The Truth About Moving to a New Country

We came to San Miguel de Allende on vacation after COVID and fell in love immediately. We'd spent two years reevaluating everything — the pandemic has a way of making you confront what you actually want your life to look like — and what we realized was that Dallas wasn't it.

So when we landed in SMA for my birthday in July, it wasn't exactly a surprise that we bought a property. We went back to Dallas, listed my dream home, and sold it.

Yes, really. My dream home.

Our Kessler Woods house was everything I had ever wanted: Texas modern, an expansive backyard with a perfect pool, an outdoor kitchen, a cozy custom firepit. What made it even more meaningful was that I grew up in Oak Cliff, from very humble beginnings. I went off to the big city, built a career, made something of myself, and then landed back in Oak Cliff in one of its most coveted gated neighborhoods. Kessler Woods was a milestone, not just a house. We spent all of COVID hunkered down there, making it exactly right. We even had a name for it — the Prickly Pear Resort. Little did we know we were about to buy a ranchito in SMA with prickly pear as tall as houses and name it Rancho de Nopal. Everything really did come together, just not the way I expected.

“We named our Dallas house the Prickly Pear Resort. We had no idea we'd end up at Rancho de Nopal. Some things are just inevitable.”

So here's the truth about moving countries — the actual truth, not the romanticized Instagram version.

Have Patience. Real Patience.

You cannot expect things to work the way they do in the US, and I know that seems obvious, but I watch it happen constantly with other expats. You are stepping into a completely different culture with different values, different rhythms, different systems. None of that is wrong. It's just different. And the sooner you release the need for it to mirror what you left, the happier you'll be.

Learn Some Spanish.

Even just a little. Making the effort matters, and honestly, it changes everything about how you experience the culture and how the culture receives you. Assimilation — or at least genuine curiosity about the culture you've chosen — is what travel is actually about. It's the whole point. Why move somewhere beautiful and extraordinary and then spend your energy trying to make it feel like home used to feel?

The First Month Was the Hardest.

I had so many moments when I genuinely questioned what the hell we'd done. I had to keep reminding myself: the HOA was an absolute nightmare run by petty tyrants, and honestly, we did not love Dallas. We just loved the house.

When we arrived in SMA we were exhausted. This move was never planned — it was a total surprise, even to us. Selling our home, our fancy cars, most of our furniture — it was an unexpected whirlwind. We unwound years of our lives in the space of about a month.

We moved into an Airbnb that was, predictably, nothing like the photos. Mold issues, an awful smell, genuinely uncomfortable. There were moments I sat there thinking: why did we sell that gorgeous house? I had to keep reminding myself it was temporary and hold onto my sense of humor, which, it turns out, is one of the most essential things you can pack when moving abroad.

We started work on the casita on our property first. That went quickly and we moved in within a month or so. It was really cute at first — but with Mike working from home, a very barky chihuahua, and discovering scorpions on the daily, the novelty wore off fast. We were so grateful to be living on our own property, don't get me wrong, but many adjustments had to be made.

I often had to leave the casita so Mike could take his work calls, driving to the mall in Querétaro, running errands, finding somewhere to just be. We were so new to everything. And as we navigated life in the casita, the main house was being remodeled, which at least meant we were on-site to watch things happen. But as the weeks went by, the casita got smaller and smaller. We also adopted two dogs. Because of course we did.

“Living somewhere and vacationing are two completely different things. We're well-traveled — we knew there'd be surprises. We just didn't know how many would involve scorpions.”

We're pretty laid back and have traveled the world, so we knew going in that there'd be surprises. But knowing that intellectually and actually living it are two very different things. I started Spanish classes right away, which — three years later — helped me pass the Guanajuato real estate licensing exam entirely in Spanish. We went to expat gatherings, met a lot of people, and slowly learned to slow down. Way down.

Mexico does not operate at the speed of New York, Chicago, or London. And that, it turns out, is exactly why we love it here. The pace. It takes time to move slower — believe it or not, that's something you actually have to learn.

Then there's the practicalities: residency, setting up your financial life, navigating bureaucracy in a second language. Again, patience — in big doses — is what gets you through.

Almost Four Years In.

I wouldn't change a thing. Yes, the first six months were hard. But we fully assimilated and genuinely love our lives here. There's something incredibly freeing about releasing the material weight we're taught to accumulate in the US — the big house, the fancy cars, the things.

We bought our property in cash. No mortgage. No car payment. We live off-grid, so no utility bills either. The simplicity is not a sacrifice. It's the whole point.

It's been 100% worth it, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Our lives are so much more peaceful here.

Came on vacation. Never left.