Forums > General > Living, Working, Retiring

juan david

Oct 4, 2003, 3:52 PM

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goin' expat

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So what is it that enables some people to pack up and make a life changing move in retirement? We're well over the hump on that decision, but we talk to lots of people who are in the thinking stage. Easy to understand the folks who have close family/community ties, but for those of us who come from weather disadvantaged climes, there are lots of options. What is it in a person that allows for a move not to Florida, Arizona, etc, but to Mexico, Costa Rica or wherever? If this thread goes anywhere, I'll come back and tell you our reasons.
" let sleeping dogs lie"

Judy in Ags

Oct 4, 2003, 7:09 PM

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Re: [ian] goin' expat

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One of the things we believe that enabled us to make that decision was the fact that in our young married lives, we spent about 10 years in Brazil. That's probably one reason we are so comfortable in the Mexican culture.

Carron

Oct 5, 2003, 8:22 AM

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Re: [Judy in Ags] goin' expat

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I too think that understanding the culture here and having spent a lot of time in Mexico during the thirty years before our actual move have contributed to my family's satisfaction Our plans were not so much about leaving the US as about the joy of moving, finally, TO Mexico.

I went to Chiapas with a teaching position arranged ahead of time, so that also helped and gave us a deadline, a confirmed date to mark on our calendar. Another teacher came from England with her 10-year old son. They, too, planned to stay on permanently. They didn't last two weeks. They were too hot, they hated the food, she was very sharp and efficient and was appalled by the slower paced mañana attitude of the locals, and she was always on a one-woman campaign to stamp out every germ in Latin America. It was frustrating for her and embarrassing for me whenever we went places together. This in spite of the fact she had taken lots of advanced courses in Castillian Spanish and really spoke it well . . . except she always called the money here "pesetas" instead of pesos!

She felt terribly guilty for going back to England so soon, since her friends there had given her a huge going away party (costing lots of pounds), and many had also given her expensive resort-type clothing as going away gifts. Not only were they inappropriate in Chiapas, she would never be able to wear them back home. Suggestion: Do lots of homework ahead of time and wait to buy your retirement clothes until after you get here.

Jerry@Ajijic

Oct 5, 2003, 2:35 PM

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Re: [Carron] goin' expat

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I think with us we were just kind of bored with living in central Florida. There was nothing wrong with the place but after we retired we wanted to live a different life. We tried teaching, worked in Disneyword, travel agency, video store and all of them involved more work than we wanted to do. We tried traveling and enjoyed that but it got too expensive. We visited Mexico 3 times and liked it more each time. It is not perfect but is a very different life style from Florida. We have been here 6 years now and it is still "new and different". But IT IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY. TRY IT FIRST. We are glad we did and maybe you will be too.

sandykayak

Oct 6, 2003, 8:33 AM

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Re: [Jerry@Ajijic] goin' expat

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whenever I get the heebeejeebies about the thought of relocating, I think of the two main motivators:

if I stay I'll have to work til age 65...to retire at 62 I'll have to move somewhere cheaper.

the fear of being a single, old woman in the US and not being able to afford $2,00 - 3,000 a month for a nice nursing home!

I grew up in venezuela (mother is from ecuador) and am fluent in Spanish, so the transition should be OK.
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

D.G.

Oct 6, 2003, 1:34 PM

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Re: [ian] goin' expat

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Back in the '60s we used to get in our sports cars and drive like mad for Mexico to spend Christmas in a wonderful place with friendly people and an "exotic" flavor that was more foreign than Europe.

At that time, I remember going to San Miguel de Allende and saying to myself, that it would be a great place to retire.

Skip forward 40 years. and we were looking to find a school for my daughter who was interested in studying art. Why not San Miguel, the City of Art? So we made reservations at a B & B and asked the owner casually if San Miguel had changed in 40 years. Her reply was, no, it was just the same.

Well, it was just the same (pretty much) and we fell in love the with city all over again. Of course this time, we were much closer to retirement, and so, the decision was cast.

Not a difficult decision, really.

juan david

Oct 6, 2003, 3:40 PM

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Re: [ian] goin' expat

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Okay, here's our story. I worked in El Salvador in the 60's, so moving to Mexico didn't seem daunting. We lived in England for a few years and spent a lot of time in other countries, so we know that the rest of the world is not just like us. With what we had saved after 4 kids and working for a whole lot of our lives, we went looking for a place where we both felt that all the toil was worth it. The kids are grown up(sort of) and we figured that good climate, ambiance, affordability and a wee bit of adventure would work for us. And voila, here we are!
" let sleeping dogs lie"