New members of the Mexico forum, introduce yourselves here – June to December 2017

Thanks for the advice. I called T-Mobile to ask if they would provide service for me at a small price increase while I'm in Mexico for 4 years or more and was told no. Their rep said that my best bet was to wait to get there and find a Mexican cell phone carrier.

May I ask what American plan you're on that only charges an extra $5/mo for extended service in Mexico?

jarada wrote:

Hello. My name's Bill (aka Guillermo) and I'll be moving to Mexico City this December from Missoula, MT (I'm told the 2 places are almost identical so I should instantly feel right at home!) to join my girlfriend who recently became an administrator of a large American school there. We plan to remain in D.F. for at least 4 years.

My goal is to earn a salary while there as an English instructor (I have a recently acquired TESOL Certificate to help get mi pie dentro de al puerta) and/or any other jobs that will help fund our travel/adventure plans, among other little luxuries.

I have about a thousand questions occupying my mind about the transition, but the one I hope someone could advise me on first has to do with cell phones.

As I write this, Apple just announced their new iPhone 8 and Apple Watch III. Because I am weak, I feel compelled to acquire both as soon as humanly possible. But I fear that one or both of these devices would be of little to no use in Mexico, unless, that is, I wanted every cent I earn to go towards paying roaming charges to a US service provider.

I pretty much don't.

Could anyone here clarify for me what the best course of action a soon-to-arrive ex-pat should take regarding cell phones brought from the US is? I wish I were more of a techie so I could figure out how to answer my own question, but instead my brain has chosen to prioritize other knowledge like memorizing Pi out to the 13th digit and retaining detailed specifications of every motorcycle built since the '70's.

Thanks in advance for any advice I might get here. Let me know if I could ever return the favor with information about a motorcycle you're curious about. Or Pi.

So Guillermo ( actually Bill) ,

You will probably be more comfortable with the U.S. pronunciation from what I have seen. After all you had Bill your whole life.

As for the cell issue, many people have i-phones here, but most have androids because of the cost of the Apple phone and all of the required connectors solely for it.

As for plans telcell has the i-phone . The cost of the plan that allows me to call to the U.S and  Canada is $200 pesos a month. I can call to the U.S. without extra charges.
You could just pay to recharge at an Oxxo store or pay on line. I have a telcell account and they just use my Mexican bank card so I do nothing. Vincent at Mexico sim card helped me at first and he is right there in Mexico city.  Just look up Mexico SIM Card on line. He is a very nice helpful guy.

I would not advise trying to keep a U.S. cell provider. I tried that and quickly realized it was not at all satisfactory. If it were me I would wait on the new phone until I got to Mexico , and get a Mexican phone and plan. At&T is also here if that appeals you could talk to them. If you can't stop yourself from getting the new i-phone try hard to get an unlocked phone. It will save you a lot of time and trouble, when you switch carriers, which you very likely will.

Buena suerte

Yep, I had T-Moble and the phone was totally useless here. They just don't do it and that is good because their charges are ridiculous. Credo/ sprint was great but they couldn't help either , so on my next trip that phone became useless also and could not be converted because it was a digital. So after the wasted expenses of 2 U.S. phones when I moved the last time I got a Mexican phone.

I have a boost mobile account that charges me the $5 a month. You can set it up on auto payment so you don't have to worry about not being able to pay the bill.

Also Verizon has some kind of deal.not sure what.

I gave you an option for a US carrier,however if I was going to be there for 4 years I would go with Travellites plan.

Hi there! 

My name is Krista and I am planning on moving to Guanajuato in two years (740 days to be exact😉). Just have to wait for my youngest to head off to college. One down, one to go!  I will be 49 and plan on living off of some investments and the sale of my home here in Canada. Looking forward to a fresh start and a new exciting life. It's time for me now 😊!  (In 740 days....lol)

My name is Dave. I've lived in the San Diego area my entire life, but would like to retire early and see moving to Mexico as one way to do that. I also love the culture and feel I might be a good fit there.

