It had to happen in Colorado.
Not enough Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to go around. Colorado in a panic. I bet it was Cherry Garcia that went first. And… I am sure this fridge is in Boulder.
Peter · · Leave a Comment
Legalize marijuana, right? Wouldn’t you have thought that Clinton / Bush / Obama would have figured this one out? Isn’t this why we HAVE Baby Boomer presidents?
That’s what many of us wanted and thought. But, it seems that in addition to our presidents, not all of us actually do. According to a poll by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research:
“The poll found that respondents identifying themselves as Republican and over 65 years old were more likely to support using federal resources “to arrest and prosecute individuals who are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws*. ” More than 80 percent of the youngest respondents, voters under 34, favored “respecting state medical marijuana laws.”
*These are the same people, mostly Republican, that preach that individual states should have the right to pass their own laws as in less federal government – like they scream it. That is, I guess, unless, they don’t like pot.
Want more? Read Kush (yes there is a Kush Magazine.)
Peter · · 51 Comments
Here is a 2024 Update of the original “How To Move To Mexico – Perfecto” post, written when I achieved my 2016 goal of moving from Portland, Oregon, to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. This was written after I sold my advertising agency – a rather good decision. FYI = For you ad agency people – here is how to sell your advertising agency.
I live in San Miguel de Allende, a town Condé Nast Traveller named – get this – “Best Small City in the World” five times – not bad (OK, a bit of an overstatement, but I’ll take it). SMA is in the middle of the country (high desert) and is known for its culture, old-world colonial architecture, music, art, gourmet & street food, roof bars, and wonderful people. Plus, it has two international airports, each about 90 minutes away. The world-class Mexico City and its two airports are about four hours away by luxury bus or private van.
To date, the original blog post has been read over 13,000 times. In the seven days from November 2 through 8, 2024 alone, it had 2,800 visits because it is on page one of Google’s search page for people interested in moving. Based on this activity, there is no question that a few (a few 🙂 )Americans are thinking about moving to Mexico—and beyond. People do wonder how to make a move to live in Mexico. It’s not that hard. Some info follows.
Interesting side note. My advertising agency business consultancy is based here. In the past couple of years, three of my clients have decided to move to Mexico full-time or buy a second part-time home. Let me know if you are interested. I’ll turn you into the right people who can make that happen.
Why move to Mexico? Nine reasons.
According to data from the U.S. State Department, between January 2022 and June 2022, there were 115 deaths of U.S. citizens, of which 25 were homicides. The largest number of deaths in the time period was as a result of vehicle accidents, with unspecified accidents also accounting for 25.
25! Note that there were over 25,000,000 American visitors to Mexico in 2022. Do the math on your odds of being targeted.
Yeah, you’ll read about crime in specific Mexican states, and yes, it is a major issue. That said, it is essential to note that the cartel people kill each other. They are fueled by America’s drug love and need to sell weapons. The really bad guys do not want to kill foreigners. Bad for business.
For you audio types, I had Google’s brand new NotebookLM AI tool make a podcast from this page. I put it at the bottom of this post.
My wife and I are now seven-plus years in and live here full-time. Six years ago, we built a house across from the neighborhood church in the Guadalupe neighborhood, which is well-known for its murals. Well, that was our old house—we sold it for a nice profit. We now live in a very modern house up the hill with a fantastic view. It is a ten-minute walk to Centro.
I am maintaining my global advertising agency consultancy (it helps that I can work digitally from any location); I recently finished a multi-year global photography project, which I started when I arrived in Mexico. After shooting in San Miguel de Allende, I photographed communities in L.A. and Selma and worked across India. I’ll be heading to Vietnam in 2025.
I published my second business book last year… “How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency.”
I am convinced that my wife and I made the right move. San Miguel de Allende is endearing, culturally rich, and visually stimulating. The people are lovely and even welcome gringos like me. As I’ve mentioned, Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveller have named our town the best city in the world. Yes, it deserves its “best,” but one does have to kinda wonder who paid off the magazines for us to get signaled out.
By the way, check out my two-year San Miguel de Allende portrait photography series, La Gente. Please pass it on, especially to Americans.
Demographics: In the past few years, due to the growth of remote work, we’ve seen the gringo population get younger. The work-from-home shift has made moving and living in Mexico more accessible for 30 – 40-year-olds, and we are seeing more young families come down. We have decent bilingual schools.
