Moving to Mexico – Expat Stories

One of the most useful ways to get information and support about moving abroad is by listening and learning from other expats and their first hand experiences of moving to a new country.

So we have compiled interviews from Expats all over the world who have made the bold decision to move abroad.

We hope that by listening to their personal stories you will find inspiration and helpful information about how you too can make a move abroad.

So that before you know it you will be living your dream life abroad!

1. Brief Description of Self…

We are a retired couple from Colorado in the United States. My name is max and I am 65 years old and my wife is Jenny as she is 64 years old. We retired one year ago after 40 years working as educators.

2. Where did you move to and from…

We moved from Denver Colorado to Talum Mexico.

3. Who moved with you…

We moved with our two dogs Peaches and Toby and our cat Bobbie.

4. Why did you decide to move abroad?…

Initially after retiring a little over a year ago we had no intention of moving abroad and were looking forward to retiring and slowing down in Colorado where we lived most of our lives. However, after a few months of being in retirement we started to realize that we wanted very different things in the next chapter of our lives that Colorado and the United State just could not provide.

Even though we had savings and had planned for retirement the minute you stop working and making money you really start to realize how limited your funds are and how long you need them to last. We realized that we could live to 90 years old and needed to be frugal with our nest egg. We had a house in Colorado and were close to paying off the mortgage, but inflation was at an all time high and life just felt like it was getting more and more expensive. We started to think about how and where we could make our dollar go farther.

Additionally the weather in the winter can be tough in Colorado and a bit of a challenge. We wanted to try to stay as active as possible in our retirement but we felt like the weather was keeping us from being outside much of the year.

We ended up visiting Mexico during Christmas and a light bulb went off for both Jenny and I. We realized that we could move abroad and live month to month for a lot less. We decided in less than a week that we wanted to move to Mexico.

5. How did you go about deciding what country you wanted to move to?…

Once we decided we were going to move to Mexico from the United States we didn’t even think about another country. We have three adult kids in the United States and because Mexico is so close to the US we new that was the country for us.

We also looked at a neighborhood and a few houses during our vacation in Tulum and fell in love with the area. It was just an easy decision.

6. What did you do before you moved that helped you prepare for the move abroad?…

Well we had a fair bit to unhook before we moved, We needed to sell our house and get rid of forty years of belongings. We wanted to move in 6 months but it ended up taking us a year to actually get everything taken care of.

The biggest obstacle was selling the house. Fortunately the market was great for sellers so it sold quickly. Then we had three months to liquidate our belongings and move out. Our three adult kids helped but it took a lot of time and sweat and energy to get rid of or pack our belongings. We did ship a lot of our belongings and used a Mexican Customs broker which made things much easier.

We started to take Spanish lessons but in retrospect we should have taken it more seriously as the learning a language at our age is a challenge.

7. What was the most challenging part of leaving and moving?… 

Getting rid of all of our belongings or figuring out how to ship our furniture to Mexico.

8. What actions or choices made settling into your new country easier?….

We really worked to find friends quickly. There is a big expat community in Tulum and we connected and had get togethers as much as we could.

We also bought a beautiful house within six months of arriving. This really made us both happy and gave us something to look forward to and helped us feel settled.

9. What has been the best part of moving abroad?…

The pace of life in Mexico is about as different as it gets to the work obsessed culture in the United States. It is so laid back and there is such a premium put on leisure. Additionally just not worrying about money as much has been completely life altering. When you are retired and not making money there is a certain level of anxiety and now that is gone. We can easily live off our retirement funds in a way we could have never in the United States.

10. What has been the most challenging part of moving abroad?

Living farther away from our kids has been difficult. They are just a short plane ride away but living in a different country does make you feel like you are more distant and removed.

11. What do you wish you would have known before you left or what would you have done differently ?…

I wish we would have come sooner.

12. What person, website, resource or app was helpful when relocating abroad?…

We connected with an amazing realtor who not only helped us find a house but was invaluable in helping us find our way around. He helped us with finding a bank, markets, contractors, and doctors,

13. Please provide any other information, or thoughts not included in the questions above…

We lived our entire lives in the United States and quite frankly were stressed about money much of our lives. As educators we just didn’t make a lot so we needed to always be frugal. I wish people knew how big the world is and how many different ways there are to live a well-lived life. We feel like we have a second lease on life and are so excited to dive in.

Choosing Your Perfect Country to Move Abroad

Whether you want to move abroad for a career, to study, for love, retirement, or to raise your family, this engaging, easy to follow roadmap will help you find the perfect location to start your new life.

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