The Pricing Factor – The Even Cheaper Parts of Mexico

Retirement living in Mexico

The colonial town of Valladolid – not far from Cancun, Playa or Merida

Here’s something that may or may not surprise you; regardless of which retirement location you choose in Mexico, regardless how low the cost of living, there are probably many parts of the country that are even cheaper!

 

So, why don’t you pack up and move to one of those places?

 

Well, the answer to that is usually fairly obvious; the more popular expat and tourist locations usually have more modern services, more people that speak English, better airport and highway access, etc. And they’re already so much cheaper than what life back home was.

 

Yet, there are several benefits to these very low-priced parts of Mexico.

 

Travel

 

While you’re home base will be Playa del Carmen or Puerto Vallarta, you can hop on a nice coach bus or rent a car and head out to visit nearby villages. The cost of everything from hotels to icecream to taxis will be low, even compared to the surprisingly los prices you were just getting used to in your new home town. For example, about 2 hours from Playa del Carmen is the charming – yet all but unknown – town of Valladolid.

 

retirement living in MexicoThis makes it easy to spend retirement years traveling, seeing new sights and having new experiences, even if you’re on a tighter budget. One couple who headed out for a trip through some of these quieter villages told me that there full vacationing expenses – hotel, bus, restaurants, etc., – cost them less than their regular expenses would’ve been for the same amount of time back in Canada. Mind you, this couple likes to “rough it” a little, but they fully enjoyed all aspects of the trip.

 

Affordable Help

 

One of the many advantages of retiring in Mexico is that you can afford to hire a maid, a gardener, a handyman for maintenance, etc. and not bust the budget. People coming into the more economically thriving areas from the villages are part of what makes this possible. For them, even the wages which already seem surprisingly low to us seem quite high. Many of them send part of their wages back to the farm where the cash goes a long, long way.

 

Of course, we want to give back to our new communities and not take advantage, but paying the going wages or a bit higher will go a long way for these people. Hiring them offers a double benefit; it’s good for you since it offers you a more comfortable lifestyle for a much better price. It’s good for them because it gives them access to cash and a better life that otherwise they wouldn’t have.

 

So, yes, there are most certainly places in Mexico that are cheaper than the expat town you chose. No, they probably wouldn’t be appealing for you to live in, and yes, there are ways which you can both enjoy the benefits of the low costs there and contribute to the lives of those who live there.

 

-Thomas Lloyd

Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 3 – Monastery

Yesterday and the day before I posted some pictures of the main square and various sights around town in Valladolid, a beautiful, quaint and very non-touristy colonial Mayan town in Yucatan. (See Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 2 – Around Town.)

 

Something you’ll note if you go to Valladolid, as is the case with many colonial and old European towns, it’s surprising how many churches and chapels there are in a town that you can probably walk across in half an hour (and I don’t mean just the downtown – that’s from one end of town to the other!)

 

On Monday, I put up some pictures of the main church.  Today I am going to share some pictures of the town’s large monastery (which I believe is still used as a monastery, which is rather rare for colonial Mexican monasteries and convents) and the surrounding neighborhood:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

It’s rare to find a town that is so charming and authentic, yet almost completely undiscovered that is so close to major tourist centers like Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Merida and Chichen Itza (in fact, it is smack dab in the middle of all of these, and only between 30 min and 2 hours away from each of them.)  This is truly an undiscovered gem and great place for retirement travel in Mexico.

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Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 2 – Around Town

Yesterday, I shared some pictures of Valladolid’s main church and town square. (See Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 1 – Church & Town Square.) Today, I’m going to continue with pictures of various scenes from around this charming, colonial Mayan town.  As I said yesterday, the town is not touristy, but it gains it’s charm from being more of the “real Mexico” with old-time shoemakers, local butcher shops tended by mustached men with cowboy hats and meat cleavers and the like.

 

First of all, the hotel where we stayed.  All of the hotels are smaller, local, colonial inns that are as charming as the town itself:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

And now, just some random scenes from around town:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico
(By the way, anyone who knows Mexico will know that “Palacio de Hiero” is an nice, modern, upscale department store – I wonder if they had permission to use the name?!)

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Tomorrow will be the final post in this series with pictures of the monastery.

 

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Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 1 – Church & Town Square

I love the colonial, Mayan town of Valladolid.  I’ve written about it before (Mexico Retirement Places to See – A Quaint, Colonial Mayan Town.)  It’s definitely a place I can see myself visiting more often when I retire, since it’s just such a relaxing and beautiful place to be.  Valladolid is small but it as nice restaurants, cafes and hotels.  It’s very inexpensive, even by Mexican standards, and it’s completely safe.

 

Part of the reason for this is that it’s off the radar for tourism.  In fact, it’s rare to find international tourists or even larger-scale national tourism, although a handful of tour buses now make stops as tour providers realize how charming and appealing the quiet, unaltered life of this authentic Mayan town is.

 

I went back again a few weeks ago, and got more pictures, which I’ll share over the next three days.  Today, I’ll share pictures of the main church and the town square.  First, the church:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Now, some scenes of the lovely town square at night (some of which include the church):

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico
(A little blurry, but, hey, night shots are hard!)

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

And finally, a couple of shots during the day:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Tomorrow, I’ll share some pictures of random items from around town, as well as the hotel we stayed in.  Enjoy!

 

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