“Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people.” Warren Buffett
WEEK 15 | Mexico a Caballo
Week 15 was about new beginnings. It was about being honest with myself in regards to my expectations and goals for the rest of the trip.
I started out from outside of Veracruz to make my way inland, away from the heat of the coast. It had been 60 days of riding in pure heat.
After the week I had just had, I spent a LOT of time wondering why I had gone all that time riding in the heat, when it’s clear that Roxy and I hate it. 3 reasons: I did it because I was invited; I did it because I didn’t want to travel the mountains of Oaxaca; and I did it because I knew the places where I wanted to travel, where I wanted to be, were further on – where I am now, one week later.
Tropical lowlands have absolutely no appeal for me whatseover. The areas 1400 metres and above are where I like to travel and live. I lived at 1800 metres elevation in Guatemala and the weather was just perfect for me.
I set off with 11 year old purebred Morgan mare Roxy, May 3rd, 108 days ago, to make my way to the Highlands of Mexico and teach English there, like I did in Guatemala.
I knew that it would be hard to travel thru the heat, I didn’t imagine it would be as hard as it was. I also thought I would be well received by the person who had invited me to stay in Veracruz for a few days. As I wrote last week, it was a major letdown, and it made me reflect on how I was going to move forward in the trip.
I wrote about it on FB last week:
https://www.facebook.com/631168160342702/posts/2185880124871490/?substory_index=0&app=fbl
Basically, now that I’ve made it to the higher and cooler grounds, I am actively looking at towns and cities to settle down and teach English. The trip ends when I find what I’m looking for.
Until then, I’m going to focus more on living by my values of simplicity, clarity and sincerity, and not the values of my hosts, partners and people I meet along the way.
I’m going to continue the trend of doing lots of local interviews with horse people I like, and I look forward to sharing them with you.
I’m going to write more behind the scenes and I will share some of that online as I move along. Expect more frank and reflective commentary, as well as content regarding the environment and sustainability.
3 days of riding and I made it Soledad de Doblado, which was just slightly less hot than the coast. I rested up at Rancho La Palma, with horse trainer Pedro Vega. He’s a pretty awesome horse trainer. He helped out other long riders on the past, including Orion Kraus. Here is an interview with him. It’s getting a lot of traffic on FB.
https://5000milesofhope.org/pedro-veega-entrenador/
Here’s another interview I did in Jamapa with “Charro” Angel Tenorio:
https://5000milesofhope.org/entrevista-con-angel-tenorio-charro-dia-101/
After leaving Rancho La Palma, over the next 3 days, I made my way up to Cabañas del Bosque, a permaculture farm and learning center. They are located in Huatusco, and it is just a beautiful as can be up here. I will write more about them in Week 16 as well as via some interviews with the owners and members…
Next, we head from 1300 metres up to 2300 metres in the next week. It’s going to be amazing….
Here are some pictures of my great hosts from the week. Don Juan, Angel, Pedro, Noel, Noel, and Ricardo.
Chris MacLuckies’ professional career began with a decade-long stint as an organic vegetable grower in Ontario Canada. His career is prolific in breadth and scope. He has farmed organics commercially, volunteered in Guatemala, ran a gardening business, raised and raced sled dogs, tended his livestock, and ridden his horse on a multi-country expedition.
Chris is a certified TEFL ESL English Teacher, author of seven books, freelance content creator, and outdoor travel gear designer.