Nothing against expats, but I want to integrate with the locals, so no gated golf communities for me. Learning more Spanish is at the top of my to do list.

I've spent more time in Google street view than I'll admit to, cruising around to get a bit of the feel of different areas. I love Guanajuato, but San Miguel has aspects I like as well, so I hope to take a trip or two to the area to see it for myself.

Hola! I am going to be moving to Mérida within a year or two. To start off with I am fully aware the salaries in Mexico don't come close to American wages. We have a house in Mexico so no rent will be paid.

I have over 15yrs in the foodservice industry. I have 13yrs as a manager for different types of restaurants. I speak English and Spanish fluently and will have my IDELT TEFL Certification to teach English. I have an Associates degree in Business but doubt highly that will do anything. My husband and I will both work. I will not go down there empty handed money wise either.

My questions are this: being married to a Mexican native I know I get some type of residency upon arrival with proof of my marriage. How complex is it to have a company/ language school fix your work permit? Is it pretty common practice?

What are other job opportunities I could explore?
My husband's parents aren't doing well and out of love for him I am willing to make the move. He is not documented here and who knows what will happen with immigration with our current president.

Hi,and welcome to the forum. If you are near a Mexican consulate I would suggest you have your husband immigrate you before you go.
This way you will have no problem being able to legally work and will not depend on a company to aquire a work visa on your behalf.

Hello

I do have a consulate here in chicago actually but didn't know you could do that? Thank you!

Hi! I am so happy to find this forum. The helpful information from expats is appreciated very much.

My husband and I hope to be ready to move after the first of 2018. We are learning Spanish. We need some practice actually using it beyond speaking to each other to get a little fluency though.

We hope to find a house to rent, preferably in or close to Akumal or Mérida. We also need to be somewhat close to medical facilities in Cancun/Mérida, or comparable, to take care of ongoing medical conditions. It would help if we could settle on one area and concentrate our efforts in that direction....

We have several retriever-size dogs coming with us so we want to learn the best way to get them there and if it will be difficult to find rentals that allow them. We don't want to fly them down because they are older and because of the expense. We are considering driving ourselves to get them there but will have to acquire a van or similar to do that. Suggestions on this topic will be appreciated.

We hope to make a trip down to scout areas but this might not be possible and we may have to rely on a local realtor. Does anyone have experience with this and/or have suggestions on how to proceed or a realtor to recommend? We have been told that many rentals are not listed online so we would not find them.

Thank you in advance for your help. I know I will have more questions, but I will also read through the forum to see related answers.
Janet

Jan2017 wrote:

Hi! I am so happy to find this forum. The helpful information from expats is appreciated very much.

My husband and I hope to be ready to move after the first of 2018. We are learning Spanish. We need some practice actually using it beyond speaking to each other to get a little fluency though.

We hope to find a house to rent, preferably in or close to Akumal or Mérida. We also need to be somewhat close to medical facilities in Cancun/Mérida, or comparable, to take care of ongoing medical conditions. It would help if we could settle on one area and concentrate our efforts in that direction....

We have several retriever-size dogs coming with us so we want to learn the best way to get them there and if it will be difficult to find rentals that allow them. We don't want to fly them down because they are older and because of the expense. We are considering driving ourselves to get them there but will have to acquire a van or similar to do that. Suggestions on this topic will be appreciated.

We hope to make a trip down to scout areas but this might not be possible and we may have to rely on a local realtor. Does anyone have experience with this and/or have suggestions on how to proceed or a realtor to recommend? We have been told that many rentals are not listed online so we would not find them.

