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Hi y'all!
My husband and I live in Southern CA. I've wanted to live in Latin America after spending a summer with step-relatives in D.F. in 1977.

I arrived in Mexico, from Chicago, FULL of misconceptions and stereotypes that were promptly smashed - luckily, at the tender age of 12 - thus avoiding a lifetime of believing that Mexican culture is all about men in huge sombreros wandering the streets singing "Guantanamera" and that Hormel brand tamales, Doritos, and Taco Bell were Mexican food.

I got burned - literally - afterI insisted on a bowl of "chili" and was presented with a plate of oily tongue-torching CHILES that my cousins insisted I eat - since I'd been such a brat and insisted that I LOVED "chili." They had a great "ja ja" at my expense, and I deserved it.

Since that first life-changing trip to Mexico, I've spent a fair amount of time traveling around the country - by myself for over a year, housesitting for months at a time, and then travel to various locations in MX with others. I've never been south of Ensenada, though.

We both love Chile and Argentina, and considered it. Yet, we always allowed pesky practicalities like careers to get in the way.

In 2009 I started reading reports about Cuenca, Ecuador. You know, "Live a life of luxury for $600/month!" etc.

In July/Aug 2012 I spent a month in Cuenca to see if it could work (and if anyone would like more information on Cuenca feel free to PM me - there is a LOT of misinformation on the internet IMO and many expats in Ecuador refer to International Living as "International Lying.")

Cuenca was nice, but not for us right now. For starters there wasn't a jalapeno or poblano in sight. Food is bland. People are warm and friendly, but the Gringo Craze is rapidly changing the landscape; prices are rapidly rising, real estate is booming, which seems to scare the few long-term expats who ran away from the bubble in the U.S. and now worry it's going to happen in Ecuador. The price of condos has doubled or tripled in the last 3-4 years.

Naturally, not all locals are thrilled about this since it has priced many Ecuadorians out of the market. But more on that another time....

So I got back to CA in August and realized that Mexico makes more sense for us right now.

After considering Guanajuato and Queretaro, we've now turned our focus to Baja. Neither of us has been south of Ensenada so it is fun to learn about a new place. We're headed down to La Paz in a few weeks to get a better feel.

We love the idea of pointing the car south and being in a gorgeous place for a while. My husband is planning on using GI Bill benefits to do an online masters program from a major university for the next year and La Paz sounds like it could work for us.

We have NO plans to buy property. We'll probably be long term renters so that we aren't tied down to one particular place.

I am hoping we can live on my DH's pension (about $3500/month)? I realize that won't get us a 6 bdrm villa on the water, but we just want to be comfortable. And if we don't fall madly in love with Baja, we can always move on.

Sorry this is so long. I've enjoyed what I've been reading so far and can't wait to search through posts and learn as much from all of you before we leave on Nov 28th.

Cheers,
TC

Welcome to the forum TC. $3500 may be too much or not enough - it all depends on the lifestyle you choose and how much you have in bills to pay from up north (credit cards/car payments, etc). The general rule is that the more you live/purchase like the locals the cheaper your cost of living. Most who learn to acclimate find a happy medium that works for them. What area(s) are you looking at?

La Paz is a great place to start your new adventure. Was our choice at one time. Almost bought a condo there in the 80's. Then we spend time in Loreto (Tripui) and fell in love with it. Have been here for over 20 years and never a moment of regret. You do have to like small town living, but, to us, she's the pearl of Baja, with a beautiful setting. Azure sea and a mountain range that seem to rise directly from the sea. And islands everywhere.
Aaaah,enough of selling our part of paradise. Have a great time and make sure you pay Loreto/Nopolo a visit.