# Considering moving to Mexico...



## TakingTime (Jan 21, 2021)

Hello everyone. We are retired, considering a move to Mexico. We would appreciate any advice as to the best areas to consider, or your own favorite area. Please share the reasons it is your favorite area. We would like a place with a large expat community, Also, what is the current situation there with Covid?
Any and all suggestions and advice would be appreciated.


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## hyracer (Aug 14, 2011)

Covid is just as bad or worse as the Mexican gov't. doesn't do as much testing and under reports what's happening. Since you currently live in the US, I wouldn't consider moving to Mexico until you have been vaccinated first. Your much more likely to receive your vaccination in the US than Mexico. 
As far as where to live in Mexico, subscribe to the International Living magazine or similar and start reading. Where to live will largely depend on your preferences (hot/cool, humid/dry, small village/big city, coastal/mountain), and income.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

The largest foreigner communities are in Ajijic, on Lake Chapala, and in San Miguel de Allende. In addition, most coastal towns along the Pacific coast and the Yucatan peninsula have large foreign communities.The big cities like Mexico City and Guadalajara have reasonable foreign populations as well, but they are spread so thinly as to be pretty much invisible.

There are advantages and disadvantages to living near a lot of people from one's own country. You didn't ask for my opinion but I will give it anyway. Living in one of those communities might be a good place to start for awhile to get one's feet on the ground so to speak. But it is not where I would choose to live permanently.


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## TakingTime (Jan 21, 2021)

TundraGreen said:


> The largest foreigner communities are in Ajijic, on Lake Chapala, and in San Miguel de Allende. In addition, most coastal towns along the Pacific coast and the Yucatan peninsula have large foreign communities.The big cities like Mexico City and Guadalajara have reasonable foreign populations as well, but they are spread so thinly as to be pretty much invisible.
> 
> There are advantages and disadvantages to living near a lot of people from one's own country. You didn't ask for my opinion but I will give it anyway. Living in one of those communities might be a good place to start for awhile to get one's feet on the ground so to speak. But it is not where I would choose to live permanently.





TundraGreen said:


> The largest foreigner communities are in Ajijic, on Lake Chapala, and in San Miguel de Allende. In addition, most coastal towns along the Pacific coast and the Yucatan peninsula have large foreign communities.The big cities like Mexico City and Guadalajara have reasonable foreign populations as well, but they are spread so thinly as to be pretty much invisible.
> 
> There are advantages and disadvantages to living near a lot of people from one's own country. You didn't ask for my opinion but I will give it anyway. Living in one of those communities might be a good place to start for awhile to get one's feet on the ground so to speak. But it is not where I would choose to live permanently.


 Thank you for responding. I appreciate that you gave me your opinion. Advice from someone more experienced than I is always welcome. What you said about an large expat community is my line of thinking, also, as to have a "support group" as I learn the ropes. but also friends with whom to associate. I speak some Spanish, am taking classes to limprove, but my husband doesn't at all. So, living in an all Spanish speaking community would be isolating for him.
I see you are in Guadalajara. What was the deciding factor(s) for your choice to live there? I hope you don't mind if I ask these questions. We have been to Mexico before. We did stay in Ajijic, got a temporary membership in the Lake 
Chapala Society for the time we were there. While it was very good, it didn't feel like "home."


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

When we moved to Mexico we had a wish list we used in selecting where to move (most of those things have evolved over the years). Proximity to an expat community was not even on the sheet of paper we drew up. We live on the outside of a town which has some (a few) expats. In my opinion, they can be very cliquey. Although I was a boy scout and played high school and college sports, I have never joined any clubs and such. Most Mexican professionals will speak/understand English if you need it. Most young Mexicans will as well. Most Mexicans will not reveal how much they understand however (well except taxi drivers perhaps). At some point without realizing it you kind of pick up Spanish via osmosis (sort of).


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## TakingTime (Jan 21, 2021)

MangoTango said:


> When we moved to Mexico we had a wish list we used in selecting where to move (most of those things have evolved over the years). Proximity to an expat community was not even on the sheet of paper we drew up. We live on the outside of a town which has some (a few) expats. In my opinion, they can be very cliquey. Although I was a boy scout and played high school and college sports, I have never joined any clubs and such. Most Mexican professionals will speak/understand English if you need it. Most young Mexicans will as well. Most Mexicans will not reveal how much they understand however (well except taxi drivers perhaps). At some point without realizing it you kind of pick up Spanish via osmosis (sort of).


