So you want to move to Mexico
your quick, no nonsense plan to get out of Dodge
This isn’t your grandma’s boomer guide to finding a posh winter home in San Miguel de Allende. Nothing wrong with that, but some of us want to just find an affordable place to live and work nomadically without a fat nest egg.
It can be done. An open flexible mind will be your best tool. Downsizing will be another key to the escape plan. The days of paying to store or transport stuff are over. Unleash the chains.
But some stuff you’ll want/need and some things are non negotiable. Like your pets. Driving is the best option and most convenient and least stressful, though driving in Mexico can have its pitfalls (and potholes), it’s not as terrifying as media would have you believe. I’ve been cross country alone as a female with my dogs 3 times. It’s a lot of work, and not as fast as you’d think by looking at a map (Mexico’s roads are twisty at times and there are many mountain ranges to cross.
Some of you don’t want a car here, don’t want to pay the $400+ import deposit (that sometimes you don’t get back), don’t have a car at all or want to get rid of it and its expenses to fund your new life. I’m all for it. Most places are easy to navigate without a car and it’s easy to taxi, rent a car for longer vacations, take a bus or a private driver. The entire time I was in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz I only left with my van to drive to Alvarado beaches with the dogs about 30 minutes away and then I always regretted losing my parking space.
If you’re coming in on a tourist visa you’ll have 6 months on the car and your person. Getting out for a border run for you is a lot easier than taking the car out for a border run. Merida to Laredo border is 36 not great hours. That’s not a drive you’ll enjoy doing to file paperwork. The tolls alone and waiting in line are a drag. Gas is expensive here all the time. Import fees on your US car are expensive and time consuming. Consider just letting it go or parking it at a friend’s if you think you’ll be back. If you do bring it you’ll need Mexican insurance and you can buy that online. Get full coverage. Ask me how I know…(car wreck total loss…they paid in full) but if you’re moving here the best thing in my opinion is to cut the ties that bind. Anything you keep you have to carry. If you’re super wealthy you’ll pay someone else to carry…but if you’re looking to have more freedom in your life, let it go. I came across some photos today of a yard sale I had in a parking lot of a hotel. Yard sale #423 I think. No matter how much you drop and how established you were, homes, elder parents, estates, businesses—-you’ll have to drop a lot.
Depending on where you end up in Mexico, most cities have ample shopping some of it gringo styled…Sam’s, Costco etc and you can buy all kinds of cool stuff much of it cheaper. Amazon is around too. I rented a furnished Airbnb the first month here and honestly I never took anything except dog food and my cosmetic bag out of my van.
So if things seem like they’re hairy on “the other side” (what the locals call the US) then get out. Take a leap of faith. If you have any questions, ask away. I’m going to suggest that you get a driving service from the company I used—it’s door to door and you can bring your dogs and all your stuff that you didn’t get rid of and just kick back and go to sleep. I found him on Jose Arteaga’s travel channel…a move to Mexico channel and I recommend you check him out out too. He’s no nonsense, gruff and long winded a little——but he’s not trying to sell you real estate or some shiny BS example of what Mexico is/ not. He’s a Cuban American and has lots of good perspectives. Also, he’s a grown up so you’re not getting a 25 year olds perspective (how are the bars? coffee?) and he’s not a scaredy cat fancy elder looking for white folks in Puerto Vallarta. Nothing wrong with either of those perspectives but there are many MANY resources for that. Send me a note for the info on the driver. Happy to share and he has many references.
I’m not going to steer you into well known tourist destinations for Americans because this isn’t a vacation and also if you want to be around a bunch of Americans you could stay…in America. I sorta hated Lake Chapala and San Miguel and Mazatlan where many expats have found their bliss at least seasonally…you just never know. I like small real neighborhoods and that may mean that your neighbor doesn’t have a door and uses a blanket instead. But your rent may only be $150 and they will invite you for carne asada. It may also be so primitive that you just can’t take it. If you hate it? you can leave and won’t have to give 8 years of salary pay stubs to rent an apartment. it’s worth a try. It’s a big country with lots of different customs, climates, topography, dialects and cuisine. I lived happily with my bougie self in Boca del Rio, Veracruz in a mid rise lovely hotel with a restaurant in the lobby and a great pool and view of the gulf and a fabulous bed. Room service. There I said it.
As you can imagine NYC is different than upstate NY and different from Louisiana and Iowa and even west coast FL is different than Miami…each street can even change. So when people say “Mexico is………….xyz”, just consider the source and check it out for yourself.
I’m in a VERY basic and dusty town in Sonora right now but that’s because someone drove into my van going 70 mph and flipped me into a ditch. But I started a dog rescue and people wave and they know my name at the tienda and will knock on the door if they haven’t seen me in a few days. it’s 360 days of sun and I can dry my laundry in 20 minutes and walk to the sea of cortez in 5. It’s cheap and safe. It’s what’s going on for now. And I have zero plans to return “to the other side” I’m just along for the ride.
