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.
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?
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.
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.
Robert Abuda and Erich Briehl started out in Canada and ended up in Mexico. With portable careers and a passion for renovation, Robert and Erich can settle anywhere they choose…and right now they’re based in Merida.
Trendy beach resorts with all the amenities can be lots of fun. But if you sometimes miss the romance of Caribbean beaches as they used to be—remote and wild, just you and the white sand and surf—then Xamach Dos, in Mexico’s Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, is for you.
The life paths of Kate Barron and Gary DeRose were about as far apart as they could be…until they crossed in Merida, Mexico. In this weeks’ episode, they tell us what brought them to Mexico’s beautiful and historic Yucatan capital and how they’ve made themselves at home there.
We’re always on the lookout for that “next” place. That place where geography and price-point and accessibility come together at just the right time to create a window of opportunity for pioneering investors.
Every morning I open my eyes and see Agua Volcano framed by my window, looming above the red-and-gray mishmash of tin and tiled rooftops. Out on the terrace sipping freshly-ground, locally-grown coffee, I can see three volcanoes: one extinct, one dormant, and one active.
Every year, thousands of U.S. and Canadian residents visit the small town of Algodones, Mexico, for one simple reason: It saves them thousands of dollars.
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