unless you’ve been living under a virtual rock, you know i love mexico city.
last year, i visited twice in a 4 month period; after spending 2.5 weeks in mexico + a week in cdmx last january, i vowed to return in 2023 for a long-term stay. and though work travel + life prevented me from doing the trip exactly as i’d planned, my mexico month did indeed happen, and boy was it magical. so magical that i hope to repeat it annually, maybe even for longer than 30 days.
there are obvious benefits to the city:
the abundant sunshine, coupled with low humidity. jacaranda season. the insane food scene; the ability to eat so damn well without blowing your budget. the leafy streets of condesa, the porfirian townhouses of roma norte. the parks! oh, the parks. the dog culture in said parks (and everywhere else). the global, cosmopolitan nature of the enormous, sprawling city—how each neighborhood feels like a city unto itself. the history. the lovely people. the markets. the walkability.
all of those are things you’ll read about in travel guides, and all of them are patently true.
what’s harder to quantify is the magic of the city. the feeling. the vibe.
i consider myself a writer, and yet i struggle to put that feeling into words. it’s the way the sun cuts sparkling lines through the trees in parque mexico. the way bits and pieces of flowers crunch under your feet at the 24 hour mercado. the way the wind whips through your hair as you bike down paseo reforma on an open streets sunday. the way the cobblestones poke up through your worn sandals and the earthquake worn buildings tilt to the side, just a little. the way the floors creak in old townhouses and the streets smell earthy and green after a burst of rain. the way people linger at long lunches, hug hello at street corners, sizzle meat on sidewalks.
it’s worth nothing that i have (of course), always visited mexico as a tourist.
a white tourist, someone with inherent privilege, both due to the color of my skin and my financial stability. my experience of cdmx is just that—mine. one that isn’t indicative, most likely, of what it’s like to live there are a local. as someone who enjoys fancy hotels and nice restaurants (though i love a hole in the wall as much as anyone), i’m constantly trying to temper my desire to feel comfortable in my surroundings with my knowledge that that comfort is made possible by my privilege.
quite a few folks have asked if i plan on “moving to mexico city” or “buying a second apartment down there”.
first of all, i’d need to win the lottery to do the latter! but second of all, i don’t know that i’d want to. gentrification is a real issue in cdmx, much like in any other heavily visited city. very few locals live in the popular neighborhoods i love dearly (roma norte and condesa); the proliferation of airbnbs in these areas have raised rents astronomically. digital nomads are, in many ways, more of a curse than a blessing (though as someone who became one for 2 of her 4 weeks in mexico, i obviously understand the inclination).
i’ve no solid answer for how to be a “good” tourist in these situations. i try and be respectful and kind to everyone i meet, from servers to street musicians. i attempt to book airbnbs run by locals vs. big corporate ‘hotel-like’ spaces. i stay in small boutique hotels vs. giant ones; i like to think the money there goes to locals (i could be wrong!). i tip heavily, everywhere. is this enough to balance the scales? probably not. but it’s a start.
speaking of a start: this is the first of a handful of guides i’ll be putting together for mexico city.
it’s centered around places to stay—both airbnbs and boutique hotels. in the coming months, i’ll also be sharing cdmx guides for shopping, dining, drinking, and more.
as a reminder: these travel guides are reserved for paid subscribers, as they take lots of time, effort, and thought to put together. if you’d like to subscribe, you can do so below!
alright. let’s do this!
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