Big City Life and the Week I Realised That I’m Just a Small Town Gal
Combining the next two weeks purely because I fell out of the habit of keeping my diary updated and I really CBA to sit here and recap two weeks of entries… so it’s a brief entry this time – however; there are some cracking photos, enjoy!
Happy Monday, and I’m so excited to be back in México 🥳🎉 I’m up early for a full day of work, but nothing majorly exciting today I’m afraid! A slow week this week as next week I’m “on holiday” in Guadalajara. I finished up a couple of tasks on my current projects… hopefully going live next week!
Headed out for tacos at lunch which cost me £2.20 for two 😂 and for the rest of the afternoon and evening I worked on my vlog for The Galápagos.
Tuesday and I’m pretty zonked, I was up until 2am working on my vlog, so I had a lazy day, a quick Spanish lesson in the afternoon and the grand total of about an hour of work – the joy of being self-employed, huh!
Wednesday and my vlog went live today, I was super nervous about it but it was really well received and I got some great feedback! Had a Spanish lesson in the morning, popped out for a coffee – not really doing much this week – this feels like the first normal week I’ve had in months; cooking, exercising, watching TV, working- that’s it really!
Thursday and Friday didn’t bring much news as I took some time off and actually just lived like a normal person for once (watched TV, ate food, worked and exercised a bit).
Saturday and it’s time to leave México City and head north to Guadalajara via a seven hour bus! Nothing else to report today 😴 I’m joined by Arantxa and we’ll be spending the next 6 weeks together.
We arrived to Guadalajara late afternoon, headed out for some dinner in the centre and then got an early night, it was exhausting day of travelling!
For the next week we stayed in the city of Guadalajara, which, if I’m honest I didn’t really like that much; very expensive and very dirty city and the air quality was awful (100-150AQI, compared to 17 in my home island 🫠)
We did all the usual touristy stuff, saw the sights, took some photographs, ate overpriced food, did some shopping, but a highlight for me was visiting some “Pueblos Magicos”.
For some background, Pueblos Mágicos – or “Magical Towns” – are part of a programme launched by Mexico’s Tourist board a couple of decades back. The idea was to spotlight smaller towns that hold some cultural or historial significance but aren’t necessarily on the usual tourist trail. So, imagine a town with the charm and style of Oaxaca but under the radar.
To qualify for the designation, a town has to meet a set of criteria. It needs to have a certain population size, be located near a major tourist route and demonstrate the capacity to host visitors – meaning decent infrastructure, local guides, clean streets, and access to emergency services. But beyond the practical side, the town also has to offer something distinctive. This could be a rich indigenous heritage, colonial history, unique cuisine, or simply an atmosphere that captures the spirit of Mexico.
Once a town is recognised as a Pueblo Mágico, it receives government funding and support to preserve its traditions, improve facilities, and promote tourism in a way that (ideally) benefits the local community. Over the years, the programme has grown to include more than 100 towns across the country, and while some have become more commercial as a result, many still retain their original charm.
I’ve been to close to 10 of these towns now and I love them so much, I always make sure to go out of my way to visit one when I’m in a new state. Whilst, they’re not cut out for long-term nomadding (they’re pretty old school and some can be over-touristy/gimmicky), they’re lovely for a few days if you need to wind-down.
We visited two towns; Tlaquepaque and Ajijic. Tlaquepaque is within the Guadalajara metro area, but it’s mad that within a 20-min bus you can go from this sprawling metropolis to this magical little town that’s 200-years behind everything else. It’s known for its artsy, colonial vibe – all brightly painted facades, leafy courtyards and pedestrian streets lined with galleries, craft shops and street musicians. It’s definitely on the touristy side, complete with overpriced crappy restaurants, but in a fun, lively way rather than anything too polished or corporate.
Ajijic, on the other hand, is a lakeside town about an hour away from Guad with a slower, more relaxed energy. It sits on the edge of Lake Chapala and has become a bit of a hub for retirees, mostly from the US and Canada, so there’s a curious mix of Mexican tradition and expat influence and overpriced boujee properties. Think cobbled streets and colourful murals, but also brunch spots and English-language bookshops. The lake views are beautiful, especially at sunset, and the whole place has a laid-back, slightly bohemian feel. In hindsight, I would have loved to have spent a couple of days here.
I realised the last two weeks kinda killed me off… too much external stimulation. CDMX… I dunno… long term it’s not my vibe. I’m not a big city person. If you like big cities then CDMX will rock your world, honestly it’s an incredible city but it’s just too big for me. After a week there, in a very loud and busy part of the city, we then went to Guadalajara which is equally as large and noisy, my little autistic brain just died.
Reflecting back now as I sit in Oaxaca, I just needed routine again, I’ve been running around like a headless chicken the last few weeks and it’s tired me out. CDMX has the largest metro population (that’s the city population plus commuter population and related/feeder cities) in LATAM of about 22-23 million people, it’s insane. Whereas Oaxaca has 650,000.
I’m here for a month now, so I’m back into a proper routine; cooking, running and working. I’ve spent some time in Oaxaca before so I know where to go and what to do.
Other key moments for the week?
✅ Both my projects have finally gone live, one for an accounting company and another for a start-up legal firm. Formally, they’ll be announced in the next week but they’re in the public domain now.
✅ My Estonian e-residency kit is ready for collection.
✅ My trip back home (bleurgh) is booked and so is my European summer, let the Aperols commence (not that they ever stopped).
👋 See you next week!
