I've been on a roll lately (hmmm...a blogroll) finding people blogging about their lives in Mexico. Check them out:

Family moves to Merida - their ¡Vamanos! blog is about their life in Mérida. The whole family moved for Dad's work, and they expect to stay in Mexico until 2010.

Larry & Indra in Progreso write Yucatan Rebirth. They are almost done building their house, and their most recent post gives a nice tour of Progreso.

David Lida in Mexico City - Very interesting writer (of several books) His posts are always relevant and I have added one of his books to my Amazon wish list.

Mexico Bob lives and works in Irapuato. He seems like a very nice, genuine, intelligent person - and his posts are well written and interesting.

Our final link is to a page on Mexico Guru with a quiz that will help you decide where to retire in Mexico. Fun and harmless.

I've heard stories of a number of people who moved to Mexico and decided to move back to the US before their first year was up. Some are firsthand stories of people known to our friends and family. The stories were told to us in a loving but cautionary way by people who were worried the same thing would happen to us. They didn't want to see us disillusioned or hurt, either emotionally or financially.

We've been here almost a year now, and I can truly say that we are both very happy with our decision to move. We love the community, the house, the neighborhood, and the weather. I could go on and on - and I have, actually, as this blog is witness.

Without going into details, I have heard lately of a number of people who have moved back or are planning on moving back to the US. It's made me think about why we were successful and try to figure out what we might have done differently than they did.

• We had traveled in Mexico extensively
• My son and his wife live in Mexico and were a great source of information and ideas
• We made a really solid "must have" list for our new community
• We worked through our control issues with regard to litter, barking dogs, etc
• We have taken it slow, not joining every organization just to fill time
• We really like spending time with each other
• We are committed to learning the language
• We had thought about the challenges facing us ahead of time (vegetarian food/the language)
• We helped each other get through bad patches instead of escalating frustration

That's a few of the things I think we did right. Here are some observations about some things unsatisfied folks maybe could have done better:

• Think ahead about how you will deal with aggravations like barking dogs, litter and no-show repairmen. Have strategies ready. You need to be honest with yourself to do this.
• Settle in a home that fits your lifestyle. If you like to walk, make it easy on yourself, don't buy on the top of a hill.
• Surround yourself with people who bring out the good in you, and who make you feel positive.
• Think about whether your move is all about one thing (i.e. you can live here for less money)
• Think about whether you are you open minded? Accepting? Positive? Flexible?
• Think about whether you want to adapt to the culture. Will you be unhappy if you can't find a store open during siesta or your favorite food item?
• Do you like to settle disputes with a lawsuit? Probably Mexico isn't a good fit for you.
  

We're here for the long haul. Are you? Or no? I'd love to hear why.

I have received a few compliments lately on the way I have organized our move. I think it's kind of funny, because I don't think I have been more organized than anyone would be planning a move of this magnitude. I mean you don't just throw a few things in a box and head out....it is pretty complicated.

I do think that what my organization has done for us, though, is give us a bit more cash. I have been pretty methodical about selling things and have used Amazon, eBay, Craigslist, garage sales, and passed the word to family and friends. If I had waited until the last minute I wouldn't have done so well, I'm sure.

All my obsessive preparation and attention to detail also helped us get our house sold quickly. I knew watching those home selling shows on TV would be good for something! Houses in the Pacific Northwest are selling better than in some areas of the country, but we sure didn't want to be one of the unlucky ones where a sale takes a long time. We knew our time frame and we did everything we could to hit it. Of course, luck plays a big part in it, too - you need just the right people at the right time, too.

The long timeframe for our move helped me, too. It's easy to miss things if you only have a short amount of time. I was able to think about things (and make list after list) so that things didn't fall through the cracks. Although once we are settled in Mazatlan I bet we will have found some things that we either forgot about or that surprised us!

We are also making some choices that we hope we don't regret. We aren't doing a menaje de casa since we plan on getting our FM3's in Mazatlan, and are just taking our belongings in our van. So - we have a little tension about the border crossing.

Overall, though, I am happy with how things have gone so far and can't wait for it to be time to hit the road!

