My husband and I visited Playa del Carmen on our honeymoon this past May and absolutely fell in love with the area. Now that we're back home in the US, we decided that we want to pakc up and move down there. Obviously, we have no idea how to go about that, where to start, how to find a job, etc. We also have two dogs that we would want to bring with us, but aren't sure what that would be like for them. We've looked around online at properties for sale, but we don't know if we should buy first, or rent first. Also, we're not sure how to legally work down there. We're enamoured with the laid-back, easy going, and cultural diversity of the area. Plus, the gorgeous caribbean ocean is a huge bonus! We're thinking that we'd like to relocate next year sometime, possibly sooner. Any ideas, information, suggestions would be HIGHLY appreciated!!

My husband and I came down 6 years ago and fell in love as you did and have now been living here for the past 4 and 1/2 years. We initially came down to teach, which we did for the first couple of years, but we now do Playa Maya News full time as well as a web design company; www.virtualplaya.com The best jobs to get here, depending on your background, and for getting legal paperwork are teaching English (which doesn't pay all that well), real estate, and time share. Or you can always start a business, but this is quite an undertaking, not impossible, but pretty tedious. We chose to rent up until last year to really see where the market was going and where we wanted to live. However, if you have the money to buy something right away many people do that too. We drove down here from Seattle with our 2 Australian Shepherds and our fuzzie kitty. The kitty loves it, but our pooches are hot, hot in the summer months. Although we do miss some things in the US we never regret the move and the adventure living in Mexico has brought us. We have met amazing people, are able to work out of our home, and in general have a better quality of life then we did in Seattle. It is not always easy, but it is certainly always an adventure!
Sara "The Editor" Moen

Hello Candice, Oh I know that feeling! My husband and I moved with our 2 kids from Canada to Mexico about 6 years ago because of that same type of feeling. I will offer a few suggestions _base_d on what we did.........

- start a note book and write down all the stuff you need to know about.
- as you research make notes in your notebook.
- look to forums and websites online for a lot of information.
- contact the Mexican consulate in your area.

Buying vs. renting: My husband who owns a real estate office, would tell you it is a good idea to buy as real estate prices keep going up and if you decide to move you can sell. I might advise you rent for awhile when you fist get here to really decide where you want to live. We started in Puerto Vallarta and ended up here!

Really give some thought to what you would be giving up in a move and what you would gain. Life is very different in Mexico with a different culture and a different language ...... but if in your heart and your gut you really want to do it - go for it! Live the dream! We love it every day!

Suzanne Marie Bandick author of: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico. www.OnlyinMexicoYouSay.com and www.SuzanneMarieBandick.com

Greetings from Toronto,

My wife and I are planning on relocating to Playa in the not too distant future as well. She is a Mexican citizen (DF), and I'm Canadian, we've started browsing through real estate sites online, but seeing as how neither of us have been to Playa before (don't ask).. we're not really sure where we want to live.

We're probably gonna rent for a year first, but I was wondering if anyone could give us an idea of what's going on in the different areas of Playa... Playacar, Campestre, Ejido etc... we would like to buy some property, and start a family down there so we're looking for a neighborhood with other children around (both foreign and mexican) schools etc... living close(ish) to the beach would be awesome too, though we're also looking to get the most value for our pesos (what few we have!).

Thanks in advance for any advice and info on Playa neighborhoods!

Hello Funch!

You're planning a move just thinking of Toronto winters aren't you? Hey the good news is that the Canadian dollar has awesome value right now! Your money may just go further than you think.

I have done the same thing twice with my whole family (as in moving somewhere you have never been to before). Once from Canada to Puerto Vallarta and then to Playa del Carmen. Since we had never been to either place before we found it the easiest to plan a hotel stay for a couple of weeks while we searched available rentals. After we rented long term for awhile, then we bought. Sometimes you just really have to see for yourself what is available to get the right feel for where you want to live.