Mexico

Meanwhile: Thailand 2018

3 March , 2018 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

Hello and welcome, again perhaps, to my blog about retiring in paradise. It has been a very long time since I wrote anything here. I am not exactly sure why this is, but probably a combination of reasons. Without further ado, here is a quick update about me for the last 18 months and my retire in paradise for less events:

Since January 2015 I have actually travelled to Thailand 5 times. For the first 3 trips that I left Thailand, it was to “move back to Mexico”. I was very hard on myself (aren’t we all?) and was disappointed with myself for not being able to choose a home country. Looking back I now know how ridiculous that thinking was.

First of all the fact that I COULD travel between Mexico and Thailand was in itself a wonderful thing to have. Second, I had the GUTS to do such travel. I am now 66 years old and I still enjoy the adventure with all its challenges. Fortunately, my health is still excellent, because I know that having poor health is a real game changer in our lives. How lucky I am to have this “problem” of choosing which country to live in!!

So about 18 months ago I decided never to say to myself or others that I have decided to “MOVE” anywhere. I simply say that I am travelling to such and such country or city and I am not sure for how long. having said this, I have decided to return to Mexico next week, for good. Ha ha ha. Uups, did I just break my own rule?

Khanom, nahkon sii thamorat, nst thailand I enjoyed living in Thailand this past year because I am/was living at the beach in Southern Thailand. The beach here is idyllic, coconut palms, smiling Thai faces and a very relaxed small town on the eastern coast of Thailand called Khanom. No Starbucks, few shops, a nice marketplace and a population of about 20.000 in the town itself. I rented a house here, 1 bedroom with a kitchen, bathroom and living room for 280 USD per month. This includes electricity, cable TV and an internet connection. Very inexpensive. I will write a separate post about this house and Khanom later.

So was there anything wrong with my newfound paradise? Well yes actually, there was not enough opportunity for social interaction. As I age I have found that I need companionship more and more. It’s not because of my age, its simply knowing what I need now. In the 3 years that I was living in Thailand, on and off, I had met 2 ladies who were very nice and I pursued relationships with. However, thier lack of English skills and my almost zero Thai language skills meant that conversation beyond daily pleasantries was impossible. For many, this sort of dialogue is sufficient, but not for me. I have also missed laughing and chatting about things that are American or British, an opportunity that would be impossible with Thai people. Thai men interact with me very very little, as opposed to Mexico where Mexican men with their families often would see me sitting alone enjoying a coffee or a beer and they would invite me to join them. This never happened in Thailand.

Laughter is a very healing fun thing to have in one’s life. Finding like-minded people to share similar situations and events from our younger decades is a powerful connection for me. Wit and sarcasm cannot be found in the Thailand language and trying to converse with Mexicans and introduce wit and sarcasm is very difficult for me at my Spanish level. I really miss this sort of banter with Brits and Yanks.

So next week I am flying to Mexico City to be at least closer to the opportunity of having these types of friendships. My friends and acquaintances in Mexico are many, many times more than I ever met in Thailand. It is my opinion that these cultural differences can make or break a lasting, healthy life in a chosen place to live.

A closer look at San Miguel de Allende

16 June , 2016 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

Meanwhile, back in San Miguel de Allende, the sun is shining and the days are beautifully filled with a festive tone most (all?) of the time. Yes. San Miguel de Allende. If you’re keeping up with my blog, you might remember that I had given up on San Miguel. Turns out I was wrong to do so.

What is the most important thing to you right at this moment? OK, not including your coffee if it’s only 8 am. Your family right? Or your friends. Since I am a traveller, explorer, digital nomad and expat then my friends are the most important thing in my life. My sisters, children and extended family all live in England and Scotland. I am an orphan here in Mexico, like most expats here and others corners of the world. I returned here last December to attend a wedding that a nice Mexicana friend had invited me to. That event deserves its own article and post. Oh my god!! Anyway while attending the wedding I was enjoying their friendship, the hugs, the familiar faces that I had no name for and watching all the people smiling and feeling the love and happiness in the reception room.

