# When did your Mexican dream begin?



## ptrichmondmike (Aug 26, 2010)

I suspect that gringos fall in love with Mexico for many different reasons, but there has to be some initial impulse, experience or insight that ultimately leads to becoming an expat there.

With me, it was a movie I first saw in my childhood -- only recently FINALLY released on DVD and snapped up immediately by me! -- the 1947 historical spectacular _*Captain from Castile*_. This outstanding film today would be very politically incorrect -- in fact, the script would be inconceivable in 2010. Back then it had the full support of the Mexican government and cultural establishment. And it does manage to showcase the magnificent landscape and suggest something of the splendor of pre-Columbian civilization.

What grabbed me as a child most is the arresting final scene where the conquistadors and their indigenous allies begin the final march across the pass into the Valley of Mexico. It's simply glorious, with stirring music, and the anachronistic but fantastic backdrop of an erupting Paricutin volcano (this little Michoacan volcano had appeared in a cornfield in the early 1940s, and was in full throat at the time the movie was made.) Okay, Michoacan is west, not east of the Valley, but even so...and seeing the movie again, I am as impressed as ever.

I think I knew then that someday I would live in Mexico.


----------



## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

Great new thread... a little different than most but I like it!

My story is in 4 phases. 

Phase 1 (early 70s): When I was 13 my family took a vacation to the southwest - Arizona, New Mexico, San Antonio TX. I was fascinated by the Hispanic culture. My dad said he would take me to Mexico with him on one of his business trips there when I turned 15 (he went regularly). Well, he got transferred out of the international division so the trip never came to pass, but my fascination remained. I hadn't yet started to think of moving here but the seed was planted.

Phase 2 (late 90s): I realized that having a regular job was for the birds and I decided to do whatever it took to get out of the rat race as soon as possible. I started to research places where one could retire and live more economically than in the US and the list was dominated by Spanish speaking countries - Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama among others. I promptly started Spanish classes and a year later made an intensive language study trip to Mexico and fell in love with the place and the culture all over again.

Phase 3 (2000s): Through contacts I had made while studying in Mexico I got offers to come down several times and give concerts. This lead to more trips to Mexico and I got to know a lot more people and a lot more about the culture and my fascination deepened. Plus, my music was very well received by the Mexican people. By this time I had decided that Mexico was the easy winner over the other countries for retirement destination. 

Phase 4 (2008-9): The financial picture was looking pretty good for retirement (even though the dang crisis had hit) and, very importantly, I had meet a Mexican lady on one of my concert trips and fallen in love. These two factors combined to cause me to take the leap, get out of the rat race and complete the dream.


----------



## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

I'd already been an expat for more than 25 years, and my "dream' was to retire in southern France near the coast. But employer relocation issues caused me to retire earlier than planned. My financial outlook was too limited for Europe (and probably would have been even with later retirement), so I started looking elsewhere. I'd been to Mexico once in the '70s and enjoyed the country and people, so I started researching possibilities here. Then I came for a visit and loved it, bought a little house, and here I am!


----------



## HolyMole (Jan 3, 2009)

ptrichmondmike said:


> I suspect that gringos fall in love with Mexico for many different reasons, but there has to be some initial impulse, experience or insight that ultimately leads to becoming an expat there........I think I knew then that someday I would live in Mexico.


Although my wife had been to Acapulco in the early 60's, my first visit to Mexico was around '87 or '88. While on a California trip, I, my wife and our 14 year old daughter decided to park the car on the US side of the border and walk into downtown Tijuana. Just as we started to go through the turnstile, a US Customs & Immigration bus pulled up and out piled 40 or 50 Mexicans. According to the Immigration folks, these "illegals" - most of them young men - had been arrested in Washington state and were being returned to Mexico. We were told that most of these same Mexicans would probably beat the bus back to Washington, where they were working in the orchards. 
So, there we were, three very obvious "gringos" in the middle of a large group of fairly dejected and rather desperate-looking (to us, anyway), people walking from the border the half-mile or so into downtown Tijuana. 
It was all very exciting for us.....not so for the unfortunate Mexicans.

