Misunderstood Clichés About Living in Mexico
Updated November 2023
Information focused on clichés
One of the things that frustrated me when I was researching the idea of living in Mexico were all the overworked platitudes in what I read. Couples are asked in articles (usually tired spin-off template articles from International Living) as to why they love living in Mexico. The responses are always the same, almost verbatim; “the generous spirit of the people,” “the wonderful climate," “the lower cost-of-living” and “how-family-is-still-so important.”
It was as if I was reading the same article over and over, with a picture of the same couple in it. General-publication articles about what life in Mexico never rarely translate the cliché into a meaningful context, comparing it say, to life in the U.S.
After reading interview after interview, I finally asked myself - What do those hollow statements really mean?
Let us begin with five expat platitudes that answer the question, "Why do you love living in Mexico?"
Cliché #1: Family is so important in Mexico!
This seems an interesting appreciation for expats likely arriving alone or in twos. It’s not as if they are generally part of any lovely Mexican family (unless they married into one). To the contrary, Mexico’s strong family culture made me feel more lonely at first. There I would be in a restaurant, by myself (because most restaurants don’t have bars where you can dine), surrounded by tables of 16 people. Every Sunday feels like Mothers’ Day in Mexico.
More comforting for the potential expat is to realize not that Mexico is a family culture, but that it’s a group culture. As Ned Crouch put it so well in his book Mexico and Mexicans: Cracking the Culture Code, "Americans draw a circle around the individual. Mexicans draw a circle around the group.” As an expat, that’s an insight you can work with, it’s one that will explain many situations that you’ll find yourself in if socializing with Mexicans.
It may be next to impossible to become a defacto member of a Mexican family without a fair bit of Spanish, but with very little you can become a part of Mexican group, whether it’s a bike group, a motorcycle group, a knitting group or a yoga group. With some Spanish (and much less than you probably think), you might indeed become a a defacto family member (as I have) and begin to appreciate how lovely that experience can be.
Cliché #2 - Mexicans respect their elders more than Americans.
Retired expats love to say this. I’m not an expert on Mexican culture by any stretch, but Mexicans are more respectful of everyone. True, older people are not invisible in Mexico like America seems to want to make us at times, but Mexicans tend to be more aware and attentive to people around them in general, regardless of their age.
Cliché #3 “It’s more relaxed in Mexico. It’s a slower pace of life.”
My Mexican friends are stressed out about the same things we are; keeping their jobs, sick family members, and sending their kids to college. What they’re not doing is gluing their attention to CNN, Fox or any Mexican equivalent of a 24-news-loop. Considering that would help people understand what makes Mexicans more relaxed.
Sure, you can tell yourself, “turn it off” at home. However, I find there’s more social pressure to be up on the news at home. Not so in Mexico. The level of conversation can be high, but it’s not focused on news. It’s more likely to be focused on ideas, family news, and just about anything other than politics.
Social media, which has become our biggest source of news, in particular depends on engagement for advertising revenue dollars. We all know by now that algorithms have pounced on the fact that alarm, anger and fear engages us most, puting into a constant stage of high-alert. Mexico lacks is the cultural relentlessness to jack you up 24/7 over things you can’t change like our news outlets do.
Cliché #4 - Mexico is cheap
Yes that often is true in the absolute. My identical Uber ride costs less. Movies in luxurious theaters cost less. My identical cappuccino costs $2.50 at Rico's in Mexico rather than $6.00 at Inks in downtown Denver. Housing, property taxes, healthcare, food all are much less.
The articles never go further, explaining how much money you save by developing a whole different mindset about spending money. Mexicans are not the consumers we are. After a time, that attitude rubs off on you. Amazon.mx offers far fewer goods (and requires a Mexican credit card or a pre-paid debit card to make purchases). You will likely order far less online and do less impulse buying. Mexico is cheaper not only because things cost less, but also because you likely will purchase less.
What people often don’t do is include what costs more in Mexico. This remains a big reason I still spend months at a time at home. That’s how long it takes the purchase all the electronics that make life so nice in Mexico and cost so much more there. Another big item you might pay for is clothing.
Cliché #5 - Life is simpler in Mexico.
That life is more simple in Mexico is related to cliché #4: that it’s less expensive in Mexico. It’s marketing that complicates our lives in the United States. No article mentions this. Being sold to constantly makes life more complicated. Hear me out.
Hundreds of awards exist for marketing exceptionalism and the U.S. still wins a lion’s share of them. Like a boss once explained to me when I started a sales career “Nothing happens in our economy until someone sells something.” Many of us have made a good living at some aspect of marketing, or have had jobs because someone else did it well. That world renowned expertise rains down on us, and makes our life less simple in subtle, often negative ways.
Marketing evolved from a broad sales appeals to a-la-carte upgrades about 15 years ago, upgrades from V.I.P. privileges in museums to a dollar more for the M&M sprinkles on your ice cream - you name it. It’s a technique used by both businesses and non-profits you may support.
As a fund raiser to persuade donors to give more by breaking down every giving opportunity and packaging it a la carte, called “cause-related marketing. Finally, a donor told me “It feels like getting pecked to death by a duck.”
That’s what happens to us as American consumers. We are being constantly pecked to death by the marketing duck, creating a tiny yet constant agita in us. Pecked to death in the name of choice.
As this article describes, micro-decisions take energy. That’s why no accused criminal wants his court hearing at the end of the day. A judge who is decision-fatigued is more likely to be irritable and give more severe punishments. We have to make buying decisions constantly. Should we have to suffer even five seconds of energy output over whether to order an extra pizza topping? Peck, peck, peck.
Conversely, in Mexico, if go to the taco stand at OXXO (Mexico’s 7-11’s), I don’t have to decide whether to pay 10 centavos more to have my taco wrapped in a double tortilla (even though I’m sure the vendor could use those centavos). One reason Mexico is simpler is because spending decisions are fewer, there’s less pecking.
Marketing expertise doesn’t enjoy the same glory in Mexico. It’s a whole different mindset and makes life simpler. Successful marketing professionals don’t have near-heroic status here like they have in the U.S. I’ve heard Mexicans vendors say they’ve quit selling choices of an item because if they sell out of a choice, customers get disappointed!
Clichés aren’t very helpful. As you can see in these examples, a whole world exists beneath them, and that’s the world you get to explore when you take on the adventure of being an expat.
Related links:
Amazing stats on the level of online impulse buying we think we're not doing in the U.S. Ventanas Mexico
Unlike the U.S., Mexicans know how to hang-out (also very relaxing) - Ventanas Mexico
Most recent:
Do your research in Spanish on Google before heading to the pharmacy in Mexico [blog]
About the author:
Hola! I'm Kerry Baker, writer of this blog and several books, the first being "If Only I Had a Place" about renting luxuriously in Mexico, geared toward the aspiring expat. Renting longer-term in Mexico is different. Avoid the pitfalls and rip-offs and establish your new expat life in style! See reviews here.
My second book is “The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico. This how to book will entertain you even as it provides a step by step action plan for your life in Mexico. Lastly, I published “The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico”. In Mexico you must cook to maintain a healthy diet. Over 150 recipes and steps on preparing meals in a foreign culture.