Thank you for responding. I'm glad you brought up the wish list, We do have a few things on our wish list, but maybe there are things we aren't aware we can even wish for. Would you mind to share your list, what changes you have to it in your time there, and maybe some thoughts on the realities compared to the wishes? Many thanks.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

TakingTime said:


> Thank you for responding. I'm glad you brought up the wish list, We do have a few things on our wish list, but maybe there are things we aren't aware we can even wish for. Would you mind to share your list, what changes you have to it in your time there, and maybe some thoughts on the realities compared to the wishes? Many thanks.


Oh - you first...


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## TakingTime (Jan 21, 2021)

MangoTango said:


> Oh - you first
> Fair enough. We like the warm and dry part of Mexico. Don't want to be in a big city, but large enough to have shopping options, restaurants, entertainment. Relatively safe, reasonable distance to health care. Anything else i need to wish for?


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

Ok - low hanging fruit first.

'reasonable distance to healthcare' - So here you are in Mexico and someone (or maybe even yourself) who you care about has a serious emergency. You are not going to want to take them to a government healthcare hospital. Not anymore. No more Seguro Popular, IMSS, ISSTE. You are going to want private facilities. Yes they are generally much cheaper than what you will find in the US but there are other issues. They generally want payment in real-time (on a daily basis). They will come to your bedside and present you with a tab. You are expected to pay up. You will not be released from the hospital until you have paid. Let's say you are there a week. Depending - 10K to 20K USD. And, there will be a bill for the hospital, the surgeon (if required), the guy who puts you to sleep etc. Make sure you have that on hand or have a US credit card that the hospital will accept.

We have had IMSS insurance since just about the day we got here. No more. It is useless. No more specialist appointments. Shortage on meds. Simply doesn't make sense anymore.


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## TakingTime (Jan 21, 2021)

MangoTango said:


> Ok - low hanging fruit first.
> 
> 'reasonable distance to healthcare' - So here you are in Mexico and someone (or maybe even yourself) who you care about has a serious emergency. You are not going to want to take them to a government healthcare hospital. Not anymore. No more Seguro Popular, IMSS, ISSTE. You are going to want private facilities. Yes they are generally much cheaper than what you will find in the US but there are other issues. They generally want payment in real-time (on a daily basis). They will come to your bedside and present you with a tab. You are expected to pay up. You will not be released from the hospital until you have paid. Let's say you are there a week. Depending - 10K to 20K USD. And, there will be a bill for the hospital, the surgeon (if required), the guy who puts you to sleep etc. Make sure you have that on hand or have a US credit card that the hospital will accept.
> 
> We have had IMSS insurance since just about the day we got here. No more. It is useless. No more specialist appointments. Shortage on meds. Simply doesn't make sense anymore.


Good, much cheaper healthcare was one of the attractions of living in Mexico that has been promoted for years. Everything changes.. What other changes have taken place since you've been there?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

MangoTango said:


> Ok - low hanging fruit first.
> 
> 'reasonable distance to healthcare' - So here you are in Mexico and someone (or maybe even yourself) who you care about has a serious emergency. You are not going to want to take them to a government healthcare hospital. Not anymore. No more Seguro Popular, IMSS, ISSTE. You are going to want private facilities. Yes they are generally much cheaper than what you will find in the US but there are other issues. They generally want payment in real-time (on a daily basis). They will come to your bedside and present you with a tab. You are expected to pay up. You will not be released from the hospital until you have paid. Let's say you are there a week. Depending - 10K to 20K USD. And, there will be a bill for the hospital, the surgeon (if required), the guy who puts you to sleep etc. Make sure you have that on hand or have a US credit card that the hospital will accept.


In the last few years, I have been hospitalized a few times, in private hospitals in Mexico City. It is true that you must pay the whole bill before you leave, but I have never been presented with a tab at my bedside on a daily basis. I would pay the bill (with my Bank of America debit card) at the bills-payable office before after having been given my "walking papers" by my doctor. I guess the bill-paying routine is different in different parts of the country.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Living in one of the big expat communities will hamper any effort to learn Spanish, since all the locals will speak English with you. Their English will be better than your Spanish.

