Chances are if you’ve picked up this magazine some part of you is wondering what it would be like to live here. You’re in good company.
More and more folks from the US and Canada are choosing Mexico for their second home. The warm people, the sunny days, & tons of direct flights have made it easier for many of us to make the big leap. Underneath all that though is something more. Those of us who choose to call the Baja “our home” are looking for something DIFFERENT.
If you’re considering buying a second home to spend Winters or to retire full time, this is your chance to be deliberate. WHERE you choose to purchase that home will greatly influence what your life looks like in 10 years.
So, the question becomes, what do YOU want?
Most of us live our lives according to the rules. We have countless ambitions in our younger days, but then other, more important things intervene. Career. Marriage. Kids. We settle in for a life that is wonderfully rewarding, but our sense of adventure gets a little bit…dusty.
Now, as you near retirement, you want to continue to make sound decisions for yourself and your family, but you also want to seize the opportunity to live your life according to your own rules. Being smart financially must certainly play a role. However, you simply can’t quantify the feeling you get when you wake up every morning in a place you never dreamed you would live.
Moving to Los Cabos isn’t like entering the Peace Corps, but it can be a great adventure. On the surface, it’s a resort town. However, this community is really a huge melting pot of interesting people from all over Mexico, the US and Canada. When you combine all those different backgrounds into one area, there’s an opportunity to bring variety into your life. Your core group may be just like you, but some days you may mix it up a bit with people who speak a different language, with people from a different country, or with those who may be 20 years younger than you. This place gives you the option to cast as a wide a net as you want, on any given day.
The same applies to the activities that fill your days. Mexico is a country that focuses more on the quality of life than the daily to-do list. That means your days will be driven more by what you WANT to do, rather than what you feel you must do.
It’s hard to put a finger on what it is exactly that pulls us all here, but the Baja is this incredible place of contrasts. It’s the desert and the sea. It’s rugged yet luxurious. It’s foreign but familiar. Like any frontier, it beckons and intimidates.
When you live surrounded by contrasts, you are continuously given an opportunity to think about what you want and what you don’t want. It pushes you to step outside of your comfort zone.
It’s anything but boring.
Think back to the last time you tried something new. It was awkward at first but soon you were patting yourself on the back & looking around for the next “new” thing to try. That extra boost of energy makes you feel more engaged with the people around you. When you’re more engaged, you feel more alive.
Ten years from now you could have friends from all over North America. You could have spent most of your days outside. You may have rescued a dog or cat. You could have ten year’s worth of doctor’s appointments with medical professionals who asked how you were and listened to your answer. You could have pushed yourself to experience a different lifestyle, and you will have grown as a result.
And guess who will have seen that? Your kids, the other members of your family, and your friends. When we show the people who know us best that we’re still open to new experiences, it trickles down to their lives. It plants a precious little seed for them to one day do the same.
Not so long ago, the open road beckoned you and countless experiences awaited you. Guess what? THEY’RE STILL THERE. So, go ahead. Close those eyes, take a leap, and have some fun!
