Mexico Is a Gorgeous Land of Opportunity Beckoning You to Call It Home

Here’s how to make it happen… and do it without being terrible.

By Megan Frye

Mexico has a long history of welcoming gringos and other newcomers. Surfers looking for a cheap place to park their van, retirees seeking to extend their pension dollars, fugitives, beatniks, artists: They’ve all been called to Mexico for one reason or another. And most of them end up staying for a while.

I heard the call five years ago, and have lived here ever since. I moved to Mexico to study Spanish and teach English after falling in love with the country two years earlier. While I eventually started writing and translating, my story started pretty typically: I came to Mexico with a few suitcases and a one-way ticket, and decided to stay.

What makes Mexico such a great place to live depends a lot on your socioeconomic background, your worldly experience, and how much you can roll with the unknown. It’s a country where you can do a lot without a ton of cash: In much of Mexico, there’s accessible healthcare, great food, and lively entertainment. And it’s not so far removed culturally from the US, thanks to a comparably large middle class and a steady back-and-forth between the countries due to land, people, culture and trade.