When Anthony Lee Head writes about running away from the rat race to find a flip flop paradise, he knows what he’s talking about. He was practicing as a trial lawyer, running his own martial arts school, and teaching at a local college when he decided he wanted some adventure. So he traveled south to begin a new life on the shores of the Caribbean Sea.

He and his wife Cheri bought a rundown hostel in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and turned it into an award-winning hotel and bar. For over a decade, they rented rooms, practiced their Spanglish, dined on world-class tacos, and served up great margaritas.

On the white sand beaches of the tropics, they immersed themselves in the strange and wonderful world of expatriates. Their adventures, and those of their fellow vagabonds, became the inspiration for his debut novel, Driftwood: Stories from the Margarita Road, which was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews.

Head now lives in northern California with his wife and an embarrassingly large number of rescue dogs and cats. He is currently working on a memoir based on his years south of the border entitled Mexico Without Reservations.