The Mexico Solution 2025
Illustration from, The Mexico Solution
About six months ago, I considered working with an editor to re-edit my 2019 book, The Mexican Solution Conversations were made up entirely of mixed messages. I recognized it was a weird dynamic I’d never be able to manage. In the process, I had the chance to review my book after not having looked at it in six years. Naturally, I expected to be horrified, as I am when I think back on a number of my past initiatives.
Certainly there are small horrors in the book; such as a story that drags on and on, that embarrasses me. It’s from a women’s perspective, and maybe I should have talked to more male expats about their experiences and mentioned the popularity of motorcycle clubs and deep sea fishing in Mexico.
I’d hoped to entertain and be useful to people curious about living in Mexico. and manage those two objectives by putting personal anecdotes in italics and the necessary but boring advice in regular font or as bullet points at the end of the chapter. The anecdotes weren’t culled strictly by entertainment value. My long airport story I can guarantee will be experienced in some fashion by anyone going to Mexico multiple times a year. Perhaps I should have provided a key to how to read the book on the first page.
It still seems do what I set out to do; nr useful and amusing, a latter a quality I found lacking in every single book I read on moving to Mexico, all of which tortured me in providing excruciatingly-detailed solutions to dozens of problems I’ve never encountered in my 10 years living here. I hated those books for the trips they took me on.
The Mexico Solution gives readers all the info they need for planning a mini life, six to nine months a year, in Mexico. It gives you a to-do list and timeline for making the transition, search terms you’ll need in your research, and warnings about the effect of cognitive dissonance in making decisions about money and people at first.
What it doesn’t do is get into certain topics, notably buying a house, because no one should buy a house for at least 18 months after moving to a new town in Mexico (as I’ll elaborate on later). There are a few updates. If you’re considering Mexico at all, buy the book and add these notes.
Learning Spanish
I write about the impact being surrounded by a foreign language will have on your life in Mexico. Without question, those who speak some Spanish have a real advantage and a deeper experience than those who don’t. In expat hub cities, you can still get by with basic Spanish and live a great life. Without at least that, some days in Mexico will be long and confusing.
Is Mexico Dangerous?
The first chapter of my book gets the question of safety out of the way. As I write this, the State of Sinaloa, where Mazatlan is located, is under Level Four advisory (historically it’s always level 3) due to drug–related violence.
Taking the interstate and traveling between towns in Mexico has always been a situation where you’d think ahead in a way that you’d never do at home. Cartel members will stop cars and check them for members of rival cartels during periods of high competition between gangs like Mexico is experiencing now. It’s clearly unnerving for Uber drivers and younger men.
Violence is a targeted activity in Mexico. As opposed to mass shootings of innocent strangers at marathons, concerts and schools, those in the drug trade know exactly who they’re looking for and will go to considerable measures to find them. Tourists hold no interest to them. Outside the travel considerations to take during certain times and between certain pueblos, the same common sense safety rules apply in Mexico as apply in any unfamiliar neighborhood in the US
Finding meaningful activities when you live in a foreign country
The biggest obstacles to a happy life in Mexico are empty days and idle hands. Once the challenges of settling in are overcome, some expats find they have too much time on their hands. Many miss their grandchildren more than they thought they would. All reasons not to buy a house for a year or two.Finding your tribe
Plenty of expat groups exist, social clubs, activity-based clubs (mahjong, golf, biking clubs, hobby clubs, language exchange groups). Cities popular with expats have breakfast/lunch/dinner clubs. Pickleball is gaining a lot of traction in Mexico since my book came out. Every day can’t be magic but attending these get-togethers consistently eventually pays off
Solo activities
How will you manage solitude in Mexico? Many expat forum contributors, regardless of what foreign country they moved to, note they spend more time alone. The Mexico Solution recommends ways to make solitude enriching and creative ways to distract yourself when enrichment doesn’t appeal to you.
I struggled with having too much time on my hands for a few months after publishing all my books. I added urban sketching, pickleball and YouTube podcasts about philosophy (in Spanish) to my day. Expats and permanent residents practice music, quilt, do photography, cook and read a lot. Many people bring their small dogs. (The process of bringing your dog is outlined in the book)
Buying stuff
A couple of aspects of living in Mexico have changed considerably in my ten years here. First, Amazon keeps improving delivery and merchandise availability. I ordered a $150 pickleball net and a five-foot tall lamp, both delivered without incident. Mexico’s become less of a cash country in the last 10 years. Probably 70% of my purchases can be made with a credit card. Storage facilities are popping up that weren’t available 10 years ago.
Technology
Everything I say about technology in the book, surprisingly, still holds true, including the suggestion that you carry more than one laptop. US telephone plans probably aren’t exactly the same as when I wrote the book, but as I wrote, the important thing is that you research both Mexican and US plans. Using Mexican plans can save you a lot of money. I still have the same $10 dollars a month AT&T plan I wrote about 8 years ago.
Flight Travel to and from Mexico
The advice regarding Mexican airline carriers, particularly Volaris, still holds true. Of course the travel experience has only worsened in 10 years, especially if you don’t live in a hub city. Canadians have easier flights than those coming from the US (so that they don’t have to go through customs twice).
How much it costs to live in Mexico
Mexico has experienced inflation just like the rest of the world we know. Housing costs in Mazatlán have shot up. Expect to pay 20-30% more than the estimates I wrote about in 2018 in most of Mexico. I still have an ocean view but I’m paying about $300 a month more for it than in 2014. Groceries and restaurant dining costs have risen about the same.
As far as quality of life goes, I rarely meet a retired expat who doesn’t feel like he/she dodged a bullet by moving to Mexico. Atypical is the story of a friend of mine who raised three children, one autistic, as a single mother in San Diego. Understandably, it was impossible to save much for retirement. In Mexico she’ll be able to have an attractive place in a pretty neighborhood and live comfortably on Social Security - and without judgement. Other expats transform comfortably-middle class lives at home into luxurious lives in Mexico.
Even friends of mine with quite a lot banked would prefer to live on income alone, they’re uncomfortable dipping into retirement savings no matter how much they have. Being able to live a beautiful life almost entirely on income alleviates some people’s concern over outliving retirement savings if they live to 120.
For my part, I wake up grateful every morning in Mexico - for my digs, good health, a pleasurable daily routine and a sense of financial security (“if the crik don’t rise”) that I wouldn’t feel in the U.S. In spite of the numerous set-backs I’ve experienced over the years, it’s a life that my broker once described as a hashtag; winning.
About the author:
Kerry Baker writes this blog and has published several books on how to set up a life in Mexico. Most recently she released, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico. In Mexico you must cook to maintain a healthy diet. Over 150 recipes and tips on how to shop and much more.
"If Only I Had a Place," the go-to book on renting luxuriously in Mexico for less than you ever dreamed. The book gives you a system to not just rent, but rather establish a foundation for the richest expat experience.
Her second book is “The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico.” This is one how-to book that won’t leave you numb. Te juro.