Events like these in Mexico, I have only experienced in Mexico. Maybe they do exist in Thailand, where I lived for 14 months, or Ecuador and 1 of the other 40 countries that I have visited, but I never had any such experience. Getting those hugs, feeling that friendship and experience being part of this beautiful community made me stop and think and realize just how important this aspect is in my life and has been missing since I left Mexico. Perhaps you have also had the realization? It also occurs to me that many people can never take the big leap into the world of an expat for these very reasons.. love and friendship keep them exactly where they are. The grandkids are often handcuffed to them.

San Miguel de Allende has a lot of faults: the gossip (chisma in Spanish) drives me crazy. The lies that are told about each other, border on a Steven King and 50 Shades of Grey combo novel. Some of the people here just decide to leave their manners and ethics behind when becoming an expat and feel free to gossip, lie and criticise, even about people they have never met. Add to this that often they are drunk when offering advice or being critical of others. This happened to me several times. It does not feel good at all. Which brings me to: My happiness should not rely on what other people think about me.

So at this time, I have no intention of leaving beautiful San Miguel de Allende. With all its faults, this is my home, for now.

Maids, Mariachi bands and siestas in Mexico

21 September , 2014 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

Siestas

Living and being retired in Mexico comes with several perks that make my life here just absolutely wonderful. It is often stated that “old people” need more naps. People make fun of this fact! Why? I think they are just jealous. There is nothing wrong with a 60-90 minute nap every afternoon, especially if you live in a hot climate like San Miguel de Allende in the summertime.

Staying indoors and relaxing/sleeping makes perfect sense in such hot weather, especially if you participate in the Mexican party life: which will mean staying out until 2 am or even later. You may need a sleep mask to cover your eyes and ear plugs because neighborhoods are noisier at 4 pm.

Maids in Mexico

Maids are an integral part of many Mexican homes owned or rented by Gringos. In another post, I describe how my rent, of $550 includes a maid twice a week. I have a sweetheart of a maid. She not only cleans my home, she will prepare food, cook the food, go shopping for groceries and even has sewn damaged jeans! I pay her extra for these chores but still – one stop shopping!

My maid, Sofia, does not speak a word of English and so one more added benefit: a Spanish teacher too! Sofia has also taught me a lot about Mexican produce and how to cook it. My attempt at any sort of soup in the USA was pitiful, but now I can make a really full bodied chicken soup with a big kick! Many skill sets I now have are partly attributed to my maid Sofia.

Mariachi bands

There is one style of music in Mexico that is very Mexican, mariachi bands originated in Mexico several hundred years ago and as far as I know only exist for real in Mexico and with some USA tourist places. I absolutely love the sound that these bands make. If anything in Mexico romanticises this beautiful and exciting country, this music is it! In all cities and even small towns mariachi bands play in a plaza or maybe some civic or private event.

Dating in Mexico

3 August , 2014 By John Arnold 3 Comments

As a single man I thought it would be a good idea to write an article with a brief outline of what dating, romance and love can be like in this beautiful country called Mexico. A lot of you have read, or are familiar with the book “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus”. Just like the books basic premise is that men and women think differently then so it is with how Western style romance is approached differently than romance in Mexico.

The first thing that comes to mind is money. A Mexican woman expects you to “take care of her”. A woman with children and whose parents are alive may also need financial help from you to care for here extended family. But that’s getting a little too far ahead. That will come at date #3. OK, that’s an exaggeration, just a little. A Mexican man will always be expected to pay for everything, the meal, transportation and so on. Sometimes your date will show up with friends, yes you pay for everyone. This gives the man an opportunity to flex his power and machismo. My Western wallet and mentality does not agree with this. I do it.. but I still have a hard time understanding why I pay for everything. A male friend of mine who lives in Mazatlan was very sad and a little angry when his Mexican girlfriend of 6 months and aged about 52 years old informed him that he would have to pay for their house rental, food, clothes.. everything!! He was perplexed because his girlfriend was 52, had a good business going and lived alone and so she was already able to pay for her own life. This is the way love works here in Mexico. Deal with it.

