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I wish someone had written a more reality-based expatriation guide we could have read during our research phase before moving to Mexico. The fine books that do exist, that everyone seems to have read, give you a rosy picture of what life is like in Mexico for the American. For those who are thinking about moving to Mexico to spend their retirement years, you will be given the impression that living in Mexico is akin to moving into heaven, or at least into Never-Never-Land. The real estate marketers make the grand pitch for living in San Miguel de Allende, for example, and make it seem that the American can have every single thing here they had at home, only more and bigger and better and more, more, more!

I write about this a lot. I believe it is dishonest not to tell the whole story. The reason the real story is rarely mentioned is that it simply does not sell. You won't find someone who wants to make his living selling houses in Puerto Vallarta telling you that locals will most likely knock on your door on a daily basis asking you to give them money for some disaster that has just befallen them. The story comes with a well-rehearsed beginning, middle, and end. Honestly, I think some of them give performances worthy of winning an Academy Award when giving the money pitch to those rich gringos.

None of the books really go into any of the reasons why you, the "rich" American gringo, will become the target for being hounded to death for money once you move into a Mexican community. Maybe that's why Gringolandias come into being. People want to protect themselves from having to deal with beggars who come to your door almost unceasingly.

I don't know.