Nature is my Love

 A big reason that I'm a weather-chaser, is because I love getting outdoors in the natural world. Preferably on my own two feet, breathing the air, seeing and hearing the birds. In Utah, there are hikes near where I live in the gorgeous mountains. But I have to drive to get to them. In Mexico, I just walk outside my door and walk through the neighborhoods to the nearest park. 

Comitan, Chiapas, evening at the central park downtown

Every town I've lived in Mexico has many parks and tree-lined streets lined with sidewalks for people to walk safely. People walk to shop, they walk to work, kids walk to school. Everywhere you go, people are outdoors walking from place to place. There are plenty of cars too, but vehicles and pedestrians coexist in courtesy. 

Also in Comitan, a small city with so many beautiful parks.

Mexico is also filled with natural wonders and national parks. This one is near the Mexico/Guatemala border.

In Veracruz where I lived the longest, there is something called a malecon that runs along the coast for miles and miles. There are several long piers reaching out from it to the sea, where you can view crabs, a variety of birds, colorful fish underwater. I walked along the malecon every morning, often at dawn to enjoy the sun rising over the water.

In Mexico, outdoor life is rich and varied. Taken for granted, actually. It's such a beautiful country with perfect weather to enjoy the natural beauty in any season. Following are pictures I've taken while enjoying nature as offered all throughout Mexico.

And sometimes nature gets indoors, like this really big butterfly resting on our curtain.

Market/Mercado

 One of my favorite activities is walking to the open-air markets to buy my produce. A real plus for any place I'm looking to rent is if it's in walking distance from a good mercado. 

These markets are what I love about Latin countries and what I miss the most in America, where it's all supermarket shopping. One might find the occasional farmer's market during growing season, but usually the prices are ridiculously high compared to deals at the local supermarket. And selection is quite limited. It's a shame, because I'd love to support local growers if it fit my needs and budget. 

In Mexico, everyone shops at the mercados. They have their favorites, where they might experience lower prices or better selections. For an American, the wide selection and low prices are unbelievable compared to back home.

I can get fresh pineapple year-round for two or three dollars each. Beautiful avocados for a couple dollars for a kilo. Today I found them for 25 pesos a kilo, or just under $1.50 for four large avocados.

Where I'm living now, this small market is a ten-minute walk from my apartment. There is a much larger one about thirty minutes away, and uphill. I won't likely shop there since this one has everything I buy regularly. And it's so close that I don't even need a taxi home for my shopping bags.

Check out the size of this celery. The broccoli in front is normal sized, outshone by the giant cabbages and celery squeezing it on both sides. I love Mexico!

Limonada and Maybe Lobster

 I have a history with limes, in both Guatemala and Mexico. This was our house in Panajachel, Guatemala; to the right side of the house was a large lime tree, also pictured.

Once the gardener got it properly pruned, removing "the cancer" as he called it, it began producing beautiful limes year-round. I juiced them, I made lime marmalade, and a lot of key lime pie. I put limes in my diet Coke. I gave bags of them away. Those limes were a joy to me.

But the beginning of my lime history was 20 years ago in Baja, where our family traveled to celebrate our daughter's wedding. This was our first time ever in Mexico--our daughter, her husband, and about 5 of our kids.

Our son-in-law, being familiar with the area, said lobster was in season and was so much better here. We could have all the lobster we wanted for much less than in the US. We only had to find the right place, he said, as he led us to one coastal restaurant after another. None of them had lobster.

Finally, tired, hungry and thirsty, Bruce said with some irritation, 'Never mind. Let's just stop and eat somewhere." We went into a restaurant that had an upstairs with a view and were seated at a large table. There was no lobster, but still a nice menu of your basic Mexican dishes, many with seafood. 

Since we were so thirsty, our son-in-law, fluent in Spanish, asked about the limonada, if it was freshly made. He ordered a couple pitchers to come in advance of our meals. We all thought of it as lemonade, but of course it was not. It was from limes, way more common in Mexico than are lemons. I've never even seen lemons in the markets, but limes are everywhere always.

This picture isn't of us, but it reminds me of the table where our family sat that memorable day. In an upstairs room looking over the Pacific coast, drinking pitcher after pitcher of limeade. Being American, our kids had drunk their share of lemonade, but fresh limeade is so much better. We had no idea.

The pitchers of limonada turned out to be the most expensive item of the final bill. And totally worth it.

Karen es mi nombre

 The letter K is barely seen in Spanish, except where it's borrowed from English or some other language. It is in their alphabet, added later, not there originally. I wondered why there are no towns or names of places in LATAM that start with the letter K, until I discovered this tidbit of information.