The Mazatlan Malecon at Sunset


I don't even know where to start this post - so much has happened and Paul and I have been talking non-stop.

Basically, Paul knew right away that he could live in Mazatlan. I wasn't so sure because my vision of our life in Mexico was in a place that had fewer gringos. I wanted the challenge of navigating without a safety net and was also leery of the way you might get prejudged by locals as one of the nasty kind of gringos even if we aren't.

But then I realized that having others to talk to in English will really help us make the transition since a sense of isolation could really make life hard. We need friends, and we can't wait for the year or two we expect it to take for us to become fluent enough to make Spanish-speaking friends.

Queretaro actually helped us realize that Mazatlan is right for us, for now. We loved the Centro, and the cleanliness, and we absolutely fell in love with a house we saw. But ultimately we realized that a city like Queretaro is a growing commercial city and that people rush-rush somewhat like the US. (Although the weekend is a different story) We just wouldn't feel as relaxed there.

San Miguel de Allende was wonderful. We could probably be very happy there - but we would have to spend more on housing than we really want to, and it would be just a more expensive place to live.

One of our concerns is how hard it is to reach somewhere for friends and relatives from the US...and Mazatlan really is hard to beat. There are people who I feel certain will come to visit us in Mazatlan who just wouldn't be comfortable navigating airports in Mexico City or Leon.

The thing that bugged me about Mazatlan at first is the hotel zone. It is crazy, overrun with fanny-pack wearing gringos laughing too loud and roaming from Carlos & Charlie's to Senor Frog's. There is even an Applebee's coming soon! I really feel bad for them if that's what they think Mexico is...but some of these folks do come to Centro (you can tell by the all-inclusive wrist bands) so perhaps some do see that there is more to Mexico than the hotel zone.

There are also cruise ships that come to town, and when they are in town the prices jump in the shops I've been told.

The hotel zone is pretty much just North of town. Cruise ships are South. Centro, regular shopping, parks, and the beach are accessible easily from the historic Centro easily.


View North from the Lighthouse Area

What Mazatlan has is a way for us to enter our life in Mexico without too much isolation. We can take language classes. There is an English library. The Venados play baseball there. (That is a big one) We can drive there in 5 days from Washington. Alaska Airlines flies direct for $520 round trip. Houses near Centro are affordable. The malecon is right there! We will bicycle in the morning, hike to the light house, or walk the dogs on the long tree lined boulevard. There are tons of places to walk. The fresh shrimp is incredible. The market has wonderful vegies. There are a couple of vegetarian restaurants and GREAT pizza. The beach! Whales! There is such a nice breeze off the water! We can just keep our Honda van!

We have looked at enough houses to know that we can find something perfect for us. Or have it made perfect. And we know that when and if the time comes to move on, we would be able to sell our place since we always have such a positive response to the way we decorate, etc.

There are a few negatives about Mazatlan, but really not many. It gets hot in the summer, but that is when we might head to the US to visit or inland to travel and visit. Or just read a book in a shady spot. I still want to see Jalapa, Cuernavaca, San Luis Potosi and Tepozlan. Paul hasn't been to Guanajuato, Morelia or Patzcuaro. And housing prices are reasonable enough in Mazatlan that we should have money available for travel.

What this trip showed us is just how much we love Mexico and how we want to be there like crazy.

Now that we've decided on our first home in Mexico, we can really start figuring out the details.

I am not someone who puts several topics together on one post but the last few days have been so full I am just going to plunge ahead.

Queretaro on the weekend is an amazing place. Every one of the million residents must come to the Centro to stroll, eat, buy balloons, and enjoy their happy lives. The dancing and music was wonderful - Saturday was the dancers performing the specialities of various States and Sunday was ballroom dancing. Sure made me wish we knew how to dance like that.

We have been walking so much! Two nights we collapsed with exhaustion after walking basically all day! There is a funny story I´ll relate when we get home about our B & B -hotel fiascos that required quite a lot of trundling our bags all over the place, too!

