Transcription
Hey remarkable lifers. This is Craig and this is KJ, and today we're going to talk about the things that hold you back from moving abroad, or in our case, Mexico. Stay tuned.
So, in this video, we want to talk about the things that might be holding you back from taking that leap and moving to Mexico. Yeah. I mean, it is kind of a big leap. And today, we're going to be, you know, really giving you some resources and talking about how you can overcome some of those things and maybe think about them a little bit differently, especially overcoming the fears.
Yes, we had those when we did it. Everybody does. Yeah. Our story is, you know, in 2022, we moved to Mexico. We live in Ajijic, Mexico. Um, it's a lake town in the mountains. Quite a beautiful place. There are plenty of places in Mexico that you might choose to go. But we sold everything. We quit our, he quit his job. We sold our house. We sold all of our furniture.
Hey, I retired. I didn't just quit. I retired.
Well, you know, you quit working. You quit working. And we were able to move abroad, um, at 48 and 47.
Yes.
Yeah. And we never thought that that was going to be possible. Yeah. He's, make sure that you know he's younger than me.
See, that's how I roll. You know, I get, I'm the old man. He's the, he's the young kid, my 18 months. But so, you know, we did that in a, in a variety of ways that we were able to make that happen for us financially, but that's going to be a future video cuz we've already, uh, discussed making that video for you and getting a little more bold about sharing some of the details about what we did. So, make sure you subscribe, like, all of that stuff. Let's jump in.
So, as I mentioned before, this is a big leap. That's one of the things that hold people back. These are things that we've heard from other people, people that we've met, people that have done tours with us, those subscribers, tours, all, you know, emails, comments, everything.
Yeah.
Yeah. It's just such a big leap. You know, you're leaving everything, you know, you're changing your entire life, whether you choose to bring your things or not, whether you ch, what do you do? So, how do you overcome that? Um, and for us, it was a, it was a bigger leap than we thought it was at times, and then other times it was no big deal. It was. But I mean, I think that the big thing is, is you make the decision. And this was something I saw in a lot of news art, I mean, not news articles, but like commentaries on social media and articles that I read and all that kind of stuff is, make the decision and do it. You know, it, if you're, you have to make the decision and then follow up. If you are, maybe and you keep going, then you're never going to actually do it. You'll just talk yourself out of it. So everything I saw was like, if you want to do this, make the decision, put the plan in action and go.
Just do it.
Yeah. Remember, you know, no action is a decision. Um, that is an action. And so it is, making a plan, make taking any kind of action. And we're going to talk to you in a minute about some of the things that might help you overcome this.
So, but there's also a lot of people I hear about talk about what's in the news and what the media and what people in general say about Mexico, especially the US news media.
Yeah. It, it's really a picture of Mexico from the stereotypes and maybe a little bit from 40, 50 years ago that they're still carrying over.
Well, and also the US news media, we should, we all know this. They all have, they have a habit of, it doesn't, not just about Mexico, it's about anything. They take one little thing and they repeat it and recycle it and blow it up and just make it get out of proportion. You have to take all that stuff that you get on the news with a grain of salt. Do your research. Get online. If you want some more accurate news, get outside of the US and look at, look at news from outside the US news sources.
Yes. Yes, I agree. You know, that brings us to, uh, the next step is, once you've decided to do it and you've overcome the, the thought processes, qualifying. How do I do the process to qualify?
It can be daunting. Um, because it's so unusual. It's different where everything works differently. Um, and it's a little bit sometimes working with Mexico is, is a little challenging. Same as with the US. Um, just in a different way.
Yeah.
Yeah. It's a, dealing with Mexican government is a, is a fun experience if you really like a challenge.
It can be.
You have to have a lot of patience. But, you know, the thing is whenever you're talking about qualifying for residency, um, there are so many amazing resources out there that, that are going to help you. And you know, we're one. Check out our website. You know, we actually do north of the border immigration facilitation as well as consultations that can talk to you about that sort of stuff. Um, it's, you know, it doesn't have to be as scary as you think.
Exactly. Yeah. And there's, there's ways around it. There's resources to help at. Continue watching. We're going to get there. That's next. But, um,
Sorry, I jumped ahead.
No, he didn't at all. We got, we got plenty more. Um, don't. What if you don't qualify? What if you just know you've already done the research and you don't qualify? What are your other options to be able to experience living in Mexico temporarily even? Um, there are some options out there. So, yeah, I mean, yeah.
Um, and also the language. Uh, the language. Everybody is scared to death. Um, what do you think? It's that's a big one.