There are 2 things at play here with my friends situation. His ability to pay for his girlfriends life with him and his willingness to pay for her. This may end up with a resentful husband or boyfriend who is spending all of HIS money and the girl is SAVING here money.. often helping her family with their own finances.

Need info on Gringas dating a Mexican man? Well, honestly I have few data points except those of two friends of mine who are (trying) to date such a man and had a hard time getting the Western “dating” concept across to their boyfriends.

Public displays of affection here are over the top. In my local plaza young couples, as young as middle school, are often kissing, hugging and holding hands. People here are very affectionate and very open about it. Family is #1 in this culture and so you may find yourself taking a back seat to your wife’s/husbands parents or siblings. Their family needs always come first.

Senior Living in San Miguel de Allende

24 July , 2013 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

This article will be a more in-depth look at my life, my “senior living life”, in San Miguel de Allende. I hope you find this real-world information useful.

Today is my birthday and tonight I will be going to the local Gringo bar, Hanks. This pub/restaurant used to be called Harry’s up until 2012 and Bob, the owner has this New Orleans style establishment in about 4 different locations in the USA and 2 in Mexico. The food is moderately priced (for SMA) and the quality is excellent. Try the salmon BLT, wow! That sandwich with a ton of french fries is priced at 140 pesos, about 10 USD. I do not eat here a lot because frankly, $10 for me is too expensive for my tastes and totally not necessary, plus I would put on weight if I were here more than a few times a month. The music is also awesome at Hank’s playing mostly 70’s music along with all the standards. All in all a great place to hang out, good food, music, decor and vibe with both Mexicans (the wealthier ones) and gringos alike. The later, enjoying their gringo senior living life here in beautiful San Miguel de Allende.

At the other end of the dining-out scale is street food. Eating a taco from street vendors can be very hit and miss. However I, fortunately, do not have any first-hand information on the bad ones that may/will give you a stomach upset or worse. Word-of-mouth can be a killer for any place of business so how accurate these second-hand accounts are I am not really sure. I go to one street vendor in the evening, for beef tacos and they are just mouth-wateringly fantastic and cost 10 pesos each.

The nightlife for me may mean that I sit on a park bench in front of La Parroquia and watch the families, kids playing soccer, young teen lovers and often a town organized art performance. These performances include music for all tastes, folk dancing, choirs from local schools and more. The plaza is also a huge source of people watching for most people. The Teatro Angela Peralta, in the town centre, has events on a weekly basis and also offers a wide range or live performances and some movies. Speaking of movies, we have 2 movie theatres here in San Miguel de Allende. A short bus ride out of the old city centre takes you to a small shopping mall, which has a large multi-screen modern movie theatre. They offer movies in both Spanish and English dialogue, but some with only English subtitles.

In another article, I describe my USA plated van here as a “boat anchor” and so I got rid of it. Getting around San Miguel is often accomplished on foot now. I live at the extreme east end of the cento area and to walk across town to the west side is about 1.5 km and 20 minutes of walking. Mostly downhill and returning home a 30-minute walk, uphill. This town is not for everyone. The altitude here is about 2,000 meters, so less oxygen available for stuff like breathing. It is also a VERY hilly town and there are not too many occasions that will not take up a rather steep hill. The stroll across town can also be accomplished in a tax for 35 pesos and the 10-minute bus ride to the shopping mall is just 5 pesos.

