Our Move to Mexico Part 1: The Intro
Last month I went ahead and did an IG poll to try and give this post some direction. As one can imagine, I was getting a lot of questions about our departure from Portland. I wanted to be sure to answer as much as possible but also answer common questions and things that maybe I would not have thought to discuss. I started writing this post nearly a month ago, January 14th and today am finally ready to share a somewhat coherent ramble on what got us down here. Enjoy.
One place I always knew I could start was to let you know that we did not leave Portland because it was ‘unsafe’ or ‘burning down’. Folks that we have run into on the road trip down here and in Mexico (mostly the Canadians) have said things like “oh it sounds so horrible there” or “good for you for getting out” all in reference to media coverage over the summer of the protests and events that took place. I can tell you that the safety of our hometown was not at all a factor in our decision to move. Nor is the safety, or the well intentioned white folks, a threat now more than it had ever been before.
The other assumption people make is that we left the States because we were “over America”. Unhappy with our democracy, the overall response to COVID, potential of another Trump victory or general distaste for ‘American life’. None of those were factors either.
Over the summer as we started to tell people of our plans to get down to Mexico I would sometimes get an unsettling response from people who assumed that us leaving was politically motivated. Related to social climate or for fear of another four years of Trump. I will tell you what I told them: We were not escaping anything. And if you know me then you know that I really don’t like the concept of giving up on something, my home and country in this case, when things get hard or difficult. I don’t think it is productive or valuable to just shut the door and close it off. I would much rather be part of healing, fixing, making better. Insert 2020 election letter writing and voter outreach.
Very long story (more below if you desire) short we left Portland for Mexico to escape 4:30pm sundown and get Mario out of the house and into a real classroom with his peers. So far, those two things alone were great decisions. The rest of our life and work down here is unfolding and while we have moments of ‘wtf were we thinking moving to a new country in a pandemic!?’ its mostly good. Truly.
If you are in for more storytelling and background on our decision today I will share our story of ‘why’ we actually made this move now, beyond the aforementioned ‘4:30 sundown’, keep reading.
This will be a multi-part series so I don’t write my first book here in this single blog post and so nobody gets exhausted either.
The Background
Let’s start with Portland. Mike and I are Portland Natives and while we have studied and lived in other cities and countries we have never spent time as adults or professionals outside of Portland. Our work obviously takes us around the world for shoots, events and meetings but our home base has remained Portland.
Over the years I had discussions with mentors and leaders about moving into a key city or international territory and the last 1.5 years in the corporate world was very seriously on the path to have our family up and move to Mexico City. A new job opportunity within my company and growth for myself professionally was the catalyst but the benefits personally for our family truly outweighed the professional opps. I was so excited to live in Mexico again, I had previously spent time post college with my family in Monterrey in Northern Mexico. Another chance to reconnect with my Mexican heritage, speak Spanish everyday & give Momo the opportunity to learn the language first hand in school with teachers and friends. We had spent many months leading up to the pandemic anticipating and expecting this move for us.
Unfortunately the pandemic and corporate restructuring put all of this on hold and really to a halt for me. So as I began to lose patience I naturally started to consider my personal expiration date in Corporate America. As early as July we began to think about what life might be like if we had the freedom to just move to Mexico on our own. After just a couple nights of deep discussion we decided we were going to take advantage of the change and pause that the Pandemic had forced upon us and now felt like the right time to jump and move. So we began to take the necessary steps in figuring out how to make this work for us.
As far as background on our decision I will leave it there. And follow up soon with another post answering more specific questions about how we chose the town we are living in, what the paperwork process and visa situation is like, what we are doing for Momo’s schooling and more.
Thanks for getting this far. As always feel free to comment with any other specifics or questions you might have.
xx Ly