NOTE: We did not move for political reasons. That said, living somewhere where most people smile daily and are not addicted to FOX, MNNBC, Google News, or Twitter is a ‘good thing’. LOL, sure, we have news and social media addicts here. But, at least we do not have to see red political hats when we go to the tienda to buy a mango.
Ah, a Map. The arrow points to San Miguel de Allende.
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This post explains why I moved to Mexico, where, and how, and provides some details should you want to follow me.
The move has been a two-year process for my wife and me to decide to make the move and then choose where to live. We selected San Miguel de Allende (for its culture and high-altitude weather) over Puerto Vallarta (too beachy); Baja (too close to California); the Yucatan (way too humid); Oaxaca (a close second); Mexico City (too big); or Lake Chapala (boring – though near Guadalajara).
I like moving to new places and do so about every 7 years. The upside is living an adventure and having to creatively deal with unknowns. The downside is leaving friends behind. But, some visit and Zoom plus Facetime keeps everyone face-to-face.
In addition to pure wanderlust, there are other factors that seem to make me move around. Here is a new one. I recently read the Wall Street Journal article, Nature or Nurture? What Makes You an Expat? Is a lust for travel, adventure and new surroundings built into your DNA? The article covers the idea that moving and living in a foreign country might be, partially, a function of your DNA. My kids are in their twenties, and they now live in Buenos Aires and Budapest. Is the Levitan DNA responsible? Who knows. But, this is an interesting concept to digest.
I grew up in New York City, went to college in Boston and San Francisco, and then moved back to New York, to Minneapolis, to New Jersey when we had kids, to London, and back. And 16 years ago, my family split from the post-9/11 New York metro to go to Bend and then Portland, Oregon. Was it our moving-on genes? Wanderlust? Career building? I think all of the above.
We love Mexico and Mexicans. And, I can run my consultancy from anywhere, so why not head south?
We are not alone. Mexico has the highest number of American expats. The actual numbers are a bit flaky but the U.S. government estimates the number at over 1.5 million. These include people working in Mexico, folks just hanging out, Mexican Americans, and many American retirees.
But, hey, this blog post is about me.
My reasons to move to Mexico…
Have you considered living in Mexico?
A recent research study I did testing Google Consumer Research focused on where Americans want to retire. My findings show that 13% (13%!) of Americans between 45 and 65 “have considered retiring in Mexico”. By the way, you do use easy-to-use-super fast Google Research in your business development program, right?
Who will thrive in Mexico? [Read more…] about How To Move To Mexico
Peter · · Leave a Comment
I am going to keep this easy. I could ramble on but these are the core elements of my blog strategy.
Peter · · Leave a Comment
I want you to write an advertising book. For your personal brand and your agency’s branding. And to help y’all become unignorable. How so?
I have spoken at big conferences (as in how to write a book at Hubspot – plus remember to take off the lanyard thing), been interviewed on lots of podcasts, occasionally make it into an ADWEEK article. Why? Because I wrote this book. Books beget authority. Proof that you actually give a shit, know something, and can actually write.
That said, the biggest benefit…? The book has generated business leads that have resulted in thousands in business $ for my ad agency consultancy.
Between direct business, I also make moolah from Amazon – well, a tiny bit but it paid for the book itself. Here is an email I just got from Amazon.
This royalty payment notification is for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) sales recorded in the Kindle Store. Payment will be made to your bank account and should appear in your available balance within 2 to 5 business days after the Payment Date. Details of the payment will be available on the Payment Report.
Yup. I also wrote “Boomercide: From Woodstock To Suicide” and two photo books, Potlandia and Jointlandia on the early days of the cannabis industry. That’s one of the photos of a 2013 product above. From the days before big business and package designers got involved.
And, I am updating my thinking about how to build the world’s best sales presentation & pitch by writing about the ‘good, bad, and ugly’ in the world of virtual meetings. Oh, and a book about how to be a great agency account manager.
Frankly, not enough advertising agencies write an advertising book. Even a digital agency deep into data can write a book. This does not have to be hard, or big, or long. Just look at what Austin Kleon did with the writing and design o “Steal Like An Artist.”
Need ideas for a book and how to use it for business development? Give me a shout.