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Just curious what the thought process was (if any - ha!) that you followed when you moved / bought down here?

What was on your top ten list of things to look for?

Did it match up with what you expected?

Has your criteria and/or location changed since?

I like the guidelines you used to find your ideal place. The only difference is I want warmer weather so we will end up further south.

We are still trying to decide exactly where we want to end up on the long term but it will be on or near water, warm winters, good fishing, few people, fewer cars and lots of cold beer. I know I need to add to that list but if I can get only that much I will be one very happy old fart.

I moved from Cabo to Rosarito for health reasons. I use the VA in San Diego and had to be close enough to see them at least once a month. A 1049 mile drive from Cabo every month was impossible so moved here. Did like Cabo weather better. I have decided to live here in Rosarito for summer months and live in San Felipe in winter months as it is a lot warmer there in winter. Will visit Cabo at least one month during winter. I have friends that live here that love the cooler weather and cold winters. Everyone is different, that is what makes the world go around. Wherever you decide to live, make in in Mexico. Baja is wonderful place to live.

Fideicomisos are virtually nonexistent where we live, so we shopped for a good landlord, one who had a reputation for integrity, did not have family issues regarding ownership of the property, and had a history of honoring his leases. We looked for a long time before buying but finally made the leap of faith, which is exactly what it is. (Some might justifiably call it a crapshoot.) Maybe someday our landlord will be willing or able to sell lots, but in the meantime, we're happy with our decision.

My top 10, in no particular order:

Warm, sunny weather
On the coast with lowest possible humidity
Warm, friendly people
Goods and services available
Distant from the US
Language I knew or could learn
Not overrun with tourists or expats (but some nice ones)
Affordable
Casual, laid-back atmosphere
Airport nearby

La Paz has met or exceeded all expectations, and I honestly can't think of any major surprises since I moved here two years ago. Well, one ... airfares have gone up, and flight options have decreased, which is inconvenient when I do have to travel. :(

Starting over now, I'd still end up here or somewhere very similar. Criteria are the same as ever. Life could get more perfect if it weren't for the "affordable" factor, but I'm close enough and very happy that I made the move. It's a great place to live.

Kate

Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I had only been to Mexico once before (30 years earlier, for a week at a Club Med ) and bought a house on my second trip to La Paz. But I've been an expat for most of my adult life.

Kate, I was wondering...what about old farts like me with complicated heart problems: can one get to the US fairly quickly in an emergency situation, or is treatment available locally? What do La Pa' residents do about ongoing heatlcare?

Originally Posted by Nighttrain

Kate, I was wondering...what about old farts like me with complicated heart problems: can one get to the US fairly quickly in an emergency situation, or is treatment available locally? What do La Pa' residents do about ongoing heatlcare?

Yeah, I know I don't look like Kate, but I'll jump in here anyway on the premise that more info is better than less. ;)

La Paz is not some remote/isolated sleepy little fishing village, the population of La Paz is currently around 200K & there are at least 5 hospitals that I can think of right off the bat & too many clinics & doctors offices to count. I've been treated in 4 of the hospitals. Of course, I do have a favorite place, but there's only one I'd prefer to not return to, as I found their ER to be....Uhhhhh....of lower sanitation standards than I want an invasive procedure performed on my body! ;)

There's a cardiac specialist here (one of many) which my now 91-year-old Mother saw during the 2 years she was here, who I highly recommend, and he speaks English fluently.

Not all the hospitals necessarily have someone on staff who speaks fluent English 24-hours a day, but if necessary, I try to take a Mexican friend who takes fluent English in with me because I'm not willing to place my life in jeopardy due to a potential language barrier.

I personally give medical care in La Paz very high marks. The facilities here may not all have the latest high-tech equipment, but IMHO, the doctors more than make up for that in the time they spend with you, both verbally & in physical examination. For the most part, medical care here is very affordable....I've gone in to ER & been admitted & total bill for doctors, medication, treatment & a private room with meals has yet to exceed $500-600 (equivalent USD).

IMHO & 10 years of personal experience here, concern over quality of medical care is not a viable reason to eliminate La Paz from your list of possible destinations.

