Our Retirement Life: Halfway Expats and Professional Wanderers

Okay, so normal retirees? They stay put. Pick a nice spot in Florida, maybe a little condo near the beach, golf course access, the whole nine yards. Then there’s the hardcore travel crowd, the ones who chuck it all and live out of a backpack bouncing from hostel to hostel.

And then there’s us: the hybrid adventurers. My husband and I decided to make Mazatlán, Mexico our home base. Sun, beaches, cheap margaritas – you get the picture. But we’re not your average snowbirds. We get restless.

Here’s the thing about paradise – too much of a good thing can make you a little crazy. So, we split our time. Half the year, we’re full-on Mazatlecos. I’ve got my crew of ladies for mahjong, we know the best taco stands, we meet up every morning for coffee at Looney Bean with other expats and we we play pickleball with the same group of friends. We’ve planted some (metaphorical) roots.

But then the heat really kicks in. You know, the kind of heat that makes your brain melt. That’s when we start plotting our escape. We’ve mastered the art of repositioning cruises – those sneaky deals where cruise companies just need to move a boat from one continent to another. We usually find deals for about 25 USD per person per nigh by sorting price per night tab.

For a few months, we’re vagabonds with an itinerary. New cities, new foods, new accents to butcher. It’s thrilling! We swap homes (and sometimes even cars!) during our slow travels! It’s a fantastic way to experience authentic local living and save on accommodation costs. And then, just as we’ve had our fill of adventure, a familiar craving hits.

I start missing my view (the Pacific Ocean never gets boring), my actual bed (Airbnb mattresses get less charming as you age), and those familiar faces at the beach bar. Back to Mazatlan we go!

Pros of this setup? Never unpacking fully keeps us feeling young. We have a social life that doesn’t revolve around bingo night. And the best part? No shoveling snow. Ever.

Cons? Laundry with no dryers is a constant battle. Haircuts are always disastrous. I’m pretty sure our Mazatlan Tower cat thinks we’ve abandoned her even though we left huge amount of dry food with the security guard. Every year we come back she has a new name. Our car might start or it might not. And sometimes, just sometimes, we end up booking a flight home when we meant to go somewhere entirely new. Oops.

So, are we expats? Nomads? Honestly, I don’t know anymore. But you know what? It works for us. And really, isn’t that all that matters in retirement?

What is your retirement style?