There are many good and compelling reasons to make the move to Mexico. I love it here, as do many others who have made the move to Lake Chapala! But everyone's reasons are different. I've written many articles over the past 6 years with excellent reasons to make the move and (don't look back)....but don't take my word for it.
I recently came across a Facebook Post on one of the local Groups and just couldn't resist sharing it with you as it shares a different viewpoint from a different person.
3 Lessons Learned
Early yesterday I returned from spending 18 days back in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. After having been away for a few years, the contrast of life back there versus Mexico was stark indeed and made a few things exceedingly clear to me about how my life has changed for the better.
Lesson 1 -
Human beings acknowledging one another's presence is not something I want to live without. From a short greeting to a nod of the head, life in Mexico is about the simple pleasures of connection. There were multiple occasions when I smiled and said hello to someone on the street near Seattle only to be ignored by that person in return. Why?!&*
It was baffling and contributed unnecessarily to a sense of isolation that I remembered all too well; invisibility hurts and that motivated me to move towards the warmer climate and culture of Mexico.
My takeaway, there is no greater punishment than solitary confinement.
Lesson 2 -
Feeling as though I've stepped back into some kind of oppressive machine designed to extract life force, money and good will from people is an invisible and destructive force that cannot be overstated or dismantled by the average person. Given the exorbitant prices of eating out, we only enjoyed a restaurant meal on one night of 18 during my trip.
The incredible variety of delicious and extremely reasonable restaurants in Mexico contributes to one's joy and sense of celebration. By contrast, I found it difficult to fully experience the pleasure of eating out in the United States because I could not shake the bitter flavor of resentment I felt paying $49.10 for two salads and a glass of tap water for my friend and me one afternoon.
My takeaway, breaking bread in the presence of loved ones is one of life's greatest pleasures but we should not have to go into debt to do so.
Lesson 3 -
We humans are sentient beings and we notice subtle shifts in energy, mood and environment. A pervasive feeling of pressure seemed to blanket everyone and everything back in the US. At the grocery store, people did not engage one another by and large and instead they kept their eyes down and focused on getting through the task before moving on to the next thing. Idleness was mostly an opportunity to look at one's phone rather than interact with those around them.
When you are away from this kind of behavior for an extended period of time as I have been, these subtle alterations in people's behavior becomes much easier to see. And it is understandable of course because people need coping mechanisms to deal with the insidious stress that accompanies basic survival for the vast majority of people.
In fact, during my trip North, I read a headline that personal debt in the form of credit cards had exceeded 1 trillion dollars for the first time in US history. Total household debt is over 17 trillion dollars. To that you can add the 1.4 trillion dollars in a federal deficit which necessitated interest payments of $135 billion dollars in the first 9 months of 2023.
And because I like numbers, here are some very sobering statistics.
Total debt payments on the federal American deficit so far in 2023 equals 135,000,000,000
Total population of the United States as of August 25th 2023 equals 340,269,759
Interest payments so far this year on the national debt for every man, woman and child in the United States (whether or not they are working or paying taxes) equals $396.74
The Washington Post reported that 37% of Americans could not cover an unexpected expense exceeding 400 US dollars.
This means that for over a third of Americans, they cannot even afford to pay their portion of the interest charge on the federal deficit much less the interest on their own personal debt much less pay off the principal amount borrowed.
My takeaway, things can look "good" but not feel good. The uniformly manicured appearance of life in many parts of the US belies a difficult truth... the unrelenting stress of living under constant financial pressure is creating a toxic soup that fuels drug abuse, gun violence and mental health issues for untold numbers of people. How could it not?
Moving to Mexico is not the answer for everyone and for many people who do want to move here, circumstances preclude them from doing so. Thankfully there are alternatives (although not necessarily easy) to creating a sustainable life in the US and Canada that is free from debt and the necessity of trading one's life for work with no hope of retirement.
Having a happy, healthy life of your own design is rewarding beyond compare. I encourage each and every one of you in pursuit of that goal to be persistent in your dedication toward its achievement. No one else can achieve that for you but you and it's worth it!!
Your future begins with YOU
💖 Joyanne
-The Mexico Mentor
If you have already made the move here then please write us your reasons for moving to Lake Chapala. And if you are one of the people still sitting on the fence or contemplating making the transition, then please let me know what are the motivating factors you need cleared up in order to make your decision?
As always, we are here to help make your expat transition as simple and easy as possible and make sure you don't make any costly mistakes. Contact us to learn more about what we have to offer.
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