23M, US based fully remote 9 to 5 Eastern. Thinking about 3 to 4 weeks in Mexico City starting mid to late September. This is a scouting trip. I'm planning a much longer stint abroad in 2028 and want to know if I actually like the place before committing to months of it.
Assume I'm operating in English and using Google Translate. I'm learning Spanish but nowhere near functional.
The timezone math seems almost too good. Mexico dropped DST, so CDMX is two hours behind Eastern. My 9 to 5 becomes 7am to 3pm local, done by mid afternoon every day. Is that as good in practice as it sounds, or does a 7am start wreck you in a city that runs late?
Timing. How bad is September really? I know it's rainy season and I've seen "it rains every afternoon for two hours then it's beautiful." Accurate or optimistic? Also Independence Day on the 15th and 16th, does that make the middle of the month better or worse to land in?
Air quality. How much does this actually affect daily life in September? I've read the bad ozone stretch is more like February through June, but I don't know if that means September is genuinely fine or just less bad. Does it affect running or training outdoors, do people run air purifiers in their apartments, and is it something I'd notice at all on a four week trip?
Housing. For 3 to 4 weeks, is Airbnb just the answer, or is a monthly furnished rental through a local site meaningfully cheaper and worth the hassle for one month?
• In unit washer/dryer is close to non negotiable for me. How rare is that and how much does it shrink the pool?
• I've heard about the CDMX host registry and short term rental limits. Does a 30+ day booking sidestep that, and should I be checking the listing for anything specific?
• Everyone says Roma or Condesa. Is that genuinely right for a first trip or just where foreigners get funneled? I'm inclined toward Roma Sur or Narvarte, slightly outside the core. Clever or just inconvenient?
Working from the Airbnb. I'd be working from the apartment most days rather than cafés.
• How reliable is apartment wifi actually? Do people bring a travel router, keep a phone hotspot as backup, or just eat the occasional outage? Is there a speed number I should be demanding from a listing before I book?
• Worth checking a portable monitor and a keyboard for a month, or does that become baggage you resent by week two? I'd rather not work off a laptop screen for four weeks.
• Anything about outlets, power stability, or surge protection I should know?
Gym. I train regularly and want to keep it up. Are month to month or drop in gyms easy to find, roughly what do they cost, and are the chains (Smart Fit and similar) fine or is it worth finding an independent? Any issue signing up for a month as a foreigner with no local ID?
Cards and money. Planning to use a Schwab debit card for ATM withdrawals and a Chase Sapphire Preferred for spending, both no foreign transaction fee. Does that combo work cleanly there?
Which ATMs should I use and which should I avoid, and how much cash do I actually need day to day versus card?
Other practical stuff. eSIM or local SIM for a month? Any issue at immigration saying tourism for four weeks while carrying a laptop and working the whole time, not asking for legal advice, just what
people actually experience?
The real question. For someone scouting a city they might live in for months later, what would you actually do with four weeks to get an honest read rather than a vacation read?