Many people have accidents when walking in San Miguel de Allende. All the streets are some sort of cobblestone. Very smooth and slippery cobblestone. My feet are big, so my shoe spans at least one stone, those with smaller feet do not and sometimes twist an ankle or worse while navigating the beauty of the street! This town is like many others (all perhaps?) in Mexico; there are lots of obstacles on the sidewalk that, if you are not paying attention, will trip you up. Friends have had their foot/leg trapped and broken down deep holes, fallen through storm drains, and tripped over the myriad of smaller stuff that sticks out the sidewalks. Welcome to Mexico and Third World Country, culture?

Getting around Mexico from San Miguel de Allende is easy without a car. First class buses travel from SMA to all over Mexico and these buses are very comfortable indeed. These buses often having luxurious seating, WiFi and electrical adapter and even a cappuccino machine on the ETN bus line! The cost is around 100 pesos for each hour of the journey. Book online for discounts. If you are over 60 you can use your INAPAM card for a huge 50% discount on the bus fares. The cost of plane fares are on par with those in USA, so not cheap and trains only connect a few cities. Driving a car here is only cost effective when there are 3 or more in the car. The cost of petrol, maintenance, meals along the way and the road tolls add up to a 2 or 3 person break-even cost. Add to that the stress of driving and well, why bother with a car?

Lastly, there are the holidays and processions. Holidays in San Miguel de Allende are amazing festivities of light, colour, and sound. Most of the events are centred around Catholic holidays and tradition. Semana Santa, Easter was the end of March this year, is perhaps the biggest of these celebrations. People from all over Mexico come to this pueblito for the Semana Santa procession and cultural events. The next biggest holiday is the celebration, September 27, of Mexican Independence from the Spanish. The fireworks are not to be missed and this festival last about 5 days!

My life and your life, here in San Miguel de Allende can be as lively or as quiet as you want. A low budget can still be a lively time here because all the cultural events are for the public in the streets and plazas. Plan a visit soon, you will have no regrets.

Moving to Mexico. Logistics and practical stuff.

4 April , 2013 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

First things first. I have decided that “Mexico is the best place to retire” and so living in Mexico means that I have to move to Mexico. So, how will you accomplish this?

My story: After I had made my decision to live in Mexico I also decided to sell just about everything I owned. Since my home sold in 2008 for 65% of the purchase price in 2006 (gosh what fond memories those days were) all I had to sell was the rest.

I sold my 1996 Jaguar xj6 (sniff sniff) and bought a mini-van. Yep, flashbacks to when the kids were all less than 10 years old. The mini-van cost me $1,200 and it would serve as a moving truck so to speak and storage place while I looked around for a new home. Looking back the plan was the best for me out of all possible options. Those options were: just like I describe here, have a moving company do everything, have a packing company ship everything or arrive with a suitcase and nothing else from a flight to Mexico.

I also had decided that if I was really going to live in the best place to retire (Mexico) then I should never look back and so a storage locker full of maybe a $1,000 worth of “stuff” that might end up costing twice that over the years was not in my plan for success. I know many people who have stored items for years only to regret this boat anchor of a mess later on in time.

I packed almost everything in cardboard boxes and each box was numbered and contents described for the Mexican Customs (aduana) officials at the border. Clothes were on hangers inside inexpensive plastic garment bags and larger items wrapped in bubble wrap. For security reasons I bought some window tint that blocked out 95% of sunlight and so even with a nose pressed up to the glass the contents was impossible to see. Along with my stuff I knew I must have a detailed list of the items and their worth and aduana (customs) would need to see this. My value shown was about $3,500 and aduana charged me $120 on import duty. How much they charge you will depend on your attitude, the officer’s attitude (that day) and how organised you appear. If memory serves me Mexico allowed me no more than $4,000 of items before I needed to hire the services of a broker to import the items. The broker fee was not cheap at all and you need to decide for yourself that value.

I was living in Tucson and so my border crossing was Nogales. The entry point into Mexico was only just to slow down and I was waived on my way. However about 20 km down the road is the first the car import gate and then the customs check point.