~ Warmth of the sun
~ Beachfront or water view
~ Good medical facilities nearby
~ NOT drunken party town major vacation destination type environment
~ NOT remote sleepy little fishing village environment
~ Availability of omported USA dairy products (milk/cottage cheese/ sour cream, etc.) a MUST (yeah, we all have our odd requirements!)
~ Affordable cost of living
~ Convenient to international airport

I don’t recommend MY technique to everyone!! ;) Prior to La Paz, the only time I'd spent in Mexico was 2 weeks in Cancun & Cozumel in 1994. I knew I wanted to vacation in Mexico again & had a longtime friend living in El Comitan, near La Paz, so that was a key factor in my first visit to La Paz. My sister-in-law & I booked our two-week vacation for March 1998 & loved it here! It had never entered my mind that I’d ever consider living outside the USA, let alone in a 3rd world country. Funny what happens when fate intervenes in our lives!

My FIRST day back from vacation, I found out that my job of 18-years with a major international company was going to be outsourced to another major international company. I interviewed with the new company & received a job offer to stay in the same job, same desk, supporting the same customer base. I accepted that offer on a straight across basis....my time, salary, benefits, etc. went with me. My new employer left me in the my former position job for approximately 6 months before moving me to different major company account in downtown Portland. Four different freeways & a 1-hour commute each way on a good day! I hated the commute, I hated the job; there was no challenge to it, no personal job satisfaction whatsoever.

In October 1998 I brought my then 81-year-old mother to La Paz with the idea of looking for property to buy when I was financially able to retire; the time-line in my mind at that time was when I was 60-62. After I'd taken her on an aisle-by-aisle trip through CCC to show her she could buy all her must-have food items & she saw how cheap booze is here, Mom went from trying to discourage me by telling me there was no way I could live in a 3rd world country because I’d miss all the conveniences I’d always had in my life in the states....to telling me if I didn’t buy the piece of bayfront property that we were standing on at the time....that I’d be stupid!! I did buy it, but still with the idea that I wouldn’t be able to afford to retire, move & build for 8-10 years.

After that trip; my second visit to La Paz; the FIRST day back at work after vacation, I found out that my present employer was offering a resignation incentive package of 3-month severance pay & 6-month medical/dental coverage to certain job classifications, mine included. I jumped on it! I resigned as of December 31, 1998.

I began getting rid of possessions in both my home & my mother's. I put both our homes on the market, sold Mom's 3 vehicles & I spent the next year researching the hell out of retiring & living in Mexico, I got resident Visas for both of us. When my home sold, I had United Van Lines pack all my household goods & put them into storage & moved to Mom's. When her place sold, United packed all her possessions & added it to mine in storage. I bought a 22’ Minnie Winnebago for us to live in during construction & travel Mexico later.

My third trip to La Paz was a 1-week trip in September 1999 to meet with an Architect to discuss building the home that I’d designed specifically for my property.

We left Portland the end of October 1999 embarking on what was Mom's second & my 4th trip to La Paz!

I felt I’d lost control of my own life through a long series of crap that happened, beginning with the death of my father in 1996. I applied for relocation to Portland with my long term employer for Moms sake & the company relocated me. I sold my home of 19-years in the Seattle area the first week I listed it. I bought a new home in the Portland area 5 miles from Mom. Then things started going downhill: my dog & I were attacked by a pit bull on the Oregon coast (dog/serious bite wounds to throat & chest....me/deep bite wounds to left knee, subsequent infection, 1 month on crutches), then I crushed my left foot with my own car (I didn’t get it into park before leaping out to save my dog from a huge Chocolate lab, realized it was still rolling & tried to get back in....it pulled me face-down & the rear tire rolled over my left foot crushing it into gravel, pine needles & bunny poop! No broken bones, just extensive soft tissue damage & 6 weeks on crutches), then I had a very bad reaction to a spider bite on the back of my left thigh. Next, I was rear-ended on the way to work the day I was turning in my resignation paperwork to my current employer. I decided it was time to take all the lemons life was throwing my way & set up my own lemonade stand (euphemistically speaking!) in La Paz! I was permanently moved down here a year to the month after buying my property & haven’t looked back since!

Mom was here for 2 years before she missed her friends, the heat got to her & she opted to go back to Portland.

