She Roams About contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of the links below, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products and services we use and trust. Read our disclaimer for more iformation. Mexico is one of those countries that has a reputation that precedes it. When you think of Mexico you often think of beaches, tacos and tequila but unfortunately people also associate it with drugs, crime and danger.
Fast forward to and I found myself planning to work remotely from Mexico as a solo female for almost two months. Living in North America, the only news that seems to come out of Mexico is cartel violence, drugs and kidnapping so who could blame me for worrying? After a lot of research I chose Puerto Escondido, an up and coming beach town in Oaxaca popular with digital nomads as my base. I had to stop in Mexico City on my way to the coast.
I figured because my flight had to land there anyways, I would be brave and take a look around. Due to a last-minute flight change with Aer omexico I ended up losing my first night in Mexico City and arriving at 5am. The panic started almost instantly upon entering the terminal. I had done some research in advance about the best way to get to my accommodation. I had booked a serviced apartment from Casai in the Roma Norte, one of the safest neighbourhoods in Mexico City for women and solo female travellers.
If that failed there were authorized taxis inside the terminal that were priced flat-rate by zone. When I exited into the main arrivals hall it was still very much nighttime outside and I was greeted by a wall of male drivers staring at me. Scanning the arrivals hall there was no obvious indication as to where Ubers would be so I asked an airport employee. After a very brief and awkward non-conversation about how to find an Uber I found myself at the authorized taxi kiosk.
Now here I was, stood in the taxi bay, sticking out like a sore thumb having to open my bag and my wallet, exposing my laptop, tablet, phone and money to about 15 people who were all watching me.
