📖Book update: What is this thing?

It's like a Rick Steves guidebook for Mexico City ... that in many ways is nothing like a Rick Steves guidebook for Mexico City

If you're familiar with our story, you know that we belatedly discovered Mexico City in 2021 because of ongoing travel restrictions tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, we had spent about 18 years traveling to Europe semi-exclusively, and had been spending at least 4 weeks each year in Europe. During this time, we took the advice of Rick Steves literally and "lived like a local" through home swaps each summer.

In researching Mexico City, we were intrigued by what we discovered, but we didn't know where to go for accurate, up-to-date information. There were several YouTubers and a few bloggers, but most were inexperienced and untrustworthy, and they have all pretty much given up since then anyway. There were, of course, books, but they were out-of-date and rarely updated. TV shows were equally problematic: Even today, you can only find occasional travel or food shows about Mexico City, and the best are now dated.

In short, there was no Rick Steves for Mexico City. No trusted voice who kept their content up-to-date and provided solid advice. And so we had to endure the more recent but unprofessional content that was available online and balance that with other, more sporadic and trusted information and find our own way. What we discovered was that few captured the essence of the city we immediately fell in love with. And even those who did eventually drifted off anyway. The situation became even more problematic when we decided to buy an apartment in Mexico City. It's one thing to get a bad restaurant recommendation from a YouTuber, but buying a home in an international destination is risky, expensive, and life-altering. And there was no adult supervision to be had.

So here we are.

We are not Rick Steves. We will never be Rick Steves.

But we do think we can fill a void for Mexico City. Eternal Spring started as a blog and YouTube channel, and we began by providing information about our experiences buying the apartment, furnishing and updating it, and figuring out how to pay bills and find help locally. We made mistakes. We learned. And with two years of experience behind us, we realized that formally documenting our experiences could help others more broadly. We're writers. And so we began thinking about, and then starting work on, our book.

In some ways, Eternal Spring: Our Guide to Mexico City is like a Rick Steves book for Mexico City. But in many ways, this is nothing like a Rick Steves book.

When Rick Steves got his start in the 1970s, publishing was entirely paper-based and while his books today are available electronically, they're still clearly designed for the paper-first world of the past. Our book was designed specifically for the way we feel most will read and refer to it: Digitally, on a device, most often a smartphone. We don't think in terms of "pages," though we did choose a guidebook-like size for the PDF version of the book. There's also an EPUB version that works with apps like Kindle and Apple Books.

Our book is formatted to be used on the go, and though it works fine as an offline reference, it's even better online because we link to online resources--websites, addresses, menus, and more when possible, plus our growing collection of detailed maps throughout--because that is how you are going to find a place on the ground and get the latest information, including when it's open and when it's at its busiest. Few people from the U.S. or elsewhere will call a phone number in Mexico City to discover when a place is open, whether they can get reservations, or get directions. It's 2024, and we're all online now, everywhere.

Rick Steves emphasizes art history and art museums, topics that fascinate some but bore many. And while we have of course visited all of Europe's most prestigious locations, we realized many years ago that our focus while traveling was decidedly different. So, we will cover the most important sights in Mexico City, if only to weigh in on which shouldn't be missed. But we will cover eating and drinking--everything from street food to world-class fine dining experiences--in much more detail. One travels to experience different things, and there is perhaps no better way to experience a place than through its food and drink.

At a high level, Eternal Spring: Our Guide to Mexico City is of course a guidebook for Mexico City, as promised in the name. But it's also our guide to Mexico City, literally, in that it's personal to our experiences and centers on where we live geographically and how we choose to spend our time here. We think many people would enjoy these experiences and benefit from learning what we've done right and what we've done incorrectly. And we will keep updating the book until it is relatively complete, in that it covers the parts of the city that visitors should see, and then to ensure it's always up-to-date. Mexico City is a dynamic place, and things change. So will the book.

Rick Steves spends three months a year in Europe, but he also has teams of people all over the continent doing the grunt work. We're on our own, though we of course lean on the expertise of our friends in Mexico City as well. This past year, we spent about four months in Mexico City, and we plan to spend much more time than that in 2025, starting with an open-ended three-month trip in January. During our most recent trip, a seven-week stay during October and November, Stephanie and I worked on this book every single day, and while I would like this pace to slow down a bit when it’s more complete, we know that this is an ongoing commitment. We're ready.

As is the book, in preview form. Almost.

More soon!