Viva Veracruz

[azuledos]

¡Hola al foro vivaveracruzense!

Dan and Carmen here, currently working & residing in the Skagit Valley in Washington State, USA. Despite enjoying what we do to support ourselves here in this beautiful corner of the US, the years are catching up with us and we are considering what “retirement” might mean for us, relying solely on social security and modest savings for the years ahead of us.

Life experiences so far for Carmen are: growing up in rural Pennsylvania, training for and being a skilled hairdresser in Wisconsin, a stint making circuit boards in California, then moving to Washington State and starting/running a dairy goat farm & cheese-making business, then 15 years as a restaurant manager and another similar period as the kitchen manager & event planner for a retirement facility. .She’s a life-time avid gardener, loves to bake & cook, and loves her cats. Slowing down just a bit from the almost non-stoppable pace she’s applied to everything she does.

For Dan: growing up in suburban Michigan, college in New England (remembering Dr Michael Coe’s course on MesoAmerica that first interested him in the lands SOB), a few years as a travel agent & Caribbean cruise manager, several years in the Peace Corps in rural Guatemala working with a large rabbit co-op, has an MBA (HRM & Tourism), was a mail-order bookseller, built and managed our own restaurant in the North Cascades for 20 years, and now, for a similar length of time, small business consultant/tax-preparer/accountant from his home office. He’s a lifetime photographer, owner-builder/remodeler, appreciator of vernacular & alternative building techniques, planner, web & computer-tinkerer, and generalist geek. All his offspring (and theirs--he’s a grandpa to four) live in the Seattle area.

We have traveled a bit, and have each always had thoughts like “Could I move here and live happily” in some of the more agreeable areas we’ve visited over the years. But, realistically it would be nice to not stray too far from the US, to allow for occasional visits to/from family. That last sort of eliminates some spots we’ve liked in southern Europe and Mediterranean, and crossing the Pacific is just too far. South America is probably the same, although Ecuador still beckons. Not looking for the island life, so we’re probably not headed to the Caribbean, despite Dan’s past-life familiarity with that area of the world. That leaves Canada, México and Central America.

Living so close to the northern US border, we visit Canada quite often, and really enjoy the people, especially the very international culture in Western British Columbia. But, our funds wouldn’t last too much longer “NOB” than right here, and we really want to find a spot where the snow falls only in the distance, and the garden doesn’t freeze out each winter. So, the search has been narrowed down to the span of countries from México south to Panamá.

We have the most experience traveling together in México. A good number of winter vacations had us autobussing around a good bit of the country, a few times accompanied by family taking advantage of Dan’s facility with Spanish (a benefit of his stint as a PCV many decades ago in Guatemala).

We know that most North American visitors head for the beach, but salt-water & sand hold little attraction for us that doesn’t dispel in a day or two at most. Beach & resort-area life would bore us, and the Mexican coastal cities to which we’ve returned the most are Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta, probably because we can be comfortable in the old town areas. Melaque and Guayabitos/La Peñita are smaller coastal towns we’ve enjoyed.

We seem to enjoy ourselves most in the highlands away from the expat enclaves, and in smaller cities and slower-paced communities where we can interact with the culture of everyday México. Cities we’ve enjoyed the most are Uruapan, Xalapa, Pátzcuaro, Dolores Hidalgo (used as a base for visiting Guanajuato & SMA), San Cristobal and Mérida. We almost bought an eight room hotel in Ixtapan de la Sal, and have managed to include this white pueblo, and the big hot springs north of town, on our many of trips. With Dan’s PCV experience to draw from, we are fairly confident about being able to adapt to a good life SOB, and to be good neighbors in any nice community.

Trying to find the “right place” means determining what characteristics a town should have for our own sense of well-being. These are on the list for us, in no way ranked in importance: A long growing season. No water shortages--somewhere where rivers & streams run year-round. Don’t mind the clouds or rain (in fact, we’d miss them if they weren’t there!). Mountains in the distance (maybe some snow at the top), and the salt water not too far away, would be a plus. A moderate climate, not too hot in the summer nor cold in winter. A manageable cost of living. A good internet connection. Reliable electricity. Enough home space for a large patio or small jardin for lots of flowering plants. Access to reliable, not too expensive, medical care (we’re both reasonably healthy and mobile). Close-by shops for necessities (mercado, panaderia, farmacia, ferreteria), and farther-away bigger stores for periodic stocking up. A smaller town, with access to a not too distant city (perhaps a university city) where there are urban health and some cultural resources.

Stumbled onto John’s blog several weeks ago, followed links to other expat blogs, and roamed through the topic threads in this forum and others like it. A lot has been learned, and of course, it’s generated questions. (Hope some of you are willing to share some of that expat experience as we puzzle this out.)

Time, it seems, for some in-country fact-finding and due diligence. We’ve generally traveled south in the winter, so perhaps this time we’ll try a warmer/wetter time of year. Pouring over Mexican climate maps and reading the blogs has prompted us to restrict the next search to the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental. We so enjoyed our previous time in Xalapa, that we won’t miss checking things out extensively there. But not to exclude any of the areas in the cloud forest zone and maybe a bit lower in elevation, we’ll start our research in the Córdoba area and work our way north.

