Quality of Life vs.
Standard of Living
letters from Bill J.
Carl and Lorena,I hope this e-mail finds you well! I have been reading the People's Guide books and web site for several years now and love it!
Before I get to any kind of point, let me tell you a little about myself. I have not spent a great deal of time in Mexico. I have been on 6 or 7 gringo vacations and, growing up in New Mexico, I've been on many more day outings in Juarez. So I have no knowledge of what it would be like to live in Mexico.
I have however, lived in Japan (3 years), England (8 years), Korea (1 year), Italy (8 months) and Sicily (4 months). I've been all over the world for stays of a few days to a couple months. Every where I go, no matter how much I learn about the people, the country and the cultures, I learn way more about myself.
Now my point; I always see the old "can I live in 'so and so' for X amount of money" questions. It always makes me laugh because I couldn't even answer a question like that about my little English village I've lived in for the last 3 years. People all over the world generally live on what they have?
In the States 'standard of living' is a big deal and the standard of living is quite high for average Americans. In most other countries that I've lived in (especially the siesta culture), it is more about quality of life and to me the quality of life is much better in siesta cultures. Even in England they have a great saying, “I can't be bothered,” and if they can't be bothered to answer the phone they simple don't. Drives Americans crazy! Hehehe!
So from my experience, the advice I would give to anyone wanting to move to Mexico or anywhere else in the