An Expat in Mexico City: Month 2

August was an action packed month. Already it feels like we’ve been here for several months, but with so much still to explore. We spent a little over a week traveling the Yucatan Peninsula and we got to know a little bit more of this city we call home.

Life as an Expat in Mexico City

Life has been really great. We’re learning how to get around the city and what times to avoid the traffic riddled roads (most times on most days). We’ve found some great cafes and funky bars that we’ll definitely be returning to and I’m finally reaching out to likeminded people in the city and trying to make some friends (cringe).

Highlights

1. The Yucatan

The biggest highlight has to be our week in the Yucatan. We spent a day in Cancun (see that post here), two disastrous days in Playa del Carmen (read about said disasters here) and a blissful five days in Tulum (see my guide to Tulum here). We swam with sea turtles in the wild which was basically the best day of my life thus far. We ate absurd amounts of ceviche and drank perhaps a few too many margaritas. There will be more posts to come in the next week or so, so stay tuned!

2. Work-Life Balance

I feel like the last few weeks I’ve really hit my stride with work. I am so productive for the few hours that I sit down at my computer. I’m spending less time working and accomplishing 10x more than I was when I would “work” from 9-5. I’m busier than I’ve been with my blogs and my freelance work, which I think has actually forced me to be more focused and far more organized than in past months. Even better, I’m truly enjoying the work that I’m doing and I feel like that’s really showing in every other aspect of my life. It has also meant that I’ve been able to have more free time to read, study Spanish, explore my neighborhood. I feel really content at the minute.

3. The Weather

The rainy season seems to be coming to an end for the most part. It’s been sunny and warm, but not scorching hot. It’s the weather that everyone raved about before we moved here, this eternal Spring that Mexico City enjoys for most of the year. I make sure to get outside everyday, even if it’s just for a stroll to the corner shop or a walk around the block. It’s nice to feel the sunshine on my face everyday.

Lowlights

It sounds a bit fake, but as I sit here I’m really struggling to think of anything that really felt like a lowlight this month.

1. Bad Trip Planning

I think the only real hiccup we had this month were the few issues I wrote about from our trip to Playa del Carmen. At the time it felt kind of stressful. I had planned and booked everything and we were with friends, so I felt responsible for all the bumps along the way.

Best Reads

I haven’t read any fiction in ages, so it was nice to find a bookshelf lined with novels at our AirBnB in Tulum. I picked up Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. It was just as dark and riveting as Gone Girl and I think I finished it in about two days.

I also started reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and it is making me think a lot about how I’m working. I’m excited to get through the rest of it.

I Don’t Want to Travel the World for a Living – The Sweetest Way

It was really nice to read about someone being so brutally honest about the travel blogging world. It was nice to hear Leah’s perspective on press trips and traveling non-stop. Because IT IS exhausting to be on the road all the time. IT ISN’T all glam brunches and lounging in high end hotels with a coconut in hand.

10 Reasons You’ll Want to Book a Trip to India Now – Hippie in Heels

I’ve been dreaming of India for a few years now and every time I find myself on Rachel’s blog I am more and more convinced that I would fall in love with this country.

Best Eats

I feel like this is always going to be a tough call. I ate SO MANY good tacos and fresh fish while we were in Tulum, I had an amazing fish burrito in Cancun, I tried Flautas for the first time which are meat filled tortillas that are then fried and covered with all manner of delicious things. I ate huitlacoche – a surprisingly delicious fungus that grows on corn.

I think the winner has to be the carnitas tacos we ate in Tulum. This little stand on a side street was open late every night and we headed there almost every evening we were in Tulum. We had pork liver tacos, pork ears, grilled skin and some seriously tender pork rib meat. Topped with raw onion, handfuls of cilantro, and some spicy sauces, it was one of the most flavorful things I’ve eaten in a long time.

Best Instagram Capture

I’ve been sharing tons of photos from our trip this month and the one you all liked the most was of the Mayan ruins in Tulum. It’s probably one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip. It’s exactly how I imagined Tulum would look. If you’re not following along on Instagram yet, you can do so here.

A photo posted by Laura Bronner (@eternalexpat) on Aug 20, 2016 at 9:09pm PDT

What’s Next for September

I’m excited for all of the companies I’m working with this month on both Eternal Expat and Collecting Labels. I think I want to implement some of the ideas that Tim gives in The 4-Hour Workweek – we’ll see how that goes! Otherwise, we’re in Mexico City for the month – plenty of places to explore still! I’ll be writing a little bit more about our trip to the Yucatan and then it will be back to regularly scheduled Mexico City obsessions!