And I must disappoint you a little:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are not radical changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not \u201eWow, suddenly everything is completely different!\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather, there are many small things\u2014changes that have crept into our everyday lives slowly and almost imperceptibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things that at first we may not have even consciously noticed and that today suddenly show us how much our perspective on life has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the reasons, Why we turned our backs on Europe<\/a>, \"The feeling was that there was a lot more of everything there: money, power, and envy.\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's about who owns what, who is more successful, who has more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that is why everyone should first look at themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, our priorities have shifted surprisingly quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because here you won\u2019t first be judged on who you are, what you have, or what you can afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can walk around in the same worn-out jeans for three days \u2013 no one cares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet the people greet you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that fleeting, casual nod that we sometimes make out of politeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But a real, friendly \"Hola\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, the people here approach each other differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we are at the beach, we see typical Mexican families enjoying the sunset together. The children are splashing around in the water, Papa is enjoying his Cerveza, and Mama has brought everything needed for dinner in baskets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn't take much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not a fancy restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not a perfect table decoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No staging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A beach, a few baskets of food, a Cerveza and people spending time together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And eventually they start talking to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We laugh together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are talking to completely strangers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who you may never see again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And no one finds that strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's just normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also see this happen on our street every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a car passes by, the driver greets us politely. Sometimes we don\u2019t even know the people. Still, we greet them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's small things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s exactly these little things that eventually feel very big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And perhaps it is precisely this very natural interaction that we can clearly feel here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it gets cooler in the evening, our little street comes to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The men take out their chairs and sit under the trees in front of their houses, because it is now more pleasant there than in their own garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The children are playing football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dogs run across the road or simply lie in the middle of it in a cool pit in the sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it doesn't bother anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a car arrives, the dogs are being driven slowly around the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one honks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one gets upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You just keep driving carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the open car window, a few words are exchanged with the neighbor who may be three houses away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A brief greeting, a laugh, a few words about the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one is in a hurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The road somehow belongs to everyone in the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the children who play football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The men who are sitting under the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the dogs that are searching for their coldest spot in the sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the people who simply come by and become part of this little life on the street for a short moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's nothing special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not a big event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's just everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And maybe that's exactly what's special about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not someone who constantly looks at the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if it takes you a moment longer to walk past a dog or to chat briefly with the neighbor, then that\u2019s just how it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one is in a hurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there is this famous \u201eAhorita\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time just works differently here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not everything goes according to schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not every minute is rushed through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not every appointment has to be exactly on the minute. Sometimes Ahorita just means right now \u2013 and sometimes later on. And yet it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not like we are used to from Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not according to our standards of punctuality, efficiency, and perfect organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in the Mexican style<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And maybe that is exactly one of the biggest lessons we learn here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What you might lose in European standards regarding the quality of some items, you gain back in terms of quality of life twofold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You save time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time for each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time for conversations that actually have no specific goal at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversations about everything and nothing that are nevertheless important. Time to just sit somewhere without constantly checking the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can sit on the beach for an hour and let yourself be carried away by the unrestrained waves of the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without having to do anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without feeling that this hour should actually be used more productively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there are those quiet moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moments when you sit together somewhere and just don't say anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not an unpleasant silence that needs to be quickly filled; but a silence that creates closeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An intimacy for which one might not have had the time in Europe after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And something that I honestly expected quite differently at first is the peace and quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I somehow had the impression that the Mexicans are a rather loud people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps because people automatically associate Mexico with music, festivals, joie de vivre, and wild celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yes \u2013 they can celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And how! But in everyday life here, people are surprisingly calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No shouting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No loud arguing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No angry voices echoing through the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No loud word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, you hear the very normal sounds of life. Children playing. Dogs barking somewhere. Cars driving slowly down the street. People chatting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then suddenly you hear it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's this laughter that you hear from everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From a garden. From the street. From a house. From somewhere behind the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And somehow it fits perfectly with this place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The people here don't seem to have to keep shouting to show their joy in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They just laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And sometimes I think that's perhaps the best way to see how our lives here have changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We perceive these small sounds much more consciously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The laughter somewhere in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The children who play football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The voices under the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sea, which rumbles in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in between all this incredible peace and quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's not quiet here. But it's calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And somewhere, you can always hear someone laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of them, however, is quite typical of Mexico and always makes us smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter how old, rusty, or broken a car may be \u2013 one thing almost always seems to work flawlessly here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The music system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it doesn't just go a little bit wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The music is roaring out of the speakers at a volume that makes you wonder if a jetliner is about to take off. And what's going on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, the typical dramatic Mexican songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And of course it\u2019s \u2013 how could it be otherwise \u2013 about love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the great love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lost love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The unfulfilled love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The love that hurts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or about the love that will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The more dramatic, the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so a completely rusty car, which probably has had several lives behind it, drives slowly through our street \u2013 the music blaring, the windows open, and somewhere between the houses a heartbreaking love song echoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we have to smile every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because somehow that\u2019s Mexico too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calm, warm and relaxed \u2013 and at the same time with a passion for great emotions that are impossible to overstate. And while we\u2019re on the subject of music, there\u2019s something else that has now become quite typical for our Mexican daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the day, repeatedly, cars or mopeds with loudspeakers drive through our street. And each one of them has its own unique music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It took us a long time to even understand what it was all about. these portable speakers<\/a> on itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The one is the gas supplier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every few days, he makes his rounds through the neighborhood and announces with booming music and his unmistakable \u201eCali Gas\u201c that he is on the move again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there is the water supplier who brings the large water gallons \u2013 by the way, something very ordinary and incredibly important here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the children, of course, the colorful ice cream cart is the absolute highlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although personally I get a little nervous every time I listen to his music. To be honest, I find them quite creepy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She always reminds me a little of the clown from Stephen King's ES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And every time I secretly think: The clown jumps out of the ice truck right away! Then there\u2019s the fruit vendor, the cart with freshly squeezed fruit juices, and of course the collector of old metal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone has their own music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His own melody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His own way of announcing himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the fascinating thing is: they really drive through every street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter how small or remote it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They come to the people and offer their goods and services directly at their doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By now, we can already tell from the music who is driving through our street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so this very unique musical mix is also part of our everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And somehow that\u2019s also just one of those little details that we\u2019ve come to love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because life simply comes to you here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don't always have to look for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes it just drives by your house with loud music playing. And then there are the people who surprise us again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The doctor who would not only offer you treatment, but would also, quite naturally, arrange the flight and hotel for the specialist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The doctor who will still text you at 11 p.m. to make sure you haven\u2019t forgotten your appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tax advisor who answers your message on Sundays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who do things that may not even be part of their actual obligation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who don't pay extra for it and still do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply because it seems to be a part of things here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no service by appointment here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not \u201eI\u2019m not responsible for that.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, you would have to make an appointment for that.\u201e<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not \u201eI'll do that again on Monday.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, not everything always works perfectly here either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes it takes a little longer, sometimes it runs a little chaotically, and sometimes you have to be more patient than we are used to in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And perhaps that is exactly the point we find so hard to put into words: The people here seem to see their work and services not just as something that can be done for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is more personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We help each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Someone is taking care of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You answer, even if it\u2019s Sunday. You write, even if it\u2019s late at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You take one more step, even though you shouldn't have to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it is these small gestures that always touch us again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life here is by no means easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Baja is not a place where everything is always made easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s hot, dusty, sometimes chaotic, and definitely not for the faint of heart. Life here can be rough and challenging and requires quite a lot from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But maybe it is precisely this rough side that makes life here so special \u2013 and the people even more welcoming, helpful, and human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the tougher life sometimes is, the more cordial people seem to be towards each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, it seems less important where you come from. How much you own. What car you drive. What\u2019s on your account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What good are the most expensive designer clothes \u2013 even though I was never a big fan of them anyway \u2013 if you\u2019re not happy with your own life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What good does the latest handbag, the most expensive car, or the next designer jeans bring me if I still constantly feel like I need to have more?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d rather sit happily and contentedly in my old sneakers on the beach and enjoy my life than constantly chase this urge to have something new, better, and even more expensive, just to profile myself or show others what I can afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because in the end, it\u2019s not the brands that make us happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is the feeling of being at peace with oneself and one\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re just there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that's enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps that is one of the biggest changes we notice in ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need less \u2013 and therefore perceive it all the more acutely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The person who greets us on the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The small gestures that no one has to do but that are nevertheless taken for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe it was exactly what we were looking for, without really being able to put it into words beforehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not after a perfect life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not for a more comfortable life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But after a life in which people still see each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A life in which you greet a stranger simply because he is there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A life in which you interact with people without first thinking about their status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A life in which time is not always something that one has to use as efficiently as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A life where you sit on the beach, watch the sunset together, and for a moment you don't care who has what job, how much money someone earns<\/a> or what the neighbor owns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps it is precisely these small, subtle changes that show us today that we have made the right decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We didn\u2019t just move to Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We started to live differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that was exactly what we had hoped most from this new life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find out more about our journey to Mexico on our YouTube channel<\/a>, where we have been involved from the very beginning \u2013 even since the initial preparations in Austria.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n By the way:<\/strong> We have detailed information about arrival, first official procedures, and emergency plans in our Checklists for emigration to Mexico<\/a> collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything we share here is based on our own experiences and on research that we conduct to the best of our knowledge and conscience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, we are not lawyers, tax advisors or other professionals, and we cannot guarantee that all information is complete or up-to-date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laws and regulations may change, and depending on the region in Mexico, the situation may differ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\ud83d\ude04\"](\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/t71\/2\/16\/1f604.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\ud83d\ude02\"](\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/t6f\/2\/16\/1f602.png\")
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\n\n\n\nAn important note about our contributions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n