But…why Mexico?!?

Diving in cabo september 2018

Planning notes 02 · 14 September 2026

A few people have been curious as to why I chose Mexico to move to, so I thought I’d take a couple posts to lay it out. The short answer is, well, there is no short answer. I have a spreadsheet. 22 lines, 8 criteria, plus a lot of blood, sweat, and tokens. But those details are for an upcoming post.

Because it didn’t start with a spreadsheet, not hardly. Back in May, I spent a month at an Ashram in the Catskill mountains, meditating, doing yoga, going on hikes, cleaning the kitchen, and researching my way through the world, trying to figure out which countries might be a good fit to relocate to. The relevant chat titles with Claude read like this:

– Understanding yogic and Hindu philosophy
– Finding the best Southeast Asian home on $2000
– Moving to SE Asia: Politics, healthcare, and music
– Relocation options across SE Asia and beyond
– Thailand scouting trip planning with medical and diving access
– Relocation destinations beyond Mexico and Thailand
– Relocating to Belize: tax benefits and cultural exploration

And in each of these, so many sub topics that I circled around that it would take hours to recreate a complete road map of all my rabbit holes and spirals. Heck, I edited my experiential learning paper for the Psychedelics Today Vital program in one of the SE Asia chats. My brain does not stay within the lines.

My recent trip to Bali and my time at the Ashram were both surely coloring my thoughts, and I’d (clearly) decided that Southeast Asia was the best place to explore (with a possible side trip to India). With the help of Claude, I sketched out 6 months – 2 each in Thailand, Bali, and the Philippines, because they all best matched my criteria – low cost of living, good health care, available Visa’s, good diving, areas to escape the heat and humidity, rich cultures and spiritual traditions – though none exactly hit the mark. As you can see from the list above, I briefly chatted with Claude about “other places” such as Central and South America to check out, but we kept landing on Southeast Asia (again, with substantial bias from both of us given the location of my inquiries).

Then a bit of reality kicked in. First, the Visa requirements. Bali doesn’t have an easy path to long term residency. Thailand’s looks better after you’re 50, but seems to be changing frequently, and needs to be renewed yearly (not a huge deal, but still something that my poor executive function struggles with). And the Philippines require an $800 monthly income for life, while my guaranteed income is only for 25 years, not life. Most importantly, none of these places allows working or even volunteering while holding these Visas. That would essentially end my budding new career, and not being able to volunteer is a big deal for an RPCV

Then there’s the drug laws. I work in psychedelics, and while I do not serve any medicine myself besides Kambo (which is legal/unregulated in most of the world), I do work adjacent to what could be heavily punishable offenses in some of the countries I was considering. I also like to smoke a little weed from time to time, and I do participate in medicine ceremonies, including spending a month sitting with Ayahuasca and San Pedro in Peru and my recent Iboga retreat in Costa Rica. So the idea that I could spend years in jail or be punished physically for something that has played an important role in my life more or less cut the Philippines and Bali from consideration

That did leave Thailand, where cannabis was legal for a hot minute, and now has move to being medically legal but recreationally prohibited. Thailand had it’s own issues as well – the diving and heat being so far from the highlands of the north, the yearly burning near Chiang Mai, the distance to travel home when my cousins still had young kids I enjoyed watching grow up. By mid-July, after 2.5 months of SE Asia planning, it was back to the chats, and for the first time looking at Mexico much, much more closely.

Mexico. The first place I went diving 25 years ago. Short trips here and there over the years. A couple weeks in Cabo. But not necessarily the first place I’d ever considered moving to. Not for any particular reason, other than perhaps it didn’t really seem foreign or “exotic” enough. It was like…Canada, where I spent much of my childhood growing up with cousins. And if I’d continued with that way of thinking, I would have missed out big time. Because Mexico is, in many ways, a perfect fit.

First, there is the convenience factor. Being so close to the US and Canada and being in the same time zones as much of the US was definitely a perk. Flights home were cheaper. And I already knew a Portuguese-based Creole and had studied some Spanish in the past, so the language would be easier to pick up vs. something entirely new. Plus, the food. What can I say, I love to eat, and pozole is way up there on my YUM list.

Then, there is the culture and history, and with that the links to indigenous and plant medicines. There is a real possibility that I could continue my studies and work on an even deeper level in Mexico, learning directly from curandero/as (traditional healer/medicine worker) instead of books or Zoom sessions. And I could actually work. Not right off the bat with Temporary Residency, but I could apply for a permit as a resident, and would be able to work and volunteer once I obtained Permanent Residency.

The Mesoamerican Reef on one side and the Aquarium of the World on another. Highland coffee farmers and sleepy beach town surfers. Booming metropoli and Pueblos Mágicos. Rich cultural history, real community connections, expanding and affordable healthcare, and a Visa I qualify for. Mexico FTW!

But…how to get from ALL of Mexico, to home? More on that to come 😊