I recently returned to the US after a year of traveling in Mexico to “save up” some money.  I had a free place to stay with a friend in Austin, TX and I planned to work some at Austin City Limits festival as well as some other catering gigs, while still teaching English online during the day.  I knew going back to US prices would be a shock after living on 30 bucks a day (food and shelter and all) in Mexico for a year, but the inflation was astonishing.  It seemed like everything had doubled since I had left.  Coffee is generally $4, and a 15-minute uber ride is around $30.  Between helping my friend with groceries and utilities, and Ubering to work, as I had sold my car before my travels, I was not saving any money.  Even though the catering gigs that paid $13 before I left, were now paying $17-20, it just was not enough.  I began to sense I was overstaying my welcome, so I looked into local hostel prices: $70/night, plus those lovely American hidden fees and taxes, for a bed in a shared dormitory.  I then looked up a flight back to Mexico City out of curiosity and found it was cheaper for a direct flight that afternoon than one night in a hostel in my own country.  So, I packed my little bag, and 40 minutes later was past the TSA waiting for my flight to Mexico City after having just been there 2 months ago.

Why I came back to Mexico City?

The Prices

 My expenses now

4000 pesos ($200 USD) a month for my private room in the middle of La Roma, one of the hippest neighborhoods with loads of cafes, bars, and museums not too far.

9000 pesos a month (300/day, or $15 USD) for food and coffee.

Really, I only spend 15-50 pesos ($.75-2.50 USD) per meal when eating street food, but since I need Wi-Fi, I often work in cafes, and though I try to only order coffee, sometimes I crack and buy a bougie, café, gringo-priced lunch.

2000 pesos ($100 USD) for going out. That comes to $25 USD per weekend for drinks and dinner.  Yes, I am living on a shoestring budget, but really that doesn’t mean I cant have fun.  Many popping bars offer everything for 20 pesos ($1 USD), including tacos, beers, shots, everything.  Other places offer all you can eat, or all you can drink, usually under 7 bucks.

100 pesos ($50) a month for transportation (I don’t know if I will even use this much as the metro is so efficient and cheap, and Ubers are cheap as well (30 minute ride from the airport is less than $7 USD, and rides within the city are usually $2-4) I gave myself this budget in case I want to take any tours out of the city to the surrounding pueblos for Día de Los Muertos. 

That puts me at $800/month; However, I budget $1000/month, leaving $200 for unforeseen expenses, pharmacy (a bit of a self-medicator), clothing and/or extra fun.

According to my bank account, I spent $2500 USD last month living on my friend’s couch in Texas, washing dishes three times a day out of guilty obligation. 

The Food

Nowhere else in the western hemisphere could I be so contented living on street food day in and day out.  I say Western hemisphere because I have yet to go to Asia, and I’m pretty sure I could eat Thai or Vietnamese street food every day. 

I feel great eating tacos for every meal in Mexico.  Now, could I eat Mexican food in the US for every meal?  Even once a week messes me up. I don’t know if its all the melted cheese, or the quantity, or some anti-imperialist, digestive sabotage cast upon American-Mexican food, but I feel like shit when I eat it.  In Mexico I feel great.  Maybe it’s the nopales (cactus served with most tacos) or maybe it’s the probiotic I take, or maybe its just made with love, but I eat street food twice a day and I have never felt better.  (Knock on Montezuma’s wood!)

I will say that you learn how to read a taco stand.  How busy it is, how it smells, if the al Pastor is being subjected to a constant sizzle, as opposed to a cooling, petri stagnation. 

You also eat according to the time of day.  Tamales in the morning, tacos for lunch and dinner, and Hod Dogs (Yes Hod Dogs with two D’s) for late, late, Madrugada. 

The Beauty

Mexico City is beautiful.  It has the bustling hipness of New York, the immense, optically overwhelming monuments of London, not to mention the French colonial architecture with a healthy connection to its Aztec roots.  As if the Europeans smashed their city on top of Tenochtitlán, but the roots of the ancient civilization continued to grow up through the cracks in the sidewalk.

CDMX is full of parks and treelined avenues with running paths coursing through the city.  The weather is crisp and sunny, with afternoon showers and the occasional foggy morning, which is very welcomed to my California sensibility. However, it can be a bit dry like the dreaded SoCal season of the Santa Ana winds. I make sure to have lotion and eyedrops in my back pack, and drink the occasional tea for the dry throat. 

The Fun

Mexico is fun, guys.  Even when I was here in July and there was still a midnight curfew, they were loads of clandestinas, or secret, underground afterparties.  It helps to have local friends, but you can always ask a bartender or any locals before closing time and they will point you to the “after”.

There are also loads of museums, parks, healing ceremonies, dance classes, pyramids and other ancient ruins to see. 

The People

Having grown up in California, going to school and working with Mexicans and Chicanos my entire life, I have always had a special place in my heart for my carnals. Being in CDMX is like being in New York if New York were full of friendly Mexicans.  The other day I was walking down the street and a lady grabbed me by the arm to stop me and ask where I was from. 

Beyond their kindness, Mexicans are so hardworking.  After traveling around the majority of Latin America for years, I have become well acquainted with the effects of corruption on each country’s economy, but also the lack of hustle in the culture.  I say this as a person who tries to work as little as possible and definitely appreciates a good siesta.  However, the Mexicans really know how to work and it is a shame that they are still so poor. In Mexico you are always offered “algo mas”.  I hate how entitled Americans have becomed to tips, but Mexicans really deserve them. That is one of the reasons I offer my English classes at such an economical price, because I want those who want to learn English to be able to. 

My Mexican friend made a joke the other day that I came back to Mexico because I couldn’t make it in the USA and so I returned to my back up plan.  While that is true in a way, I really feel like I belong here at the moment, and even if I could afford to be living in the states, I’m not so sure I would want to.  Really, I am back in Mexico because it suits my lifestyle.  I feel at home here.