It was the sights, sounds and smells, (yes, even the gross smells), of downtown Tijuana that fascinated me. Here, I thought, was life. None of the antiseptic cleanliness, or the peaceful, quiet....and ultimately pretty boring....atmosphere in which I'd grown up.
It was that initial assault on the senses in Tijuana that clinched it for me. I decided then to read everything I could about Mexico and to aim not only to visit the country as often as possible, but ultimately to reside there one day. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, we're not yet in a position to pull up stakes and move full-time. We have managed to spend 5-6 months every year in Mexico since I retired, and, until housing markets improve, that will have to suffice.


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

While in kindergarten, our teachers put on a Mexican fiesta, complete with the experience of making tortillas. The color, music and fresh tortillas fascinated me and I always remembered that day. Many years later, I had occasion to live and work in the Middle East and, even later, to work and travel in Africa, Asia and the Middle East again. Another fellow covered Latin America for our company. It wasn't until after retirement that our motor home travels took us to the border every winter and, one of those winters found us on a bus tour through some 1800 miles of Mexico, several cities and a lot of fascinating scenery. We wanted more and returned the following year with our own car, to explore further. The rest is history: We sold the motor home, moved to Lake Chapala and have been here for a decade.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

I had always wanted to spend some time in the Peace Corps but marriage, the draft and kids interfered when I was younger. A few years ago, I found myself unemployed somewhat earlier than any plans to retire. It seemed like a good time to go in the Peace Corps. I told them I wanted to go someplace that spoke Spanish and was warm. I wanted to learn Spanish and a childhood in Alaska had given me enough winters for a lifetime. They sent me to Mexico. I have been all over Europe and Asia for work over the years but had never been beyond the US and Canada in the Americas. Visiting Mexico had never occurred to me before the Peace Corps assignment, unless you count an afternoon or two in Tijuana and Mexicali. However, about a year into my tour with the Peace Corps, I knew I was going to stay. I have been here three years now, the first two with the Peace Corps and one year since.


----------



## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

This is a very interesting thread. It's good to have some "why's" amongst the "where's".
In our case, we really backed into Mexico.
I had spent 30 years with IBM having responsibility at one time or the other for some 30 countries. I ended up in Asia after my 1st wife decided enough was enough with 3 years in Beijing and 3 years in Singapore.
I thought Asia was great and came within a signing decision of retiring in Phuket Thailand.
It had everything that I thought I wanted except my kids so I returned to the US at the millenia. Luckily, I found a great woman and started to show her all the places in the world that I had "discovered". We really wanted to move somewhere and were looking at places in both Europe & Asia when we received AARP Magazine with Billy Crystal on the cover.
The lead article was "Mexico, The New Retirement Zone" and featured a couple looking at retirement options in a band from Puerto Vallarta to San Miguel. When we read the description of San Miguel as 450 year old town, wonderfully preserved with a seriously long art tradition it hit our dual sweet spot as my wife is a painter and my focus is history. A week later we were at a B&B in San Miguel which led to us wintering there for 4 years. Unlike Bali, Phuket, Loire Va;lley, etc. we are an easy days drive to the border and a short flight for kids & grandkids. Now 450 years of history isn't like 5K in China or 3500 in Bali but enough to keep me going and the art options are very good.
We think San Miguel is great and have many friends there but the noise, cars and people got to us. We starting looking out from San Miguel and almost bought a beautiful farm near Atotonilco. We decided to think on it and went to visit a friend in Mineral de Pozos. We thought Pozos was great as had the mines and ruins of some 50-70,000 people in 1900 but only 3,000(about 50 full/part time expats) now and we always visited with friends. However we never thought of living there as we really wanted to be a little away from town. Our friend suggested we do nothing and that we come back in the summer as we had only wintered in San Miguel. As fate would have it when we arrived in June 2006, the 1st lot became available in what we think has the greatest views in all of Pozos and in our view, maybe Mexico. Probably enough as I'm quickly moving from why to where but if you want more "google" "Mineral de Pozos: Magical Tranquility".


----------



## ptrichmondmike (Aug 26, 2010)

Thanks to you all for these interesting responses. It's obvious that we are a diverse bunch of gringos, yet we all love Mexico. I get so discouraged sometimes when I see the awful prejudice -- and even hatred -- directed at Latin Americans not only in my own neck of the woods but across the US. I'm glad I have hope for a better future, if only for myself, once I get "home" to Mexico. I've visited Mexico at least 50 times, ranging from two hours to three months, and I never met so many kind, generous people anywhere, ever.