I have seen nametags of salespeople with Karen spelled with a K. I've also seen it spelled Caron, which is more in line with Spanish. Meaning the few times I've seen those nametags with "Karen," it means they borrowed the K from English.

When I say my name in a Spanish country, I pronounce it with the "ah" sound. In English, the letter "a" can have several pronunciations, depending on the word, but in Spanish it is always pronounced like "ah." And of course the R has a different sound in Spanish than in English.

Mi nombre es Kah-den. That's how it's pronounced in Spanish. 

Kah-den in Mexico City enjoying a lovely day in January

Kah-den at home in Veracruz, wondering how this casual outfit looks on her.

Jacket Weather

 I am a weather-chaser. Given a choice, I will live where the coldest season is at most a jacket in the mornings. 

I like the sun. I like feeling warm air all around me. A gentle breeze is okay but not necessary. Strong winds make me want to curl up in a corner and stay there until it's over. It's no wonder I'm attracted to Mexico. 

The only state in the USA that has weather as nice as Mexico is California. I have lived in both and discovered countless reasons why living in Mexico is preferable to California. It's generally understood that California has the best weather of all 50 states. And in Mexico, you have an entire country with California weather. Or even warmer, such as the Gulf regions and other tropical lowland areas.

Near the beaches, you will find a tropical climate. If that's too hot and humid in the summers, you can go inland to higher elevations. There you will find it perfectly temperate year-round, with jacket weather in the colder winter months. 

I like the coastal regions, along the Gulf Coast, the Pacific Coast and the Yucatan. Baja is beautiful, but can be expensive, as are the popular tourist cities along the Pacific. I avoid Northern Mexico because it's cartel territory, although the expats who live there say it's fine.

The areas where I've lived the longest have been Southern Mexico and the Gulf Coast. I've also been to Baja, the Yucatan and Central Mexico. 

Everywhere, I have experienced wonderful weather. Some months are more to my liking than others but, overall, no complaints from this weather-chaser. 

Income Needed for the Expat Life

 American retirees are flocking to Mexico like migratory birds. Not just snowbirds either--the kind that hang out for a season and then decide to stay forever. Or at least until they need medical care back in their home countries.

Many buy homes and obtain permanent residency. Mexico offers several options for residency. Rather than repeat information readily available online, I will send you here for updated information if you are interested.

Some folks simply utilize the six-month tourist visa, which so far has not imposed many rules or limits on it. You come and get your passport stamped for 180 days. Enjoy life in this beautiful country for six months, then leave for parts unknown. Back to the US for a visit. Or to Costa Rico perhaps. A few days or weeks later, or whenever you're ready, you come back to Mexico and get stamped another 180 days. 

This works for those free-wheeling folks who don't want to buy property, get insurance or a bank account. Who don't care about crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's. The strait-laced expats frown on such antics and scream about residency, but Mexico itself seems fine with it. Money is money and expat retirees spend a lot of money.

Once the cost for residency is out of the way, either because you pay it or ignore it, then we come to what kind of income does one need to live comfortably in the area of your choice.

First, comfortable means different strokes for different folks. For me, it means no debt back home. I don't have a lot of money, but what there is needs to be mine, and not supporting debt or expenses back in the States. 

This is why my stateside home is with my son and his family. I can come and go as I please and don't have to worry about property sitting there needing care. Debt is a burden to anyone, but especially to an expat. The best feeling is to leave and know that you're free of everything, including debt.

It also means enough money to pay for airfare when I want to return on a whim. I may go back 2 or 3 times a year; not usually, but it has happened. Also, i need enough income to live in a nice place that's not jacked up in price due to American tourists. I avoid the expensive tourist destinations and seek out the lovely cities that nobody has heard about back home.

In 2020 I came to Veracruz (El Puerto) and ended up staying four years because I loved it so much. The little studio apartment I found on Airbnb cost me 6500 pesos a month, or about $350, according to the exchange rate at the time. This included everything, even twice-weekly cleaning and laundry of sheets and towels. They provided toilet paper. 

I loved that little apartment. It was small, cozy, brand-new, upstairs with a view of the tree-lined street, in a nice neighborhood ten minutes from the beach. This is the view from my window.

I'm not one for eating out or doing expensive touristy things. I shop at the local markets and cook at home. My food costs are minimal for all the fresh produce, beans and rice I can wish for. My diet is whole-food, plant-based, one of the cheapest diets a human can eat, especially in Mexico where fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful and inexpensive.

