# Bought my airline tickets to fly down.



## Retired-Veteran (Oct 29, 2011)

Bought my airline tickets to fly down. lane:

Funny how such a thing can put a smile on a person's face.  I'll be down from June 20th until July 24th.

I was only going to fly down for two weeks until a gentleman had said that was not enough time for a visit. It really didn't take much to convince me to stay longer. 

I'm hoping to be able to get a feel of the place and try to find out what area around the lake I would like to live when I move down permanently in 2013.


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## m55vette (May 21, 2010)

You should hit rainy season. Everything will be nice and green. The electric storms are amazing. Hope you have a great visit.


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## pier1308 (Dec 12, 2011)

Retired-Veteran said:


> Bought my airline tickets to fly down. lane:
> 
> Funny how such a thing can put a smile on a person's face.  I'll be down from June 20th until July 24th.
> 
> ...


Are u talking about lake chapala? I'm a retired veteran myself and have been planning on living part time in Mexico. Have heard that the lake chapala area is getting expensive to live in because of all the Americans moving there.. Please let u's know what u find there..


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## Retired-Veteran (Oct 29, 2011)

pier1308 said:


> Are u talking about lake chapala? I'm a retired veteran myself and have been planning on living part time in Mexico. Have heard that the lake chapala area is getting expensive to live in because of all the Americans moving there.. Please let u's know what u find there..


I sure am & I sure will!

Here is what I already see about the cost of living there as to here.

For lodging, TV, water, elect, gardener & maid costs $20 American a day to live not including food. 

I pay right now for the same without gardener or maid $50 a day.

I save money when I'm on vacation.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Since you' all are spending a goodly amount of time looking, I hope you expand at least your thought horizon to beyond Lake Chapala. There are many wonderful options in Mexico. Deciding to view Mexico retirement through visiting Lake Chapala is a lot like a European viewing retirement in the US by spending six weeks in Phoenix.


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## pier1308 (Dec 12, 2011)

conklinwh said:


> Since you' all are spending a goodly amount of time looking, I hope you expand at least your thought horizon to beyond Lake Chapala. There are many wonderful options in Mexico. Deciding to view Mexico retirement through visiting Lake Chapala is a lot like a European viewing retirement in the US by spending six weeks in Phoenix.


Yeah I've been looking south of pv also , someplace small but not to far from a descent size town. I'm sure I will love all of Mexico....


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

We aren't beach people and don't like crowds. When we do hit the beach our favorite place is Barra de Potosi which is small fishing/seafood enclave just south of Zihuatenejo.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

pier1308 said:


> Yeah I've been looking south of pv also , someplace small but not to far from a descent size town. I'm sure I will love all of Mexico....


If I were starting over looking for a place to live in Mexico, I would pick a medium sized city in the middle of the country, Queretaro, Guanajuato, Puebla, or some other. I would rent a hotel room there for two weeks and spend those two weeks looking for an apartment or house to rent for one year. In choosing the city and the house, I would stay away from areas with large enclaves of foreigners. Spending all of your time talking to people just like you in your own language just interferes with learning a new culture. You already know how people from north of the border live. The goal would be to see what other options there are for living in Mexico. During the year I would spend a lot of time traveling to other cities and environments (including the big foreign enclaves near Lake Chapala and San Miguel de Allende). I would sign up for Spanish classes and find a good teacher who not only teaches the language but talks a lot about the food, culture, geography and history of various places in Mexico. At the end of the year, I might have a feeling for a little of what is available in Mexico. Then I would start thinking about whether I really wanted to stay in Mexico and, if so, where I would want to live.


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## DNP (May 3, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> If I were starting over looking for a place to live in Mexico, I would pick a medium sized city in the middle of the country, Queretaro, Guanajuato, Puebla, or some other. I would rent a hotel room there for two weeks and spend those two weeks looking for an apartment or house to rent for one year. In choosing the city and the house, I would stay away from areas with large enclaves of foreigners. Spending all of your time talking to people just like you in your own language just interferes with learning a new culture. You already know how people from north of the border live. The goal would be to see what other options there are for living in Mexico. During the year I would spend a lot of time traveling to other cities and environments (including the big foreign enclaves near Lake Chapala and San Miguel de Allende). I would sign up for Spanish classes and find a good teacher who not only teaches the language but talks a lot about the food, culture, geography and history of various places in Mexico. At the end of the year, I might have a feeling for a little of what is available in Mexico. Then I would start thinking about whether I really wanted to stay in Mexico and, if so, where I would want to live.


In my book, that's outstanding advise.

Sent from my iPod touch using ExpatForum


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

*just a hint*



Retired-Veteran said:


> Bought my airline tickets to fly down. lane:
> 
> Funny how such a thing can put a smile on a person's face.  I'll be down from June 20th until July 24th.
> 
> ...


most airlines and hotels have sales starting Jan.2nd. each year to fill flights and hotels after the christmas rush....

