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Whenever this topic came up in conversation the first thing people would say is "Mexico?, not New Mexico?" I would always answer in the affirmative and the next question is usually the title of this page! Those friends can identify with the lower cost of living (but honestly living on gringo standards not as cheap as some people tout!) and the wonderful climate. They have only read the sensational newspaper crime reports so they often don't believe that I can wander at night, on foot and alone down by the lake, up to the plaza, and feel quite safe. Later on I'll stroll back home. No one has as yet tried to kidnap me and hold me for ransom! They seem to understand when I stress the wonderful attitudes of the Mexican families: hardworking, polite, family centered. It sort of goes back to a kinder, gentler time, like an American small town in the 50's. For some people, retiring out of the United States seems to come under the heading of thinking way way... out of the box. But, since 9-11, it doesn't seem quite so far fetched to many people. I must confess that the idea certainly never occurred to me. It was my husband, Harry, who first started researching retirement options. With his usual thoroughness he started saving for retirement early in his and my working lives and he started researching where in his early forties. He loves to travel, and as teachers there were ample vacations spent traveling to places in the United States that he thought might be possibilities. Since I am not a big fan of traveling initially these were touted as just vacations not research expeditions! Summers we did some international travel as well and he also subscribed to a magazine called "International Living." As he researched, taxes, climate, cost of living, crime, medical facilities, etc etc, we kept traveling and we got older! He actually began discussing the options with me and I entered into the game of planning travel to explore the places he was considering. I was still thinking of this as a far off theoretical thing. Then some years ago he told me that he was getting burned out as a school administrator and he wanted to take the earliest possible retirement at age 55. Suddenly this was closer than theoretical. Most of the options in the United States didn't seem to meet enough of our criteria and his magazines and research began to point to Mexico. We first visited Puerto Vallarta . At that point I thought I wanted coastal, sort of a dream house on the beach. PV in November was pleasant, the beach and lagoon houses we looked at were nice, but the locals did mention the heat and humidity in the summer. The temps sounded like the Jersey Shore where we lived then. We decided to look further. Now we only go there in the winter months for a vacation. Our first visit there, Harry, suggested we rent a car and drive inland to look at this place he had read about in the magazines. We got up early and after a spectacular four hour drive through the mountains (on mostly deserted, new, toll roads) we arrived in Ajijic. We drove into town, parked and walked around a bit. I think we both fell in love with the place that day but neither would admit it to the other! Harry had read about Eagar Realty in "International Living" so we walked to the office. We met with Kevin at Eager Realtors, and we decided to stay the night and look at some houses the next day. Kevin found us a place to stay and after our house tour the next day we were hooked. Over the next eight years we vacationed here in bed and breakfasts, the hotel and eventually friends' homes. We sampled most of the months, wet, dry, hot, cooler, that pass for seasons. We looked at a lot of homes and in August of 2001 with that magic 55 number just a year away we bought our home in Ajijic. We were still with Kevin at Eager and by that time we were friends. He handled the closing for us since we could not be there. Unlike some realtors in Ajijic, we always found Eager to be both very non-pushy ( buy it now!!) and very professional. Many of the pages on the site share with you the six months as we got ready to leave. As we practiced our Spanish, packed and organized you can read all about our moving experience. |