----------



## El Toro Furioso (May 13, 2007)

ptrichmondmike said:


> I suspect that gringos fall in love with Mexico for many different reasons, but there has to be some initial impulse, experience or insight that ultimately leads to becoming an expat there.
> 
> With me, it was a movie I first saw in my childhood -- only recently FINALLY released on DVD and snapped up immediately by me! -- the 1947 historical spectacular _*Captain from Castile*_. This outstanding film today would be very politically incorrect -- in fact, the script would be inconceivable in 2010. Back then it had the full support of the Mexican government and cultural establishment. And it does manage to showcase the magnificent landscape and suggest something of the splendor of pre-Columbian civilization.
> 
> ...


Great memories. I think I knew that I would live in Mexico at the age of 11, about to turn 12, visiting Oaxaca and Monte Alban for the first time. I was really overwhelmed by the grandeur of Monte Alban, that more that 50 years ago. We are going back next month. My Mexican sobrino is doing the church part of his wedding in Cancun and we are going to spend 11 days driving from La Manzanilla del Mar there and 12 days driving back, including several days in Oaxaca on the rebound and much time in Chiapas on the way down. Chiapas...I love monkeys in trees! And great coffee too! Two weeks from now we'll celebrate our 5th year living full time in Mexico...lindo y querido.


----------



## ptrichmondmike (Aug 26, 2010)

El Toro Furioso said:


> Great memories. I think I knew that I would live in Mexico at the age of 11, about to turn 12, visiting Oaxaca and Monte Alban for the first time. I was really overwhelmed by the grandeur of Monte Alban, that more that 50 years ago. We are going back next month. My Mexican sobrino is doing the church part of his wedding in Cancun and we are going to spend 11 days driving from La Manzanilla del Mar there and 12 days driving back, including several days in Oaxaca on the rebound and much time in Chiapas on the way down. Chiapas...I love monkeys in trees! And great coffee too! Two weeks from now we'll celebrate our 5th year living full time in Mexico...lindo y querido.


I spent several months in my first real trip to Mexico back in 1971, and that included 10 days in Oaxaca, with a most memorable visit to Monte Alban, and much time spent enjoying the fantastic market and the lovely Zapotec inhabitants of that city, who other Mexicans told us they called "la gente dulce." And they certainly were, muy dulce. 

But as far as archaeological sites go, Teotihuacan took top honors, hands down. We were there on a rather stormy summer day with hardly any tourists in evidence, and just after my awestruck then-wife said "I wonder what motivated them to build all this," lightning struck the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, the clouds burst, and streams of water began gushing from the Quetzalcoatl-headed spouts which terminated the ancient drainage gutters. "Oh," she said. "I see."

I've been longing to return for good ever since. I have so many wonderful memories of that trip -- by far the longest time I've spent there -- with only one sour memory: some very unfriendly people in a very beautiful town, Xalapa, in Veracruz state. We never could understand how they could be so different from all the other Mexicans we met, and be so apparently unhappy living in a lush floral paradise.


----------



## Piernet (Sep 13, 2010)

*You are more than welcome Mike !*

I suggest to you to come and vist us in Playa del Carmen ! It's a great life xwe have down there... Mexico is really an incredible place to live...
As a french guy II will say it's " KAFKA...IEN"

Best Regards

Piernet

--------------------



ptrichmondmike said:


> I suspect that gringos fall in love with Mexico for many different reasons, but there has to be some initial impulse, experience or insight that ultimately leads to becoming an expat there.
> 
> With me, it was a movie I first saw in my childhood -- only recently FINALLY released on DVD and snapped up immediately by me! -- the 1947 historical spectacular _*Captain from Castile*_. This outstanding film today would be very politically incorrect -- in fact, the script would be inconceivable in 2010. Back then it had the full support of the Mexican government and cultural establishment. And it does manage to showcase the magnificent landscape and suggest something of the splendor of pre-Columbian civilization.
> 
> ...


----------

