hey I'm a 25 year old guy from the Netherlands planning on going to Mexico end of December/begin January and stay there for a bit to grind - was thinking 3 or 4 months stay + 1 or 2 month travel somewhere (but if I have the time of my life I will consider staying longer). I went yolo-impulsive- to Malta (booked oneway + airbnb for couple days overnight) and lived there for a bit to play poker but that wasn't exactly considered a success, I struggled with finding housing (overpaid like crazy) and I was quite lonely there. So now I'm trying to plan it a little better.

First of all, I'm looking for advice what would be cool place in Mexico to live and grind? There seem to be quite some options but I don't know anyone who lives/lived there and would be cool to hear some insights/experiences! I prefer to be around a bunch of expats/travelers/other grinders aswell as being close to the beach.

How to approach finding an appartment in Mexico? (besided searching on the 2p2 forums)

How to meet people when being solo abroad? As I said above in Malta I was quite lonely and I"m a bit scared it will happen again. I"m not socially awkward or anything but my question is more where to meet people? During lockdown I deleted all my social media but now I consider making facebook/insta if needed.

What's approximately the cost of living in Mexico (in places where a lot of western people are resided)? Obviously vague question because everyone has different spending habits and standards, but in terms of food and housing, it it cheap compared to US/western Europe?

Also if people are in Mexico that like to have a beer or looking for someone to join a grindhouse, hmu on discord: Joost#9738

I lived in Mexico for about 3 years. 2+ of those in Mexico City, 2 months Morelia, 6 months Puerto Vallarta, 1 month Mazatlán, and 1 month Playa del Carmen/Cancún. You could look up my thread for info/pics on a bunch of different places.

For what you're looking for, I think Playa del Carmen or Mexico City would be the best. The first has by far the largest community of poker players in Mexico, and is known for beaches/nightlife. Mexico City is one of the most popular cities in the world now for digital nomads (see r/digitalnomad), so there will be tons of like-minded foreigners, but maybe not poker players (although I'm sure there are some). Lots of other cities too with a decent amount of foreigners.

For apartments, I would either use AirBNB (a bit more expensive, but super easy and secure) or search Facebook for rental groups in each city (better prices, but more uncertainty, might need to stay 3 or 6+ months).

Meeting people is super simple in any city with a decent sized nomad population. Simplest is probably just join a Facebook group (Mexico City Digital Nomads) and then look for events, there will plenty posted. In Playa del Carmen, I think there's a group for poker players.

Rental prices are starting to creep up b/c Mexico gained a ton of popularity during Covid. Mexico City seems to be about like an Eastern Euro capital in terms of rental prices. Will still be a lot cheaper than USA or most of W. Europe though. The popular beach cities might also be fairly expensive. As you move to non-beach/Mexico City cities, prices will drop quite a bit, but probably less foreigners to meet, and Spanish knowledge will be more important.

Hope that helps!

For sure helps a lot! Thanks man appreciated

I lived 6 months in Mazatlán, landed 10 days ago in PDC. Night and day. In Mazatlán is the expat community builded around retired couples in their 70's. Almost no one in the city speaks english. Although the city nice and has beautifull beaches. PDC is tropical paradise, better restaurants and services. Lots of poker and non-poker expats and almost everyone speaks english. If you plan to play cash games, come to Playa since it seems everyone here plays mtt's The prices - 1000$+ studio/1bed in central, 10-20$ meals in restaurants.

agree with both - without knowing the language you will feel lacking with most life activities unless in one of a few places in mexico that really caters to foreigners. Rosarito/Baja, Cabo, CDMX, Guadalajara, Vallarta, PDC and that's about all for your options . I'll be going back to either mazatlan or zihuatenejo next year, but wouldn't recc either for first time in mexico. Go PDC, there's a handful of dutch grinders out there as well I'm sure would show you around

Landed in PDC as well about 3 days ago, I’d be interested if there are any poker expat groups on fb or whatsapp

thanks a lot guys think PDC will be the place I'm going to, might update later when I've booked or landed there

I arrive on Saturday in PDC. Unfortunately the planning has not been that great again also because I was on Holiday. Anyway if anyone feels like meeting up for a beer or has some fb/whatsapp groups I would love to know. Feel free to add me on discord Joost#9738 or pm me

Once you are settled would love to get a rundown of your experience so far... day dream about living in MX and grinding sometimes.