My experience (and ME) are unique; the fact that I’m single doesn’t muddy up the waters with multiple inputs & wish-lists, combined with the fact that I’m self-sufficient, have an innate ability to know what I want & I tend to pull out all the stops to make it happen. Being a risk-taker doesn't hurt! So I did it backwards!! I decided where & then researched the hell out of everything & JUST MADE IT HAPPEN! Absolutely no regrets! I wouldn't move back to the states for love nor money!

Great story. I am very sincere in thanking you for sharing it with us.

Originally Posted by Nighttrain

Kate, I was wondering...what about old farts like me with complicated heart problems: can one get to the US fairly quickly in an emergency situation, or is treatment available locally? What do La Pa' residents do about ongoing heatlcare?

Hi Nighttrain, I'm the REAL Kate but have no first hand experience with the situation you describe. My biggest emergency here so far was falling and breaking a finger, for which the medical services I found in the yellow pages were more than adequate. But as Longlegs said, health care facilities here are reportedly excellent. Some expats have medevac insurance for emergencies, and I think those planes can land at La Paz airport, at least during daytime. I know of a couple of people who need regular follow-up in the US and make the drive periodically, but their care providers are near the border. Others use local facilities and go to Guadalajara if something can't be handled here. That's what I plan to do. A lot depends on insurance coverage, of course, and on your particular condition. But from all I've been told, we have it very good here.

Thanks for the info. The med-evac option is worth exploring. Now solve the summer heat issue, and Katie bar the door (sorry--I'll bet you haven't heard that one before).

Originally Posted by Nighttrain

Thanks for the info. The med-evac option is worth exploring. Now solve the summer heat issue, and Katie bar the door (sorry--I'll bet you haven't heard that one before).

No, never!
People's inner thermostats differ, but for me summer heat is why water was invented.
If you can't live smack on the beach (as I couldn't), build a pool. Longlegs advised me that it's a necessity, not a luxury, and she is absolutely right. It's wonderful to walk out the door and into the water any time day or night. AC is nice to have, but it's bloody expensive to install and operate for the short time it's really useful. A pool is good for 7-8 months /yr (probably more if you're not a cold wimp like me). I couldn't afford both, so I went with the pool.

Other suggestions: Construction that isn't uninsulated concrete, shaded or tinted windows on the side that gets afternoon sun, good ceiling fans (even if you have AC) ... but above all, a pool!

What a great story - longlegsinlapaz.

I'm guessing the construction went well and you all lived happily ever after? I feel like I want to tune into the sequel.

As 2 month Baja veterans - we still don't know what we want. We leased a house in Rosarito for a year so we could decide.

We're now tossing around whether we want to live further South.

For now, our big considerations:

- Reliable high speed Internet
- Ocean, preferably on the beach (love to walk our dogs there)
- Medical care (my husband has had two heart procedures)
- Fun places to go eat, drink

So, we're not moving 20 miles off the pavement or too far away from civilization. So far, we really enjoy Rosarito. Of course, we haven't lived here during a real spring break, so I don't know how that will go.

Nightrain, if you're seriously considering a move to La Paz, here's my suggestion. Ask your cardiologist what are the specific immediate treatments you might require for you specific condition and find out if those are available in La Paz or Cabo.

If your "complicated" heart condition is something like atrial fib and coumadin therapy, I've heard people say it's easy to get their PT,PTT drawn at a Baja lab and you could fax your results to your doctor and adjust you coumadin dose via a phone call or email.

If you have a pacemaker and need to check in to have it checked periodically, ask the pacer clinic staff if there's any reason this couldn't be done long distance??

I'm sure you realize that there are various levels of cardiac care and while some may be easy to manage in La Paz, if yours is due to coronary artery disease and you're aware that you have existing blockages, I would really research how far you'd have to travel and how long it would take to get there to receive life saving therapy. I don't know if angioplasty is available anywhere on the peninsula but I really doubt it. I know when people require open heart surgery in our local pueblo, folks take up a collection to send them to Hermosillo for surgery. I'm assuming that's because that level of care isn't available on the peninsula but it's worth finding out.

"Time is tissue", as they say, and longer your heart muscle is denied oxygen, the more damage you will have. Even the few hours it would take to be medivac'd back to the US can make a huge difference in your outcome.

But if you've already had a heart attack or angioplasty with stents placed to keep the arteries open wide, and you've been told that the rest of your vessels look good....???
As usual, you've got to ask your doctor for his opinion, obtain as much information about your specific condition as you can, and weigh the risks vs benefits for yourself. Hope you can make your dream happen.

