I Moved My Non-Mexican Family to Mexico on a Whim (without visiting first!)
Just like a first love, it really could have been anywhere, but there’s always something special about the first…
My first visit to Mexico happened shortly after I retired from the military. I was a single mom deciding what I would do with the rest of my life. Travel being one of my most important priorities, I decided to purchase a campervan and we started our travels the day my “active duty” status officially switched to my now “retired” status. But five glorious months later, I had come face-to-face with a reality I knew would come but hoped I could just ignore: My son needed braces. While not an earth-shattering situation, anyone with any braces experience with braces knows one thing: it’s a months-to-years-long-commitment with ONE orthodontist. Travel would be impossible. Certainly not the type of travel I envisioned where every few days or weeks, we would start the van back up in search of new adventures. With his orthodontist confirming that braces needed to happen within six months, I knew my dreams of van life were over (at least for now).
Luckily, with a lifetime of travel already under my belt, the end of van life did not equate to an end of travel altogether. If I had to stay in only one place for the next few years, then I would simply choose a place I had never experienced; a place that could provide tons of new-to-me situations without constantly moving. With a quick Google, I found the location: Mexico.
Mexico allows (generally) a 6-month tourist visa which could be renewed frequently. Additionally, Mexico is also somewhat known for its “medical tourism,” which means finding an orthodontist shouldn’t be difficult. I landed specifically on Mérida in the state of Yucatan for two reasons: it was a city I had never heard of (unlike, say, Mexico City or Cancun) and I found a “single moms expat group” on Facebook for the city which meant there would hopefully be “instant” friends for my son.
Lifestyle in Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico
Timing is Everything.
We arrived in Mérida the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. My family wasn’t too happy we left before a major U.S. holiday, but I was too excited to wait! My Airbnb host picked us up from the airport and before long we were unpacking our bags in our new temporary home. I decided for the first month or so to share a home in an Airbnb before transferring to a more permanent location. This would give us time to get to know the large city and decide which neighborhoods would match us best.
In preparation for our move, I had connected with the single moms Facebook group, and the owner invited us to join their Thanksgiving party to meet everyone. And that was it! While the sweltering heat, even in late November, had me wondering if I’d made a horrible mistake, it was the beauty of Mérida, mixed with the kindness of their community which had us falling in love immediately. Before long, our weeks were filled with twice weekly meetings with the members of the group (which turned out to be a strong mix of not only “expat” families but local families and their children) and the other days filled with exploring the city or staying home and enjoying Mayan hamacas and pool days.
So yes, this could have happened anywhere… Fortunately for me, it started in Mérida.
Experiences in Mérida
As an American, I’d already had a relationship with Mexican cuisine… or so I thought. But I should have known that how we experience Mexican food in the United States would be distinctly different from the experience across the border. In Mérida I discovered panuchos, papadzules, huevos motuñelos, and rediscovered tacos as they were meant to be experienced! With strong roots in ancient Mayan traditions, mixed with a Caribbean flare, I would later learn that Yucatecan cuisine, even amongst other Mexican states, stands as its own culinary destination. The best places to experience Yucatecan food are hands down in someone’s home. Nothing beats homemade cochinita pibil and poc-chuc and I’m beyond grateful to have made enough local friends to have received the honor of an invite for not only the exquisite eats, but the amazing conversations and relationships garnered. A close second, however, would be street vendors. While restaurants can provide certain specialty dishes like the papadzules, the best panuchos, salbutes and of course aguas frescas can be found with street or market vendors, such as the ones surrounding the Santa Ana or Santiago plazas
Speaking of plazas, most of the playdates or meetups happen around plazas. Plazas or parques are essentially open community meeting spaces. Some have play or exercise equipment (for both young and old) while others have open spaces where people can meet for late night dancing, pop-up markets/fairs and even exercise or art classes! Especially due to the heat of Mérida, residents find themselves most active at the beginning of the day, before the sun heats everything up, and at the end of the day, when the sun has finally disappeared. Even young, school-aged children can be found at various parques late on a school night safely playing with family, friends and enjoying street vendors. The community of Mérida is truly heartwarming and even as foreigners, my child and I were embraced with loving arms.
The World Surrounding Mérida
While daily life in Mérida held its own intrigue for me, from the historic downtown to the ever-growing uptown destinations, the region immediately around the city took my breath away.
As part of the Yucatan peninsula, Mérida is within an hour or two away from several beaches such as Progresso, Sisal and the famous Celestún. Celestún is by far my favorite of these with its beautiful sandy beaches, nearby cenotes, nature reserves and flamingo tours. If you go at the right time of the year, you can even discover some “pink” water beaches! However, as someone who is more mountain than beach, when it comes to swimming locations, I prefer and highly recommend visiting cenotes!
Cenotes are technically sinkholes that have filled with ground or spring water over time. Often located within collapsed caves, these natural pools are not only refreshingly cool but hold a lot of history and Mérida is simply surrounded by them! I would recommend going with a local guide, as they can be hard to find and even a little dangerous to explore on your own, unless you choose a more popular cenote which will be run by either the Mexican or city government or a private company. In the region, the most famous cenote will be Ik Kil, located next to the Mayan archeological ruin of Chichén Itzá. Chichen Itza is one of the “new” 7 wonders of the world and a UNESCO world heritage site, less than a 2-hour drive from Mérida.
To not overwhelm “touristy” locations in the country, Mexico has designated (to date) 177 Pueblo Magicos (magical villages/towns) that are highly worthy of at least a day trip. Near Mérida there is charming Valladolid, which has a cenote in the center of town and possibly the best Yucatecan cuisine I’ve tasted; Izamal, often called the Yellow City due to the vibrant yellow of most buildings, holding the Kinich Kakmo pyramid which we are still able to climb; Tulum, one of the most visited and Instagrammed destinations with an interesting history of actually NOT being a city, but instead a tourist construct; and a handful of lesser-known pueblos.
One of my favorite vacations that I took from Mérida, was a three-day trip to the jungles of Coba (technically Nuevo Durango) to an animal sanctuary called Nojoch Keej, where we got to experience what it’s like to take care of the wildlife and plants of the region, taste the delicious local honey and attempt to cook some of the local favorites. Coba is also known for its many cenotes and the ruins of the Nohoch Mul Pyramid.
Conclusion
In the end, my son and I stayed over a year and a half in Mérida, Mexico before moving to the Chiapas (a different state in Mexico) for another year and a half. In Mérida, we also finally got our four-year temporary visa. Do I recommend that people move to Mexico, or any country they’ve never visited on a whim? Honestly, no. We were extraordinarily fortunate that we landed in what was probably the best city to introduce ourselves to Mexico, at a time when there happened to be a single mom community to tap into. But do I recommend Mérida as an amazing place to visit and consider for your next move? Definitely!
Check out some of my Mexico content below!
https://www.youtube.com/@PriorityFocusedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ovftSFYbKs&list=PLhktJFBqhTrYQamuPBQI7pruBvizFkRN8&index=2