Why did I choose Guadalajara. I didn't, it chose me. I came here for a job and stayed when the job ended. I like living in a big city. I would have liked Mexico City even more except for the climate. Mexico City is 700 meters (2000 feet or so) higher than Guadalajara and somewhat colder because of it. As far as the positives about Gdl, I live a block from a mercado where I can buy everything I need for daily living. There is a shared bicycle system for running more distant errands. I take a shared bicycle and don't have to worry about locking up my own bike or even coming back to the same place to get it. I just pick up another one at the nearest station. There are bus routes everywhere running every 5 or 10 minutes. I don't use them now but did before Covid. They cost about 50 cents USD a ride. Taxis/Uber/Lyft/Didi are cheap as well. Otherwise I walk most every place I need to go. Traffic is terrible in Gdl and most cities now. I wouldn't want to live where I had to get into a car routinely. I live in the center of the city and pretty much everything is a short walk or bike ride or bus ride away. When I was working in an office, my job was on the outskirts of the city and it was a hour or more on the bus each way, sometimes more in the evening because of traffic. Now I work from home and don't have to worry about that.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Healthcare is an important consideration to nail down.

What do you want to spend your time doing? Some activities have requirements (like golf courses). Internet surfing and posting on forums can be done anywhere. Do you want to be near a beach, lake, or mountain?

How often will you travel back to the US to visit family? (Maybe you need to be somewhat near a big airport).

How much will you want to eat out? If the answer is a lot, you might need a more urban area with lots of choices - even a tourist area with international food restaurants. 

Do you have any natural disaster phobias? Do you absolutely want to avoid any area with earthquakes, hurricanes or volcanos, or can you tolerate a little occasional excitement?

What about weather? Could you stand Florida or would the humidity kill you?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> Living in one of the big expat communities will hamper any effort to learn Spanish, since all the locals will speak English with you. Their English will be better than your Spanish.
> 
> This isn't true in Mexico City. Not many locals try to speak English with me, which is fine with me! In any event, most of the Mexicans I know here either don't know much English, if any, or don't feel comfortable speaking it, even if they have studied it in school, with a private tutor, or at a language "academy".l


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I learned Spanish in Ajijic which is considered Gringolandia and I rarely speak English here in Ajjic except with my husband who never learned Spanish.. so you have to perfect exemplea of what happens.. Some people learn and some do not, it is all up to you ..


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

Isla Verde said:


> In the last few years, I have been hospitalized a few times, in private hospitals in Mexico City. It is true that you must pay the whole bill before you leave, but I have never been presented with a tab at my bedside on a daily basis. I would pay the bill (with my Bank of America debit card) at the bills-payable office before after having been given my "walking papers" by my doctor. I guess the bill-paying routine is different in different parts of the country.


If you don't already have one - consider getting a BofA _blue_ travel rewards credit card. In addition to no foreign exchange fees you get rewards. Last year - principally because I put our health expenses on it we got back something like $500 US. btw. recently when I logged into my BofA online acct a message box popped up asking me if I was a dual-citizen. I don't know what's up with that but I have since gotten a new card from another bank just in case.

Part of the daily 'settling' up was the hospital and part of it was us (me). I had no idea what the grand total was going to be for my wife and I wanted to keep expenses in check. But when it was me who was laying in the hospital my wife received a 9:30 PM call the night before my surgery from the hospital's accounting dept saying that if she did not pay the 'trivial' balance on our account my procedure would be canceled. We were outraged and after that - my surgeon (who had a very special relationship with the hospital) told the hospital "put all of his expenses on my account". That worked out best for all of us and in the end we got a nice discount. When I was hospitalized again for a follow-up surgery we received pre-arranged quote from the surgeon, which included _everything_. He paid the anesthesiologist, the radiation dept, the hospital, etc.

One last thought. Don't ever try to anticipate a large credit card expense and move money there to create a large credit balance.


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## Mark1 (Jun 12, 2010)

TakingTime said:


> . . . I speak some Spanish, am taking classes to limprove, but my husband doesn't at all. So, living in an all Spanish speaking community would be isolating for him.
> . . . We have been to Mexico before. We did stay in Ajijic, got a temporary membership in the Lake
> Chapala Society for the time we were there. While it was very good, it didn't feel like "home."


You say you speak some Spanish but your husband doesn't. And you "have been to Mexico before". I fear it's a little early for you to be making a commitment to living full time in Mexico (assuming that is your plan.)

I've been to Mexico about once a year for 50 years. Mexican wife for 48 years. I speak Spanish well enough to get along, but don't understand it well. I have relative here from my wife's side. I have my green card and built a house here. So, I have more resources to go on than I understand you have. Still, *it's challenging for me*. 