Monday Queretaro becomes a quieter place. There are plenty of benches in the sun or shade as you prefer. We had made arrangements before we left the US to for a tour of neighborhoods and houses available with a local realtor. He took us to something like 15 houses, which gave us an amazing overview of the kind of housing available here. We know we could find something great here - we´re just not sure if we can locate in a neighborhood where we could walk to lots of things. We didn´t see any houses in Centro, and we´re not sure we could handle the crush of people every weekend on a regular basis. The climate here is wonderful though.

Our realtor told us that many people in Queretaro are from elsewhere because of the growing economy and that the service people are not very helpful because of that. We´ve noticed people (with the exception of taxi drivers) are less tolerant of our uncertain Spanish. I guess that´s a good reason to improve!

Tuesday we got a taxi to the bus station and caught a bus to San Miguel de Allende. The timing meant we got a Flecha Amarillo that stopped a lot along the way. The landscape is very dry, kind of reminded us of the Walla Walla area with the Blue Mountains in the background. San Miguel appeared before us like a dream - with the spires of the churches the first thing you are aware of.

We taxi´d over to Billie and Ned´s - and were blown away by them...it truly felt like we had known them forever. Their obvious love for their city, their home, each other, and life in general is wonderful. Their home is absolutely gorgeous - perfect in every way. We could move into it in a minute and not change a thing. They gave us a nice overview of neighborhoods and where to go in Centro. I really hope we can continue to get to know them once we get moved.

We didn´ts stay very long because we knew they had a party to prepare for and we had our exploration of San Miguel in front of us as well as a bus ride back to Queretaro. We spent the day up and down the streets of San Miguel, visited the market, the squares, various stores, etc. We spent a fair bit of time sitting and watching people (and reading the map) and trying to figure out the gringo/Mexican relationship there.

There are a lot of gringos but especially away from Centro it was more regular. Just walking around for the day though showed us that we would like to come back and get to know the town in more depth. The only question is whether we could find affordable housing there. So, Billie & Ned - we´ll be back, and next time we´ll remember the box of chocolates and not leave them in our hotel room!

Today is a free day in Queretaro, and also Valentine´s Day. It seems like it is a big holiday here as the balloons are out in force. We may just stroll around and bench-sit here and there or we might try to figure out if we can doa quick trip to Tequisquiqapan. When we leave here we´ll figure that out.

Thursday we will head to Mexico City to spend the evening with our son and daughter-in-law. We head back to Washington Friday in the early afternoon. I´ll be really sad to leave.

We have a screwy keyboard here but thought we´d do an update on Mazatlan even though we are now in BEAUTIFUL Queretaro.

We went out looking at more houses with a real go-getter young realtor, and fell in love (again) with a wonderful historic home in Centro. Expensive, but amazing. We really like Mazatlan, and if we could swing it we would love that old home.

Our experience at the B & B, Casa de Leyendas was wonderful. The hosts really made us feel like family and ¨hooked us up¨with people and events that really contribute to our response to the city. We heartily recommend their B & B.

We left Mazatlan at the crack of dawn to catch a 7 am flight to Mexico City. (Oh, and they got up and made us breakfast at 4:30 am) We navigated DF airport with no problem and got a bus to Queretaro that left right away. Three hours later, a quick taxi ride, and we arrived in el Centro.

We can see right away that this is a beautiful, warm city. We have already visited three large plazas. The Centro is closed to cars on many streets and we have been strolling along and soaking up the scene. Tonight there is dancing in the Plaza near our hotel which should be fun.

There is lots more to tell, but the trees and squares make this place very special already. In addition, our son and his wife are celebrating their anniversary in San Miguel this weekend and we might be able to get together on Sunday. That would be wonderful

Hasta luego!

We are still in Mazatlan. We like it here a lot but we haven't "fallen in love" with it like we hope to do when we meet and get to know our new home.

The Centro is nice - but in comparison to a lot of Mexican cities we've known, the plazas in Centro are very small. We were really hoping for some wonderful plazas that would make bench-sitting part of our daily entertainment. If you've ever been to Colima, you'll know what I mean!

The malecon is actually 6 miles - not 17 as we had read several places. It is a great place to walk - nice and flat and right on the ocean.

