April 2019 update: the month that was in Mexico City and Guadalajara

That was it, April?! Really!!! Just a month ago, I was very stressed about packing my life in the Philippines and moving to Mexico.

It wasn’t an easy ride as I was completely turning my life around. I feel like I’m doing South America backpacking over again where I had to leave everything behind and start something new.

But Mexico is not new to me. I’ve been here before but I am kind of trying to understand it again. It’s been years since I was seen here last.

Sure, my confidence level in traveling Mexico is not at its peak but I am trying my best to not be scared because everything is fine. In fact, I already have an initial conclusion about female travel safety in Mexico. Nothing bad, really.

Travel plans (hoping not to break them)

Anyway, I am here and I plan to stay for the next six months. I was granted a 6-month visa in Mexico so I am going to maximize that.

So far, I don’t have any solid plan on how to navigate Mexico but I am sure I’m going to stay a while. Mexico is slowly growing in me again so I want to play it by ear. Who knows if I suddenly decided to live here before the 6-month visa ends. Let’s see!

I also want to go to Cuba in between. I am just worried about a few things like an Internet connection. My line of work is completely dependent on WiFi and I heard that the Internet in Cuba is still not that of a trend.

I’ve also been told it’s expensive so combining these two factors, I need to be there without working – in short, it should be a vacation.

I’m thinking 10 days would be enough? My last dilemma about visiting Cuba is the weather. I’ve been told it’s going to rain starting June. Not sure if that’s entirely true but I don’t want to visit Cuba if the weather is awful.

Not realizing I have a lot of friends in Mexico City

The goal of this travel is to be completely alone or at least meet new people. I did not alone in 2018 so I kind of needed this alone time.

I would not say I’m not entirely surprised how many people I know in Mexico City. It’s just that we all haven’t talked in a while. Facebook has this filter where they decide who you would see on your news feed.

It’s not even up to us anymore! So if I did not interact with a person (who’s not only my friend on Facebook but also in real life), I will not know anything about them unless I send a private message.

Knowing my friends, all guys, they’re not to the type to spend time on Facebook nor update themselves through an app. They like to get in touch to talk.

I have hopelessly failed in that department because I really don’t like texting or updating online. That’s what I do all day! I prefer real-life interactions and I believe I am good at it.

And so, a very close friend of mine who didn’t have any idea I was in Mexico City found me on Tinder.

Some backpacking years ago, I was working in a hostel in Medellin, Colombia when this good-looking Frenchman came in.

“Finally. Someone pleasing to look at,” my workmates and I whispered to each other.

But Julien didn’t turn out to be someone I’d date. I was very surprised on how we became super good friends! After Medellin, we accidentally met in Rio de Janeiro again for the World Cup and that’s where we spent a month of living together with other friends.

And today, he didn’t know I’m in Mexico City because he stopped updating his Facebook. He claimed to have been found out I was in the city because of Tinder: “Finally! Tinder has been useful this month!” he exclaimed.

We sat on his rooftop watching the sunset in Mexico City, remembering our young rocking years around South America. We looked at each other and realized that through the years we haven’t seen each other, nothing changed. We’re still the adventure-hungry-always-looking-for-new-places-to-live-humans that we are.

I am also equally close to Fernando, a Mexican whom I met 7 years ago in El Nido, Philippines. He was doing his PHD in Taiwan and was a constant visitor of my beautiful country. Together with two other friends, we spent most of the days island hopping in El Nido.

Fernando is very intelligent and one of the first well-traveled people I know. His stories on the road were one of the few things that made me say: “One day, I’m going to Mexico.”

That same year we met, I accidentally went. I found out that he was still doing his studies in Taiwan so we didn’t have the chance to meet. This time, he was also coming from Taiwan but our schedules fit.

Both of us found it so incredibly surprising how things just align for friends who have not connected in years. For every time I meet people I knew while traveling, my heart is on high to know that it really is true — it’s possible to meet people on the road who will be your genuine friends forever.

Guadalajara for a month

Currently, I am living with a friend in Guadalajara. Maylis is also from France and I worked with her in Paracas, Peru in 2015. I was in contact with Maylis before coming to Mexico and she invited me to stay with her for a month. I also didn’t realize she’s living in Guadalajara for 4 years already!

Maylis is fun and is exactly like me. At present, we do whatever we like in Guadalajara. This city is quite chill and most days, we just hang out with friends in bars or in their homes.

Through Maylis, I’ve made some local friends, too! These days, I’ve been working a lot on the blog. I’m trying to catch up with millions of content that I have not published in years so if you have any content suggestions, feel free to get in touch!

I also reunited with a friend from Israel, Alon. He also found me on Tinder and now he’s living in Guadalajara. Look how Tinder has been so useful this month!

What else this month?

• Currently reading True Places by Sonya Yoerg, a beautiful reminder that though we may busy ourselves seeking what we want, what we need has an uncanny way of finding us. I’m also reading Lionel Messi’s biography. I’m trying to be better at writing Spanish. So far, I am only good at communicating. Reading Spanish books helps me improve the structure of my sentences.
• The song that has been always on loop this month is Persiana Americana by Soda Stereo. It wasn’t a part of my South America playlist but I am putting it now in the north playlist. I take my playlists seriously so if you want to hear some new tunes from all my travels all over the world,  feel free to follow me on Spotify.
• Currently watching Game of Thrones new season like everyone else! I don’t want a lot of Netflix unless it’s my rest day but I started to watch Suits this week.
• Lately, I’ve been eating a lot of vegan food. I am not vegan but I am trying to lessen my meat consumption. Mexico is not a bad place to be vegan. In fact, there are a lot of restaurants in Mexico that cater to this diet. I’ll probably write a post on how I choose to be a weekday vegan one of these days.
• This month, I am trying to improve my health. I am not a person who exercises but now that I am close to 31, I think I need to re-evaluate on how I treat my body. I get so bored with exercise but I think I really need to follow a routine. I am also having troubles sleeping as I was in the Philippines before this. The time difference between Mexico is 12 hours! Additionally, days are so long in Mexico (sun sets at 20:30) so I’m a little disoriented.
• Coming up in May 2019, I’m moving to the beach area! I am planning to stay in Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta for 2 months. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

What have you been up to this month? I’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comment box below!