Glynna Prentice
Glynna Prentice, IL’s Mexico editor, got the travel bug at an early age. After traveling around the U.S. with her family as a child, she took on Europe during college, and returned to work as a field archaeologist in England before graduate school. Later stints abroad included working in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in international banking, and in Spain working as a strategic consultant for Price Waterhouse.
Most recently, Glynna lived in New York City, where she worked in health care information with a major internet health care portal. She now makes her home in Campeche, Mexico, on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Glynna attended college at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and also holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Articles by Glynna Prentice
Five years into my expat life, I look forward to downsizing. In fact, I recently bought a small, manageable, lock-and-leave property in Guanajuato, in the Colonial Highlands. It’s a far cry from what I thought I wanted when I first moved to Mexico… Then, I’d wanted a good-sized house, instead of an apartment as I’d had in the U.S.
A fun way to fund your vacations is by having an import-export business—it’s not as complicated as it might sound. It could be simply buying local products in Mexico, like handicrafts, and selling them back home when you return. Mexico makes so many handicrafts that you have plenty of options, from Mexican rugs to silver to pottery and more. Several regions of Mexico are particularly known for their handicrafts.
I’m in an SUV in La Paz, in Mexico’s Baja California Sur. The sun is hot and we’ve rolled down the windows as we drive through town. We go at a leisurely pace, stopping at street corners to obey the four-way stop signs; La Paz is too low-key to need many stop lights.
From the balcony of my hotel room in the medieval center, the casco viejo, I look down on cobbled streets lined with enticing restaurants and bars, trendy shops, hair salons, butchers, bakers, and—a few blocks away—the largest enclosed food market in Europe. Down the street, on a raised platform, a juggler is performing. Tourists and locals stroll in small groups, laughing, joking, and window-shopping.
San Miguel de Allende is one of Mexico’s prettiest colonial towns and an expat favorite. But it doesn’t have to be expensive. You can find properties there now starting at about $150,000, and enjoy San Miguel’s vibrant atmosphere and many amenities. And your cost of living in San Miguel will be low, too.
In this video, IL’s Mexico editor Glynna Prentice talks about the cost of living in Lake Chapala, Mexico. Lake Chapala, located in central Mexico, is an affordable expat haven that is one of the easiest places to retire abroad, thanks to thousands of English-speaking expats and US-style amenities. It’s a part of the world where it’s easy to afford a cook, a maid, and a gardener.
Someone asked me recently what city in Mexico has the best climate. Questions like this are subjective, so at the time I said, “It depends.” It depends, of course, on your own tastes and temperament. But the question made me think about climate a bit… and some places do stand out. So here are my picks for the best climate in Mexico.
These days, though, any oncoming vehicle is more likely a modern SUV. But I am in Ireland, and it’s hard not to think in clichés. That’s because most of them are still, thankfully, true. Here the land is indeed green, the people friendly, the pubs cozy, the music lilting.
I spent a month in Guanajuato, in Mexico’s Colonial Highlands, this past spring. I loved it so much that I plan to spend a lot more time in the Highlands this next year. (In fact, I just bought a house here.) There’s so much to like about this region… Guanajuato—like much of the Colonial Highlands—has four seasons, so I look forward to getting out fall and winter clothes.
The hills are gentle, rolling, and impossibly green. In the fields, cows graze fetlock-deep in the lush grass, while clouds scud across the blue sky overhead. Leaving the modern motorway, you immediately plunge into a world of narrow, hedge-lined country lanes, primrose-colored houses, and gray stone manors. Now and again a curve in the road opens up vistas of blue sea. Down the road, round the bend and over the hillocks, lies sandy beach or rocky shore…
I’m in Cuenca, Spain, a provincial capital less than an hour by train from Madrid. For budding expats who dream of living in Spain, provincial cities like Cuenca are a great option.
If you’ve ever dreamed of living in Ireland, now may be the time to start considering it seriously. Due to Ireland’s economic crisis, property prices are way down, making the Emerald Isle more affordable than it’s been in years.
In this audio debrief, listen as IL Editor, Glynna Prentice, gives you the scoop. She’s just back from a recent scouting trip to Ireland’s beautiful southwest coast.
I’ve come to this stylish, seaside city on Spain’s north Atlantic coast to drink in its legendary charm. The jewel of the Spanish Basque Country, San Sebastián has been a famed resort since the mid-1800s.
The town of Dungarvan lies on Ireland’s southeast coast, in the county of Waterford. Dungarvan has a pleasant harbor that is dotted with sailboats, since mooring is free here. In town, Dungarvan’s main streets are lined with two- and three-story, colorfully-painted buildings whose storefronts house restaurants, pubs, and shops.
The village of Kinsale is on Ireland’s southwest coast, in County Cork. In fact, it’s the southernmost port in Ireland. Only half an hour by car from Cork City, Ireland’s second-largest city, Kinsale is a popular weekend get-away. The village’s winding streets are packed with colorful buildings that house restaurants, pubs, shops, and B&Bs.
IL editor Glynna Prentice takes you on a tour of Bantry, a popular seaside village in southwestern Ireland. Located in County Cork, Bantry Bay is one of the most beautiful bays in Ireland. It’s also historically important—this was where the French fleet was supposed to land in Ireland’s unsuccessful 1798 uprising against the British.
I’m in Cuenca, a provincial capital less than an hour by train from Madrid. For budding expats who dream of living in Spain, provincial cities like Cuenca are a great option. It’s within 60 minutes of Madrid and offers a relaxed, inexpensive lifestyle in a scenic setting.
IL editor Glynna Prentice is in Bilbao, on Spain’s northern coast. Bilbao is one of the country’s biggest cities. It’s also a major industrial center and port. But Bilbao is also a very livable city.
Vitoria is in the green, mountainous interior of northern Spain, about a 45-minute drive south of Bilbao, the industrial port city on Spain’s north coast.
In this video, IL editor Glynna Prentice is at a tapas festival in Cuenca, Spain. Cuenca is less than 2 hours east of Madrid, and has a beautifully-preserved medieval center that is a World Heritage site.
If you live in Cuenca, Spain (the provincial capital) you can enjoy affordable, convenient small-town living…yet you’re as little as 45 minutes from central Madrid and its big-city action.
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