There are A LOT of gringos here, and most of the restaurants speak English which is kind of a bummer! I really like working out my questions and communicating with people, and if they all speak English it turns into a kind of dumb exchange where we speak in Spanish and they in English and no one learns anything!

We fell in love with a house one day, and maybe out of love with it the next day. We went out with a an American realtor - and one of the houses he showed us was very interesting....two bedrooms, two baths, with an interior courtyard, etc. It was an 1898 home in Centro that had been totally redone. But our problem is that there are so many Americans and Canadians here that in a few years we think we might as well be at home.

The B & B where we've been staying is great - just 6 rooms, and we have had a lot of fun getting to know the hosts and the guests. Yesterday we went to see an Elvis impersonator with a bunch of them that made us feel that we were in the Midwest! (Ok, except for the huge palapa and the ocean just outside) Then today we went whale-watching with two other couples and saw several humpback whales. So that has been fun.

But to return to our decision making process...we are way less sure that Mazatlan would be the place for us. If we decide on the coast, we might be more likely to select Manzanillo or Zihuatanejo for its affordability and location than Mazatlan.

All in all this has been a great trip so far. We are still here Friday and are possibly going to a shrimp party with some other people from the B & B. If that doesn't happen, we will probably just explore Centro some more. There are some places to go to that we've only driven by - a larger city park with an aquarium and aviary is probably top of my list. The Venados season is over so unfortunately there isn't any baseball to see.

Carnaval is in the air here - starting next week. Mazatlan has the third largest Carnaval in the world, and they are preparing like crazy. There are huge banks of bathrooms being constructed and paper mache (sp?) statues everywhere. Just not the kind of event we are interested in being a part of, so we are glad we'll be gone by then. I guess some people charge people 5 pesos to use their bathrooms during Carnaval and practically get rich!

We are really looking forward to heading to Queretaro on Saturday. We'll keep you posted!

Mazatlan is a city of contrasts. There is the Golden Zone, with many fancy hotels, tourist activities and restaurants and the Centro with its older buildings and pretty squares and markets. Oh, and besides that there is the industrial side of the city - it is home to Pacifio Brewing and many other commercial users.

We are staying in Centro, in a B & B one block from the water. The malecon is wonderful to walk along...but we've only seen one dog.

We went out with a realtor yesterday but the usual mishaps with keys gave us only one place to see - a duplex for $265/$239 in Centro that had been totally redone with new plumbing, electrical, whole house water sterilization, etc. It was very nice but our socks didn't exactly roll up and down.

We're going on a tour of the city today in one of those touristy open air "pulmonias" they use around here. I'm not sure if it will be really goofy or if we'll learn a lot.

It's so nice to be back in Mexico. Last night was wonderful in the main square, nice jazzy music outside, everyone happy, lots of families and smiling, strolling people.

We'll write more later! Breakfast time!

We're heading out in the morning - and are excited to start on this next chapter in our Mexican adventure. Even though we've always interviewed the places we've visited as potential new homes, for some reason this trip feels a lot more serious. It's probably because of our level of commitment as well as Paul's impending retirement.

We'll be in Mazatlan for a week and then Queretaro for another. We have tours set up with a realtor in each city, since the type of housing available and prices are pretty important to us. We'll scout out the places to walk, the shopping and restaurants, as well as the parks and views. We'll talk to as many people as we can.

We're not sure when we'll find the time for a post - but we plan on posting updates if we can. After all, the whole reason we started this blog in the first place was to document our decision making process. How could we have known it would turn into so much more than that?

Our trip to Mazatlan and Queretaro is coming right up! We are going to do our best to interview these cities as potential hometowns - while knowing that a vacation is quite different than actually living somewhere.

Somehow, though, I think we'll know the place when we see it. When we first saw the property we live on now we had an immediate positive reaction to it - and we knew we wanted to buy it even before we had seen the interior of the house!

When we visited Ajijic several years ago, I knew after a couple of days that it wasn't a place I could live. There were some wonderful neighborhoods, and we loved the B & B and some of the people we met, but I felt strongly that it was a place that wouldn't suit me.

So, while some of the features of our new community are black or white, there is a component that is just about how it feels.

