3/8/16  It got real today. After years of talking, planning, and researching, it got real today. We put a deposit on an apartment in Mexico. We’re going. Holy Crap!

We have been planning on doing this for about four years now. We looked at lots of countries – Panama, Belize, Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic – lots of them. We finally settled on Mexico. Why? Well, a lot of factors played into it. Cost of living is one. The current exchange rate is $17.84 pesos to the dollar. Money goes a long way in Mexico. We looked at health care (excellent), crime (not nearly as bad as the State Department and the media would have you believe), quality of life (excellent). We spoke with friends who have lived there for years, in various parts of the country and settled (finally, after several change ups) on the Yucatan Peninsula. We are water people and want to be on the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean.

We are a couple in our mid to late fifties (her mid, him late – real late). Two and a half years ago we left North Carolina to get away from the cold. We moved to Florida, to the little town of Inglis, just north of Crystal River on the Gulf coast. In March of 2014, we made a deal with a sailing resort to open and operate a sailing school, and manage the resort’s sailing program. So we moved to Key Largo and took up residence at the Key Lime Sailing Club. If you are sailors, go there – there’s no place like it. And here we have lived for just about two years. It’s been a great home, and we love everyone here from the owner to the staff to the guests, but we need to do this.

We are planning to drive. It’s going to be quite an adventure. We got a road log from Mexico Mike’s website to make the trip easier. We will probably order a custom trip plan also since this will be our first time. Our first stop will be Merida, where we have reserved an apartment at Suites del Sol. Furnished with everything but electricity. Even has covered parking.

We still have a lot of stuff in a storage unit that will have to go away very soon. We’re only taking what will fit in the Camry. We’ve downsized in stages from five bedrooms and three baths to a small suite on the resort over the last four years. This will be the last cut. We’ll make a check list of things to do, and edit it as we go. We’ll post it here in case it will help someone out.

Well that’s it for post number 1. Keep watching or subscribe via email. We promise not to post crap. Hopefully this will improve as we figure this WordPress thing out. Oh, and since there are two of us, we’ll sign each post so you will know who wrote it. Seeya soon.

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