There's nothing to be scared of. Um, you know, here's the thing. Um, are you going to sound like an idiot? Yep. Are you ever going to speak like a native Spanish speaker? Nope.
You know, you have to grow up in a language to actually really sound like a native speaker. Um,
Yeah. And there's, there's so many, um, so many people here don't even try and I hate to say that, but it's the truth. They don't really try to learn Spanish or they have it in their head that they cannot.
Um, and even if they want to, they just have, they're, they're afraid of it. And I really feel that there's some things that you can do before and there's so many things here that people don't take advantage of for getting involved in that, in understanding it.
Yeah. And, and just remember, if you, if you truly believe that you cannot, then you will not. Exactly. It's all about that belief.
Yeah.
Um, also safety. We hear this a lot. I'll brush over this real quick. Safety in Mexico. Am I going to be safe? Um, you know, we heard everything from, "Oh, no. Well, I guess you're going to die in Mexico." Um, to that we're going to starve to death to, you know, um, you're going to get robbed in the streets. Well, we'll start out by just saying Mexico is no different than any other country. There's places that are safe and there's places that aren't.
Yeah. Exactly. And just like, uh, just like if you live in the US, you, you know, places that you just are not going to travel to. You just know off the top of your head, oh, I'm not going to go vacationing there, you know. And once you, and I think it's the unknown.
It is, you know, it really is the unknown.
When you live here, you learn about places that you don't want to go to. So, I had a customer reach out to me this morning and he sent me this TikTok video and this guy was just going on and on and on and just making everything sound so horrible. And so, I'm like, well, hold on. And I went and like did a little research and, you know, I'm like, okay, check out this news article, this news article, this news article and I'm sending him articles from Mexico, right? And I'm like, you, you have to take all that with a grain of salt.
It really is about location and understanding what the dangers are and what it, who's targeted, all of that stuff. Um, you know, a lot of people are concerned about leaving their family behind or friends, and that is a big one. And there's so many different ways that you can stay in touch.
There's so many different ways that you can visit back and forth. We'll give you a couple of those. And I mean, it is a big deal. Right now, it's the 21st century, y'all. I mean, Craig and I, when we started dating, we had a three-year long-distance relationship. And, you know, and that was what, 14 years ago. Um, and there are so many new technologies that you, you, that you can utilize that will not make you feel like you've abandoned your family or, you know, it's, it's amazing what you can do with technology today to stay connected.
WhatsApp is an app that, and we're not sponsored by WhatsApp. I know it's going to sound like a commercial, but it's not. It's an amazing, amazing app. It's pretty much used everywhere in the world except the United States. And you can just voice note, touch of a, just touch something and start speaking and that person gets it instantly or a video, just video call and face to face and it's all Wi-Fi. So there's so many different things.
Yeah.
Yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
But so how do you overcome some of these things and what are those resources that you can use or you can research to do to do this process to understand the process, you know?
Oh yeah. Um, we're going to, let's, let's go through a couple of those. I have a list.
So, number one, there are so many people out there right now on social media who are educating the, the masses about what Mexico is. And I'm sure this applies to every country where people go to live.
Yeah. I mean, and the best resource obviously is our channel.
Absolutely.
Absolutely. Make sure that you go back and watch everything we've ever done.
We actually have a playlist called "From the Beginning" and it break, starts you at the beginning of this journey that we've t, taken.
Yeah.
Um, so you can binge watch us, you know, do a little bit of Outlander and then binge watch us.
Yeah.
But anyway,
But there's other channels, there's other social media outlets, there's people out there who teach a word a day, a a concept a day, cultural things, cooking, um, all of those things. If you love cooking, I'm telling you right now, the best way to learn the culture in Mexico is to dive into the food. Follow one of those cultural, uh, food people. Uh, it's so, to, there, there is an amazing channel. Um, her name is Laranita is the name of the channel and everything from Spanish language to culture to news to all of these, you know, topics and stuff. It's an amazing channel. Yeah, that's a really great resource. There's another channel out there that, uh, that we love. It's the Besses in Mexico and it's, it's a brand new channel, very new. They don't have very followers, but
Um, it's really a great resource to look at for actually firsthand experiencing new things and brand new people.
Yeah. Their excitement overseeing something beautiful and a new experience really does kind of set you in that mood of what it's like.
Yeah, it's, it's really good. And if you're interested in looking at like different places in Mexico, what, what might this town or this village or this city be like and everything, go check out Gringo R Us. They actually for the last 3 years they have been doing this slow travel across Mexico and staying in different cities and they talk about a lot of different things and that's another great channel to see that travel in all these different locations.
