WHY WE MOVED TO MEXICO

One day I said to S. “I think we should drive up to Green Valley (AZ) and look at La Posada.”  That is a retirement community that offers three levels of living – independent, assisted and final stages including memory care.  She said, “You’re not ready for that,” implying the assisted living feature and I said, “No, not yet, but I am looking ahead.”  S. responded, “I wonder if there’s a place like that in Mexico.”  She did some research and Bingo, we found a place we had visited often and where we are now.

Each person, couple and family have their own reasons for becoming an ex-pat whether in Mexico, Italy, Portugal or elsewhere.  Here are some thoughts and experiences which led to our move this past June, 2024.   Some things we find appealing are: 1) cost of living which in total is less although groceries and gas are similar to U.S. 2) good health care from doctors and hospitals 3) families in Mexico are a high priority  4) aesthetics and cuisine 5) climate, and 6) culture, including the Cortesia. For example: the significance of greeting everyone you meet, even strangers on the street, with a smile and “buenos dias” (good day – used between dawn and noon), or “buenas tardes” (good afternoon – from noon to sunset), or “buenas noches” (good evening/night – after sunset and before sunrise); saying “con permiso, por favor” when requesting attention or space (as in, “excuse me, may I get by?”); and offering this polite blessing on another’s meal (in passing someone’s table in a restaurant, for instance), “buen provecho!”    While these may seem optional, they are part and parcel of the culture here.  Good manners, respect and being a good neighbor are expected, given and received.

In the summer of 2022, our big trip was through eastern Canada and the Maritimes, including Newfoundland, a 10,000 mile sojourn in our Leisure Travel Van.  Previous adventures over the past quarter century took us to Europe several times, through the Panama canal, a two-year stint in London, a cruise to the south Pacific islands, sailing the Croatian islands and the Caribbean, a visit to Costa Rica and numerous trips throughout the United States and to Mexico.  All of this and more contribute to where we are today, having just returned from a two-week trip to Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

We have collected good memories, made new friends along the way, and had the benefit of extensive travel, even when I was working full time.  Our home base for the past three years was in southern Arizona, south of Tucson, close to the border with Mexico.  We were drawn back to Mexico again and again, sometimes staying for a couple of months at a time. We love the culture, the values, the people and the lifestyle among the Mexicans and the ex-pats, mostly from the U.S. and Canada.  If you want to consider some of the differences, read the following by Warren Hardy, a  teacher of Spanish in San Miguel de Allende for over 3o years.  He got his information from ethnologists who have studied the different countries and their values.

All countries have core values, and these values form the basis of social protocol, shares Hardy.  “Mexicans are different from Canadians and Americans,” Warren says, and it goes way beyond “por favor” and “gracias.”

In Canada the core values are:

• Peace
• Order and good government
• Respect for all individuals in society

In the U.S. the core values are:

• Financial opportunity
• Time and the control of it
• Individual freedom

And, in Mexico, he says, “where this tribal nation holds on to the wounds created by history, the way to understand their core values is to understand their history because it is history that defines us all.”

In Mexico the core values are:

• Respect and personal dignity
• Trust
• Family and friends
• Free time

“Respect is key to the Mexican people and at the center of their core values,” says Hardy.  He adds that Mexico is a country where you can be happily poor because money and the accumulation of worldly goods is not a core value. “Family and respect,” he says, “are more important than a nice home and things.”

We moved to one of our favorite places, San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato.  It is in the central highlands, about 3 hours northwest of Mexico City.  It has been a popular tourist spot since the 1930’s, a colonial city filled with art galleries, shops and a rich history.  Never too hot or too cold.  We live 8 miles north of the city in a small development called Rancho Los Labradores.   In previous years we stayed on the coast in Nayarit, north of Puerta Vallarta, as well as in SMA.  We visited other parts of Mexico including Baja California and took an overnight ferry from Loretto to Mazatlan across the Sea of Cortez with our motorhome and a Jeep.  Other visits included Ajijic, Oaxaca, and numerous places of interest. On one visit to Mexico early on, we made the mistake of driving from Durango to Mazatlan over the Sierra Madre, in a motorhome, towing a car!  It was a two lane, mountainous road with large trucks and many sharp curves.  Now there is a new highway, The Durango-Mazatlán Highway, one of Mexico’s greatest engineering feats, 115 bridges and 61 tunnels across those mountains, a beautiful drive.  We drove back from Mexico one time via that route and recommend it if you have time and are driving.

Here’s a link with more information on San Miguel, where there are 10,000 ex-pats in residence.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende

If you want to see where other ex-pats are choosing to live with information about each of them have a look at this link from CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/living-abroad-best-countries-for-expats/index.html

Our little development and community is a neighborhood of friendly, helpful people who share concerns and help one another in multiple ways. We communicate via a local computer network connection (a Google group) with invitations, announcements, questions, and requests for help with something specific. There is a café in the center which is a social gathering spot and other amenities are listed on the web site here:

https://www.rancholoslabradores.com/index.php?vw=1280&vh=632&v0=&v1=118&v1b=0&v2=eng&v3=0&v25=551

We chose to rent a villa, a 2 br 2 ba casita for a year, and we plan to extend either here or in some other villa in the community.  We have a year’s temporary residency status in Mexico and will opt for permanent residency either later this year or in three years, TBD.  There are some restrictions and requirements, nothing extraordinary, just a little government bureaucracy which you will find anywhere except maybe at sea. Even there to travel internationally, a boat must be registered in its country of origin.

We keep our U.S. legal residence and passport, pay taxes, vote and stay connected with our seven children and their families, all of whom are scattered coast to coast in Estados Unidos.  Grateful to connect with you too, through this post and others which will cover a range of topics having to do with learning, growth and change; external and internal observations, spirituality, holistic health, aging well, and yes, some travel now and then.  Hasta luego!