For Nat Cedillo, jet-setting from one hotspot city to another each week is no cheap thrill.
It’s a necessary evil of her pricey, punishing super-commute.
“I travel from Mexico City to New York City so that I can attend my law school classes,” Cedillo, 30, an aspiring intellectual property attorney, tells The Post. “It’s exhausting, but worth it.”
The newlywed millennial and her husband, Santiago, formerly of Brooklyn, left the Big Apple late last year to take a bite out of Mexico for its tropical appeal and budget-friendly cost of living.
Since January, Cedillo has spent upward of $2,000 on airfare, lodging and food.
Throughout the 13-week semester, she’s taken the more than 4,000-mile round-trip — which begins with Monday morning flights into JFK Airport and ends back in Mexico City by Tuesday night — to complete her last term at a top NYC institution.
It’s a high price to pay.
But Cedillo — alongside Gotham’s growing community of super-commuters — does it for the payoff that comes with doing the daily grind in one of the greatest places on Earth.
She’s among the number of 9-to-5ers, students and wannabe Broadway stars who regularly make a major hike from their small hometowns into the city via planes, trains and/or ride-share automobiles.
It’s a long-distance work trend that’s picked up steam since the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a Stanford University study.
Researchers discovered a 32% post-pandemic increase in U.S. commuters who frequently travel over 75 miles for school or the office. More shockingly, investigators reported an 89% uptick in super-commuting into New York in recent years.
Kaitlin Jay, an Upper West Side hairdresser, previously told The Post, “It’s cheaper than renting my own apartment on the UWS.”
As a super-commuter, the 30-something routinely flies 600 miles from Manhattan, where she makes bank prettifying posh patrons, back to her new home in North Carolina.
“I get the best of both worlds,” Kaitlin bragged.
Kyle Rice, a software developer and married dad, from Delaware, agreed.
“I don’t have to worry about the high cost of living in NYC,” he said. “The average one-bedroom in Manhattan is $4,443, three times my mortgage of $1,400.”
For a six-figure salary, he hoofs it across four states — Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and into New York — several times per week.
“I live in a suburban area with all the benefits of urban pay,” said Rice.
And Cedillo, who spends non-traveling days soaking up the sun and splendor of Mexico City with Santiago, echoed similar sentiments.
“I love New York, but [before we moved] my husband and I weren’t living in the most lavish neighborhood, and everything was so expensive,” said the soon-to-be lawyers, who’ll take the New York State Bar exam this summer.
“In Mexico City, we’re able to enjoy a better quality of life,” added Cedillo. “The days I’m not commuting are the best.”
