Who knows why, but I have this weird thing about borders. It can probably all be tied to my childhood, where I had a reputation as a kid who liked to color outside the lines. A lot. As an adult, when someone throws up a wall and says don’t cross? I get this itch to break the law. This can be a problem at times, particularly when the wall is being guarded by armed men who can arrest you, as is the case at the beautiful but troubled Border Fields State Park in San Diego (the subject of today’s travel feature).

In this video, the first in an occasional series, I take you to Border Fields, the site of one of my favorite beaches in Southern California. It’s a terrifically quiet place, and seriously beautiful; it’s almost nice enough to make you overlook all the behind-the-scenes drama. And boy what a lot of drama there is — I talk all about it in the video, from the floods and sewage issues that afflict the beach, to the absurd list of rules visitors must follow in order to actually access the friendship monument that sits right on the international line. My favorite, and I quote (albeit loosely): Please don’t touch the Mexicans.