TDG #027: A Photo Walk through Oaxaca

Ending a year on the road with plastic bottles of mezcal.

Two weeks. There were two weeks left to plan before Steph and I headed back to the U.S. At this point in the trip, 50 or so weeks in, the planning fatigue was starting to weigh on both of us. Over the past year, we tried to strike the perfect balance of planned locations but still flexible enough for impromptu adventures. While that mentality doesn’t necessitate much upfront planning, it does lead to smaller micro-decisions every week. So after 58 weeks of almost non-stop planning and decision-making, even the most ardent travelers would be waking up in a flop sweat with that damn TripAdvisor owl haunting their dreams.

Yeah, I was as dangerously close to saying, “fuck it, let’s get an all-inclusive resort.” But no, I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it.

Anyway, many of the destinations we went to were based on what just felt right at that given point in the planning process. More often than not, we’d toss some location ideas around until one clicked. Sometimes it would take weeks, sometimes days. But entering these final two weeks, there was more self-inflicted pressure than ever - where should we cap off a year on the road? What would constitute a triumphant enough end to this adventure? So many places felt criminal to miss over the past few months. But eventually, we settled on heading to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Eating tacos and sipping on some mezcal for the last two weeks? That felt right.

Note: This email is full of photography and may be best viewed online.

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Streets of Oaxaca

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La Guelaguetza

We didn’t plan it this way, but the two weeks in Oaxaca coincided with La Guelaguetza, one of the year's biggest festivals. La Guelaguetza is an indigenous festival that predates the arrival of the Spanish. Each year, on the two Mondays following July 16th, groups from around the state of Oaxaca come to Oaxaca City to celebrate, connect, exchange, and forge relationships.

One of the most fascinating parts of La Guelaguetza is the seemingly endless number of parades throughout the city. Every day, at all hours, you’ll inevitably run into men on stilts, a marching band, and plenty of mezcal.

At one point during this parade, a man bumped into me while I was taking some pictures. He quickly turned around to apologize and asked, “tomas mezcal?” Yes, mezcal-wielding man, I do drink mezcal. So he pulls out a plastic Coca-Cola bottle and pours some into a small plastic shot glass. I’ll get into mezcal at some point, but trust me when I say that, like most good hooch, mezcal is best served from a plastic bottle.

Sure, being in the middle of all the action is fun and all (the band was truly awesome), but arguably the back of these parades is more interesting. Here you’ll see the engine, the infrastructure, and the beating heart of the procession. Spare a minute for the real heroes.

Like this woman constantly cleaning up the trash as the people dance and march on.

Or the man in the small van scooping out drinks from a plastic jug, of which the police officer made sure we had plenty.

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That’s all for this week. As always, thanks for following along and supporting the journey.

Cheers,

Skylar