It's been one-month since I left Austin. And though I have had two trips back to the US in this time (and therefore have not really been in Mexico for that whole month), I have a first glimpse of some good lessons in this first phase of my new life.
The big lessons fall into two buckets: general practicalities of living life as an American abroad, and the specifics of getting settled in Monterrey, Mexico.
General Digital Nomad Lessons for an American Abroad
The Patriot Act apparently requires that banks have US home address for all customers. It cannot be some a location that is flagged as a business upon their verification process. (As if terrorists couldn't find a domestic address to use.) Such a pain. (Thanks, Dad!)
MyPostcard is a great service I've been using for years to convert travel pictures to postcards and send them home to friends and family. The service is based in Germany, so it didn't matter whether I was in Peru, Bali, Vietnam, St. Lucia or the Ukraine, I could send postcards with pictures of my trip home. But until this past month, I'd never also used it to send individual Birthday (or Father's Day!) cards.
TravelingMailbox is the greatest thing ever for someone who, even when I did have a permanent place to live, never, ever remembered to check my mail. They send me an alert when I have a letter, I can tell them what I want them to do with it (Open & Scan, Delete & Shred, Forward, etc.), and all of my mail is readable from wherever I happen to be.
SIM card swapping is a bit tedious, but far more logical than paying US phone rates for international service... except in the US, where it's a pain in the butt. Why does just about every other country on the planet make it easy to buy a local SIM at the airport, where a nice young salesperson will happily swap it out for you, but not in the US? Bah. Tip: the post of an earring is the perfect tool to pop open the SIM slot on the phone.
Expat Health Insurance is a thing. It's from Cigna. If/when I find myself settling someplace long enough to get a Visa, I will probably just opt for a local version. But for now, this can also cover emergencies in the US (for up to six months per year).
InterNations is a social networking app for expats. It's organized by city, so you can get plugged into other expats, attend events and meet people who are an amazing source of insight as you're getting settled.
WeWork outside of the US is shockingly more affordable than WeWork inside the US. For a year, I would look longingly at the WeWork website pricing in Austin and then half sob at my bank statement, while I grudgingly returned to working from home (a situation I abhor on a daily basis). Fortunately, once you leave the country, the cost adjusts according to local pricing logic, and suddenly it's far more practical. (And they are everywhere!)
If you need to come in/out of the US on a regular basis (e.g. business trips), whatever you do, DO NOT LET YOUR GLOBAL ENTRY EXPIRE. Seriously. Big, honkin' bummer. Oy.
One-hundred eighty-three days per year is the magic tax number that you need to know (365/2=182.5). Seriously, consult with your accountant in advance to figure out your tax strategy, so you don't have to recreate anything after-the-fact.
My storage unit in Austin accepts shipments for/from me, so when I come to the US on business, I can bring things back with me that I do not need anymore, and ship them to myself at my storage unit. They put it inside, and I don't have to schlep it around with me. (I will not buy art. I will not buy art. I will not buy art.)
It always happens, but no matter how much I purge, how much I prune, how much I cut back, I still end up with too much crap. Getting my life down to just over a backpack is still too much. Oh well. I'll take another cut in the next few weeks.
When I was living in Austin, I never had any actual use for Amazon locker, but as digital nomad who darts in and out of the US on quick business trips, Amazon orders that need to meet me wherever I happen to be is insanely convenient and has simplified some "Oh shit!" moments I needed to quickly solve. Now if only Zenni Optical and Vistaprint would ship to Amazon Lockers, too.
An unexpected perk of moving out of the country is that returning to the country makes everyone decide that visits need to be more fun and active. I'm not quite sure why, since it's not like Monterrey is really that much farther from anywhere than Austin was, but my sense of adventure is certainly enjoying it.
Monterrey and/or Mexico-specific
Food, food, oh glorious food. The produce is amazing. Mangoes, tomatoes, avocados, pineapple, papaya, cucumbers -- they are everywhere, they are inexpensive and they are so much better than what you find in grocery stores at home. And then there are the tortillas. Oh, dear gods... the tortillas. Every kind. Every size. Always fresh. Always warm. Always soft. Always amazing. (My low carb dieting Kryptonite.)
To fly to San Diego for my art class was a $750 plane ticket. To fly to Tijana was $145, plus the $50 (plus or minus) to walk across the Cross Border Express bridge. Southern Californians know this, since the Tijana Airport (which is a great, clean, modern, beautiful airport, btw) is awash with Americans coming in/out of Mexico on vacation. The rest of us... get robbed by the airlines and fly in to San Diego directly.
The notorious "Latin American Time" I was prepared for when it came to my over-developed sense of punctuality; in fact, this was actually a deliberate part of the reason I chose here: forcing myself to slow down. What I am having a harder time with is the 9:00 p.m. dinner hour. Not helping my effort to stick to my diet.
Veganism is much more common in Mexico than I ever would have imagined. On any given day, a meat and dairy-free lifestyle is staggeringly easy to maintain.
Getting used to what costs more (e.g. make-up, some clothes, etc.) vs what costs less (e.g. SIM cards, manicures, food, etc.) is an interesting lesson in economics. It's rarely what I expect.
Eating alone -- something that doesn't even occur to me to think twice about -- is very unusual, especially for women and sometimes gets an unwelcome amount of attention.
Monterrey is definitely a close neighbor to Texas. Everything from the number of Texas license plates, to the number of people who frequently go back and forth, to the fact that HEB (Texas grocery chain, for those from other states) is all over the place.
Because Mexico is so family-oriented, it is extremely hard to meet people as a solo entity. Most non-working hours are spent with family, and families grow up together and are large, tight-knit and multi-generational. Being a single woman in your mid-40's is unusual, and presents a set of social challenges I'm still working to figure out.
In order to get my Spanish the workout I am craving, I have to leave the neighborhood where we live (San Pedro Garza Garcia). There is so much English there that it's like visiting Costa Rica or Puerto Rico, more than like visiting Peru. Daily practice requires actively forcing conversation, because most people will simply switch to English on me before I can get more than a couple of sentences out.
The next 30 (plus) days...
Fortunately, I get to stay in town for a few weeks before my next business trip, and I'll spend more time getting plugged in here, including attending more events at WeWork and meeting some local entrepreneurs.
My original plan (to head to Colombia by the end of the summer) is still looking likely, though in my effort to retire my Type-A-ness once and for all, I'm still working not to over-plan. Too much. So, we'll see.
In the meantime, I am getting settled in with my clients, enjoying taking more training in topics I'm loving, wrapping up my coaching certification, tackling my long-standing project on gender norms and generally doing all the things I promised myself I was going to spend this summer doing.
I hope you are having an amazing summer, full of as much adventure as you can fit in!