There are many reasons that we want to move to Mexico, and I thought I'd explain a few of them. These are not in order of importance!

1. Because We Can Retire.

Paul is going to be 62 in June. I'm 9 years younger. If we are going to be able to both retire, we really can't do it here. Given our financial circumstances, if Paul were to retire here and take his social security and pensions, I would have to work. Health insurance alone would probably be more than $600/month. The thing is, we want to be together. We only found each other 9 years ago so we don't want to spend the next 9 years with me working full time and him retired. So, the fact that we can live for less in Mexico is a big factor.

2. Mexican Spirit

Mexico is a happy place. People smile all the time. People from all walks of life smile at each other. You just don't see the wariness, defensiveness, and hostility that are typical in the US. Old men in cowboy hats smile. Children hiding behind their mothers smile. People say "good morning" as they pass on the street. Teenage girls walk along arm in arm. People still dress up. Families walk to the square on Sundays. It's just nice!

3. Mexican Generosity

Acts of generosity are typical in Mexico. People will welcome you into their homes and be generous and warm very easily. I wrote about this on my other blog here. I can't explain it better than I did there so check it out.

4. Joyfulness

I can't explain how wonderful it makes me feel to be a part of the joyful world of Mexico. Mexicans really know how to have fun. People dance. People smile. Kids seem happy and content. Once in Jalisco we were treated to a huge impromptu parade when Chivas won a big game. Everyone was happy and excited! Weekends in the zocalo are such a treat of families and vendors and happy faces.

5. Spirituality

I am not a religious person. Not in the conventional, church-going sense, anyway. But I do consider myself a spiritual person, and I have a feeling of connection with humanity and a sense of grateful-ness.... But one thing I love about Mexico is the connection with spirtuality, whether it be the church or the semi-occult. The contrast between religious-ness in the US and in Mexico is startling. You don't see any holier-than-thou attitudes or right wing pandering.

6. Acceptance

Mexicans seem more accepting of people who are different. They don't worry about it, they just accept you.

7. Boring Days

Life can have its boring side sometimes, where you get up, clean the house, go to the store, etc. The most boring day would be more lively and interesting in Mexico.

8. Challenge

This really has less to do with Mexico and more with us. We want a challenge in this next chapter of our lives. Learning a new language, navigating in a new culture and country and making friends there - while retaining our friends here....will give us the challenge we want. Or more!

-Nancy

Last night I was talking on the phone with my son in Mexico City. We were chatting away about our upcoming visit in February as well as our upcoming move. I started to say something like "this friend of mine said..." and I realized that I DO consider my blogsphere friends real friends.

Actually, in some ways they can be even more real since they truly understand what we are going through.

They've all dismantled or mostly dismantled their houses. They've dealt with separations from family and friends. They've had to say goodbye to beloved pets. They've had to really think about and care for those things that are the most important to them.

They've also already done it! Which means they have adventurous spirits.

The fact that they love Mexico is a real bond, too.

I hope to meet all of you some day. When we get moved down, know that nuestra casa es tu casa.

-Nancy

I read Paul's post on our animal family, and realized I needed to talk about this, too.

I have basically been humming with my fingers in my ears about the topic, but he is right, we need to face it head on. But I believe we have some decent options.

• Birds. I am going to see if my best friend would watch them for our first few months in Mexico, or until we buy a place. I think she probably would, and since she has trouble going away for any length of time because she has a lot of birds - we could maybe make a trade and let her have a nice vacation. I think this really might work. I have always dreamed of a tropical garden where Tiko and Maya could have an outdoor aviary and really have the good life. I'm not letting go of the dream, yet. Getting them there could be a challenge, but perhaps we could even have them flown in...pet shops fly birds everywhere so who knows.
  
  
• Dogs. I believe it will be challenging sometimes to have the dogs but I can't imagine not having them. This is probably a non-negotiable point for me. We'll see.

-Nancy

We spent the last few days enjoying a visit from Number One Son and his family, which includes our two delightful grandchildren. New Year's Day meant a feast and festivities with them and also my younger sister and her family. Of course it was wonderful.

It was also a passage.

Next New Year's we won't be here. We'll be in Mexico.

