In 2006, on a wing and a prayer, I packed my bags and drove alone from California to Mazatl\u00e1n, Mexico, a colorful resort town on the Pacific coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t know anyone there. But at 50, as the next half of my life came into focus, I had decided to prioritize deep, soul-level\u00a0joy and happiness<\/a>. I knew I wasn\u2019t going to find that in Santa Cruz, where the internet had upended my career as a reporter for a local paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My annual gross salary was $35,000. Even with side hustles, including one as a house manager at a jazz club a few nights a week, I was <\/strong>still hard-pressed to make ends meet as it became increasingly expensive to live in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Money difficulties aside, I liked my life in the U.S. I had a big community of friends. My three adult kids were financially stable and happily partnered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet something was missing. Things that made other people happy left me restless and dissatisfied. I constantly felt like I wasn\u2019t enough and didn\u2019t have enough. I saw friends buying million-dollar homes, expensive cars and the newest phones. It felt like a game that couldn\u2019t be won \u2014 and I wasn\u2019t interested in playing anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had vacationed in Mazatl\u00e1n the year before I moved. They say travel is good for the soul and opens you up to new possibilities. Walking the beach, swimming in the ocean and soaking up the sun, I pictured myself living a more reasonable kind of life: an affordable cost of living in a friendly, walkable city with loads of cultural events, great food and a gorgeous oceanside setting with year-round sunshine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Securing permanent residency status in Mexico <\/strong><\/em>has changed a lot since 2006. And although it\u2019s more complicated now, it\u2019s still doable<\/a>. (Requirements today include a certain amount of stable income, lots of paperwork and four years of temporary resident status. But the simple tourist visa allows you to stay in the country for six months.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n My first year in Mazatl\u00e1n, I lived off a total of $9,500 ($5,000 in savings and $4,500 from a steady online editing job). Then I started the business I\u2019d dreamed of \u2014 publishing M!, an arts and entertainment magazine, for nine years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Time went by and suddenly I was 62. The idea of retiring and not working \u2014 even for myself \u2014 was thrilling, so I decided to take Social Security in 2018. Even though it was slightly under <\/strong>$1,000 (around $19,700 Mexican pesos), I knew it was enough if I watched my spending. With my magazine, I always had a steady cash flow from ad sales, so it was a change to only get paid once a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019, I self-published a book, \u201cWhy We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats.\u201d<\/a> Sales through Amazon bring in around $100 per month, which I put right into my savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Housing: <\/strong>In my 14 years of living in Mexico, my regular monthly expenses have hovered around $1,000. I\u2019ve never paid more than $400 per month for a rental (and that was for a brand new 1,600-square-foot condo with ocean views). Now I pay about $200 for a one-bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bills:<\/strong> Electricity is typically $10 a month, rising to about $35 in the summer depending on air conditioning. Wi-Fi and a cell phone plan (with unlimited international calls) each run about $18 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Food and entertainment<\/strong>: I spend between $100 to $150 per month on gas for my car. You can go to a movie for under $5. I like going out to breakfast and pay about $6, including tip. A fancy dinner might cost around $18. My grocery bills are anywhere between $250 to $300 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Healthcare:<\/strong> I use an international health insurance company for $1,500 per year, and my deductible is $1,000. If I have a cold or a simple health issue, I can go to any pharmacy and consult with a doctor for about $3. A visit to a specialist \u2014 like an ear, nose and throat doctor \u2014 might cost $35. Dental care is equally affordable; I recently paid $150 for a crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House calls: <\/strong>A plumber or handyman charges about $20 per visit. My vet makes house calls for routine checkups and vaccinations for my two cats, charging $12 to 20 per visit. Recently, an electrician spent six hours at my house installing a ceiling fan, and the bill was only $45. (Speaking Spanish and having local friends definitely helps avoid special expat prices.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s been lots of stumbling, <\/strong>but mostly it\u2019s been smooth sailing. I smile more, relax easily and am more patient and open. I\u2019m not as attached to material things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the heartstring pull of grandkids and the deep comfort of being around my children, I have no regrets about leaving the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the pandemic started, they wanted me to be closer \u2014 in the country where I\u2019m a citizen, where medical care seemed more reliable, and where doctors speak the same language. I\u2019ve been in Oregon since April, feeling like a fish out of water as I wait to get vaccinated so I can go back home to Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As it barrels into the future, Mexico, like every country, has issues in its systems and politics, in the deep-rooted dynamics between rich and poor, the haves and have-nots. I don\u2019t think everything is great there, because it\u2019s not. But it\u2019s my happy place. And that\u2019s exactly what I was looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 2006, on a wing and a prayer, I packed my bags and drove alone from California to Mazatl\u00e1n, Mexico,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[254,3421],"tags":[888,3436],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8328"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8329,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8328\/revisions\/8329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>In search of happiness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A sunnier, more affordable life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Home is where the heart is<\/h2>\n\n\n\n