Or, uh, Bright and West Almost Retired Mexico. Uh, Ernie, Ernie Baka with, uh, uh, Retired Life, Retired Life No Bull. Um, they really talk about what it's really like. Or, um, I know Brighton interviews other people to talk about how they do it.
And it really gives you those, that's breadth of of information.
Yeah. When you're looking at other channels, make sure that you're looking at people that are giving you good reliable information and not the sensationalist stuff.
Right. If it seems sensational, it probably is.
It probably is. Yeah.
Yeah. If there's, if they're doing sound effects and all this stuff.
Even just the shocking things, you know, like everything's a big shock, you know, it's not.
Everything's not a shock. Sometimes it's just beautiful to see or sometimes it's just different and it's not.
Catastrophic.
Yeah. Exactly.
So, if, yeah. Yeah. Use, use your, use your, uh, best judgment on those things. Yes. But following those people on social media on, uh, YouTube, but also there are resources out there like Mexico Relocation.
Yes. That is a phenomenal resource. You know, whenever, uh, we were talking, whenever we made the decision to move to Mexico, one of our biggest challenges was we had an elderly dog. There was no way we could fly him. We knew it was the only thing would work would be to go over land with him. And I just kept looking and looking and looking online trying to find a pet transport company or something like that. And I just kept seeing the Mexico Relocation Guide popping up and it talked about the trusted vetted resources. And I mean, I look at Craig and I was like, I'd pay that amount of money just for someone to give me the name and a contact phone number.
Exactly. You know.
And so we went ahead and we subscribed to it and it, it was just phenomenal. I mean, the amount of information there is insane. And it is kept current and recent and all that stuff. And you get access to a, a private Facebook group with people that are doing the same thing that you're doing in real time.
And we actively know people who met and made friends through those groups and are now friends, um, in real life. So, it's, it's an interesting, um, little community that's really grown up around it. Um, we would, we would, we would have recommended it with or without, but we will be honest, we are an affiliate seller on that. So if you use our link, um, on our website, go to truly remarkable life.com, go to the affiliates and services link and we have a, an affiliate link there for you.
So we, we do get a little, we do get a little, we do get a little kickback from that. But I tell you, I still, we've lived here in Mexico for 3 years and I still use the guide when we're going to travel to another city that we haven't been to. I'm looking up information, you know, about that place. Yeah, we still use it.
Yeah. This is not a paid ad. This is us being excited about when we opened it, it just laid everything out.
It's amazing.
And it's pretty amazing. So, but there's so many ways that you can prepare for the process. There's, there's resources for the process. Um, Mexico Relocation Guide, they have, uh, vetted people who can be facilitators to guide you through each step of the process. And these are vetted people with good reputations. You don't have to go hunting and wonder if you're going to get taken. Um, we also have resources that we offer, uh, for local places.
Yeah. Well, and that's the thing is here locally, we're, you know, we're really trying to let y'all have the benefit of our experience because we had to learn some things the hard way. And so we actually are build, have built this network of people that know how to do different things and are, you know, they're well-versed in immigration processes, getting your car titles, do, getting your RFC, doing all this stuff. And so you contact us and then we help facilitate your connection with these people here in the Lake Chapala area to help you get through anything that you need to get through.
Yeah. So at every level, there's a resource out there that you can kind of tap into and use at the, at your level of need. Um, so it's, it's really, really convenient.
Yeah. That, that's really what it's, it's about trying to make you have a lot that you're dealing with if you're thinking about moving to another country. You have a lot dealing with your house, your cars, your stuff, all of that sort of stuff. What are you doing in the US? You're dealing with all that. Let people here in Mexico help you with the processes down here and it will make the, it will make the transition so much easier.
And it's not as expensive as you think. No. Um, but then there's how to prepare yourself and how to prepare your life. So qualifying is a thing. There's, there's requirements, um, financial requirements and all of that. And so how do you set your life up to be able to do that either now or later? Maybe you're looking down the road in the future. You want to be able to explore like us. That's the first thing we talked about when we met was wanting to live someplace outside of our, our current country because we just wanted to experience something different.
And I always wanted to be fluent in Spanish. And so that was like a life goal. And I'm getting there. It's, it's slow. Poco, poco. It's, it's slow, but I'm getting there. And so, yeah.
Yeah. It was a 14 year journey for, or 12 year journey, 11 year journey for us.
