6 months in Mexico
Since inventing my own career, I'm able to work from anywhere in the world. In 2019, my daughter and I lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for 6 months. I worked from home or the cafe. She went to a small, lovely bi-lingual school.
It was truly a dream come true.
Yet, despite the fact that I’m location independent, there were obstacles. Big ones.
This is how we did it.
Before we dive in, let’s talk about what led me here in the first place. Have you ever had a super charged connection with a place? Like the place just fit you?
My journey with this place started nearly 25 years ago. I was taking a college photography class in Arkansas, doing what I love most- exploring beautiful places and documenting them.
I was pulled towards a beautiful historic adobe home in The Heights, a historic neighborhood in Little Rock. I was taking photos when out walked a lovely lady. She had an air of elegance. Well dressed. Silver hair.
As I complimented her home, she said the following words, which I’ll never forget… If you like this home, you’d love my second home in San Miguel de Allende.
The words caught me.
First, I liked the idea of having not one, but two lovely homes in beautiful places.
Second, I immediately knew I had to go to this place she spoke of.
I went home and wrote those words down. San Miguel de Allende.
The place that captured my heart some 19 years before I actually laid eyes on it, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Fast forward about 19 years. I was in the beginning of my entreprenurial journey. I’d just gotten a book deal. I quit my academic job, pulled my daughter out of school (she was in kindergarten at that time) and went to San Miguel for the first time in 2014. The minute I stepped foot in this place, I felt it. I belonged here.
One month flew by and it was time to go home, but I promised myself I’d be back.
I started leading retreats to San Miguel the following year. I’d go for a few weeks at at time. Once I even stayed for 3 months. But each time, I felt sad to leave.
It wasn’t until 2019 that the stars aligned and it worked out that I could live there with my girl for half a year. The perfect amount of time to feel complete.
When I returned, a few friends said that must be nice as if it were an entirely impossible dream. I share this story so you know that ANYTHING is possible if you really want it, despite the obstacles. Trust me, this didn’t happen all at once.
But it did happen and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
So, let’s dive in.
One of my fav spots in San Miguel de Allende. Photo by Tara Whitney.
The top 3 obstacles to living abroad with my child (even as a virtual entrepreneur)
Obstacle 1: Money
This is a biggie. You should know I was not born with financial privilege. In fact, for most of my life I’ve struggled with lack and under-earning. So the dream of living in sunny Mexico for six months while also paying for our home in Vermont was indeed an obstacle. One that felt insurmountable for many years. Yet instead of giving up, this obstacle pushed me to invent a career that would allow for location independence and give me more financial freedom than any job I’ve ever held.
Things to pay for:
A pretty place to stay. It was actually multiple places because I love to hop around and experience all the amazing-ness I possibly can!
My daughter’s private school.
Airfare for myself, my daughter and two trips for my husband.
Simply living beautifully in MX while also paying the regular bills back in VT. We couldn’t rent out our house b/c my husband was still living and working from VT.
How we managed financially:
I built a nice steady income in my business.
I used my micro- influencer status to highlight airbnb’s so I could stay there for discounted rates (or in some cases for free).
I led retreats so that I was getting paid to travel (and some of my expenses were tax deductible because of it).
Casa Midy, a designer’s dream in San Miguel de Allende. This is not an airbnb but I was lucky enough to be invited as a guest. I can’t tell you how much I love this casa!
Another sweet spot we found ourselves lucky enough to inhabit. This one is owned by my friend Jamie of Mercado Collectivo / My Nomadic Journey. Check out all of her properties here.
We stayed in this casita for one month. It’s located in the artsy neighborhood of Guadalupe, a quick three minute walk to my daughter’s school.
The dramatic entrance to the retreat house where I led 8 retreats in San Miguel de Allende.
My daughter went home to Vermont for a couple of weeks while I led retreat in this house. After the retreats, she returned and we stayed here one final week with my brother and his kids.
Obstacle 2: Where to Live and How to Pay for it (while also covering our mortgage back home)
Going on vacation for a week or two can get pricey. Going for six months can obliterate the dream, unless you can rent out your home for profit. We didn’t have that option.