So, the passage to 2007 was a big one for us - one that makes us feel very excited. We're like kids before a birthday, or graduation, or other big days...half sleepless and hyper and half overwhelmed with with the magnitude of the transition.

Everyone enjoyed their "recycled gifts" as I gave them things that had been in my household for years. I think this maybe made it easier for them to accept the reality of the upcoming changes.

Anyway, we are really looking forward to our move to Mexico in 2007!

I thought it might be a good time for a bit of our "back story."

Back in about 1991, my son was graduating from high school. My ex-husband had traveled in Mexico for about a year after our divorce - and a couple he knew well offered my son the opportunity to live with their family in the town of Colima and attend a year of college. My son was unsure about his future plans and thought it would be fun.

He enrolled in TEC (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey) without knowing a word of Spanish. The friends he was living with knew English but would only bail him out if he had worked hard at figuring it out first. He had to take a lot of classes over as he learned Spanish, but in the end, after eight years he graduated from college with a degree in International Business. Of course he was living on his own by then and had a girlfriend who is now his wife. And it goes without saying, he is bilingual. His wife is now fluent in English. They got married in Colima and have lived part of their married life here in Washington State within an hour's drive of us but now live in Mexico City.

I visited him down there many times, sometimes traveling around with him by bus, sometimes by car, and sometimes with his wife's family as they visited relatives. I can understand Spanish somewhat; my verbal skills are not as good. The 10 years of French I had in school does nothing but trip me up!

After Paul and I got married we started taking vacations to Mexico, too. We've traveled around a fair bit - Colima, Comala, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Guadelajara, Chapala, Mexico City, Zihuatenajo, etc. We always stay in B & B's and are constantly on the lookout for "the place." Paul has a real facility for languages and his Spanish is pretty good already!

We have two dogs and want to make sure wherever we land has a great place to walk. Our vacation trips have to be - as close as they can - some type of preview as to how life would be in the community we are visiting.

The decisionmaking is fun - but we are both very ready for our lives in Mexico to become reality.

-Nancy

It is snowy here and the news is full of snarled traffic and 20 hour commutes in the sudden icy weather. I am very glad I'm not working now...no worries for me about a commute. But the cold weather - it's about 20 degrees out - makes me long for Mexico.

We've booked our next trip - in early February. We'll spend a week in Mazatlan and a week in Queretaro. We'll be staying in B & B's. Our plan is to try to visit these towns as though we actually live there. Have our normal walk in the morning as though the dogs were with us...find a coffee shop, the best grocery store, etc. I'm sure we'll do some touristy things, too...but we are really going to try to evaluate them as actual places to live.

Paul has never traveled by bus in Mexico, so that should be fun for him. We plan on flying from Mazatlan to Mexico City and then taking a bus to Queretaro. We will probably also visit San Miguel de Allende and we'll travel there by bus, too.

Queretaro is close enough to Mexico City that I imagine we'll be able to convince Adam and Martha to drive up and visit us! We have plans to visit them when we return to Mexico City to head home, but it would be neat if they came to Queretaro, too. You might wonder why we don't just stay a few days with them - but we feel strongly that we need a week to really know a place so we don't want to cut our time too short.

If any readers have comments or suggestions about things we shouldn't miss doing or seeing, we'd love to hear from you.

-Nancy

One of the issues that has been a challenge for us is that we know we want to move to Mexico but we haven't decided WHERE! We now realize that it is very hard to work towards a goal that isn't specific.

So, we decided to try to get specific...identifying our top four choices. Our next two visits will be for two weeks each, with one week in each location. That should really help us narrow it down.

So, our top four are: (in no particular order)

Colonial Mexico - Queretaro
We originally started out thinking we'd go to Morelia, but it is a pretty big city and we would prefer to be somewhere smaller. Queretaro is a historic city that is a World Heritage site. It is about two and a half hours from Mexico City - which would be nice not only for the ease of air travel but also because that's where Adam and Martha live. The weather in Queretaro is springlike year round - it's at about 6,500 feet so there could be a chill in the air in the morning but not too cold or too hot!

