I have nice memories from Mexico when I was growing up, but I left the country before having the opportunity to go out and explore all what it offers. As a child and teenager my responsibilities were to assist to school and to help in the family business, so I really didn't get to experience the life of an independent person. My grown up life started in USA, this is the country who taught me how to survive and make a living.
It has been a year and a half since my husband and I moved to Mexico, at the beginning was a little tough for me, more than it was for him, adjusting to a more relaxed environment. Moving from a country where life can be very hectic and time passes by so fast to a beautiful colonial city (San Miguel de Allende) where people have a more mellow life style was driving me a little crazy. There was a moment were I started feeling anxiety because I didn't know what to do with so much free time. It took a while for me to realize the great opportunity I had to start doing things that I couldn't before. I had to work all the time to be able to have a decent way of living in a country where we hardly get a brake because the system teaches us to be this way.
Life in Mexico is not much different from the one in USA, it offers all what we would look for in the states, but I can say that people in Mexico have a less stress life style specially in the smaller cities.
The coast of living in Mexico is very reasonable, we are living very comfortable with $1,500 dollars a month from covering rent, utilities, cable, Internet, gas, groceries, entertainment and more.
The health system is so inexpensive, a private doctor's visit for a sinus infection can cost about $15 dollars with antibiotic included (Z-pack). I personally was treated for a sciatic nerve problem for a week with a German technique that relieved the horrible pain and put me back to normal for only $200 dollars. Not to long ago I found out about a government health program that Mexico has, this is a totally free health service that anyone without insurance can apply for and it's good for all kind of emergencies. I was surprised to see a lot of foreigners applying for it! I learned that when people from other countries get residency in Mexico, they also have access to this benefit. JJ and I applied for it as well and have it as a back up for big emergencies. I actually have used it to get my general check up and I didn't have to pay a peso for any of the labs, x-ray, etc! There is also private health insurance that you can purchase for about $100 dollars a month and IMSS which is another government full health insurance that cost about $300 dollars a year per person that even foreigners with a residency in Mexico can buy.
We have met so many people from the states, Canada and all over the world in different cities in Mexico. Some of them like to be by the ocean, some others like the mountains in the center of Mexico and most of them like to be in places rich in culture with a lot of history. I always like to ask what made them choose this country, the answer is always the same... "Friendly people, beautiful places, inexpensive cost of living and quality of life." They also agreed that with the retirement check (Social Security) would be impossible to make a descent living back in their countries.
Living in the states and thinking about moving to Mexico was a little scary for me, specially for what I heard in the news with all the drug cartels issues and safety. I wasn't sure if I would be able to adjust to live here after more than twenty years of living in USA and been used to a more Americanized life. All what I heard about Mexico's issues were truth, but it's not happening all over the country. Unfortunately the border cities are the once battling with this problem most of the time. I have to say that in a year and a half we have been living here and driving all over the country, we haven't felt unsafe or had any trouble at all. There is crime everywhere and each country battles with different social issues so we just have to be careful wherever we are and go.
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