March, 2007 The Old Gringo Starts a Business I'm almost of retirement age and I've sort-of bailed out early from the States, according to Social Security and norms, so I decided to start a business here in PV. We had sold our house and business in the States and moved here with a fixed amount of money that bought us a house and gave us enough money to live for 2 or 3 years. Most people I … [Read more...]

Took a short trip to Puta de Mita today. Damn, that's a lousy trip. The destination, itself, is ok, if you like 'beaches' that don't have any sand but do have expensive restaurants and a large, overbearing Four Seasonal Hotel hovering over the whole town. Other than that, there is a fence the whole way from Mezcales to the Mita, between you and the beach. Big cement fences (some painted blue, … [Read more...]

July, 2007 1 Year in PV Today is the anniversary of our arriving in PV with a truck and trailer. This is a very truncated synopsis of the journey (get me drunk to go on in detail): It's a long trip down from the States. But all meaningful trips can be long. Getting FM3's (become semi-legal residents). It's easy to do yourself. Make the house we bought a year before livable … [Read more...]

July 3, 2006 Mordidas, Ripoffs, TruckStop Whores -- The Move Ends Moving is hard. Sarah and I had spent weeks packing and sorting out our lives and possessions. Triage of two lives is hard. We had sold our house and business and bought a house in Puerto Vallarta. Mix this with a “What have we gotten ourselves into?” feeling deep in our guts, and things get complex, emotionally. Changing … [Read more...]

June 2006 Timeline to the Move Today is June 20 and I'm finally packing the truck up here in Laytonville, California, for the final phase of our move to PV. To sumarize, below are the events so far: First we visited PV a few times for fun. We rented an apartment for a year while still living in California and visiting PV about once every 3 months or so while looking for a place to … [Read more...]

August 2004 FIRST NIGHT AS AN EX-PAT OK, I’m sitting here tonight on a back street, low-rent apartment in Puerto Vallarta. It’s thundering and lightning outside and the rain comes down in a gentle torrent. There are about three different musical interpretations of this evening up and down the street. A truck drives slowly by announcing over a bullhorn the availability of pineapples, apples … [Read more...]