Quote:
Originally Posted by dothetwist
We retired in 2003 at ages 50/51. Moved and lived fulltime in Mexico 2008-2012; my only regret is that we did not move there as soon as we retired. Unfortunately we had to sell our Mexican home and move back to the East Coast US to care for my FIL. Sadly he died in late 2015; for most of 2016 my DH had to work on his Dad's estate and trust.
We decided to move back to Mexico....in fact we just purchased a home there and will move in April.
It's fairly easy to qualify for permanent visas or temporary visas; but if you can't you can make a run to the border every 6 months and get a new tourist visa.
Link to photos of our little village (Ajijic) which sits on the shores of Lake Chapala (Mexico's largest lake) just below the Sierra Madres...great mountain AND water views! Bonus: only 30 minutes from Guadalajara Airport. And.....National Geographic has rated the Lake Chapala area as the 2nd best climate on planet earth. And just so you know it's not just tacos and bean restaurants (not that there's anything wrong with that), because Ajijic attracts the professional class from GDL, we have a wide range of eateries. I just got back 2 weeks ago and with the peso, we are getting excellent steak dinners for the equivalent of 7 USD.
https://www.google.com/search?q=imag...0DCcgQ_AUIBigB
Restaurants here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...05-Ajijic.html |
This is where I moved. I couldn't get a phone number for months, and then only because a local asked someone he knew at the phone company to give me one and voila! the elusive phone number appears.
There are a lot of home invasions, and many expats I met personally had been mugged in Ajijic.
I had a friend I met there, who bought a house, only to find out there were relatives who claimed ownership of it, and it cost them a fortune in attorney fees to get things straightened out. There is no dependable title search/insurance there.
My Mexican attorney in the downtown area, once told me she had to move her car. I said, oh where is it? She said it was in front of the police station. I said, wouldn't it be safe there? She said it was the police she was worried about.
Another friend I made there had a small grocery store, and they were trying to move to the states, because the bribes the local police asked for on a regular basis, were bankrupting them.
I could go on.
And by the way, is there any water in the lake yet? It was pretty empty when I left.
And the English-speaking community is very, very small. So, it's like moving to a town of maybe 200 people? Lots of gossip and drama.
The internet is very expensive and terrible. Other utilities are expensive and the service is pretty terrible. And everywhere you shop - everyone does not speak English, like all the websites say that promote Ajijic. Try going to the little hardware store, even with normal passable Spanish, and try to describe (because everything is behind the counter) a 5/8" flathead phillips screw....for example LOL.
And all of the stores, including Walmart, have signs in Spanish, workers who only speak Spanish, and all of the product labels are in Spanish. You better be fluent.
You can't joke around with Mexicans like you can Americans, without fear of severely insulting them. And I grew up with Mexican-Americans. It's different in Mexico.
And Mexico is LOUD! Constant noise at level 10. The town shuts down for 2 weeks every time there's a festival and there's a festival about every month. This is all really fun when you're on vacation, but a pain in the rear when you live there.
I'm glad you like it, but I don't think you should glamorize it for unsuspecting people.
I think the ideal thing to do, is find a decent home base in the states, and travel.
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