No where in Baja do they check pacemakers. When I lived in Cabo I was told I could pay for the Tech from mainland mexico to come to Cabo to check me. they wanted me to pay for the airline ticket and hotel. I had remote checks on phone but sometimes those are not as reliable. I ended flying from Cabo to San Deigo every 3 months for pacer checks. Also I could not get my meds from VA sent to Cabo. I had a mailbox that I paid over $400.00 usd with Mailbox etc. Meds would get opened thru customs and they would send some of them thru. That is main reason I moved to Rosarito. I go to VA now in under a hr and my meds are delivered to Mailbox Etc in San Ysidro and only cost me 160.00 USD a year. I loved Cabo but had to make a choice of CAbo or Health. Also medivac from Cabo cost anywhere from 10,000 to 17,000 USD. If you have the insurance you still have to pay up front and put in claim to get money back. Took over 9 months to get money back. If medicare was accepted in Mexico like it is in the Phillipines, I could of stayed in Cabo. there are good Dr's there, but Cardio was expensive. Cost over $100.00 usd to see my Dr. there each visit.

Originally Posted by Diane

What a great story - longlegsinlapaz.

I'm guessing the construction went well and you all lived happily ever after? I feel like I want to tune into the sequel.

Diane, the first construction went so well, that I ended up doing it TWO more times! After 5 years, I ended up selling my first place to get away from all the week-end hassles of noise & debris caused by all the locals who spend every week-end at the beach. I built a smaller casa on a smaller lot on a more isolated section on the beach road & that lasted 2 years before the road improved & became a dirty dusty thorough-fare. People would see my 4WD in the driveway & ring my bell at all hours asking to be towed out of the sand where they'd gotten stuck. I don't mind helping people & I always stop to offer help when I see someone stuck; I even carry a heavy duty tow chain with me for just that purpose. What I did object to was people ringing my gate buzzer at all hours asking for a tow, asking for water. etc. That & all the garbage they left knowing full well that by the time they came back next week-end the local residents would have cleaned it all up! So I bought property up in the hills behind Centenario. I have an awesome view of the bay & La Paz in the background, with none of the hassles of blaring radios, screaming girls, people "getting it on" or urinating in full view and thus far, nobody has left their garbage in front of my place here! ;)

In my experience, beachfront living in this area is like Spring Break crowds EVERY week-end!

You're still new to the area, it'll take time for you to form your overall likes & dislikes & gravitate to a place which satisfies all your needs & speaks to your heart! Enjoy the ride!

Enjoyed reading this thread. Especially Legs' saga. Personally place La Paz high on my list. For those of us who may be advancing in years and/ or have chronic health issues, it is readily apparent that as far as Baja is concerned, one must either stay Ensenada- North for access to the border, or La Paz, which does have the best medical care available on the peninsula.

Have one question, as it was brought up several times. What's the definition of "third world"? I ask, because I've traveled Baja since the 70's. Ensenada had dirt streets, as did Cabo. However, even then, Mexico City was vibrant and fairly modern. It's only my opinion, but in 2009, I don't consider Mexico to be third world.

Finally, I noted one post that mentioned travel to Guadalajara for complicated medical care. Don't want to hijack this "Baja" forum, but for those considering Mexico, and feel the need for available state of the art healthcare, the Guadalajara area should at least be considered. Many of you probably already know of the Lake Chapala area nearby, such places as Ajijic, with a huge gringo population. Weather is moderate and there is the lake. If you need a fix off salt water, the drive to Puerto Vallarta is easy enough to plan for weekends.
Just saying.

The definition of 3rd World in it's original usage had to do with degree of industrialization of a country, but I believe it's slopped over a little to incorporate things like presence or lack of infrastructure & lower income society, etc. Old habits die hard, I honestly couldn't tell you whether or not Mexico still falls into 3rd world category. But we certainly ain't in Kansas, Toto!

There is a government "fact book" online for countries. I was just searching for it and couldn't find it now. I remember reading that, though, that Mexico was considered a developing nation. That's somewhere between industrialized and 3rd world. I guess that means 2nd world.

Many economists still feel that Mexico will be an economic world leader by 2050, right up there with China, another developing nation.