Thank you in advance for your help. I know I will have more questions, but I will also read through the forum to see related answers.
Janet

bienvineidos Jan,

Well lets see if we can whittle down some of those questions. Spanish, good for you, but be aware it takes time and lots  and lots of daily practice. If you are not using the free app Duolingo I strongly advise you to get and use it every day, they also have flash cards called tiny cards that help with your recall. There is a second app called learn Spanish which is helpful for Spanish for beginners comprehension. It's not Duolingo, but the price is right ( once again free at google play) What it does is help you with understanding words said. Both will be very helpful preparing. Once you are hear you can look at other options. The language is not spoken as formal classes teach you to speak it and it would be better to understand that going in. 

Merida would probably be easier for you and they have an excellent hospital there. Star Medical.  Merida probably has more expats and more English speakers also.

As for houses which is what you would need with dogs.  You can't rent an apartment with more than one small dog.  Merida would probably have more options there also. Rentals are tricky. People are face to face here. Not that they don't use internet, and cells, they do, but much of their sales and negotiations are face to face.

People physically look for rentals, hear about rentals from friends or go to local agencies. I haven't found on line inquiries to be very effective, so be patient. People come down stay in a hotel and look. You might check housing on this forum at the top of the page. Can you board the dogs and come look ? I would make this a priority.

If you have medical issues, I do not recommend driving down. It is a grueling drive, I have made it several times. It would be very hard on you and the dogs. Flying would be kinder for all of you.

Hi Folks,

My name is Cindy. My wife Claudia, her 25 year old, autistic son, and I are plan to retiring to Cancun Mexico. We have spent the last five years contemplating moving to Ecuador.  Claudia is from Venezuela and she has family living in Ecuador. What has changed our direction, is having to consider Hector. Previously, Hector was living in a group home and our plan was to come home regularly to visit. With all the Medicaid cuts, services have been dwindling and Hector is now back living at home.

While, we could find plenty of outdoor activities for Claudia and I, and potential work, there are not enough activities for Hector. As an example, Bowling is Hectors Monday activity. In Ecuador there are two bowling allies in the entire country and no where near where we want to live. In Mexico, Cancun has two bowling allies.

So...we love Cancun, we went there on vacation last February and plan on going back this February to check out the homes for sale. I feel that with all the activities in Cancun we will be able to keep Hector busy and improve his quality of life as well as our own. Also, with the exchange rate, and low income in Mexico we should be able to hire someone to work with Hector, take him to the gym to workout, taking him swimming, bowling, etc. Not a bad job for the right the right person. We would like to have Hector to learn to snorkel, I think he would enjoy that activity.

Anyhow. I hope to see you all around.

Cindy

Hi, travellite, thank you for your reply 😊

We are using DuoLingo and TinyCards and enjoying them. I will look into LearnSpanish, and agree that "free" is a great price, thank you for that idea. We devote a couple of hours and more daily to learning, so we hope it will pay off. Some is better than none we think but we have a long way to go. Thanks for the heads up about book learning vs actually speaking once we are there. It's good to be forewarned.....we'll just do our best for now.

We can leave our animals with a daughter while we travel down to find a place. I know you are right about flying vs driving. Just concerned about old dogs in belly of a plane and we've heard some sad stories about animals left to suffer on the tarmac in the heat regardless of country. We are also concerned about the wisdom of driving that distance so we have some deep thinking to do and decisions to make. Selling our vehicle in the states and maybe buying one in Mexico seems to eliminate a lot of paperwork problems, too. I did see your comment to another community member that belongings can become so much dead weight, too, so we are trying to come with very little "stuff."

Our medical problems aren't of the emergency variety so we won't need to be right in a city but would like to be within an hour or two drive. We hope that will help with finding a place, too.

There is so much to do it is a bit overwhelming! Thanks for taking the time to share and help.

Question....I started to use the quote feature to reply to travellite but it wanted to quote my initial message plus travellite's response and my response to her. Was afraid that was a bit excessive. What is the best way to handle it? Thanks!

