Nancy Dardarian and her husband Paul Pattee moved to Mazatlán, Mexico in September 2007.  Paul retired in August of 2007 but Nancy would still need to work if they stayed in the US. Only having been married for 10 years, they wanted a lifestyle that would allow them to spend more time together. Nancy also has a son who lives in Mexico City. Today, we welcome Nancy, who authors Countdown to Mexico, a blog on life in Mazatlan. Thank you Nancy, for offering to share your insights on living in Mexico. My first question is why did you decide to move to Mexico, and why did you choose Mazatlan for your home? There were many reasons we decided to move to Mexico.  We wanted a challenge, and navigating in a new environment and learning a new language will give that to us.  Plus, we love Mexico.  People are very social – they make time for friends and family.  We had felt increasingly frustrated with how hard it was becoming to get together with people for a visit, and how far in advance we had to plan.  A relaxed lifestyle with casual, easy social life was very appealing. As far as the city, we made a list of the things that were important to us which we filtered all the cities we considered through – here they are, direct from our blog: Here are the things that are non-negotiable: •    It can’t be extremely hot and humid for long periods of time. But then again we don’t want it to get too cold in the winter, either! •    It needs to be a place where there are good places to walk. •    The city needs central gathering place that feels good. •    It needs to be urban enough that there are multiples of things…such as coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. We think probably over 30,000 people. •    It needs to be a fairly simple trip from the West coast of the US. •    It can’t be in a gringo-land community. Here are the things we’d like if possible: •    A view, preferably of the ocean. •    An easy trip to Mexico City to visit our son and his wife. •    A few gringo amenities like an English-language library. Your site is titled, Countdown to Mexico. Can you walk us through the steps you took to make the move from the US to Mexico? Did you run into any obstacles? I quit my job just about a year before we moved.  It’s a good thing, too, since we had a large house, ten acres, a bunch of farm animals, and a ton of books and family antiques to deal with.  We only brought with us what fit in our minivan so pretty much everything had to go.  I sold things on Craigslist and eBay.  We had two huge garage sales.  Family heirlooms needed to be given to family.  Animals needed to be sold or given away.  Our property and house needed various fix-ups to get ready to sell.  There was a lot to do.  We lived the last two weeks with two camping chairs and a mattress on the floor! We were selling our house when the real estate market was softening in the rest of the US but was still pretty strong in the Puget Sound (Washington State) region.  We got an offer right away, all contingencies were removed and closing was set for September 1.  The day before, the sellers backed out!  They forfeited substantial earnest money, but it left us marketing it in September with our planned departure of the 13th and the market very soft.  Fortunately for us a couple had been waiting to see if our deal went through and as soon as it was back on the market they made an offer.  We signed the papers on our way out of town and closed it using email and DHL from Mazatlán.  We know we were lucky. What is it like to live in Mazatlan? We love living here.  You can be as active or inactive as you choose.  All year - except in the summer – there are concerts, parades, sporting and cultural events regularly.  People are very friendly and like helping you with your Spanish if you tell them you want to practice.  We have friends who have been hospitalized and had great experiences, but we haven’t needed much medical care. The infrastructure has its ups and downs…electricity, telephone and internet is excellent, but there are problems here relating to water.  In the dry season water supply can be irregular in some neighborhoods.  There is a new dam being built which should help, but Mazatlán’s climate is dry for much of the year. We hope development of new water sources will keep up with development of real estate. Shopping is good – there are a few things that we yearn for but not too much. One thing I love is that if you have a free afternoon, in five minutes we can be at the beach.  We head to our favorite palapa restaurant and spend a relaxing time swimming, having a beer and some food. How fast do you perceive Mazatlan to be growing in terms of the expat population? I can only give my subjective observations – that many expats are moving here.  People contact me through my blog with questions…and I believe that numbers will increase quite a bit as more and more baby boomers retire. What are your observations of the real estate market in Mazatlan? Again, I am not involved in real estate, so I don’t know first-hand, but I’ve heard several realtors say recently that this was a good summer for them.  I do know the slow-down in the US has made it difficult for people to shift their money out of their US houses and into a house here.  There are quite a few large condominiums under construction. How important is a proficiency in Spanish in daily life? Some people live here and never learn anything but restaurant Spanish and they do just fine.  Mazatlán is a regular working city –tourism is not the only industry – so knowledge of Spanish would be very helpful.  We have been taking lessons and while we feel good about our progress we know it will be a couple of years before we are as competent as we want to be. How has your lifestyle changed after you moved to Mazatlan? Well, we are retired, that’s a big thing.  The social aspect of Mazatlán has been probably the high point for me…people stop and chat and have spontaneous dinners and gatherings.  Partially this is because many are retired and have fewer demands on their time, but even the people we know who are working are active socially, too.  That’s probably one reason they moved here, after all! Was there anything about Mexico that really surprised you? There were a couple things.  First, I was prepared for it to be noisy, and to deal with loud music and barking dogs when I wanted to go to sleep.  That hasn’t been the case for us, except for a couple of times.  And when you don’t have to go to work the next day, who cares? Second, both Paul and I were surprised how easy the transition was for us.  We are at home here, truly at home.  We love our house, our neighborhood, our neighbors, and the community. What is your advice to someone who is preparing a move to Mexico? Not everyone is suited to Mexico.  If you can relax and go with the flow you will do better than if you are up tight. Renting a place here for an extended period of time is probably the best advice.  But don’t forget the many blogs of people who are considering moving or who live here already.  There is a lively community of bloggers in Mexico, and you can join in reading about the different cities and experiences without leaving home. Thank you Nancy for your sharing your experiences with us. You can read more about Nancy's experiences in Mazatlan at her blog Countdown to Mexico.

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