In my experience, if an expat in Mexico mentions they’re looking to get a credit card from a local source, it’s virtually guaranteed that another expat will quickly jump in to say it’s a terrible idea. Well, I’m not here to do that. Though there are plenty of reasons to
As expats know well, Mexico remains a cash-oriented economy. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, an astonishing 90% of transactions in Mexico (spanning retail, rent, services, utilities, and public transport) still get settled in cash. This is huge when compared to the U.S. and Canada, where cash-based transactions
Following the seventh power outage of the spring season at my house in Zapopan (Guadalajara) lasting half the day, I decided I’d had enough. I began researching Mexico’s energy issues, and started looking into installing a residential solar power. With panels plus a battery backup, we figured we’d be less
When we lived in Portland, OR, a rite of passage for many residents each summer was the famous (and infamous) annual naked bike ride. Though it might sound crazy, seeing (or joining) thousands of locals pedaling through Portland’s streets buck-naked was actually pretty awesome. And just one of the myriad
Consuming a steady diet of U.S. news would have you believing Mexico is hell on Earth when it comes to violent crime. On the other hand, if you immerse yourself in expat circles you’d be convinced there is zero chance of becoming a victim of violent crime in Mexico, as
Practically every time I visit expat forums on social media I see questions from aspiring expats about where they should choose to relocate/retire in Mexico. And while most of these people are probably not crowdsourcing the decision but the planning — why not embrace the research for yourself? It can
One of the occasionally frustrating things about living in Mexico stems from a mundane activity — withdrawing pesos from a local ATM for living expenses. What makes it frustrating? Unlike the tech you are accustomed to from your home country — ATMs in Mexico are far less reliable in my
Soon after I moved to Mexico in 2022, I started having difficulty accessing some of my financial accounts online. Then one of our streaming services started to block us. In both cases, the problem was the same. These websites detected my foreign IP address (i.e. where my computer was located),
Entering the U.S. with your dog – or adopting a homeless dog from abroad — is about to get a lot more complicated. New rules announced by the CDC this week are part of a stepped-up effort to keep the U.S. dog population rabies-free. Since 2015, there have been at
Whether a resident or a tourist in Guadalajara, where do you head for a fun night out when you’ve aged out of Chapultepec, Colonia Americana feels overrun by expats, and Andares is just too sceney? Our “go-to” neighborhood for a fun night out lately is Zapopan Centro. Before you spray
