Moving to Mexico: Living the Dream

A few days ago my good friend Nigel commented that it must feel like Allan and I are living the dream. It's easy to understand why he might say that considering we work from home along the Mayan Riviera with turquoise blue water, palm trees, pristine white sand beaches, 85 degree weather with year round sunshine. Most people would love our lives. However, I don't look at it that way.

Although I do appreciate my profession and geographical location, I probably take it for granted. That being said about once a week I do stop and ponder "I can't believe this is my life." Last week for example I was drinking Mojitos in a beach club chatting business with a real estate developer and an investor. Looking out at the sea and feeling the warm sun on my face I did smile and think "I can't believe I'm here." Here I was a small business owner discussing the possible management of 15 more units, and I was doing so with 2 highly successful business men at a bar on the beach, and we were all wearing flip flops.

It wasn't until yesterday after Allan and I took the train from NYC to D.C. and then hopped on the commuter rail to Point of Rocks to meet my friends Monique and Bob that the impact of our very decided life choices really made an impact on my physique. Allan and I were sitting among the commuters on their way home from work and the cringed at the thought of the commute into work, feeling like just another number, working at a job that I was tired of, just sort of wasting away my life waiting for retirement. It's such a grind and for what? Unless one really loves their job and living in a cold climate, it seems to me like an existence rather than a living. There is not a day that goes by in my life now that I wish I had another job, lived somewhere else, had a different spouse or really wanted to change anything significant with my life.

As we rode the train it was fairly cold outside. We were both wearing heavy sweatshirts, and even then we were still chilly. I began to dream of being back in Playa del Carmen. The sunshine and warmth were calling. Luckily in two more days we will be returning to our tropical paradise. We can handle the temporary inconvenience of being chilled. The dreary weather did make me ponder what if we did live in the U.S northeast? What if we had waited all winter for warm weather and sunshine only to find it was 45 degrees F in May and cloudy? Back in Boston we would anxiously wait for those 3 summer months of good weather and then just dread the thought of the long winter approaching.

Sitting on that train I did realize we were living many people's dream. I think the reality of working all the time in Playa del Carmen makes it seem less like a dream and more like a working retirement. Additionally our presence in Playa did not happen instantaneously. We had to quit our jobs, sell our possessions, rent our condo in Boston, and pack our remaining items into an extended SUV and drive 4,500 miles over 3 1/2 weeks to Mexico. We cashed in our retirement accounts, pooled our savings, and once we arrived in Playa we started spending and working to try to make our business succeed. It was a decided risk but it payed off in the end. So the next time sometime asks me if it feels like I am living the dream, instead of denying it I will probably say "yes, but it took a lot of work to get here."

Playa del Carmen Condo and Villa Vacation Rentals

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge