HugSonnyHey

Sonny Hughey Traveller Ballplayer Community builder Writer

Real connection, community & adventure.

This is where Sonny Hughey keeps the stories he’s gathered along the way: fourteen months on the road in South America, a roll of disposable photos, and the people who make a place feel like home.

Sonny standing on a rock under a deep blue sky, mountains on the horizon
Fig. 01 Backpacking South America

01 — The story so far

Read Sonny’s story

Sonny's cowboy hat and a whiskey bottle on a rock, looking out from the tent at the snow in the Grand Tetons
Fig. 02 View outside tent in the snow of the Grand Tetons

No. 01

Roots

After earning his BA in Physics from Hastings College, Sonny returned to his hometown of San Diego to conduct research on earthquakes and their effects on buildings.

In his free time he could be found body surfing in his fins near Ocean Beach pier.

No. 02

The road

In 2014, he ventured to South America and lived alongside the gauchos, learning their longstanding traditions, living simply off the land, and traveling solely by horse.

Upon his return, he traveled across the U.S., where he had a rewarding stint in marketing for professional baseball and helped form the Yoga and More communities in Arizona and Virginia.

No. 03

Building

In 2016 he began assisting scientists at NASA with their research equipment.

In 2019 he combined his two strengths of community building and engineering by starting Cosmo Californie Media, which grows small businesses’ sales revenue.

No. 04

Now

Today he splits his time between Richmond’s historic Church Hill and Montpellier, in the South of France.

02 — #DisposableADay

One photo for each event.

“That’s why, three years ago, I started carrying a disposable camera with me everywhere I went. My one rule? One photo for each event.”

See the whole roll Why a disposable?

  • Disposable photo: Brian’s Birthday at Lips in San Diego 2013
    12 Brian’s Birthday at Lips in San Diego 2013
  • Disposable photo: Sonny’s #1 Baseball Fan 2012
    20 Sonny’s #1 Baseball Fan 2012
  • Disposable photo: A night in La Paz Bolivia with friends 2015
    13 A night in La Paz Bolivia with friends 2015
  • Disposable photo: Camping at Zion National Park
    22 Camping at Zion National Park
  • Disposable photo: On the Hughes boat in Summer 2012
    16 On the Hughes boat in Summer 2012
  • Disposable photo: Building a bench wood foot Ranquilco 2015
    19 Building a bench wood foot Ranquilco 2015
  • Disposable photo: Coachella Weekend 2 2014
    24 Coachella Weekend 2 2014
  • Disposable photo: Sonny and Colton standing outside the White House in the Spring of 2012
    11 Sonny and Colton standing outside the White House in the Spring of 2012
  • Disposable photo: Photograph in Argentina eating Fondue
    28 Photograph in Argentina eating Fondue
  • Disposable photo: The last day of Mustache March 2013
    15 The last day of Mustache March 2013
  • Disposable photo: Lauren picking up Macey during Summer Lightning Storm
    25 Lauren picking up Macey during Summer Lightning Storm
  • Disposable photo: Photograph before Sonny’s birthday bar crawl
    29 Photograph before Sonny’s birthday bar crawl

03 — By the numbers

Numbers associated with Sonny

47

the number of states he’s spent time in

2, his longtime jersey number in baseball

1987

the year of his first car, a white hatchback Accord

1stGPAC

his college baseball team’s GPAC standing while captain

04 — From the journal

Stories, 2015–2019

All 13 stories

Also in print Festival pieces for Festival Snobs Magazine and Desert Canvas, and Why Trevor Hoffman Didn’t Make the Hall of Fame for RealGM Baseball (2017; Hoffman was voted in the following year). All published work