BTW, noticed a post here somewhere asking about how to insert special and accented characters like ñ, ó, ±, ¿, etc. I’ve been using AllChars for years, highly recommended, very easy to drop into any windows doc: http://allchars.zwolnet.com/.

¡Les deseamos Próspero Año Nuevo a todos!

[BJ]

Bienvenidos a ustedes.

Hope that through this forum, and others, you find what you're looking for.

The Xalapa/Coatepec/Xico (& surrounding villages) has many of the things that you're looking for.

Rentals in the Xico, Coatepec area tend to be inexpensive, relative to the cost of buying the exact same property. Raw land, with or without basic hook ups (water, electricity, and telephone) are expensive, and in the opinion of many, very overpriced relative to the local economy.

There are numerous threads on this forum (real estate, or perhaps "la casa") that address these issues.

Espero que encuentran lo que estan buscando.

Otra vez, Bienvenidos.

PS. I, too, love the highlands in Guatemala (spent time in the Xela area) and Ecuador. My experience is that generally speaking, both of those areas are much cheaper than here, especially Ecuador, but then that's a trade off for the more greater distance from US.

[Jonna]

¡Bienvenidos! I live in Mérida which is probably too hot for you. You mentioned starting in Cordoba and I just want to say that that town and nearby Fortín de las Flores are really in a beautiful area. Lots of nurseries, anything grows well, not as cold as higher up and a good highway to the coast. I believe our member Frank lives there and should see this soon. It's a beautiful area and I believe it is outside of the cold and fog of Xalapa.
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Jonna
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Ginger!

[Calypso]

[Jonna]

What about the famous chipi chipi? Isn't that a kind of wet COLD fog?
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Jonna
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Ginger!

[Calypso]

yes - but the chipi-chipi isn't oppressive or occurring a lot really. It is hard to rally around the weather here right now because it is relatively miserable ;-(
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http://www.vivaveracruz.com/blog/

[Jonna]

yeah, I'm not bragging about ours right now either. Instead I'm in sweats, jacket and blanket - and that's while sitting in my house.
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Jonna
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Ginger!

[azuledos]

Driving home last night I noticed the air temp gauge was reading 58F. When I got home I checked the weather widget on my desktop (can flip between Anacortes, Xalapa and Cordoba). I discovered that the day's highs and lows here in Anacortes, one hour south of the Canadian border, were both HIGHER than in Xalapa yesterday. In the coldest part of winter, Western Veracruz state at about 3000' normally seems to stay about ten degrees warmer than here in the maritime Northwest. So, recent weather must be quite uncomfortable. How are you staying warm? Are homes in the Xalapa area often equipped with space heaters of some kind, or is this coldsnap a very rare thing that most don't prepare for?

[Bob Cox]

usually a warm body and a wool blanket is all you need until the sun comes out.
but this is unusual to have so many days in a row...wheres the St. Bernard with the brandy keg??
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Visit my blog and learn more about Tlaxcala.
http://mexicomystic.wordpress.com

[frankania]

Welcome amigos, Dan i studied anthropology also and once went to interview Michael Coe in the 80's. We live and work in Cordoba and run a B&B there. V-V members get 50% discount (minimum 2 days) so come on down.
We are now on the Pacific coast until mid-february, building a little beach house in La Penita, where our daughter lives.
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frank & ania, las magnolias B&B

[azuledos]

Thanks for the welcomes everyone.

Frank, we intend to visit your area, and will avail ourselves of Las Magnolias as a base. We'll be spending a week or more exploring, sometime after my income tax work is over. Probably won't get there until the latter half of May. After seeing you we'll head to Xalapa for a similar period - hoping for no late May flooding like last year.

I think I located your B&B location on google maps. Unsure where closest city bus might bring us, so we'll reserve specific dates when things firm up and probably call from terminal for a pickup. Is LM within short walking distance to Córdoba buses lines that can get us to the main bus terminal (to visit Orizaba and outlying towns), or will we need to taxi from city center to your location?

We have dear friends right now in La Peñita -- they spend six months each winter there based at the RV park just north of town, and have for at least 20+ years now. Should I PM you with contact info so that you might meet?

[frankania]

Sure Dan, Send me their info. Our casita construction is just across the road from that RV park. We will be happy to pick you up at the bus station in Cordoba, but consider driving here if you are staying long term. You will have much more flexibility.
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frank & ania, las magnolias B&B

[azuledos]

We're now gearing up for our June trip to western Veracruz, and after visiting Córdoba plan to arrive in the Xalapa area on or about Friday 18 June. Still trying to determine where we'll stay for a week or more. Anyone have any suggestion for a clean and economical hotel (around MXP 300 a night would be great) in the Coatepec area?

We'll be depending on local transpo, so nothing outside of town unless close to regular local bus route. Don't want to stay in Xalapa itself -- a day trip or two into the city is all we'll probably do. San Marcos de Leon or Xico would be fine too.

We're are really hoping to be able to meet some of you forum members face-to-face if/when you have time and inclination to share some of your experiences of your life here.

Dan & Carmen