I decided in 19 I wanted to.
Well, I mean, us.
Yeah. And then the time before that. So, um, but there's other resources out there like there's people who do different kinds of YouTube channels. One of our favorites is Queer Money Podcast. Um, they've been on all the big news channels and all of that stuff. And they really talk about the unique situation that people who are in the queer community, LGBTQIA, um, have. So, it is nuanced towards that, but the advice is just good for every.
Anybody. Yeah, their content's really good. They have good, solid, sound financial advice. And here's the thing, it may not apply to you.
Yeah.
It may not apply to you. You may choose to do something differently. It's, this is, they talk about what they did.
Yeah. And you can also maybe just get a little bit of understanding of how to be creative with planning ahead for this type of a journey.
Yeah.
Um, but also there's Entrepreneur Expats. They're a great little, uh, couple. We love them to death. Um, and they talk about how they worked and how they were able to create some passive income and all of that. So, if you want to get out of your career and maybe start something different.
And they, they, they, they have a lot of stuff about, you know, like current events and things going on and changes in qualifying for residency and all of that sort of stuff. So, yeah, they're, they're another really good resource.
There's, there's resources out there for remote jobs. People, uh, we've seen people switch jobs before while they're trying to think this out so that they have a job that they can bring with them, um, if you want to work. Or there's retirement. I mean, you may be planning to retire. You don't have to wait until you're done retire and and retired to start this process. Um, you may do it early.
You don't have to wait until you're 60 or 65 to retire. There are, there are so many different options, you know. Um, people believe that. Um, and that's, we're going to do some videos about that sort of stuff, you know, actually being able to do different things.
The. Let's jump to the next one.
Yeah. So, Spanish, learning Spanish. If you move to Mexico, you're going to need to know some Spanish. You don't want to be the one standing in the the aisle at the grocery store speaking too loudly because you think that's the way you communicate, um, in a wrong language.
Yeah, here's a hint. You getting louder and louder and louder in English is not going to make anyone understand you any better. When you get frustrated, it's so helpful to have a phrase, you know, the, to, I'm learning Spanish, to, to get you out of that jam, you know, instead of getting more and more frustrated. And that's where learning a little bit ahead of time. Again, follow people on Facebook, Instagram, social media, all that stuff. There's YouTube channels. Uh, what's his name? Uh,
Ker Paul.
Yes. Okay. So, he does some great things online. Um, he has really, really an interesting way of looking at learning the language.
Yeah. His video series on learning Spanish is really amazing. Helped me a lot too. It did. Yeah.
Um, doing all those little things, Duolingo or, uh, Babel or any of those little programs, every little bit you can throw at yourself, even if you're listening to Spanish music, getting your ear familiar with it. Um, all of that stuff can help.
Well, and it's really important to note, I mean, and it does depend on where you're going, right? English is, is a very popular second language here. Okay. And what I will say is especially here in the Lake Chapala area, you know, and this is where we live, so I can talk about it a lot more in depth than other places, but so many people, so many native Spanish speakers here are trying to learn English, especially younger people because they understand that their job prospects are better if they are bilingual. It's the same thing in the US. If you are bilingual, your job prospects shoot through the roof, right? And so, and they understand that. And so, there's people here, they're trying to learn English, you're trying to learn Spanish. And so, you're helping each other. I mean, it's not uncommon to see, um, you know, a native Spanish speaker and a native English speaker having a conversation where the native Spanish speaker is actually speaking in English and you're speaking in Spanish. And you're correcting in a very beautiful, kind way. You're correcting words, but you're getting your point across. The main thing when you're learning another language, it's not perfection. It's to communicate what you're trying to.
Be. It's to communicate effectively.
And you'd be surprised how few words you can use with some sign language and some pointing.
Your eyes pointing.
Yeah. You can really get by as you're learning. And it's, it's an interesting and fun process. It's a lot of fun. A lot of times when you're trying to speak back and forth to each other, you end up giggling. Oh yeah. They're laughing at you. You don't care. You're laughing right back with them. Um, and you use the wrong words, who cares? If they know, in this area especially, they know we're here. They know we're trying to learn. And if you're interested in learning, they're so helpful.
I don't think I've ever run, only a few people I've ever run into that wasn't interested in helping me.
