Thirty million Tripadvisor readers voted Tulum #2 in their top 10 Beach and Sun Destinations worldwide in 2010. When you see the beaches, it’s easy to see why … silky white sand, dotted with palm trees, and washed by bright-aquamarine Caribbean waves. Offshore, the coral reef beckons, with a rainbow of exotic fish.
There’s been a lot of talk this year about the Mayan apocalypse, due to take place tomorrow—December 21. Whatever happens, I figure I’m pretty much at ground zero for it: I live in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, home to the Mayans.
I was in Mexico’s Colonial Highlands recently, strolling through a handicrafts fair, when I saw a display of little mirror-compacts with casings made from decorated, beaten tin. I thought they’d make perfect little gifts for girlfriends—a useful item they could toss in their handbags.
Libby Rush worked for a real-estate underwriter—until they suddenly closed shop. She could have looked for a job in the industry she had experience working in, but she wanted to do something different. “I needed to reinvent myself,” the mum of two grown kids explains. She wanted a career that was “fun, where I could be of service,” and that let her travel abroad in search of the perfect retirement spot.
It’s a rare thing these days to be able to say that you own real estate on or close to “Grade A” beach. By that, I mean truly stunning beach, either Caribbean white sands or the bluest stretches of the Pacific Coast. We’ll discuss the following three beach areas in detail at our upcoming International Real Estate Investment Forum…and for those in the room, $91,500 in savings will be on offer.
This is the most stunning stretch of white-sand beach I have set foot on. Standing here, on Tulum’s Caribbean coast in Mexico, with warm sea breezes rustling through the palm trees, I can’t think of anywhere else I’d want to be. If you’re looking for a manufactured resort, stay in Cancun. Tulum is the real thing. Jungle crawls over ancient Mayan Ruins. You’ll find caves and underground rivers.
In this video, Mexico editor Glynna Prentice speaks to an expat couple in Mexico, each of whom moved abroad as a single person. They talk about how being single affected (or not) their decision to become an expat and where to move. This (now) couple, moved to Mexico on their own and met one another there. They both offer advice on moving overseas as a single person.
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.
The afternoon sun beat down on the concrete building radiating heat around the pool, making it mandatory to take a dip in the cool refreshing water and to enjoy the extraordinary view across Mexico’s Zihuatenejo Bay. It provided me with a great opportunity to take some photos from the pool to sell on one of the Micro-Stock agencies I post to.
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.
When Cheryl Finnegan lost her job, she considered putting up a fight. She could stay in San Francisco—maybe get back into another firm with another position in corporate marketing. Or she could do something else with her life. At the age of 39, in the middle of a divorce and with a generous severance package from her former employer, Levi Strauss, Cheryl did just that.
You can fly from Florida to Cancun, Mexico in less than two hours. And right now, the round-trip airfare for the end of February is only $262. That’s with American Airlines from Miami. Another cheap flight at the same time is from JFK New York with Delta—$333 round-trip.
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.
This is what can happen when the Path of Progress rolls through. Real estate prices rise faster than the rate at which shiny high-rises spurt from beachfront sites. In Cancun, Mexico owners of little fishing huts became millionaires.
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.
In the right places overseas, you can live well without burning through your retirement nest egg. Where? I’ve told you about some of them already this month—the top-ranking countries in International Living’s Annual Global Retirement Index. All a perfect mix of culture, climates and lifestyles.
International Living has been covering this beat for more than 30 years, and each Global Retirement Index we put together just gets more interesting. I’ll give you a little example… what do you think are the top five best places to retire on this year’s Index?
Enduring the winter months in Northeast USA can be rough. The snow, sleet and cold always compels me to go someplace warm. I often dreamed of having my own tropical paradise to visit whenever I wanted…although the reality of it seemed so out of reach.
I’m in Mexico’s Yucatán, only a short flight from many U.S. cities (1.45 hours from Miami, two hours from Houston, and four from New York). But I’m a world away from Cancún’s spring break crowds and wall-to-wall highrise hotels.
If you like your beach living with comfortable amenities like first-run films, great restaurants, and plenty of night life, then consider heading to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. This relaxed resort town on Mexico’s Caribbean coast has all these comforts…along with some of the most beautiful beaches around.
Strolling the streets of this mountain town—which dates back to the 16th century—it’s easy to see why as many as 10,000 expats choose to live here full- or part-time. San Miguel de Allende offers romantic, historic Mexico at its most approachable.
Libby Rush is finishing up a year teaching English at a small foreign language school in Campeche, Mexico. It’s been “a wonderful experience,” she says—and she’s already considering where she may teach next. Ecuador, Honduras and Nicaragua are on her short list—as are some other cities in Mexico.
When Pat Cornwell gets up, it’s not a blaring alarm clock that wakes her. And it’s not the need to hustle to a job. Rather, it’s the crow of the neighborhood roosters and the warm sun on her cheeks. With the U.S. rat race behind her, just cool Mexican breezes, lush landscapes and endless possibilities lie ahead.
next »1 of 8
