We are the Sundahls.
|
Andrea
Doug Madison Elizabeth |
Empty nester & digital marketing strategist
Husband to Andrea and digital marketing strategist Mom to Wilma & 8th grade English teacher Artist & digital marketer |
Chronicling our year in Mexico
When Elizabeth started her senior year of college at University of Kansas, Doug and I began talking about exploring another country (or countries) to find an area we loved enough to purchase a property for a vacation home and potentially, eventually a permanent residence. We started thinking of where we would want to spend a lot of our time. Since we suffer from a lack of impulse control (pets, automobiles, vacations, online shopping...) we knew we couldn't just visit for a week at a time. Everywhere we go on vacation is our absolute favorite place on earth, until the next vacation. We wanted to make sure that we actually love where we settle and that the kids love it too.
We also aren't planners.
We never will be, so we have to actively force ourselves to stay on track financially in order to be able to fulfill another marital dream... early retirement. Neither of us felt it would be overly responsible to take an entire year off, and we can both work remotely, so during the planning conversations for this pipe dream, we decided we would need work abroad too. Since neither one of us has been traveling due to the pandemic, and both our corporations instituted a travel ban until at least January 2022, so we figured it was safe to say we would have 5-6 months before we needed to worry about getting back to the states.
We never will be, so we have to actively force ourselves to stay on track financially in order to be able to fulfill another marital dream... early retirement. Neither of us felt it would be overly responsible to take an entire year off, and we can both work remotely, so during the planning conversations for this pipe dream, we decided we would need work abroad too. Since neither one of us has been traveling due to the pandemic, and both our corporations instituted a travel ban until at least January 2022, so we figured it was safe to say we would have 5-6 months before we needed to worry about getting back to the states.
Once we decided we would work, we started thinking of what locations would make sense.
Could we work from Europe... Florence, Paris?
Time change would make it tricky, but we're of average intelligence - we could make it work.
Would be too costly to travel for work?
Probably.
And what if the kids needed something and we wanted to get home quickly?
I couldn't bear the thought.
What would the Visa situation look like?
Who knows - would take planning.
Could we work from Europe... Florence, Paris?
Time change would make it tricky, but we're of average intelligence - we could make it work.
Would be too costly to travel for work?
Probably.
And what if the kids needed something and we wanted to get home quickly?
I couldn't bear the thought.
What would the Visa situation look like?
Who knows - would take planning.
The most important question was....
DO WE LIKE THE FOOD?
Mexico. It had to be Mexico
or the surrounding areas.
DO WE LIKE THE FOOD?
Mexico. It had to be Mexico
or the surrounding areas.
Once we decided on the cuisine - er, country - we started coming up with additional criteria in order of importance.
Good Food.
We love Mexican food. Doug also loves Italian food, but for me, it's Mexican all the way. But not all Mexican food is created equal so we wanted to make sure the places we decided to stay didn't just have Mexican, they have GOOD Mexican.
Accessibility.
Since we are both still working, and a lot of what we do is team building and interacting with clients, we have to be able to get back to the U.S easily and without losing a day of our lives (in each direction) doing so. International airport within 2 hours is a must.
Water.
Now, I'm a wee-bit on the crazy side. If you've known me for any length of time, this quickly becomes apparent so I don't even attempt to hide it anymore. Shortly after starting to work for my boss Nat, she sent me an article about the mental health benefits of living near water. What she believes is historically very logical and well researched (and she cares about her people more than most anyone I know) so we had to find water. It could be an ocean, lake, river, stream... hot, cold, moderate, sunshine, overcast... doesn't matter, just has to be near water.
Small. Ish.
We are looking for locations where we can be a part of the community. We love Denver, but we've never had many friends or been a part of any tight community. It feels a little like we are voyeurs, looking in through the window, so we wanted to find a community small enough that we could make some connections. We also wanted a place that has enough amenities like restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and activities we can do both together and separately so we don't become hermit voyeurs - again.
Affordable.
It has to be affordable for us. No sense in living 3 months in a town that we can't afford to buy and live in. Well, that's not entirely accurate. There are a lot of places we can afford, but we want to buy something outright so we don't increase our living expenses, and ideally they would decrease.
Safe.
Not to be overlooked, but we have spent fair amount of time in Mexico. AND despite gringo murmurings (from people who have never or not recently been here) we have found it to be very safe. Also, we aren't totally stupid and there's a thing called the internet.
Good Food.
We love Mexican food. Doug also loves Italian food, but for me, it's Mexican all the way. But not all Mexican food is created equal so we wanted to make sure the places we decided to stay didn't just have Mexican, they have GOOD Mexican.
Accessibility.
Since we are both still working, and a lot of what we do is team building and interacting with clients, we have to be able to get back to the U.S easily and without losing a day of our lives (in each direction) doing so. International airport within 2 hours is a must.
Water.
Now, I'm a wee-bit on the crazy side. If you've known me for any length of time, this quickly becomes apparent so I don't even attempt to hide it anymore. Shortly after starting to work for my boss Nat, she sent me an article about the mental health benefits of living near water. What she believes is historically very logical and well researched (and she cares about her people more than most anyone I know) so we had to find water. It could be an ocean, lake, river, stream... hot, cold, moderate, sunshine, overcast... doesn't matter, just has to be near water.
Small. Ish.
We are looking for locations where we can be a part of the community. We love Denver, but we've never had many friends or been a part of any tight community. It feels a little like we are voyeurs, looking in through the window, so we wanted to find a community small enough that we could make some connections. We also wanted a place that has enough amenities like restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and activities we can do both together and separately so we don't become hermit voyeurs - again.
Affordable.
It has to be affordable for us. No sense in living 3 months in a town that we can't afford to buy and live in. Well, that's not entirely accurate. There are a lot of places we can afford, but we want to buy something outright so we don't increase our living expenses, and ideally they would decrease.
Safe.
Not to be overlooked, but we have spent fair amount of time in Mexico. AND despite gringo murmurings (from people who have never or not recently been here) we have found it to be very safe. Also, we aren't totally stupid and there's a thing called the internet.