Retiring in Mexico and Global Climate Change

What are these two topics doing together?

They've been on our minds during our northward trip from our home near Lake Chapala to Kelly's childhood home in Idaho.

The day that we left Jalisco, we got into Mazatlan in the late afternoon and found a thirty-year-old Mexican hotel where we got a beachfront suite for about $75 US... this *is* the off season! It was fun to sit on our second floor balcony and watch the surf. And, we learned, the surf does sometimes come in very high, higher than it used to in the old days. Where we ate dinner, at a place a few blocks away, part of the beachside palapa restaurant had yellow plastic tape (think crime scene) blocking it off because the ocean had cracked a retaining wall.

Now I'm not saying that this city or any other coast city is a bad idea for retirement because of these little things. Beachside high-rise condos are going in like there's no tomorrow... hmm, interesting phrase my subconscious chose. But since it is becoming clearer that our earth is changing, and with the rate of change not all that predictable, I would mull over any retirement decision regarding moving to a beach area. Are there hurricanes? Have they gotten stronger? Just things to include in your overall assessment of any area. I for one look at earthquake probabilities too, having been in enough quakes already.

The day after Mazatlan, we went to an absolutely charming town called Alamos, at about 1500 feet elevation in the southern part of the state of Sonora. I've long wanted to see it. It's evidently in between two eco-systems, one being the Sonoran desert. I was quite taken with the town and will write more about it in other blog entries, with photos, as it's a great place in many ways for retiring to Mexico. We were there for a day and a half, and I did my usual thing of asking everyone, Mexicans and foreigners, about the place and what it's like to live there. It was plenty hot, and several Mexicans told me water is a problem there. That is to be expected at this time of year, with the rains due in a few weeks. People are resourceful and know how to conserve water. I understood someone to say that the town water is on one day, off the next. All this sounds pretty similar to what we deal with in San Juan Cosala at this time of year... but the average annual rainfall in our part of Jalisco is roughly three times what it is in Sonora.

I'm trying to make a fairly subtle point here. I do think it's good to pay attention to potential climate change factors but I'm not saying "Don't go" to any particular place. After all, you have to live someplace! Just don't put all your eggs in a particular basket without considering things, including your own levels of tolerance for heat, drought, and uncertainty!

Ballet Folclorico in San Juan Cosala

Our town of San Juan Cosala has two Ballet Folclorico groups. The other evening, one of them celebrated its second anniversary with a free public performance in the town plaza. Kelly had his camera along and got some interesting shots without flash.



The dancing was stunning, and it was fun to be sitting in the plaza as the light faded and the air cooled. People chatted between the performances. I learned that the woman I was sitting next to was the cousin of two different people I know. There was a lovely sense of community there. We are leaving for the US tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how much sense of community I find there. (I will also be posting blog entries about Mexico now and then, have written a bunch ahead!)

When is the United States a Better Retirement Option?

My friend Beverly recently emailed me about the retirement choices she and her husband are considering . From their present home in Plano, Texas, they traveled to the McAllen region, which is right on the border with Mexico. With her permission, I'm quoting her thoughts. That list of advantages to the US includes virtually every reason I've heard for people leaving here and returning to the US or Canada. (I would comment that FDIC banking is widely used here, since many of us keep our bank accounts in the US and use the convenient ATM machines.)

Thanks, Beverly, for letting me share this with others. It makes it really clear that Mexico is not automatically cheaper than the US.

We went to the Texas Valley (actually McAllen area) last January to research retiring there, as opposed to Mexico. This is where the R.V. Snowbirds come in the Winter, but there are a lot of 55+ communities that are made up mostly of permanent Mobile Homes. About 1/4th of them stay year round in some of the parks. The price of comfortable housing that we would choose, is cheaper than Mexico. But taxes run higher at $500-$1,000 yearly on properties, with Home Owners Assoc fees of $600 that pays for water/ trash/ pool/hot tub/rec room and maintenance for common areas. The park we like the best, so far, is Gated, VERY well kept, and there is an armed guard at night that roams around. This is the type of park where you buy your own lot. There are many Parks where you own your Mobile Home but rent your lot. I understand that they have raised the rent so high that people have to move, to get to less expensive parks. This would not be cheap and if you have carports and sun rooms, it can be quite expensive.

EXAMPLE at the park we are looking at:

Lowest priced 1 bedroom /1 bath 14'X40', owning your lot was $33,500.

Highest priced 3 bedroom/ 2 bath/carport/ garage and sun room 18'X70', owning your own lot was $75,000. I was told that a really nice one, with many improvements and on corner lot had gone for as much as $99,000. This of course buys the use of the pool and all amenities.

There are so many planned activities that you can take advantage of in the parks, with your peers, from October to April. Or you can choose not to. We are the kind of people that enjoy friends being around and group activities.

These are a few of the things that we feel would make life better for us in the Texas Valley, than being in Mexico.

• Price and availability of electricity
• The water/ cable/ telephone service being more dependable
• Cost of appliances/clothing
• Police that are not AS corrupt
• Laws that can be enforced for property standards
• Chemical and burning laws
• Animals treated better
• Laws about noise
• Better food sanitation
• Better prices on foods that we enjoy
• Driving not as dangerous
• Do not have to speak Spanish
• Postal service that you can depend on
• Can use Medicare at hospitals (where they speak English)
• FDIC Insured Banking
• Cheap Southwest Airlines several times daily to Dallas where our family is.

