Just a short walk to the outskirts of town is a nice Nature Preserve with a bunch of hiking trails. Nice place to get out and away from the “bustle” of San Miguel.
Someone found a quiet spot to camp just outside the park.
Our days have been busy here as we try to figure out life a bit. The kids spend a couple of hours a day at language school while Ali and I talk with different real estate brokers (they all tend to handle both homes for sale and for rent) to find a place to live outside of the AirBnB life. We looked at one place that we really liked, but couldn’t get ourselves to commit to an entire six months in one spot, especially a rental. Long-term rental seems like a good idea, but it also seems entirely too temporary. If we can’t make it our own, what’s the point? It’s just a time killer.
Ouest also fell right in (well, Ali found the group online) with some teen girls that get together every week to hang out. Seems that there is a lot of opportunity for that sort of thing in San Miguel.
Each evening we walk down into Centro, find a new restaurant, watch the shadows get long as the sun goes down, and just generally get to know the place we think we’ll be calling home for a while.
Vochos are everywhere in San Miguel. Everything from meticulously kept originals to cool mods.
Not all vochos survive. Even burned out they look pretty cool, though.
It didn’t take long for our focus to shift from long-term rentals to buying a place. This is a pretty typical home in San Miguel. Three bed, four bath, a mother-in-law suite, and a nice big courtyard for about $350k (we passed on this one because it felt too big, actually). Coincidentally, the same price as a 40′ catamaran that’s a few years old. There are far less expensive places to live in Mexico, but most don’t have the same vibrancy that San Miguel has. SMA is a very active town with hundreds of restaurants, good school options, tons of groups and activities available, tourism, and still plenty of traditional charm. Can you tell I’m trying to convince myself?
3 Comments on “Vochos”
Buy vs rent is usually a financial question (you’ve been extraordinarily successful in being long on an asset with no put at the end of your expected time of occupancy), and you are posing a more existential question. For 20 years you haven’t been in a fixed place, ever, and you are facing the idea of being in a fixed place. And knowing, I suspect, that within seven years the kids will be in other places.
We’re in our seventies, and were in the same place for 30 years. I had a boat for 25 years, and our summers were entirely centered around the boat. You could say when it was in the water the boat owned us rather than the other way around. So our view is we are only going to rent from here on. It’s a relief to let go of stuff. But here we are starting the third year of a five year lease and already I’m thinking about how we get rid of the stuff around us. Part of the problem is we’re living way outside our comfort zone, in a country where we don’t speak the language well or know deeply our community. So we are entirely likely to buy a place that is already permitted for a garbage collection point. https://expatinportugal.substack.com/p/our-latest-portuguese-frustration
Normally I wouldn’t comment about something that’s so personal and different for everyone. But your last sentence seems to slightly invite it, so I will.
I was a little surprised that the Bum family was choosing SMA for settling down in. Not that I know it personally. But just from reading it sounds fairly gentrified and probably relatively gringo. Of course you could say there’s nothing wrong with that. Just that it’s not what I would have pictured you doing, given your past history. I would have thought Mexico, but perhaps in a place a little less “smoothed over”?
On the other hand, you don’t always have to be pioneers in everything. Maybe for a change something “easier” and more gentrified appeals. Relaxing in a way. I could see that. And/or maybe I have the place pegged all wrong since I’m only going by things I’ve read and it’s nothing like what I have pictured in my mind. The photos show it to be absolutely beautiful and historic. And a great climate is always appreciated. Cool and dry! When I remember boating in the tropics I think of how I was always “glistening.” (Of course back then no A/C, nor a way to power it.)
I think SMA is a great choice, especially since you all have Mexican passports so won’t have to deal with expatriate issues. At this age, the schooling is the most important for your kids, so there ya go. The next few years will fly by – enjoy them in a great environment. PS: Ali will be wanting a dog.