This was tricky because I’m very picky and there are so many gorgeous places to stay in San Miguel. With so many options, I felt it would be a complete waste to stay in anything other than somewhere ah-mazing. So how did we stay in stunning places while not blowing an absolute wad on housing?
I hinted at it earlier… I reached out to my favorite airbnb’s in advance and asked if I could promote their homes in exchange for a discounted stay. The trick with this is that the longer your stay as an influencer doing a trade, the less of a discount you can get. Because we were there for six months, we couldn’t hop around every night or two but we did hop around six times!
To break it down, most places gave us a heavy discount for the month in exchange for promoting their place on IG + my blog. If it was only a night or two, that was often free. Two of the places we stayed weren’t interested in a collab but they were so gorgeous that we stayed there anyway and just paid full price (but I didn’t promote them). Finally, because I was leading a retreat, I had a beautiful mansion rented for three of the weeks, so of course my expenses were covered there.
And yes, I did feel like an absolute QUEEN.
Out of the six places we stayed in San Miguel, this was one of our favorites. A small adobe casita on Kiss Alley.
Obstacle 3: Relationships + How to Get My Husband on Board.
We are a family of three, and let’s be honest, this was mostly my dream. From the start we knew my husband couldn’t stay six months because he’s a teacher and wouldn’t be able to swing it. I knew that I couldn’t be away from my 12 yr old daughter for more than a few weeks (and neither could she).
First, I had to get my daughter on board. This was a bit more complicated than you might imagine. I knew if she could make friends in MX it would be a lot easier. My first task was to find a bi-lingual school so she could learn some Spanish but also not be totally lost. As much I would have loved for her to go to a full immersion school, I knew this would make her so uncomorfortable it might ruin the chance of staying.
I found the perfect school, but couldn’t get a commitment. Communication was difficult across boarders. I even went to MX the month before and literally knocked on the school door to secure a spot. Even with that, we didn’t really know if she could attend until we had moved there and showed up on the first day of school.
The original plan was to stay there a couple of months, but my heart yearned for more.
My theory worked though. My girl made friends on Day 1 and that made the decision much easier.
She went home for a few weeks while I led retreat (b/c that’s a full time job). Then my brother actually flew her back to Mexico where we stayed until school ended in mid June.
Initially, my husband wasn’t on board with us being away that long, but once he realized what an opportunity it was for our daughter to live in another cultural and pick up some Spanish, he agreed.
Because of his limited school breaks, he only had two weeks off between Jan - June, but he flew down each time so we could spend time together.
Spending six months in Mexico with my girl was such a gift. It’s an experience we will always cherish. Photo by Tara Whitney.
The Benefits of 6 Months Away
Even though there were some pretty big obstacles, I can say (without a doubt) that it was one of the best experiences of our lives.
For me, a long term dream was fulfilled. Staying in gorgeous places, walking my daughter to school each morning and then working in the outdoor cafes, making friends, and truly soaking up the culture (and sunshine!) truly felt like a magical dream come true.
For my daughter, she learned that she can make friends anywhere. She gained immense confidence. When my husband came to join us, she was his tour guide. The memories she made during those six months will last a lifetime.
For my husband, he was gifted six months of living as a free man. He could ride his mountain bike, or hang with his friends without worrying about being home for dinner. He missed us, but he also had the incredible gift of time to himself. It gave him time to miss us even more.
As husband and wife, it brought us so much closer.
As I write this, it’s the year 2020 (hi, Covid). It’s the first year in many that I haven’t led retreat or made the trip to Mexico. It makes me even more grateful that we did it while we could. I look forward to the day when we can go back and also explore new places.
Covid won’t last forever and when it’s over, I know I’ll appreciate travel more than ever. Maybe your’re a virtual entrepreneur (or want to be one!) and have a dream of being location independent and financially free, but you need some support. If that’s you, hit me up. Let’s talk business.
Until then, keep the hope.
Good things are on their way.