TalkBaja.com » TalkBaja - Getting Started on the Forum... » Introduce Yourself to the Forum

New member currently living in Las Vegas but dreaming of the future in Baja! I wanted some opinions on living in La Paz-seems like the cost would be far less than Cabo plus it seems to be a more genuine Mexican city and has the beach community that I long for. Spanish is not a problem as I am totally fluent. Please provide me with some insight/recommendations for the region. Thanks.

Hello,

and welcome to TalkBaja!

We have a few regulars from La Paz who I'm sure will be along shortly with some insights.

Marty

Welcome... and I'm sure you will find a lot of information on your "location"

We have several members here living down in the La Paz region and they can certainly give you some good advice. A couple of questions that will probably help direct you in the right direction:

Full time or part time living?

Are you looking to be close to / on the water?

Thinking of buying or renting?

Can Josie's tio poncho park his trailer in your driveway?
(sorry - that's a forum joke from another thread)

Welcome onboard...

Just a minor lifestyle change from Sin City, eh? My wife is on a Volaris flight to La Paz, as I am typing this. She is taking a test for employment at one of the hospitals. She leaves here as soon as she is hired, I will be leaving O.C. as soon as I can sell my business. Welcome to TB, and we may meet down in La Paz soon!

I retired to Baja Sur (about half way between La Paz and San Lucas) after living/working in Las Vegas since 1949.

The final escape you could call it because every weekend there, 400,000 plus people would pour in, I would head for Utah's lakes and streams and peace and quiet. Now I have the peace and quiet here but the fish are a lot bigger (and meaner I might add).

Welcome.

Welcome! If you haven't already, you should visit La Paz to see if it's really what you envision. I can't compare it to Cabo (having only been there once) or Las Vegas (never having been there). But it is a very nice town to live in, with warm, friendly people and a casual atmosphere. Goods and services are available, driving is easy, and really nice beaches are 10-30 minutes from downtown. Weather is great for most of the year but tends to be chilly in January/February and muggy from mid-August to mid-October.

Welcome!

Originally Posted by Osprey

I retired to Baja Sur (about half way between La Paz and San Lucas) after living/working in Las Vegas since 1949.

The final escape you could call it because every weekend there, 400,000 plus people would pour in, I would head for Utah's lakes and streams and peace and quiet. Now I have the peace and quiet here but the fish are a lot bigger (and meaner I might add).

Welcome.

Thanks for your reply. How do you find the medical care-is it adequate? Also, are you a recreational fisherman with your own boat or are you a shoreside fisherman?

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

We have several members here living down in the La Paz region and they can certainly give you some good advice. A couple of questions that will probably help direct you in the right direction:

Full time or part time living?

Are you looking to be close to / on the water?

Thinking of buying or renting?

Can Josie's tio poncho park his trailer in your driveway?
(sorry - that's a forum joke from another thread)

Welcome onboard...

Initially it would be part-time with the ultimate goal of full-time retirement there. We would like to purchase something near the water in order to satisfy our love of the ocean. We can discuss Poncho's trailer when we get there...

Originally Posted by Marty Cortez

Hello,

and welcome to TalkBaja!

We have a few regulars from La Paz who I'm sure will be along shortly with some insights.

Marty

Thanks, Marty.

Originally Posted by bajabass

Just a minor lifestyle change from Sin City, eh? My wife is on a Volaris flight to La Paz, as I am typing this. She is taking a test for employment at one of the hospitals. She leaves here as soon as she is hired, I will be leaving O.C. as soon as I can sell my business. Welcome to TB, and we may meet down in La Paz soon!

Yes, the water's a little saltier than Lake Mead! Any plans on starting a business in La Paz? What is it that you like most about the area? Thanks for your reply.

Originally Posted by kate

Welcome! If you haven't already, you should visit La Paz to see if it's really what you envision. I can't compare it to Cabo (having only been there once) or Las Vegas (never having been there). But it is a very nice town to live in, with warm, friendly people and a casual atmosphere. Goods and services are available, driving is easy, and really nice beaches are 10-30 minutes from downtown. Weather is great for most of the year but tends to be chilly in January/February and muggy from mid-August to mid-October.

Thanks for your information! How is the safety factor? I know it is very far from the border cities that are currently engaged in a drug war but I just wanted to know if it is a daily concern. My family has always lived in large cities in the U.S. so we are relatively accustomed to using our "common sense" as to where to go and what to look for, but I would hate for this to become a concern. Thanks.

Originally Posted by tbarreto

Initially it would be part-time with the ultimate goal of full-time retirement there. We would like to purchase something near the water in order to satisfy our love of the ocean. We can discuss Poncho's trailer when we get there...

Personally I like the idea of renting first. It doesn't cost much on the short term, gives you the opportunity to scope out an area living there vs just being on vacation and the freedom to easily change your mind and look elsewhere should paradise lose its glow.

Just my two cents...

I live in a small fishing village where, fortunately I can launch my boat(s) from the sand beach and also fish off the shore. The medical care I have found to be excellent and affordable. I don't have insurance and have paid cash for all my medical needs over the last 15 years. I'm 73 years old now and need more medical care now than in the past but I find it available 24/7 and people are professional and caring.

Originally Posted by tbarreto

Yes, the water's a little saltier than Lake Mead! Any plans on starting a business in La Paz? What is it that you like most about the area? Thanks for your reply.