The North Coast - Mazatlan
Both Paul and I have always dreamed of being able to live on or near the beach. We really can't afford it here in the US, so we want to investigate our options in Mexico. It can get hot there but for the most part there is a breeze, which would help. Mazatlan is a resort town, and many cruise ships and tours go there, but it is also a traditional Mexican fishing town...and the two are pretty separate geographically. That's good, because we don't like that resort stuff. There is even a 17 mile long malecon where we can walk the dogs! And another thing, my grandparents loved it there, visiting almost every winter for a couple of months.

The South Coast - Zihuatenajo
We visited Zihuatenajo in October 2006 with Adam and Martha. We stayed at a wonderful B & B on the hill (see pictures here) but we didn't really get a sense of what it would be like to live there. We went out with a realtor one day for a couple of hours and saw a fixer beach house and a fixer view house but need to stay there longer to really feel like we know it. The overall feel of the town was wonderful, and next time we go we want to stay at a B & B right in town and walk around just like we live there. There's also a nice malecon and the beaches are wonderful!

The Yucatan - Merida/Progreso
The Yucatan has an almost mystical pull for Paul and me. The weather there is way hotter than we would normally consider, but every time we cross it off our list it comes back on. The incredible Mayan history and people, and the pyramids...the pyramids...we have to go there! The gringo community in Merida seems a good fit for us - adventurous, articulate, and fun. We love the colonial architecture in Merida but we are also attracted to the idea of living on or near the beach in Progreso. We definitely need to visit.

So that's our top four locations! We are planning a two week trip in February to visit Mazatlan and Queretaro. We have rooms booked in Mazatlan already and once we talk to Martha and Adam we'll firm up the rest of our plans. We intend to fly from Mazatlan to Mexico City and take a bus to Queretaro. But we want to stay with Martha and Adam in Mexico City for a day on one end or the other of that leg of the trip.

Now the hard part will be waiting for February to get here!

-Nancy

Both Paul and I have been dreaming a lot lately, and for both of us most of our dreams have related to relocation. Interesting, no?

In talking about this, we realized that while we have planned and talked of this day for a long time - that now, with all the packing and selling we're doing - it is reality.

Today on our walk we realized that we won't be here for next year's apple crop. Why was that a surprise to us?

Since the upcoming move monopolizes our thoughts while we are awake, it shouldn't be a shock that relocation thoughts monopolize our sleeping hours, too.

-Nancy

I think the success of any endeavor is determined to a large extent by the attitude of the person undertaking it. One needs to proceed with a positive attitude and high expectations of success.

For a project as big as picking our lives up and moving them to Mexico, this is especially important. The potential for difficulties here and there is high. The way to not get bogged down is to maintain awareness that the outcome will be good, and we can do it.

I am working on my mental story about the move. The story is one of adventure, challenges overcome, and a new life in a warm, friendly place with new friends and neighbors. A life with little stress. This is the story that we will bring to life.

Hasta Luego,
Paul

Paul and I are adults, and know our likes and dislikes pretty well. So why is it so hard to establish what our requirements are for a new Mexican home?

Here are the things that are non-negotiable:

• It can't be extremely hot and humid for long periods of time. But then again we don't want it to get too cold in the winter, either!
• It needs to be a place where there are good places to walk.
• The city needs a zocalo or central gathering place that feels good.
• It needs to be urban enough that there are multiples of things...such as coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. We think probably over 30,000 people.
• It needs to be a fairly simple trip from the West coast of the US.
• It can't be in a gringo-land community.

Here are the things we'd like if possible:

• A view, preferrably of the ocean.
• An easy trip to Mexico City to visit Adam and Martha.
• A few gringo amenities like an English-language library.

Paul and I have traveled together to a number of possible new-home locations, and I have traveled around a fair bit with Adam in the years he lived there before Paul and I met. But we still don't have a clear idea of where we will settle, except that it would be great to be able to live on the coast since that is pretty much out of our reach financially in the US.

The feel of a place is extremely important, and that's one reason we fell so hard for Zihuatanejo on our visit there earlier this month.

We'll figure it out as we go along, but it feels a bit strange to be working towards a goal that hasn't taken shape fully yet.

-Nancy