Dear all

I am Belgian and I am about to take a big decision in my life. I resigned with my current employer and I have a opportunity to work now for another Belgian company on the Central American countries with my base in Mexico (where not decided)
I know Mexico quiet well, I've lived in Playa del Carmen in 2008 for about 7 months, within that period I've travelled all around Mexico except for the extreme North and West.
I am probably planning a trip to Mexico (probably Playa and Tulum) mid November. Please advise for suggestions where I could easily meet people and share ideas to relax during my stay.
Also could you suggest where I could live, I prefer beach above Mexico City

I appreciate your comments!
Sammy

Jan2017 wrote:

Question....I started to use the quote feature to reply to travellite but it wanted to quote my initial message plus travellite's response and my response to her. Was afraid that was a bit excessive. What is the best way to handle it? Thanks!

I just take the quote out myself to solve that, It will do everything from the beginning of time if I don't. I just cut and paste . It has the added benefit of being able to refer back to the original.

New to forum. I live in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the river from Detroit. If any of you are headed this way and need a place to stay contact me. I am part of couch surfing. I just booked one month in Cancun from February 1 to March 1 at an air b&b. Less than $300 Canadian. I am a budget traveler. I think I read that there aren't public beaches in Cancun, that I will have to buy a drink or meal at one of the hotels. I would appreciate more info regarding this. If any of you are living in reasonable proximity to Cancun would love to meet with you. I have traveled a lot by myself, crewed on a few sailboats. I have not been on the Caribbean side of Mexico.  Alice

aliceah wrote:

New to forum. I live in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the river from Detroit. If any of you are headed this way and need a place to stay contact me. I am part of couch surfing. I just booked one month in Cancun from February 1 to March 1 at an air b&b. Less than $300 Canadian. I am a budget traveler. I think I read that there aren't public beaches in Cancun, that I will have to buy a drink or meal at one of the hotels. I would appreciate more info regarding this. If any of you are living in reasonable proximity to Cancun would love to meet with you. I have traveled a lot by myself, crewed on a few sailboats. I have not been on the Caribbean side of Mexico.  Alice

Hi Alice,

Actually beaches are public, it's the area in front of the beaches that includes hotel property that is private. Have you talked to the B&B ?  How close to the beaches are they ? That is where I would start. Yes, you might want to buy a drink for beach access, but the B& B may have some arrangement..

I go down there at least once a year but I stay in a hotel with beach access.

I just did this today kind of on a whim and have not heard back from airb&b. Pretty sure the place is not on the beach.  Hotels on beach would be beyond my budget. I imagine the folks at b&b will be helpful. Thanks for getting back to me.

according to the reviews the person who runs the place is helpful. She says she is fluent in English but I will be practicing my Spanish between now and then. I am guessing by map place is about 2 miles from beach for me a petite promenade.

I just looked there and saw one in the hotel zone in March, so what you are looking at  could possibly be near to beach. The hotel zone is where you would want to be.


Accommodates

2

Bedrooms

Great B&B in the Cancun Hotel Zone!
Price$1,195 MXN Great B&B in the Cancun Hotel Zone!
Private room · 1 bed   
I have a time share so, never looked at these before.

Wow Thank you.  I did not book a return flight. I could be there through March. It looks like that translate into $79 Canadian. I am guessing that would be per night.  I am looking at spending about $10 a day for accommodations. Found that in Panama and in Colombia and Ecuador. Usually stay in Hostels.

Hello my name is Maureen and I want to move to Mexico. I live in Canada and I am looking for a place to stay. Puerto Vallarta is where I would like to be . Is there anyone that can help me please?
Thank you

Hi Maureen,

I'm sure several people will respond, but in the mean time I suggest you look at old forum posts for PV topics there have been some very recently.

