Los Cabos

los_cabos arches

Lifestyle Rating: B (range C – A) Los Cabos is a municipality at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula that encompasses Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo (the municipal seat), as well as the twenty miles of beach area that lies between the two.  Cabo San Lucas’ party atmosphere and San [...]

Truckin' to Tulum!

Laredo Border Crossing

by Ron Burdine After five days of driving from Denver, Colorado to Tulum, Mexico, I have arrived! What follows is a recap of the high and lowlights of an interesting drive through a beautiful country. DAY 1: We (my brother-in-law, Rich, and I) left Denver at about 6 pm, and nearly made it to Amarillo, [...]

Are Americans Safe Moving To Mexico?

2009 murder_rates_by_states_in_Mexico

MURDER, OF COURSE, IS NOT A JOKE.  This article is to bring attention to the statistical facts about the murder rate in Mexico.  For those of us who live in Mexico, the emphasis in the US press on how violent and murderous Mexico is and the total lack of context, seems a joke when compared to the reality of [...]

San Miguel de Allende

san-miguel-de-allende

Average Lifestyle rating: B+ (range C+ to A+) Home to one of Mexico’s largest American ex-pat communities, San Miguel de Allende, at the beginning of the 20th century was in danger of becoming a ghost town. It was snatched from the jaws of obscurity in the 1930s and 40s when its colonial structures were “discovered” by foreign artists who promptly [...]

La Paz

La Paz 2

Average Lifestyle rating: B (range D+ to A-) La Paz is the largest city in, and the capital of the state of Baja California Sur, and it is the fourth largest geographic MSA (metropolitan statistical area – a city and its burbs) in Mexico. With a population of 215,178 (2010 census), it also has one of the highest [...]

Todos Santos

Todos Santos 1

Average Lifestyle rating: B- (range C- to A-) Some old-hands believe that Todos Santos is not what it used to be (what is?). As its popularity has burgeoned and its gringo/mexicano ratio has tilted less sharply, it’s no longer “untouched” by modernity. But though it is the second largest town in the La Paz (Baja capital) municipality, the overall feel [...]

Tulum

Tulum QR 1

Average Lifestyle rating: B (range  C+ to A+)Tulum is a world apart from Cancun and Playa del Carmen, but it is marching on the “path of progress” and change is in the air.  In 2004, the road to Tulum from Akumal (20 miles north) was dirt and rough.  In 2010, they finished the last leg of what [...]

Cozumel

Cozumel Snorkeling

Average Lifestyle rating: B+ (range B- to A+) How does living on an island in the Caribbean Ocean sound? Exotic, glamorous, stress-free, infrastructure-deprived? Isla de Cozumel, off the eastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula 20 kilometers southeast from Playa del Carmen, may just fit the bill – except for the infrastructure part. With multiple ferries running [...]

The Mayan Riviera

mexico-13-snorkel-riviera-maya

The Riviera Maya area of the Yucatan Peninsula stretches from Cancun through Playa del Carmen southward to Tulum, and includes the island of Cozumel, located 20 kilometers from Playa del Carmen into the Caribbean. Many people, both visitors and residents, believe this area has the best beaches in the world. If you are into scuba diving, [...]

Central Mexico

chapala_malecon

In central Mexico are two of the most popular spots for expats to move: the Lake Chapala area and San Miguel de Allende.  Both places have large gringo populations – large enough to affect the local economy. San Miguel de Allende has been around a long time, but after its colonial architecture was discovered in the 1930s, it blossomed into [...]