Being just on the other side of the Border, we could take advantage of the Mexican Dentists/Doctors/Hospitals/Prescriptions Etc if not covered by Medicare. For those that like a "nip" every once in a while, you would be able to take advantage of the price of liquor there. You read the stories of "Border Towns", it did not appear any more dangerous than walking or driving through most parts of the Dallas area. I wouldn't walk around there with much jewelry on, but I wouldn't do it here either. The towns themselves are not pretty like the Interior towns we have visited but I do not plan on spending much time there.

The fruits and vegetables we eat are grown in this area and are close to as inexpensive as Mexico. We would be within an hour and 1/2 to the ocean so the seafood is abundant.

We loved vacationing in Mexico and when we choose to vacation in Mexico, we can take an Executive Bus directly from McAllen . We really enjoyed doing our traveling on them last year. I am sure we would choose to leave during the warmest months here and come to the cool areas there. That would be your low Season and easier to find inexpensive rentals.

Sad News, Happy News in Ajijic

We recently had lunch with a friend in Ajijic, at the Secret Garden. This is a delightful vegetarian restaurant, one of our favorite places to eat. As the name implies, most of the tables are in a nice garden area in back of the building.

One of my happiest memories of the Secret Garden was a dinner last November, a festive Saturday evening with our friends who were here adopting their daughter. There were four or five couples (mostly Irish) who were here doing adoptions, plus all their babies and assorted friends and relatives. We were a jolly crowd, and I enjoyed the young Mexican man who was playing Andean music on his guitar and Andean flute.

Our waitress was the ever-vivacious Fran (Francesca) who spoke English and knew my friends well. I have a lovely mental image of her dancing to the Andean music in between keeping us supplied with food and drink.

My sad news is that Fran died recently. I don't have the details, but she had been ill for a couple of weeks or so, and one day she died, at home. She was 49.

My happy news is that the friend we had lunch with the other day is an American woman who was here about a year ago, checking out Ajijic as a place to retire to, and she loved it. She went back to California, figured out a way to get early retirement, and just came back now to find a modestly priced long term rental. She timed her visit well, on purpose, as things are relatively quiet around Ajijic with all the snowbirds having flown. She got in the flow and had her choice of at least a couple of places that would normally rent for about $600 US per month but were offered to her for about $450. She's signed a lease on a very sweet and private one-bedroom place within walking distance of everything. She'll go back to the US soon to get her stuff, and likely will be back before we return from our trip!

Another Blog from Lake Chapala

I just came across this blog, written by a woman I haven't met yet who lives not far from my town. She really captures some of the interesting. amusing, and even bizarre aspects of life and culture here! I laughed myself silly at some of her turns of phrase. She also doesn't hesitate to tell it like she sees it...

Click on the title to go to her blog.

To the USA Soon

Later this month Kelly and I will be driving our car (a VW Jetta) to Mazatlan, then going through Arizona and Utah to his old family home in Idaho. It went on the market recently and as you'd say in Spanish, sold itself. We're heading up for a family gathering, and then will be going to our town in Colorado, Crestone, and staying a while. Our route back will be through New Mexico, Chihuahua, and the central highlands of Mexico. We plan to be gone however long we want, at least a month, maybe two. Our departure date depends in part on when we get our renewed FM-3 visas (not to mention our passports) back from the Mexican government.

Our little Toyota RV will stay here. We thought about taking it but I'm not comfortable driving it, and we don't really need its facilities that much for this trip. The car will cost us about half as much in gasoline and in tolls on the Mexican four-lane highways we like to use. And -- an increasingly significant factor in personal decisions -- it's better for the environment to use less gas. Our car's nickname is Smoothie, and the trip will definitely be smoother in it. Virtually all of the northbound trip, and much of the southbound, will be on good 4-lane highways.

The Mexican segments of the trip should yield some good blogging material. We will likely go to Alamos, a charming small city I have long wanted to see, on our way north.

We decided that without the RV, our dear old dog is best off here at home. That made me a bit sad... hmm, he just came over and sat next to me at my desk. And it raised an ongoing concern of all animal-loving travelers:

Finding Petsitters in Mexico

In this area, with so many foreigners, there are quite a few who do petsitting. Last year, we used one and were completely happy with his services. Costs tend to run about ten dollars US per day for someone who lives in your home, or less for longer term. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

We wanted one or two people to live in our home, and one of my main concerns was that they be very conscious of keeping our two cats in the house. Another was that my much-beloved and timid Siamese cat be given affection, once he decides to come out from under the bed. Plus of course, LarryDog and our Mexican rescue kitty Misty need plenty of love!

I put the word out via email to a bunch of other foreigners, but actually something else turned up: some Mexicans we know in our neighborhood will likely stay here. I won't post details now, because they are coming over in a couple of days to confirm. But it feels good.

Another choice we used once is an excellent dog boarding facility in San Antonio Tlayacapan, called Doglandia. But with the three animals, we wanted them all to stay here.

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A Mexican Wedding, Part 2

Continuing from the last post about the wedding we went to recently, in the last photo there, you can see a little boy holding a little bag. It contained confetti, which was given out by two adorable little girls... with the results that when the newlyweds walked out of the church, they were showered! Here Olga is chatting with well-wishers right after that:


This mariachi band played in the courtyard in front of the church:


and at the restaurant beside Lake Chapala where the reception was held:

A meal was served, people chatted, and a good time was had by all! Here, a folkloric dance of the ancianos (old ones) was performed by local dancers:


That was followed by this dance. It turned out that the young man is the son of a friend of ours. That's how it is around here! People are connected in so many ways.



Then Noe and Olga led off the dancing. You can see Lake Chapala and the wedding cakes in the background.

May Noe and Olga be very happy together all their lives! They are off to a great start!