Yeah. No, it's wonderful. It's a great thing. But there, I mean, think about this. There are entire courses where people pay to go down to Mexico or go to another country and immerse themselves in the language with a family or with a, a school or whatnot and you can manage that kind of a process yourself. You can come to Mexico, especially in this area or in any other area. It's really good for this one because there are a lot of expats here, um, that speak English and so you have kind of a soft place to land, but you can stay in a, in a different kind of, you don't have to be in a resort. You don't, you can stay in an apartment. There's short-term rentals. We have an agent for that.
There are, there are all kinds of rentals, short rentals, all that sort of stuff, you know, everywhere. It's less expensive and you can really live and go buy your groceries and go to the market and, uh, interact with different people and get that experience of using it once you're comfortable and, and stretch yourself a little bit. And here's another thing.
Google Translate on your phone. Everyone uses that. I get, I get in a jam sometime and I just don't and pull out me, my, my cell phone and just start going and everyone's so used to it. You show them, they'll just take the phone and just start typing out responses and you'll go back and forth.
Or use the voice option and you can answer the phone.
You can use the voice option. It's amazing.
There are teachers here that teach Spanish. Oh yeah. And English and back and forth and you can set up things with them or that Lake Chapala has classes.
Yeah.
We're obviously very passionate about learning the language.
It's so much fun. It has been one of the best things I've ever done in my life. And when you cross that bridge of, ooh, I just understood those people as they walked by, it's, it's just another level. You're just like,
Yes, I did it.
Yes, it is. It's awesome.
So, we encourage everybody to at least get a start. And then we're going to say finally, talk to the Mexicans in your community. Ask them questions. Interact. Don't tell them what you know. Ask them. When you're, if it's, if it's in May and you're like, "Ah, Cinco de Mayo, is that actually a big holiday in Mexico?"
Yeah. What is it?
And what is it in Mexico? And they'll be like, "Oh, oh, well, actually, no, it's not really that. It's only a part of the country and it's not really a big deal." Or, "Hey, we have Halloween. Are your kids trick-or-treating?" Great. Do you guys do Dia de Muertos here? You know, in the States or in Canada? Do you guys do that with your family? What do you do? You know, get into a conversation. Be curious.
And here's the thing, Mexican people are very, very proud of their culture and their heritage and rightfully so. Um, and they, they want to share. If you have a genuine curiosity and a desire to learn about Mexico and the culture and all that kind of stuff, they want to teach you because they are very proud and it's a beautiful thing.
Being open, I want to just, I want to kind of close this out or round it out by saying, you know, it doesn't just have to be a dream. If you take some sort of actions towards it, even if it's just getting on Duolingo, watching a few videos, going and taking a, a cooking class for Mexican cooking. Um, any of those things can kind of lead you to the next step. And it doesn't have to be a dream. It could be an option. Maybe not now, maybe not,
You know, this week, but you could plan it for your future. Um, and it might be closer than you think. For us, it absolutely was. We were here, we decided we wanted to do it and within four months we were living here and we were like, what just happened?
What happened? I mean, it might have been five, maybe, I don't remember exactly, but.
June to October. Let's just say that.
It was, yeah, it was, it was very, very fast. You, and another thing that I think I wanted to point out is Mexico is a very large country. Yes. You know, I know when I lived in the US, I didn't, I didn't realize that. I always thought that, you know, it was going to be consistent. Everywhere you go in Mexico, it's Mexico, right?
Mexico is huge. It is. Very. You go all over Mexico and every different place has its own unique culture and history and heritage and all these things, food, dialects, you, accents, all of that sort of stuff. There's, you know, different parts of Mexico where it was heavily Spanish or Chinese or, you know, all kinds of different stuff. And so do your research and be curious and figure out what some of that stuff is because it's amazingly dynamic.
There's, and there's so many different places to live that could fit what you really like. This is where we found, and Ajijic is, is a beautiful place. Watch some of the videos we have on it if you're curious. But we've also been to San Miguel de Allende. We've also been to Cancun. We've also been to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán.
We have yet to go to Puebla, Oaxaca. I mean, there's, you can try Mexico. There's so many and they're, they're so diverse and beautiful and you just have so many options and we want you, we want to encourage you to be open to that, but start thinking about how you can overcome some of those things that are holding you back.
Yes. And just, you know, be curious and inquisitive and humble.
Yes.
Humble.
Yes. And if you decide not to make it a permanent play, a permanent move, you're going to have a lot of fun and learn a lot.
Absolutely.
In the process.
Yeah. So.
All right. Anything else?
No. I mean, I just think that everybody out there, if they haven't already, they should go find their truly remarkable life.
Absolutely.
I think you should get on that. All right. Thank you guys. Take care.
Bye, y'all. Heat. Heat.