Nope, no more business ventures in my immediate future. I decided on the Sea Of Cortez because of the fantastic fishing, scenery, exploring, people, food, but mainly peace and quiet in an affordable location. My wife basically narrowed our choices to La Paz or CSL for professional reasons. She is a doctor, and needs a teaching hospital and a university to work on a specialty. For a slower, quiet life, there was only one choice. La Paz, here we come!! If you spend some time looking around, you may never go back to Vegas. My mind could change but I don't think I am going to miss very much about SoCal.

Baretta, here's a little thing about life in this part of the tropics.

Outside, all the way Out


Until I retired to this little fishing village in Baja California I was fortunate enough to have lived in homes that were comfortable. Usually I had my own bedroom (when I wanted it that way), in a couple I had a small office, some had full garage setups for my vehicles and toys.

Then came the fateful day in 1996 when I first laid eyes on the place I now call my home in Mexico. It was a sweltering day in August and riding around the village in an old beater of a station wagon without air conditioning put my wife and I in a dripping, apprehensive mood. Our semi drunk Argentinean host told us he knew some people who might want to sell their lots or homes. We saw a couple of lots without an ocean view and finally a small shack on a large lot with a great view of the beach and ocean.

Luis said he thought the price on the house was $16,000 U.S. dollars but when he went in, came right back out he said the woman who owned the house wanted $30,000. the place was a shambles and we moved on. We went fishing the next couple of days, flew back to our home in the U.S. and vowed to look around again in the same little village on our next trip down.

A couple of months later our phone rang and it was the same Argentinean with good news. “The woman says she’ll accept $25,000.”

I said “We’ll take it.”

When we finally pulled the plug, sold our home in the U.S. quit our jobs and drove down to close the deal and move in we didn’t take much notice to how the house was laid out. It was just under 1,000 sq. ft, was an almost perfect square and had four rooms: kitchen, two bedrooms and a bath. We never gave a thought to the fact that unless we poured a ton of money into the house, it would likely stay that way – NO LIVING ROOM.

There was a ramshackle palapa in the rear and we tore that out, had a newer, bigger, better one built. Where the bare dirt patio surrounded the house we installed almost 1,800 feet of pavers. So, in the end, we wound up with an outdoor living room with over 500 sq. ft. A total lack of knowledge, lack of planning plunked us down on the Tropic of Cancer doomed to a life spent OUT OF DOORS; homeowners of a place in which we had ample space to cook and bath and sleep but no tailor made space to hide from the big world out there ---- THE WORLD OUTSIDE.

It will come as no surprise to you when I say I couldn’t be happier but my wife still wishes we had a formal indoor living area. The trade off for me is that living in the room during the day and evening infuses me with all that is the village, all that is the tropics.


The sounds of the village, the cows, horses, chickens, dogs, cars, trucks, radios, equipment hums and groans, the intermittent precious and special silence all mix together to spell out TROPICS. I can smell the cheap but charmingly pungent perfume of any young woman walking by, the fresh off the farm whiffs of the droppings of cows and horses and foals, the tantalizingly greasy empanadas on the tray of the young casual vendor at my gate, a heady mix of nature’s perfume courtesy of the fragrant blossoms all around the block that change with the seasons.

The room, having no walls on the street sides of the lot, invites a host of visitors who come and go without all that fuss doors and bells and locks might add. Most are welcome but there are invaders that cause trouble. Leaves and bats and bugs and lizards and birds come and go as the wind, weather and season dictate. The wind comes to cool this time of year but it will be another story in July and August. We have softened the feel of the space by placing luxuriant houseplants, ferns and elephant ears all around the perimeter.

There’s a TV outside (the box is in the house and the remote works right through the window). I have two large West Marine marine speakers mounted high in the palapa bringing us wonderful sounds from CDs and/or Sirius from the TV.

I said it is tropical – it is far from perfect but it suits me to a T. Credit the wonderful weather here for the fact that in a typical year we spend only a few days taking our meals in the kitchen to escape the dust or wind or cold. Can’t beat that!

Living Room

I remember back years ago when I felt the need to have a huge house with a living room and a den. The den was where everybody would hang out and the living room was always in perfect order, without even a hint of use or throw pillow out of place.

I used to call it the "walk by and look at" room...

Originally Posted by tbarreto

How do you find the medical care-is it adequate?

Seek, ask & yea shall find....

http://www.talkbaja.com/showthread.php?t=356

Start with a list of your personal "MUST HAVES" (i.e., How close to medical or a major hospital? International airport? How do you do in 105 degree temps on months on end? Humidity? Does wind bother you? Any special dietary considerations that would tie you closer to a larger city where you can buy imported foods? Does the thought of hurricanes terrify you?.....etc., etc., etc. And also if there's anything you rabidly want to avoid, tell us that, as well.) Then if you post your want list, it gives us all a better starting point to make suggestions.

We all selected the areas we chose to call home for widely-varying reasons. For me, that's La Paz & I love it here & wouldn't move for love nor money!

You'll get a lot of information if you do topic searches on here....or just go to the different forum areas & start reading!

Welcome!!

Just got enrolled at Colorado Technical University for their work study program and can now earn my Master's Degree in Homeland Security - the Americas!

Now I have a favor to ask and am 51 years old and speak fluent Spanish. WTF do I do now with all the coping "skills" of life, and almost all of the coping "tools" SUV, freedom, passion for Baja California, a free entry in to college and a Bachelor of Arts in U.S./Mexican Relations....

Any of you want to make some suggestions on how best to serve Baja California? I'm going to do all this because it's been something I have been waiting for since 1973.