In Mexico no one has a copier on any government office, well not for YOUR use. So arrive at the car import place with 4 copies of Passport, car registration, car title and some cash. The fee for the entry permit is about $30 and another $200 to $400 for a deposit on the vehicle, depending on the cars model year. The deposit is returned to you when you remove the vehicle from Mexico, IE you drive back over the USA border. Your permit is only for a temporary import permission as is good as long as your resident visa is valid and so only for a maximum of 4 years in the case of a residente temporal status by the driver. In 2014 there was a LOT of fuss about residente permanente not being allowed to own a vehicle that was imported via the temporary permit. The details of this mess can not be explained here and so please ask at your Mexican Consul for the latest info, in writing if possible.

Now some would say “don’t stop and take a chance”. Why ask for trouble for a few hundred dollars in fees? At the check point I had a choice, pull over and declare what I had or go thru the gate. The gate opens after you press a button and a random red or green light allows you to pass. Or not. It is most often green and this system is employed at airports and road crossings. A red light could mean trouble if you have more than $300 value in import items and you never declared those things.

Now I am really on my way. Full tank of gas, GPS working fine, cell phone with international plan working, passport with visa, telephone numbers of Mexican Tourist police in my phone just in case. I was also told to only have a few hundred pesos visible in my wallet and stash the rest of my cash inside the van. Would you believe that I forgot exactly where I put all that cash a week later? I digress… The purpose of all this was in the event that police pull me over and try to extort money from me for a traffic violation that never really happened.

During my 1,300 miles journey I was never stopped by the police. I did destroy my vans fuel pump after I drove over the mother of all speed bumps in Guadalajara at about 5 mph. The van stopped and gasoline was pouring out of the vans rear and I was stopping traffic in both directions NOT GOOD!!! Five men came out of nowhere and pushed me safely off the road. The men came up with a plan (amongst themselves since I spoke zero spanish). They pushed my van about 5 blocks, up down and around and into a dirt yard. The mechanic greeted me and within 15 minutes had diagnosed the problem! His helper then got on a motorbike and went to buy a new fuel pump. This all happened around 1pm and by 6pm the mechanic came to my hotel, which I had decided was a good idea to get since I thought I would be staying in this one spot for days, he handed me the keys and asked to be paid $120 for the part and $30 for his labour. Wow, inexpensive, fast and so courteous.

As you can see from the map here my journey was via Mazatlan, a beautiful beach city that I visited in November 2012. I had continued with my Mexican residency application in that immigration office and was informed that I need to complete that process at the same office within 90 days. However BEFORE arriving in Mexico one MUST have a visa resident stamp in your passport. So your first step is to apply at your local Mexican Consul office. This first step of the process can NOT be done inside Mexico.

A useful place to head at this point would be to CLICK HERE – a website that was run by Rolly Brook, but please come back here.. otherwise I will miss you! Rolly was the defacto place to go to for the latest info on life in Mexico. Unfortunately Rolly passed away February 2015 and so I will search for a site nearly as good and update soon.

With my Residente Temporal in my hand (in the form of a green plastic card) I am now free to continue my journey to San Miguel de Allende. You will need plenty of cash pesos if you are heading anywhere in a “cuota”, a toll road, some as much as 120 pesos per leg. Very few restaurants take credit cards and for security reasons I do not recommend them when travelling. Pay for gas, hotels, food and tolls with cash. ATM’s are easily found and that’s the best way to access cash in Mexico.

After my Guadalajara adventure with the fuel pump the journey was uneventful. Upon arriving in San Miguel de Allende I parked my van in a secure paid parking area for 800 pesos per month and only removed a suitcase of items since I stayed in a small hotel for the first 2 weeks while searching for an apartment to rent. Thats a whole different story to be told later.

Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this article’s topic and I will do my best to answer or find the answer for you. Cheers and welcome to Mexico (soon)!