We drank. We danced. We dueled. It was a fine time!
I could have sworn that said “sewing my cats”. Time for new glasses.
Well I just noticed that I misspelled sowing, so apparently I was very carefully using thread with oats to make something … a necklace perhaps.
Sweat enough and you have breakfast.
No major developments this week. I’m getting better at both the metric system and calculating rate of exchange on the fly. Also better at identifying coins without having to find the denomination. Since the smallest bill is the 20 Peso note, you tend to get a lot of coins through regular transaction.
We went to a group called Connections this evening which is a loose amalgamation of full and part time expats who gather weekly for happy hour at a particular restaurant. Bonded with a Jewish couple from Philly (well, he is anyway), and also with a handful of guys who meet weekly for beer and cigars.
Good times.
Honestly this whole thing sounds like a badass retirement, and I love hearing your updates and stories. I still dream that I may outlive my working years and do something similar someday!
Only semi-retired so far. I’m still putting 3-4 hours into the business every morning and I may have to increase that for a couple of months to make up for some unexpected costs involved in the move. But still keeping afternoons and evenings free for the most part.
Love this thread. All my new co-workers are telling me that I have to get down there! Keep the updates coming.
Yes, fun stuff. There are a lot of Qt3ers in our 50’s and early 60’s. We can all move down and start a gaming compound!
If we do a meeetup down here, cervezas are on me.
Why did you choose Mexico? Has the country managed to turn the corner on the drug related violence? Or is it overblown in the media?
Just my experience, it’s overblown in the media. Oh there’s some bad shit that’s gone down, for sure, but when I visit, I’ve not had issues. Mind your business, don’t be in places you’re not supposed to be, and you can do ok.
Remember the media typically promotes bad news over good news. Now there are definitely issues. When the bad guys are going after journalists, it’s like the canaries in the mineshaft are falling. There isn’t much the individual can do to stop it, but unless you’re unlucky I think it’s possible to go your way without interfering with drug business. It may also be worse in some places than others.
Way more complex. What you say is mostly true for common usage in Central and South America, but in Spain the usual use differs. Hispano (hispanic) can be used both ways, and latino (Latin) depends on context and if on its own can have both meanings, but if used as “latin culture” will be an equivalent to “Mediterranean culture” and actually exclude Central and South America.
Going by the dictionary definition (because Spanish has an official dictionary made in collaboration between the Academies of all Spanish speaking countries) both terms refer to language use (or being a native from a country that uses that language), with Hispanic relating exclusively to Spanish and Latin relating to all Latin languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French…) and includes those countries too. That’s the more encompassing dictionary definition, and the then more restrictive ones are also present.
I’ll echo what Bernie_Dy said and add that since PP (Arizona’s beach) is now almost entirely dependent on tourism, the cartel has put out the word that gringos aren’t to be touched. Besides, when was the last time you heard about a school, church, or synegogue being shot up in Mexico? I fell safer here than Tucson.
As to “why Mexico”, aside from the beaches, the culture, the people, and the cost of living, we’re only an hour from the border, making travel back and forth to the States a lot more convenient.
You know, I thought about retiring in Florida, but maybe I Mexico would be a better choice. I still have like 18 years to go, but it is something to keep in mind. Is the cost of living that much cheaper? Do you own or rent? I figured I could have two rental properties and then with 401k, Social Security and two rental properties, I could live pretty well down there, even if I just rent a place instead of owning it.
Thank you! I am unsurprised to be corrected.
Many have retired in Mexico. Food can be found for no more than what you’d pay in the US but can be expensive to if you’re going to be living it up and eating in restaurants all the time. Clothes are actually expensive but you can always visit the US to shop. Real estate… that’s a toughie. Some places are probably cheap but in populated areas it can get expensive.
At least that’s what I’ve seen around Tampico. @Sonoftgb may have seen different things in his locality.
Expat possibilities for me include Mexico and Costa Rica. Costa Rica seems to have good medical, they even offer good rates for non citizens. But I’ll probably stay in the US if I’ve managed to resolve my debts by retirement.
We’re renting. 2000 sq. foot house 3 br/2 1/2 bath with huge front and back yards for the pooches to play in, fenced, in what seems to me to be a middle/upper middle class neighborhood for $800/month.
Daily necessities like groceries are about half the cost of the US. My utilities (water, electricity, internet, propane for stove and water heater) total about $120/month. Even dining out can be inexpensive if you avoid the places that cater to tourists and go where the locals go. When Ruth and I go out for lunch or dinner I rarely pay more than $10 or $20 for the two of us. Most bars get $1 for a beer and $2-$3 for a real drink.
That said, some consumer items (clothes, electronics) are more expensive, but that’s what Amazon is for. The biggest difference is gas, which is about $1.50 more per gallon than I was paying in Tucson, but we’re not driving as much. So before a tank would last two weeks, now it lasts a month, which means it works out in the end.
So how does Amazon work? They deliver to Mexico? Can you stream Prime? Netflix?
We’re able to stream everything we did in the States on our computers by using a VPN and connecting to a server in Phoenix. I’m not sure how I’m going to get it to work with a Roku stick once I get the televisions set up (they’re still in boxes). We may have to get a dish.
There’s an Amazon hub in Mexico City, but they only deliver to one district here, and it’s not ours. Most of PP has no mail or package delivery. For mail we rent a box just across the border and pay a service $20/month to pick it up weekly. I had originally planned to make bi-weekly trips myself until I ran the numbers and realized it would cost me a lot more in gas.
Ajo, AZ is 90 minutes away. There’s a Radio Shack (really!) there that will accept and store packages for PP residents for $1 /box/week Everyone I’ve talked to about this uses them, and they’re supposed to be honest and reliable.