I lived very well there for $800 a month, for everything. Airfare extra, of course. Currently, in Xalapa, I live well on about $1000 a month. I see people on the Facebook expat groups asking questions like, "My husband and I are thinking about moving to Mexico in a few years. Can we live on $4000 a month?" They spend twice that in the States and see Mexico as a bargain. 

No wonder the Mexican government welcomes North Americans to their country, giving us 6-month visas, no questions asked. Tourists are great for the economy, but retirees stay longer and spend more. 

My early morning walk in Veracruz

Hotel Living

 There's something enchanting and yes, exotic, about the idea of hotel living in a foreign country. I'm sure that with a different title, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel would not have been such a huge hit.

When Bruce and I began our expat journey twelve years ago, it was because of a hotel. Our son-in-law had this property that had been in his family for years, although no one had done anything with it. 

He and my daughter invested their resources, he did the work and finally it was ready. They only lacked a trusted manager. Enter her dad, the most trusted manager imaginable. The full story of this enterprising adventure is told in my book, We Burned Our Boats.

This is the hotel. Who would not want to live here? Located near Lake Atitlan in the Guatemala highlands, where tourists come from all over the world, the area is known for its perfect weather year-round.

This photo shows the second and third floor, where the rooms are. The first floor is entry, lobby, and a small kitchen at the back.

We lived in the hotel for a couple months. My husband didn't enjoy it since he hated living where he worked, feeling unable to get away and relax. Also, the rooms were quite small for a big guy accustomed to a large family home in America. He liked working in his little office up front but not living upstairs.

He was not enchanted by this exotic opportunity.

Guests

My favorite thing as an expat is when family comes to visit and share in the treasures and pleasures of your new country. When we lived in Guatemala we had so many visitors and returned  sooften for one reason or another, that we rarely went three months without seeing various family members. It felt like the best of all worlds.

When I decided to settle in Veracruz, Mexico, I rented a large house specifically with guests in mind. "You can stay at my house. The beach is a ten-minute walk. There's a taco stand across the street." 

And so they came,

And came

And came

And came

Sometimes without their families

Even my sisters came. After wearing shorts and flip flops all week, our last night together we dressed for dinner at a nice restaurant. I have such pretty sisters.

Foreign, Foreigner

 I'm not sure what kind of person it takes who will leave everything familiar and beloved, like family, to go live in a foreign land. To be a foreigner, where you don't really fit in. You may speak and understand the language but not like a native. Where, by nature of the many differences, you will live in relative isolation, despite the friendliness of strangers.

I've asked myself this question many times. What is wrong with me that I'm okay with this? That even at home in America among my loved ones, I long to return to Mexico? 

Sometimes I think it might be because it's where Bruce and I were so happy, before he got sick in America and died.

 I do feel close to him here. I wish he were with me. Sometimes I think he is. 

The Expat: What and Why

 Expat is short for the word "expatriate," meaning someone who leaves their home country to live for a time in another one. It is somewhere between a tourist and an immigrant, although neither of these. A tourist is simply on vacation for a short time; an immigrant has left everything behind in their birth country to start fresh. Usually for safety or for greater opportunities.

Probably the most famous American expats were from the early twentieth century, post WW 1-- Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, along with other writers, artists and composers who lived abroad, most often in and around Paris. They traveled freely to Italy and Spain as conditions allowed. European visas were not as strict as they are now; obtaining residency was not a requirement.

A Moveable Feast is Hemingway's memoir about those days, written back when he was a struggling young writer in Paris.

Back then, everything cost less in Europe than in the United States, likely due to a post-war economy. This provided a strong motivation to live abroad for young writers and artists. 

Hemingway and Fitzgerald were often broke and asking their publishers for advances. They sold short stories to make quick money. Hemingway worked as a reporter and sent articles back to the States about European post-war conditions. Occasionally the Fitzgeralds would go to Hollywood, where he wrote movie scripts to afford another year or two in Paris. It wasn't the kind of writing either of them wanted to do, but it paid the bills. 

Expat retirees will often go where their dollar goes farther, just as Hemingway and Fitzgerald did. As writers, they were also attracted by the lively artistic scene. A top attraction for Canadian and American expats is the temperate weather south of the border.

Besides Central and South America, other popular expat destinations are Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines. Or there is India and Dubai, which I've heard is popular with the British expat. Although Dubai may not currently be the best choice, with war in the Middle East right now.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith tells the stories of six British expats in India. Their various lives reflect major reasons for why they left England to live at "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." Personal, Financial and Health being at the top of the list. 

These are same reasons that motivate many expats in real life. Personal, Financial, and Health: all very strong motivational forces to answer the Why.

As for me, I can live better for less in Mexico. And the weather makes me happy.