i’ve lived in playa del carmen for a year and moved up to cancun for several reasons, the primary one being the burning garbage and general air pollution in playa is terrible. the whole area has a massive garbage and sewerage problem, since the tourism has grown at about 10 times the pace of the infrastructure. add in some local corruption and water, sewerage, garbage, utilities are all under funded.

it can be fine for weeks at a time, but suddenly especially at night the smell of burning, often tainted with plastic is terrible. its usually gone by 7-8am, but what’s the point of living in the tropics if you have to sleep at night with all the windows closed and can’t wake up in the morning to a nice fresh sea breeze. the only solution i found was to move to a condo in the hotel zone, which is kind of offshore and away from the chaos, but when i go back to playa del carmen to visit friends i immedaitely notice the terrible air quality.

other problems in mexico are that in the end its more expensive that living in a major US, EU or Canadian city, since western standards cost western money. Sure you can live on less than $1000 a month, but if you want standards you are used to, you must pay for them and pay for them dearly, since those around you tend to see you as a cash cow with money to burn. The situation made worse by wealthy mexicans that really do have money to burn and like to show it. I’ve never seen people spend money like wealthy mexicans, $10,000 a month to rent a flashy condo, porsche cayenes for all the family, designer everything etc. etc.

also in Maya area there is no power station, electricty is made with diesel generators, so per KwH, its more than twice the price of California… very costly to run AC in summer in a large condio can be $1000 a month or more, DSL internet also runs about twice the price and cell phones super expensive.

the upside is you can have permanent servants for less than $500 a month, huge places to live, lavish lifestyle, but its not for the organic hippy types, especially ones that need a local walmart……

That is amazing that you would suggest Byron Bay. We researched BB – particularly Mullumbimby extensively about 4 years ago and were all ready to make the move. Problem?

We couldn’t get immigration. We even paid an immigration lawyer, but no go. If you own your own business, Australia wants you earn a LOT of money yearly, plus bring in a quarter million in cash.

Now, my kids have developed such strong relationships with my Mum and Dad (who moved to White Rock 2 years ago) that I couldn’t move them that far away anyway.

Great suggestion though! Maybe it will work for someone else reading this blog.

take care,
Jini

http://www.ziggazag.com

People usually enjoy this post:

http://www.ziggazag.com/journey/lifes-a-trip-other-business-lessons/

take care,
Jini

Unfortunately there is not a lot of organic food in Puerto Vallarta that I saw – however I was staying at a resort and I only went to local grocery stores. Believe it or not, your best bet would be to search the internet – it has more info than most residents of any given town.

What I’ve found in Mexico is that there are certain regions (mostly inland) that have organic produce, or a weekly organic box delivery, but the coastal areas have very little.

The other thing I was told by some biodynamic farmers in Mexico is that a lot of the Mexican produce is actually organic. Because they can’t afford pesticides and they don’t know that calling it ‘organic’ would be a selling feature.

However, I don’t know about other (less developed) regions of Mexico, but here in PDC I can tell you that most of the produce is NOT organic. How can I be sure? It doesn’t rot! As you know, microbes love organic food and you have to eat it fairly quickly. The produce I’ve bought here (tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, etc.) looks the same after two weeks as the day I bought them.

Now, if all that is holding you back from
San Diego is childhood carry-overs, you can clear these VERY quickly using a mind/body therapy called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). You can find out lots more and get their free newsletter at:

http://www.emofree.com

And if you tell her you were referred by me, you can get a free 30 minute consult to try it out with my therapist, Annabel Fisher:

http://www.efthealingcentre.com

We’ve also done some teleseminars with Annabel, which are very reasonably priced (dare I say cheap?), so you could try the therapy that way too:

http://www.holistichealthshoppe.com/index.php#52

good luck to you and it’s so nice to know there’s someone else out there with similar struggles!

Jini

I meant to say “you’ll probably want to move” instead of “you’ll probably one to move” at the end of my first paragraph; can you fix that?

Thanks!

Scott

I can SO relate! My partner and I are going through the same considerations, minus the schooling issue (no kids). Currently live in S. Florida, where we moved to get warmth and sun. We have that in abundance here, but it’s really not a safe place — four times in 10 years we’ve almost been destroyed by hurricanes. I strongly urge you to consider the hurricane risk at Playa Del Carmen; you might not think much of it, but the first time you go through one, you’ll probably one to move.

So where have we considered? Hawaii — too remote, too many bugs (discussion forums about bugs in Hawaii read like a horror story); Los Angeles — to crowded, too polluted; Marbella, Spain — too much crime. Our number one choice is, by far, Vancouver! The only thing that stops us is exactly what you said: too dark and cold for too many months a year. So we’re considering 6 months in Vancouver, and 6 months (winter, of course) either in San Diego County, or Puerto Vallarta. I’m not keen on split residencies, but I think full-time in the San Diego area would not be good for me, mentally (I grew up in Los Angeles and S. California has issues for me).

Organic food, prepared by me, has been a way of life for 30 years. I could NOT live somewhere without organic food. Could you briefly describe what the organic food scene is like in Puerto Vallarta? I’m hoping it’s decent, because much of the organic food in the U.S. is actually grown in Mexico. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was little demand for it in Mexico itself.

Thanks and I’m very happy I came across your blog.

Scott