The Treehouse team recently journeyed to Oaxaca, Mexico for some time wave sliding, cold-coconut drinking, and end-of-day sunset gazing. I remain grateful for these adventures around planet earth and wanted to share some favorite Mexico moments with you all.

I'd never been to southern Mexico before, but it was just as I'd imagined. We flew into a green sea of coconut trees surrounded by hills of thick jungle and simple palapa huts lining bright white sandy beaches. The first day I went down to check the surf as there had been a forecast calling for 10 foot waves. As every surfer knows...the only real forecast is when you're standing there watching those sets peel through the reef, and I'm happy to report the forecast was right-on! This spot behind me (which shall not be named to honor the locals' privacy) was positioned as a reef jutting out over deep water -  the swells would just launch out of a flat sea and turn into these driving waves. It was an exciting and humbling day.

My favorite part about traveling to places like Southern Mexico and staying close to nature is that it reminds me to switch off the phone, put away the computer, get out the board games, and enjoy the people around you. Seen here with zinc still on my face, fresh from a full day of surfing, we came back from street tacos in town to a highly competitive game of Uno Flip (be careful of those infinite-card pick ups!!).

I even invented a drink! Ok, I probably didn't invent this drink, but if you're interested in making a mezcal margarita, here's ,y recipe: A shot of Oaxaca's wonderful Mezcal, tonic water and grapefruit juice (50/50 mix), pour over ice and stir, sprinkle some coarse local sea salt, and finish up with a generous sprinkle of Tajin chili lime spice. It's smokey, sour, salty, and strong!

One of the things I love about surf towns anywhere in the world is that it brings travelers from all over so there is never a shortage of good books. Sure, bring a book if you are focused on something in particular, but when you finish it, just leave it in the pile for the next traveller and feel free to pick out a new book left by your fellow traveller. This was a free book pile at a beach-side coffee shop. I found a copy of Jame's Michener's "Mexico", which covers a fictional group of bullfighters lives as they serve as a focal point to tell the history of Mexico. If you haven't read any of Michener's books yet, I suggest it! I'm going to be reading "Hawaii" next.

And finally, our trip was made complete with the launch of our new Vanilla coconut creamer. Did you know that vanilla is the only orchid to produce edible fruit and needs a rainforest ecosystem to grow? That's one of the reasons we picked Vanilla as our newest Coconut Creamer flavor! We've found a beautiful organic Vanilla from Madagascar which holds its flavor when it's mixed with strong coffee. This fine floral vanilla shines through and the lions mane is an extract so you won't taste the mushroom flavor you may have experienced if you've tried other performance mushroom based foods. With our blends, we always make sure flavor is first, and function is a benefit that doesn't impend with that goal.