I am willing to bet Lake Chapala has more retired military than any other expat group.


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## Retired-Veteran (Oct 29, 2011)

The Lake may only be the first part of my journey; I figure I need to start someplace. My plan is to rent when I move down in 2013 that way I will have the freedom to move around the area if I would like. 

But until then this coming summer I’m spending five weeks at the lake to make my first big step in preparation for the move.

There are a few other places that I would like to see and perhaps live in Mexico but I'm going to start with the lake.

As far as being around other foreigners (American, Canadian) that for me is a plus and is what I would like to experience also. I will be one the young side as I'm 51 right now but I would like to experience the retired culture as much as the local culture too. Heck what I read and seen in videos of the activities done at the lake I truly can’t wait until I get there to have the chance to get to know all the people I been seeing and even writing to.

I have already lived in other countries, while I was in the Army, and I have done my time of living "Away" from people while living on my homestead in Alaska for 16 years. (Just south of the Arctic Circle). I don’t want to move way out into the wilds of Mexico until I learn where is safe to go and where is not the safest place to go.

I’m still young and hope to be around for some time, I haven’t turned my back on the rest of Mexico and I surly am not deciding on where to live by only visiting just one place. 

But I’ll ask can anyone tell me another way of making a decision on where to live without taking the first step? 

I may fall completely in love with Ajijic and buy a home and set roots down finally but then again I may move after three months to San Miguel de Allende. Yet another place on my list to live.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

The OP states"I may fall completely in love with Ajijic and buy a home and set roots down finally but then again I may move after three months to San Miguel de Allende. Yet another place on my list to live."

Just a word of advice, I believe you should rent at location for a year first, it is easy to buy a home in an area but may be difficult to sell if you change your mind..I tripped all around the country, from Merida, San Miguel, Guadalajara and finally the Nayarit coast...After 4 years I realize the summer months are just too humid for me so I purchased a small ranch North of SM Allende where because of the elevation is cool during those months plus there seems to be about 8 women to each man there,LOL...good luck in your quest and thank you for serving the USA.......


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Congratulations on getting your tickets and taking that 'first step'.


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## Retired-Veteran (Oct 29, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> Congratulations on getting your tickets and taking that 'first step'.


I also made reservations at an apartment for the five weeks, in the Chapala area.


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## Retired-Veteran (Oct 29, 2011)

chicois8 said:


> The OP states"I may fall completely in love with Ajijic and buy a home and set roots down finally but then again I may move after three months to San Miguel de Allende. Yet another place on my list to live."
> 
> Just a word of advice, I believe you should rent at location for a year first, it is easy to buy a home in an area but may be difficult to sell if you change your mind..I tripped all around the country, from Merida, San Miguel, Guadalajara and finally the Nayarit coast...After 4 years I realize the summer months are just too humid for me so I purchased a small ranch North of SM Allende where because of the elevation is cool during those months plus there seems to be about 8 women to each man there,LOL...good luck in your quest and thank you for serving the USA.......


Well said, and your welcome! 

The likelihood of me buying a house truly is slim. My statement was more for effect than actual. 

All my life I have bought homes I think I'm on my 12th now? And I really am tired of selling them after I done a lot of work to them first. 

I feel it's time that I pay another person's mortgage for a few to several years. What you have described about your moving around to find the right place is really what I'm now just starting out on doing. 

I have been at this house for the past four years and really have not been happy about this location. Crime, drugs, young "Party" renters up and down this street, gangs. 

To take a first look at this street one would never see much of this, it's not until I have been here about one year before I started to see the signs of it. 
Then the 6 foot fence went up and the CC TV cameras also.

Time to move on, and I can't wait.


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## RPBHaas (Dec 21, 2011)

I have spent quite a bit of time in several places in the interior of the country such as Queretero, San Luis Potosi, Pachuca and Monterrey over the past five years. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Queretero, I settled in Jalisco south of GDL about 2 hours in a town of 50,000 people and absolutely love it. I am an hour and a half from the beaches of Barra de Navidad but enjoy the advantages of the mountainous climates. When deciding where to travel and explore, I advise being cognizant of the current and fluid situation concerning the in-fighting of the cartels. While GDL has seen a few incidents this year with violence, they have been rather isolated to cartel members. 
The area to the south of GDL and including Puerto Vallarta tend to be the safest areas of Mexico. San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes and virtually everything to the north I would consider dangerous to all but the most knowledgable people concerning personal security. (A block of instruction I taught in the US Army for 8 years)
If your Spanish is limited, I would recommend starting your adventure in one of the Expat enclaves, Chapala or Allende, or along the Pacific coast of Jalisco where you will find plenty of people that speak both languages.


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