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After COVID-19 settled down a bit in Canada, we decided we would like to try our hand at living away from Canada during the winter months. My hubby suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder, if the sky is gloomy he’s feeling sluggish. If it’s raining instead of snowing in the dead of winter, he’s feeling sleepy. There is a massive lack of Vitamin D during the cold, winter months, so the best way to fix that is to go somewhere warm. Being in the sun is best for his own enjoyment; if hubby is content, then the rest of us in our household will be more content too.
We originally wanted to live in Southeast Asia for a few months, but we hit a hiccup and ended up in Playa del Carmen, Mexico instead. (Read more here about our journey to becoming part-time nomads).
Back in 2020, my husband had a buddy who had stayed in Costa Rica for 5 months, and then in 2021, that same friend decided to move to Mexico for the winter. After having a chat with him about what it was like, we decided to give living in Mexico a try.
Why Mexico?
There are a number of reasons why we made the decision to leave Canada and move to Mexico in early 2022; and I will share 5 of those reasons with you below:
1. Lower cost of living
The cost of living in Toronto was just getting to be too much, and your money in Mexico can go a lot further than it can in Canada. My husband saved up enough money to take time off work to coast through a few months in Mexico, and I had my Virtual Assistant clients that made it easy for me to be a digital nomad.
Although we own our house in Toronto, we decided we could rent it out to cover the expenses, and then enjoy life close to a beach for a fraction of the cost of living in Toronto. The 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo we stayed at in Mexico cost us $1,500CAD a month… If you found a condo that size in Toronto, it would easily be worth well over 2 million dollars. It cost us next to nothing to buy fresh fruits, delicious food, a steal of a deal on accommodations, and cheap transit fare.
2. A slower lifestyle
When you are from a bigger city in Toronto, you are more inclined to work, work, work to keep up with your expenses. Although we live within our means, have no debt, and spend time with family and friends, we still felt like something was missing. I was starting to resent my husband for working so much, and spending less time with us as a family. He enjoyed working for himself, but it meant he was spending more time working and less time relaxing. The move to Mexico forced us to slow down, relax, and smell the roses so to speak.
3. Tired of the cold winters
Even though one can be born and raised in a cold climate, nothing beats being in a tropical climate. The cold winter days stuck inside with a small child eventually started to wear us down. During COVID-19 we were confined to our house during the winter months and we eventually started to go a little stir-crazy. As our daughter grew up, she enjoyed playing outside a bit more, but there is something to be said about not having to lug your child outside to play when it’s -10℃ with dirty slush on the ground.
4. No more lockdowns
By the end of 2021, everyone thought for sure that COVID-19 would have settled down; but for some reason it got worse after Christmas and lockdown rules started coming into play again for January 2022. We were so over the rules, and strains on the healthcare system, society, and our mental health. We decided to take matters into our own hands by going somewhere that had less rules in place. Mexico didn’t require us to be vaccinated, or to wear a mask. Everyone who we saw in Mexico lived a free life, and it was so nice for our daughter to be able to see the smiles on people’s faces because they did not wear masks.
5. To test the waters
One day, I think it would be cool to try and live in another country for an entire year; and what better way to do that than to try living in a new country for a few months?! Moving to a new country has its own set of challenges for sure, but it’s one of those things that you just have to try in order to see how it goes. Moving our family to Mexico for 4 months was very much something not many can say they have tried, but I’m glad that we did. Hindsight is 20/20, because since leaving Mexico to live in other countries, I now have something to compare it to.
A new life
Our move to Mexico and living there for part of the winter was a great way to see what life is like outside of what you’re accustomed to back home. It took some getting used to the change of lifestyle between Canada and Mexico. I now have a newfound respect for people across the world who have immigrated to a new country to start a new life. We have the luxury of choosing where we want to live, and I’m glad that we tried living in Mexico, even if it was just for a few months.
Some people originally thought we were crazy for packing up our stuff into storage, and then moving just the 3 of us to a foreign country. But now that we have actually done it and continue to do it, I find that people are more excited and enjoy seeing a snippet into the life we live when we’re having fun in the sun!
I will say this: you can read all the blogs, watch all the videos, and hear all the stories in the world, but none of those will help unless you try it out for yourself. Moving abroad isn’t for everyone, so if it’s not your vibe, I’m happy you’ve come along to read about our adventures anyways.