Book: Solid Slices of Expat Life

I’ve just read a new book that should interest anyone trying to imagine what it’s like to be a north-of-the-border expatriate living at Lake Chapala, Mexico. That includes potential expats, as well as those who are initially horrified at the prospect of their loved ones falling into ruin across the border.

The book is Baby Boomers: Reinvent Your Retirement in Mexico by Karen Blue. She’s the woman who wrote Midlife Mavericks: Women Reinventing their Lives in Mexico some years ago, which was my own inspiration for taking a trip to Lake Chapala, where I now live and work. Like the previous book, this one is a series of interviews—but with some welcome changes. In addition to women, men and couples are also interviewed, and so are people who have decided to move back up north. Each interview is a story, and each is a slice of an interesting life. Although each story’s setup is almost always the same, Blue visiting each interviewee’s home, she asks interesting questions, resulting in valuable insights as well as information.

Blue’s style tends toward the folksy side. And the pace is very leisurely, most likely because Mexican life is very leisurely. Type A personalities may become impatient with this, as they may become impatient with Mexico in general, as Blue points out.

Mexico is not efficient. It’s just bordering on competent, so far. But it has charm, the price is right, and the infrastructure for expats is improving all the time—so much so that International Living Magazine just named Chapala the number one place in the world for people to retire on a budget (see separate article here). But Mexico is not just for retirees. It’s for anyone who wants to make life changes. That’s the real wisdom behind Blue’s stories.

The book is available on Amazon.com here, and at stores in the local area.

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