life. I was born in CDMX, and when I was three weeks old, my mom took me to a World Cup match. I have the picture to prove it. My childhood and most of my teenage years were in Querétaro. I went to college in Minnesota in a Catholic school called Saint John’s University, and after graduating with a double BA degree in Music and Conflict Studies, I became a paparazzo.

From 2007 to 2011, I worked chasing celebrities around with a camera. I have thousands of pictures of celebrities, mostly going in and out of LAX. I got sick of that job and of taking pictures, sold almost everything, and ended up moving to Tijuana.

It’s been 14 years living in this god forsaken city. I wanted to play guitar and teach music. I ended up as a writer. It started with a job working on a soccer website. The Monday-Friday office grind and extra weekend hours writing about sports and not getting paid overtime. It evolved into writing about Tijuana: the migrants, the border, the deported veterans, and mothers, the violence, arts, history, music, food, culture, and more.

I needed pictures to accompany my stories. I picked up the camera again. My first cover story came in 2016, and it was about craft beer in Tijuana. It felt like the top of the world. Or at least the top of the San Diego region. Thousands read my printed word. I wrote more than a dozen cover stories, and I also became the photographer for the San Diego Reader for a handful of years. I photographed over 100 cover stories for the magazine.

All of that while doing Tijuana tours on the side as Tijuana Adventure. The fun job. Little tours here and there. Until social media evolved and I started reaching thousands through my videos. The little fun job became my full-time job. And now my brand of shirts. And more.

That’s my life as of now. With so much more that I didn’t include. Like the two books I published through Amazon. You can buy them here!

The about me also needs a new updated picture of what I look like in 2025. The last about me is from 2019…

This post needs a picture. About me needs an update. And I also need to make a video with the script above and edit it… in English and in español FUCK!!!!!

So much work.

I am using this picture for my website now. I thought it was my most recent in a tuxedo, but it’s from 2022!

Ahh life!

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And now… sobre mi!

Matingas!

En español….

Hey hey! Soy Matingas y he tenido una vida interesante. Nací en la ciudad de México a las semanas de nacido mi madre me llevo a un partido al estadio Azteca del Mundial ’86. Mi infancia y adolescencia fueron en Querétaro y fui a la universidad en Minnesota a estudiar música y estudios de conflicto.

Después de graduarme fui paparazzi por cuatro años del 2007 al 2011 persiguiendo celebridades en Los Ángeles con mis cámaras. Tengo miles de fotografías de celebridades en mi disco duro. Me harté de ese trabajo y me fui de LA en el 2011 y acabé en Tijuana la horrenda (así es el título de un libro, no lo digo yo, pero también lo digo yo).

Llevo 14 años en esta ciudad. La idea era ser guitarrista y maestro de música. Acabé siendo escritor. Empecé escribiendo sobre fútbol en un trabajo godín de oficina de lunes a viernes y horas extra sin paga los fines de semana. Evolucionó a escribir sobre la ciudad, los migrantes, los deportados veteranos y madres deportadas, la frontera, la violencia, el arte y cultura, la comida y bebida, historia, música y más.

Necesitaba fotos para acompañar las historias que escribía. Retome la cámara. Mi primer portada para el San Diego Reader fue en el 2016 y trata de la escena de la cerveza en Tijuana. Se sintió como si hubiera logrado lo máximo. Miles leyeron mi palabra impresa. Acabé escribiendo más de una docena de portadas para el San Diego Reader y también fui su fotógrafo por unos años. Fotografié más de 100 portadas para esa revista.

Todo eso mientras daba tours de Tijuana de vez en cuando como Tijuana Adventure. Era el trabajo divertido. Dando tours cuando pudiera hasta que las redes sociales evolucionaron. Y mis vídeos empezaron a llegar a miles. El trabajo divertido se volvió de tiempo completo y empecé una marca de ropa con el mismo nombre. ¡Y más!

Eso ha sido mi vida en corto resúmen por ahora y no incluí mucho. Como los dos libros publicados en Amazon, los puedes comprar aquí. Disponible en inglés y español.

I need to become a better writer in español.

But that’s the blog for this week. Thanks for reading!

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You can buy all my merch, books, prints, and more. You can hire me to be your tour guide in Tijuana or Ensenada. Or you can hire me to be your photographer. Or guitarist. Or a writer. I can do it all. Well… not really. Just a lot.

Buy my books on Amazon. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them if you enjoyed this. If you didn’t enjoy this… then… what are you doing still here?!

Subscribe to my YouTube. The more subscribers, the more money, the more time I have to upload cool shit.

Follow me on Instagram and book me for a photoshoot!

Follow me on TikTok just because it’s the thing we do in the future.

Book a Tijuana tour with Tijuana Adventure! Still doing exclusive tours in 2025. Let’s see how much longer I last.

Read all my articles on the Reader. It is no longer printing! 148 covers and a dozen cover stories in print are now history.

Subscribe to my Patreon to support me and to get full-size galleries and photo albums!