What It’s Like To Be a Digital Nomad in Mexico City

While we’ve now taken four international trips since the beginning of 2022, two have been what I’d consider digital nomad “lifestyle” trips rather than vacations: Quito from January to March, and Mexico City for three weeks in May/June.

With these two trips, the purpose was to take advantage of the fact that we can work remotely… so we just decided to try out life in a different country for a while. All we needed besides plane tickets was a longer-term Airbnb where we could make ourselves at home for a few weeks or a few months.

Here’s what it’s like to be a digital nomad in Mexico City.

Why Mexico City for Digital Nomads?

Interestingly, Mexico City is consistently ranked as one of the best cities for digital nomads in the entire world. Which made it an easy choice when we were thinking where we might like to spend a few weeks — it’s definitely one of the most accessible locations for North Americans.

So, when you’re a digital nomad, there are a few things that you have to consider when you’re deciding where to go. A few of those things you think about: Is it an interesting place with things to do? Is it affordable to stay for a long-ish period of time? Is it safe and comfortable for a foreigner? Is the time zone agreeable to your regular work schedule?

You can often still manage these issues if you’re really set on going to a certain place that doesn’t tick all the boxes. But one thing that is non-negotiable: having strong WiFi!

Even if your boss or company is cool with you working remotely (and even encourages it, like our boss), there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to join a meeting or get your work done… and the WiFi goes out. It makes you feel stressed out and guilty. Some places, like Madrid, are deceivingly difficult to find good WiFi in. (Wtf, Madrid? You’re a major international city.) In other places, like Quito, it’s strangely easy to find good WiFi.

Mexico City — or at least the places the digital nomads go — offers plenty of strong WiFi, which makes it a great place to work remotely. Not only do many restaurants have WiFi, but certain areas even have a free outdoor WiFi network provided by the city! Which means that, even if we were sitting outside somewhere and the restaurant’s signal didn’t fully reach the outdoor tables, the city-wide network was still available. And really strong!

Besides the WiFi issue, Mexico City checks a lot of the other boxes I mentioned above. There’s lots to do and see (like visiting Teotihuacan by hot air balloon!), with a culture that’s quite different from our own. It was affordable for us to stay for three weeks. The area we stayed in was safe, and I felt an extra level of comfort being a Spanish speaker. And the time zone was the exact same as U.S. Central, so all our meetings were at the same time!

Popular Neighborhoods for Digital Nomads in Mexico City

When you start looking for somewhere to stay in CDMX as a digital nomad, there’s one main neighborhood you’re going to read a lot about: Roma Norte.

Roma Norte is the “bougie” neighborhood with leafy, tree-lined streets, culinary gems and coffee shops on every block, and plenty of young professionals. Our Airbnb was on Calle Orizaba, just south of Plaza Luis Cabrera, and we loved it! We could walk anywhere in Roma Norte within about 10-15 minutes, and most importantly, there were plenty of cafes and restaurants nearby.

Originally, we’d planned on cooking at least some of our meals in the apartment. But once we arrived, we found out how affordable it really was to eat out for our two meals a day. Roma Norte meant our options were endless.

Some places we liked to eat (and places we liked to work*):

• Tacos La Güera La Roma
• Boicot Café* (Try the Rufus Thomas: Homemade cold brew + horchata. YUM!!)
• Cardinal Casa de Café*
• Porco Rosso
• La Morenita (best breakfast)
• Mux*
• Qūentin Café*
• El Gato Volador

Now, there are certainly other places in Mexico City you can live and work as a digital nomad. But when you’re looking to find a place that meets all your needs, like fast WiFi and relative comfort for someone who’s outside their own culture, you can see why Roma Norte is a popular choice. Does it necessarily reflect the everyday lifestyle of most Mexico City residents? Maybe not. Is it hella gentrified? Yes.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth visiting, though. And there are plenty of chefs and baristas, artists, entrepreneurs, and other hardworking Mexicans trying to make their way in the world through their Roma Norte businesses. It’s great to support them! While tipping isn’t “mandatory” like in the U.S., we always made sure to tip at least 10% on everything — or more, as prices are often lower than what we’re used to.

Short Term vs. Long Term Residency

This is something I’ve thought about more and more lately, especially as I’ve visited cities like Mexico City and Medellín that have large populations of “expats” and longer-term digital nomads. And this could honestly probably be its own post, because my thoughts on this topic are complex!

But it all boils down to… I don’t think I’m comfortable staying in a place like Mexico or Colombia, or other popular digital nomad locations like Indonesia or Thailand, longer than a couple of months.

In the case of Mexico and Colombia, I don’t want to contribute to “re-colonization” of places and peoples with indigenous histories and traditions that have already been devastated by European colonizers. It’s similar with Indonesia or Thailand, which I admittedly don’t know as much about the history and relationship of colonization. However, I do know that all these countries have a much lower cost of living (from a U.S. or European perspective). Which means we could rent or buy a house or apartment at a price that a local could likely never afford. When landlords begin pricing their units to cater to the digital nomads or expats (immigrants), locals lose access to housing that they deserve.

I’m very happy to visit any of these places and do some cultural “appreciation,” and staying for longer than just a week or so allows me to see more of the everyday lifestyle. But I don’t feel it would be my place to stay there for an extended period, or to live there long-term. This is also why I could never see myself retiring in one of the top international destinations that you often see retirees living out their golden years, like Costa Rica or Panama.

Even disregarding all my feelings about being a digital nomad in different places, there’s also the simple fact that sometimes locals just get tired of being around foreigners. (Foreigners who are often talking loudly over brunch, don’t know the local language, or are just making it harder to get a table at their favorite restaurant.)

“New to the city? Working remotely? You’re a f*cking plague and locals f*cking hate you. GO HOME.”
– A printed sign that was plastered around our Mexico City neighborhood of Roma Norte, popular with digital nomads

And I didn’t take that personally. 🤷‍♀️

Honestly though, don’t let that put you off from coming for a visit or to stay short term. All of the locals we met were very friendly, hospitable, and eager to share their culture with us.

 

Have you ever visited CDMX? Would you ever work as a digital nomad in Mexico City? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

Originally Published on October 17, 2022.