Mexico City: The return of work travel

I’m just back today from a trip to Mexico City to visit with some coworkers, some new and some that I’ve known and worked with for years. This marked the return to travel after a couple years grounded at home during the pandemic.

I’ve never been to Mexico, and never thought I’d be going in July! And to the capital city!

I actually had a choice of two meetups, one near London, England, and this one in Mexico City. With the meetup portion scheduled for just 3.5 days, I just couldn’t imagine crossing the ocean and messing up my internal clock for 3.5 days. So I opted for Mexico!

And I’m glad I went. And experienced it. But. I can’t see myself ever going back to Mexico City.

My intestines and stomach did not enjoy it. The high altitude made it difficult on its own, having to drink so much water, all of which you had to purchase (can’t drink the tap water there), but after some street meat tacos landed in my stomach the wrong way, I was done for. Diarrhea for days. Still now even. I even threw up once. I almost passed out between two coworkers laptops. Dry heaving. Sweats. Dehydration. Weakness. And I spent two days in bed.

But beyond that, it was great to travel. Even greater to hang out with coworkers and meet some newer ones in person. It is soooo valuable to be together in person. It took two days to get there, with an overnight in Vancouver. And three days to return, with an overnight in Vancouver and Whitehorse.

I really did not take that many photos. I was focused more on my survival. But I’ll share the few I have!

We stayed at the Hotel Circulo Condesa, about 45 minutes from the airport. It was a really nice place! Huge rooms, very clean, each with their own private balcony. They had very nice, helpful staff, and security guard, who were quick to lend a hand with your luggage. They had a breakfast bar included, at a nice outdoor, partially covered area. I mostly consumed their probiotic yogurt and granola each morning 😀 Here’s some photos of the hotel and my room:

And here are some of the view from my balcony. A street market was set up over night on my last night.

I didn’t expect so many trees were in the city, especially in our area. Big beautiful trees and plants. From rubber trees to cactus plants. Many birds. And so dog friendly, even at the restaurant tables.

There are 7-11’s everywhere. I bought water and snacks the first afternoon and ended up living on the Polvorones for a couple days when I got sick and the little fruit filled biscuits.

Prices on snacks and food and transportation was very affordable. Mexican Pesos are neat, colourful bills. I withdrew roughly $100 Canadian for sending money in the equivalent Mexican Pesos, which was $1500 Mexican Pesos (also uses the dollar sign).

Here’s some of the food I ate before my guts tapped out.

No I didn’t eat the crickets, but some of my coworkers did:

Fourteen of us made it to Mexico City. Here are a few candid shots of my coworkers:

I missed a day long tour at Teotihuacan, the UNESCO world heritage sites with the Aztec ruins and pyramids. Probably for the best. There was no way I had the strength to walk around in the full sun.

I didn’t even have tequila the entire trip. Just one Mexican beer. But since I was there, I bought Jeff a nice bottle of Mezcal at the Duty Free shop on the way out of the country.

I haven’t needed to wear a mask, other than at the hospital during checkups, for months. But in Mexico City, almost everyone I saw was wearing a mask, even walking outside on the sidewalk. So we all did the same, and then wore them to suit our own comfort when together. We all tested before we left our homes, when we arrived, and again a couple days after arriving for the health and safety of all of us.

On the way home, my cousin Meaghen came to the Vancouver airport to have breakfast with me!!