• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Retirement/Living

Retired Life In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
May 31, 2012
in Retirement/Living
0
Puerto Vallarta Mexico
210
SHARES
3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Beach Is The Main Attraction (It Doesn’t Hurt That Life Here Is Also So Comfortable, Convenient, And Affordable)

I wish I were there. But someone had to stay behind and mind the store.

Meantime, Lief, this week, is in Puerto Vallarta, hosting our Live and Invest in Mexico Conference. He called shortly after he’d arrived to rub it in…

“Boy, it really is nice here. This region of Mexico is really comfortable…convenient…easy. You could be in any resort area of southern California. The amenities, infrastructure, services, they’re all of a comparable standard. The difference is the cost. The cost of everything is much lower here, even at the resort hotel where we’re holding the event.”

Then, a couple of days later, Lief called again:

“I had lunch at the beach yesterday: chicken, rice, beans…typical, for the equivalent of US$2.50. And I bought a can of Pepsi in a shop for 50 cents. Even room service here at the hotel seems like a bargain. Everything is so cheap that you don’t have to think about the cost of anything…you don’t have to worry about it.”

As I couldn’t be in Puerto Vallarta to report live from the scene myself, I asked one of the speakers, Sandra Munguia, a transplant from California who has been living in Puerto Vallarta full-time for five years, if she’d fill in for me.

Specifically, I asked Sandra to tell you what life is like in this sunny, sandy part of the world…

“I was born in the California Bay Area and grew up going to beaches in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Francisco,” Sandra explains.

“Each California beach town has a different vibe. Puerto Vallarta reminds me most of San Francisco, especially the downtown malecon (boardwalk) area. As you walk around the malecon of Puerto Vallarta (PV), you see street musicians, artists, and vendors. It is very much like the fisherman’s wharf area of San Francisco.

“As you travel up the coast north of PV into Nuevo Vallarta, the area is more developed, more expensive, and more upscale. Even farther up the coast it’s like a Mexican version of Santa Cruz, California. There’s a small beach and a fishing village…very typically Mexican.

“You’ll be happy in PV if you like the beach. That’s really the main attraction here. But it’s supported by things like upscale shopping malls and Costco. You don’t move to the beach to shop at Costco, but it’s awfully nice having it nearby.

“Meantime, though, again, you can also find the ‘real Mexico’ here…things like open-air markets where you can shop pottery and handicrafts…plus giant Tiger shrimp (for about US$7 per kilo). This is one thing I really appreciate about this place. The contrasts…the mix…of upscale and comfortable with local and charming (and cheap).

“Movies cost about US$3. We just went to see ‘Men in Black III’ at the M & M Theater, which is a first-class theater with reclining, rocking, and stadium seating and movies in English. There is also a Boutique Theater with large-scale productions. And we have an Art Walk in downtown PV each Thursday evening during high season.

“I’ve really come to appreciate the quality of life here in Mexico. There is a different rhythm here. Even though I work full-time, I am more relaxed and happier here than when we lived in the States. Plus, there is such a big American and Canadian community that I’ve found many new friends, and the Mexican community is warm, generous, and welcoming.

“My life here is very busy. I work and have a busy social life. Living here has compelled me to make connections, to seek out new things. I no longer have the life that I grew up believing was normal, you know, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV, sleep, and do it again, until the weekend, when maybe something fun is planned. Living here, I often feel as if I am on permanent vacation.

“I have more friends now, living here, in my mid-50s, than I have ever had in my life. It’s so easy to meet people. Pick up the local paper. Join a club or a class. Go to church, to the park, to the beach, the market. People start up conversations at the drop of a hat.

“A lot of expats like the downtown area of PC because it is easy to walk everywhere. However, you can live in any area really and use public transportation (for a very lost cost) to go anywhere you want. The areas north of PV, such as Guayabitos and La Penita, are becoming very popular among expats and retirees because the costs to buy and live there are much lower than in the big city.

“Rents can be as low as US$200 per month in outlying towns…or up to US$1,000’s per month for luxury penthouses and big homes in the heart of PV. All things considered, a retired couple could easily live here on US$1,000 a month, more or less, depending on entertainment, travel, and outings. A big consideration would be where, exactly, you choose to live.

“I know that safety is a big concern for anyone considering relocating anywhere in Mexico. My experience? For the first time in my life, I live somewhere that reminds me of what it must have been like living in small town America in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Honestly, the only time I think about crime is when someone from the United States asks me if I saw some report on CNN. I often meet my girlfriends downtown for dinner and then walk back to my car alone at 10 p.m. or later.

“The bottom line is that I love being able to afford living by the sea. Seeing the water…being able to walk along the beach every day…that is the biggest draw for me about life in Puerto Vallarta.”

More from the scene in Puerto Vallarta mañana…

Kathleen Peddicord

Continue Reading: “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” A Must-See For Any Would-Be Expat Or Retiree Overseas

Tags: 'Retire To Puerto Vallarta'Expat Life In Puerto VallartaMexico'
Share84Tweet53
Previous Post

Retired Expat Life In San Francisco, Panama City, Panama

Next Post

Mexico Pacific Coast Property, US$99K

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

Related Posts

3 Popular Seaside Towns In Mexico Within Driving Distance Of The States
Lifestyle

3 Popular Seaside Towns In Mexico Within Driving Distance Of The States

by Lee Harrison
May 4, 2022
0

One of the most valuable conveniences you could hope for when purchasing a home abroad can be the ability to...

Read more
The Best Places To Live Abroad And Launch A New Life

The Best Places To Live Abroad And Launch A New Life

April 27, 2022
The Eiffel tower in Paris from a tiny street

While Away Your Days In Paris

April 26, 2022
A view of Cinta Costera in Panama City, Panama

One Of The Greatest Melting Pots

April 25, 2022
A relaxing Panama shoreline

Is Retiring In Panama Still A Good Choice? If So, Where?

April 24, 2022
Ferragudo, Algarve, Portugal

How One Couple Discovered A Great New Life In Algarve

April 21, 2022
Portuguese beach villa in Carvoeiro classic fishing boats

Retirement In Algarve, Portugal, Is A Breeze For Americans

April 17, 2022
Next Post
A nice white stone property in Mexico tucked surrounded by green trees.

Mexico Pacific Coast Property, US$99K

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2022

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

The World’s Best Places To Be In 2022?

Discover Them Here…

WANT TO RETIRE OVERSEAS?

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately send you a free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE in style overseas. Each day you’ll learn about the best opportunities for international living, retiring overseas, offshore diversification and asset protection, and investing in real estate around the world.