You might be overwhelmed. You have to think about this. I'd suggest you plan on renting for maybe 6 months somewhere and at the end of that term, decide whether you are really up to living for 12 or 9 months here. And, I think I would try to find a large and well-established American/Canadian expat community so you can tap into those resources. 

Mexicans are VERY gracious. Nevertheless, they have their lives to live and even apparently generous neighbors might not have the time and resources to give you all the help you will need. Also, you need medical care and probably will prefer care from private physicians/hospitals. Those people have to speak enough English to do the diagnosis.


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## rmajijic (Jul 15, 2017)

Curious as to how long you stayed in Ajijic? Did you travel around the area and view different communities? Sure, Ajijic is not for everyone but you can find any kind of lifestyle you are looking for in the area (other than big city, then you'll need to go to Guadalajara).


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

TundraGreen said:


> Living in one of the big expat communities will hamper any effort to learn Spanish, since all the locals will speak English with you. Their English will be better than your Spanish.
> 
> Why did I choose Guadalajara. I didn't, it chose me.


Just some rambling, random thoughts.

I've not lived in foreigner enclaves, but Spanish is the lengua franca of Mexico. Even when visiting foreigner enclaves, I find that Mexicans instinctively use Spanish. There are exceptions of course for various reasons. Not speaking Spanish will severely limit you in many ways.

Like Mr. Tundra, the Mazahua zone chose me, I didn't choose it. In my case, I avoid foreigner enclaves, big cities, mainstream Mestizo culture, beaches, heat and humidity, and tourists. I'm sort of the anti-expat (if I may be permitted to use the e-word), so can't help P too much.

In regards to covid, we're on semáforo rojo in my state, you can easily google the government data. We're on maximum restriction and people veeery close to me have had covid-19. It's a dumpster fire.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

We retired in Mexico very rapily. We were looking for areas in the States and I could not get excited about any of the places we checked. We had a couple of housecleaners who were from Guatemala ans Salvador and went to Oaxaca and felt in love for the place. When they came back they told me Iwe should consider Mexico..Never thought about it before. I bought a ticket to Guadalajara to check different places in Mexico and at the last minute my husband told me to check Chapala. I had never heard of it. The closestI had been to Guadalajara was Guatemala City when my secretary bought a ticket for the wrong town.. Neither one of us spoke Spanish.. I was going to visit various locations in Mexico starting with Chapala. Stayed one week at the Nueva Posada in Ajijic, bought a house that week and moved 6 months later and have been here for 20 years happy as can be.
After 3 years I understood Spansh pretty well so I got bore with


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

sorry the electricity went off... I got bored with the area and went to Chiapas where I mostly mixed with indigenous. I liked the lifetyle down there better but liked the climate around lake Chapala better so I go back and forth...Mexico is a bif and varied country so somewhere there is the right place or places.. Good luck.


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## Trad+Cath+2022 (Jan 2, 2022)

hyracer said:


> Covid is just as bad or worse as the Mexican gov't. doesn't do as much testing and under reports what's happening. Since you currently live in the US, I wouldn't consider moving to Mexico until you have been vaccinated first. Your much more likely to receive your vaccination in the US than Mexico.
> As far as where to live in Mexico, subscribe to the International Living magazine or similar and start reading. Where to live will largely depend on your preferences (hot/cool, humid/dry, small village/big city, coastal/mountain), and income.


Regarding vaccination... homeoprophylaxis has as much efficacy as any allopathic vaccine, per the ample data over 200 years. Anyone can buy the remedies at any time, or make them on their own. This is of course pooh-poohed by the establishment since there's no money in it for Big Pharma.

Also, there are simple treatments for combating Covid once you have it. Quercetin with zinc is primary. Vitamin D is necessary. Thuja 30c is a homeopathic antiviral. You don't really need much more than that, to get over it without a vaccine. Had it twice and I know countless people who have gotten over it quickly with the above treatments.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Sell your medecine anti covid and then you will be very rich and can move where ever you like.



Mango I hate to disagree with you , unless you are a kid you do not learn a language by osmosis.. Learning a language well is hard wok and determination..

I live months at a time in Tzeltal areas.. I studied Tzotztzil for a while and I can tell you for a fact that osmosis does not work.. I speak several languages well so I know how to learn... but osmosis give me a break..No Way...


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## Trad+Cath+2022 (Jan 2, 2022)

citlali said:


> Sell your medecine anti covid and then you will be very rich and can move where ever you like.


Doubtful. Many people know of these remedies and none of them are rich.


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