Innocents Abroad: Becoming an Expat

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
- Innocents Abroad (Mark Twain)

We finally did it. After years of dive travel in the Caribbean to sites exotic, rustic, popular, or off-the-beaten path we finally took the big step to relocate abroad. This week we signed a contract to purchase a home along the Mayan Riviera in the tiny community of Chemuyil, Mexico, near Tulum. And there we will stay.

How does it feel to be poised on the edge of expatriation? Liberating. Adventurous. Like we’re coming home.

What causes a person to leave their country and familiar culture and embark on such a journey? Is there a latent émigré gene that suddenly becomes active and metastasizes, compelling one to seek a new horizon? Do they feel pushed out of the U.S. or pulled to their new home abroad, or both? Expats everywhere have been gracious in their responses to my endless questions. Most just shrug their shoulders and say, “We’ve been coming here for years on vacation and really liked it, so we just decided to stay.” No big deal. 

L-R: Kristi, Teresa Willey,
Doug Willey (the real
estate agent),The Colonel

But it is a big deal. To become an expat one must navigate through an often labyrinthine government bureaucracy, learn another language, assimilate into a new and sometimes confusing culture, and accept a vastly different pace of life and living conditions. When these challenges negatively affect one’s emotional state it is "culture-shock" – a serious condition that spells trouble for a would-be expat.

Expats everywhere, I’ve discovered, seem to have a natural immunity to culture-shock. The challenges that are a big deal to others are just minor inconveniences to an expat, dwarfed by the benefits of living abroad. For us, the benefits are a lower cost of living, friendly people, a better climate, a simpler lifestyle, and an abundance of the things the Colonel and I love to do.

Casita de Draper

Our new casita is a ten minute walk from a pristine beach, ancient Mayan ruins, and the best Mexican food on the planet. It is a fifteen minute drive from some of the world’s most exquisite underwater cave diving and less than two hours from thrilling wall drift dives off Cozumel’s southwestern shores. And that’s just for starters. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our church, is flourishing in that area and represents an instant support group. Most of our neighbors are expats and eager to help us make the transition from gringos to locals. We also welcome the opportunity to move beyond our pidgin Spanish and become fluent conversationalists. 

And finally, the place just feels like home.