Welcome to Gringa in Mexico

Living—and making a living—in Mexico.

In September 2020, during the height of the pandemic, I packed up my life and moved to Mexico.

It wasn’t exactly part of a carefully executed five-year plan.

Earlier that year, I had nearly died from COVID-19. The experience forced me to confront something I had known for a long time: I had worked hard to build a successful life, but I hadn’t necessarily built the life I actually wanted.

Ever since I was a child, I had dreamed of learning Spanish and living in Mexico.

So I quit my job, sold my house, got rid of most of my possessions, loaded my daughter and our two dogs into the car, and drove to Mexico.

Nearly six years later, I still live in the Bahía de Banderas area, about 15 miles north of Puerto Vallarta.

And I’ve learned that moving to Mexico and building a life in Mexico are two very different things.

Building a Life in Mexico

Living here has taught me more than I ever expected about culture, community, relationships, work, money—and myself.

I’ve learned some things the easy way and plenty of others the hard way.

That’s what Gringa in Mexico is about.

I write about the realities of living in Mexico: the wonderful parts, the frustrating parts, the cultural differences, the practical challenges, and the experiences that make me incredibly grateful I took the chance.

But there’s another question I hear again and again from people who dream about doing something similar:

How can I actually afford to live in Mexico if I’m not ready to retire?

That’s a question worth taking seriously.

Living in Mexico Is the Dream. Making It Sustainable Is the Plan.

You don’t necessarily need to be independently wealthy or wait until retirement to build a life in Mexico.

You do, however, need a realistic way to support that life.

Depending on your circumstances, that might mean keeping a remote career, freelancing, consulting, building an online business, starting a local service business, or creating an entirely different income model around the skills and experience you already have.

That’s why I’m developing Make Money in Mexico, a practical workshop for people who want to create sustainable income while living in Mexico.

We’ll look at what you already know how to do, what people might actually pay you for, who your customers would be, how the numbers work, and whether the business or income model you’re considering supports the life you actually want to live.

This isn’t about selling the fantasy of quitting your job and moving to paradise.

It’s about answering a much more useful question:

How can I build a life in Mexico that actually works?

Through the Gringa in Mexico blog, podcast, resources, and workshops, I’ll continue sharing what I’ve learned—and introducing you to other people who have found their own ways to make a life here work.

Because one of the greatest lessons Mexico has taught me is that a successful life and a fulfilling life aren’t necessarily the same thing.

As the saying goes:

“Life is not about counting the years; it’s about making the years count.”

Here’s to making them count.

LATEST STORIES

Follow Gringa in Mexico on social media!