Ok , thank you very much 😁

Hello All,
I am considering moving down to the Rosarito area as I would like to be by/on the beach and yet try to be within an hour of San Diego where I need to go for work 2 or 3 times a week. I thought Rosarito might be a great cost effective way to do that. I would be living there during the winter months and living back in Minnesota during the summer.
Any thoughts or ideas about long term rentals and safety.
Thanks!
Sean

SeanW71 wrote:

Hello All,
I am considering moving down to the Rosarito area as I would like to be by/on the beach and yet try to be within an hour of San Diego where I need to go for work 2 or 3 times a week. I thought Rosarito might be a great cost effective way to do that. I would be living there during the winter months and living back in Minnesota during the summer.
Any thoughts or ideas about long term rentals and safety.
Thanks!
Sean

Rosarito is a nice place. Lots of beach. 30 minutes to the border.Rents are low as compared to San Diego. It's safe. I go there often.

Hello
I am of mexician origin and have been living in Montreal for 20 yrs. I am trying to rent a furnished two bedroom, 1.5 bath for the witner months.. Although it is in downtown Cancun is very well located., not far from Walmart and there are buses that go to the hotels and beaches 5 min. wal from the house.  You can contatct me if interested in having more information.  regards,

Hi Leticia


Post it in the housing section of the forum and get more attention . The posts are free.

Hola, We're Rod and Ingrid and have been visiting Mexico many times over the last 50 years. We love Mexico and especially the Mexican people. We always try to travel with a purpose. Our charity, Friends Who Care International teaches local organizations how to build their own water filter systems so they can be empowered to solve their own water issues. The web site for more information is***. This month we are visitng several location in the Baja and in Jan/Feb we hope to be somewhere along the Pacific coast. We do have a Roadtrek Camper Van which is our home on wheels which affords us a lot of flexibility. We love it. We are looking forward to hearing from you. R&I

Hello,

I am moving to Mexico on February 13th, 2018 for a year. Having trouble figuring out where I wish to live so hopefully this forum can assist.

jarada wrote:

Thanks for the advice. I called T-Mobile to ask if they would provide service for me at a small price increase while I'm in Mexico for 4 years or more and was told no. Their rep said that my best bet was to wait to get there and find a Mexican cell phone carrier.

May I ask what American plan you're on that only charges an extra $5/mo for extended service in Mexico?

Just curious. Why move and why to Mexico?

GLK218 wrote:

Hello,

I am moving to Mexico on February 13th, 2018 for a year. Having trouble figuring out where I wish to live so hopefully this forum can assist.

Oh yes this forum can help, but the answers are all  yours. We do not know your interests, and circumstances. I suggest looking through old posts to organize your questions.

Yeah, I've been reviewing forums. This was just an introduction, when I find the right forum, I'll ask my question.

Hi, Beverly

I just found this forum today and signed up.  Are you living in Mexico already?  Reason I ask is that I'm forming a group to start a small cohousing community in Guanajuato, Guanajuato. I've lived and worked here 20 years and am about to retire from my university job.  I built a 3 bedroom/2 bath house here 12 years ago.  Had thought to bring down my parents to live with me, but, sadly, they both passed away before I finished the house. Now, here I am living in a place I love, but it's too big for one woman. I had thought about getting roommates, but I treasure my privacy, so I researched all about cohousing and it seems like the perfect alternative! The idea centers around having a large communal house for use by all along with smaller, private cottages for individual living space. If you don't know about cohousing yet, it's certainly worth a look! I recommend a good place to start with the article "Aging Better Together" by Anne P. Glass.  If you're interested in knowing more about my plans, please write me at ***

Take a look at Guanajuato, Guanajuato: central highlands, moderate climate, World Heritage city with a major university, a small but active expat community, full-time symphony orchestra, lots of arts activities, 45 minutes to an international airport, and larger cities for shopping at familiar stores like Costco, Home Depot, etc.  I've lived here 20 years and love it.

Did you like Guanajuato?  It doesn't have as big an expat community as Chapala or San Miguel, but there are enough of us here to have company, and there are always lots of English-speaking visitors, as well.

I'm sorry but that wasn't very helpful at all .