My wife, 2 kids (aged 10 and 8) and I have spent the last 3 full years and the previous 7 winters living in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
We chose to live here for a few reasons:
#1 A business I had spent years on was wrapping up and it was time for a change.
#2 The weather is absolutely perfect and we couldn’t take another winter in Toronto.
#3 The quality of life is far higher, for about 1/4 the monthly spend.
Tim Ferriss and the 4 Hour Work Week also had a part to play.
Although I had been doing geographic arbitrage during the winter for years, it was what inspired me to try enrolling my 2 kids in private school in Mexico.
Sometimes everything logically makes sense but you need that inspirational push… I hope this post will provide that push to some readers here.
So what’s living in Mexico like?
Living in Mexico was just awesome the first couple of years.
It turned out that the bilingual private school here the kids go to is exceptional – far superior to the school they attended in Toronto (at 1/4 the price). The kids became 100% fluent in Spanish within 6 months, and Mexico is truly a child-focused country, so they love it.
My wife is in heaven here because she’s with her family, with our rapidly growing pack of dogs and our ranch. She is content with the simple things in life, something I am trying to learn.
Money was also not an issue, and it is truly liberating to not have to count it, and not have to work to live. This isn’t because I made a lot of money, but because we spend so little. 2 kids in private school, a maid and cook, and we still spend under $3000/mo (though we do own our house and take advantage of some economies of scale here). Девушка специально надела синий бюстгалтер, чтобы соблазнить своего парня
So I worked very little. I found other ways of filling my time. Mexicans, and Vallesanos in particular are extremely sporty. Sports was and still is my outlet, so I was content.
2 years later however, something was lacking for me. I started getting restless – things were too easy and I needed chaos.
After some therapeutic talks with a good friend, I realized what was truly lacking was peers.
That’s when I decided to hold the first retreat.
Out of that retreat the idea for NoHatDigital was formed, and we invited 6 people down to help form the company. Since then, nearly 20 people have spent a month or more working with us in Valle.
It has been an amazing experience, and an incredibly surprising one. I always knew I lacked peers and community, but had no idea how integral community would become in my life.
I know everyone here feels the same way too. Which is why we want to invite more people down.
Got any questions about living in Mexico, or geographic arbitrage in general? Shoot a comment and I will get back to you!
scott says:
So true! Lack of peers that are interested in something similar are hard to find. I had a wonderful time (and life changing experience) staying with the gang in Valle, highly recommend it.
JaMina says:
I don’t see any women in any of the pictures, unless I’m missing them. I’m a women and I’ve been interested in this for sometime now.
I’d really like to come down join this awesome community of like minded people.
Hayden says:
For whatever reason, this seems to be a male-dominated industry. Women are more than welcome, but only 2 have ever come down!
Ben says:
Hey Hayden. I live and work in mexico D.F for the last few years. I would really like to talk with you/come to valle. Please hit me back when you can. Thanks! Ben