Good day, I’m Greg Custer. I’m writing today from my home lakefront in Ajijic, Jalisco. My company is here to expand your Mexico for retirement horizons by presenting places and lifestyles options that EMBRACE what YOU value and answer the question “What’s your big purpose?”

I migrated to Mexico in 2015 from Bend, Oregon. And like tens of thousands of Mexico ex-pats, there was never any decision about whether Mexico was the right overseas living option. You see, I fell HARD to move to Mexico early in my academic and business life. For the past 40 years have made Mexico the almost exclusive focus of my life. It started back in my college days when I landed a full-time job with Mexico leading airline. This combined with my university studies launched a lifelong love for Mexico.

Us to Mexico travel

So, I’ve traveled extensively across Mexico since the late 1970s. Then used these travels to work for Mexico’s tourism ministry to train travel agents around the world. I’ve visited and written about all 32 Mexican States.

Like all of you, the decision to leave the US and live abroad was not an easy one. In my case, it involved finding a viable future for my Mom, who was entering advanced Alzheimer’s.  My wife and family jointly concluded that my Mom’s future could be melded with our desire to migrate south, and in the process secure a sustainable quality of life that met her needs.

It’s not everyone’s path, but a growing number of you are facing your retirement future while caring for parents. This is just one of the realities you face in the US where millions of our generation don’t feel we fit into today’s America. Whether it’s “ageism”, social isolation, cost of living, access to affordable medical care, the life you want to live may in fact be found by learning about our “distant neighbor” Mexico.

Moving to Mexico

Moving to Mexico means embracing what you VALUE. Is living in Mexico congruent with your values? That depends on finding the right combination of location and lifestyle in Mexico that speaks to your needs and desires.

Like no other time in human history, all the world’s cultures (past and present) are available to us. Some 11 million US passport holders now live outside the US. Raise your hand if you believe this number will continue to rise? Globalization has opened living possibilities barely imaginable just 20 years ago. Putting aside COVID-19 for a moment the “world as a village” reality has given Americans a dizzying assortment of choices.

But let’s be honest. Baby boomers bring some baggage where ever we decide to live. Idealism, vitality, willingness to experiment with new ideas are why some call us an “awakening generation.” But there’s also self-absorption and narcissism, and how we don’t just want to recycle bottles but save the planet! That’s all cool, and with boomers dominating Americans living in Mexico, you’ll always find like-minded, mostly liberal, and highly opinionated individuals and social structures to either fully embrace or (if that’s not your thing), avoid.

Maintain Certain Familiar Comforts

We also bring wherever we go a desire to maintain certain familiar comforts and lifestyle preferences. Yes, you can go live amongst the Tarahumara Indians in Neolithic conditions or find a village in Chiapas where your English will be worthless, and you’ll need to learn Mayan. But MOST OF US are not willing to completely forgo our foundational comforts and familiar products and services.

And this is for me the one thing that only Mexico can deliver: a unique combination of FOREIGN and FAMILIAR. As this Focus on Mexico conference is embracing, there is really no place on the planet that services up the exotic with the familiar, the surreal with the mundane, Costco with calamity and chaos — all right next door.