Updated April 2020

Minimalism: The key to the part-time expat life

I always used to think that you had to be wealthy to live in two countries. The few people I knew who did it were quite well off. They maintained second homes in Mexico that they left empty for months at a time. They didn’t worry about air fares and went back and forth frequently.

With time I learned that with a simpler, more minimalist lifestyle, I could lead an expat life remarkably similar to theirs for a fraction of their cost.  In fact, I could create a life in two countries that cost less than living in one.  

As a "soltera" in Mexico (a single woman), it was particularly crucial to develop a streamlined, simple system if I was going to be going back and forth between Mexico and Denver. There’s plenty to do when you're orchestrating part-time expat life. The purpose of expat life is not, however, to make life harder. It’s to make life more interesting.

I have seen divorced friends enslaved by the world they built as a married person. They are unable to let go of it even though the work to maintain that life has effectively doubled.  Some keep huge houses after the children have long gone when the only reason they bought it 30 years ago was for the school system.

Numerous studies indicate people are happier when they invest in experiences rather than things. Eventually big houses, expensive cars, electronics, excess clothing and objects d’art have to be packed, cleaned, maintained, carried and worried over (Millennials have absorbed the lesson. Consumer goods manufacturers note with dismay their different buying patterns).

A rich existence means your personal life, rather than lifestyle, should be complicated. That means not investing every week-end cleaning out the roof gutters when you can be immersed in the complicated lives of people you love.

Bringing lessons in productivity from our work lives for paring down our current one

In our work lives, we had to learn about prioritizing and discarding non-essential activities in order to be better at our jobs. We either learned how to be efficient or our bosses sent us to workshops and conferences that taught us. One exercise I remember from one such productivity class is to take the tasks you have to do and give each task a 1,2 or 3 ranking. Then throw away the threes.  You can apply that to possessions too.

Nothing forces you to prioritize and pare down to the ones and twos like living in two countries. When you have to put things into storage every time you leave, you see the items differently. How many times do you want to pack and move that item?

For me, the most radical decision I made in order to live in two countries was getting rid of my car.  In addition to being chauffeured around by some really fascinating people, not having a car means I don’t have to worry about parking tickets, parking places downtown, car maintenance or having all the tags and permits. Not having a car has simplified my life substantially. 

Having a smaller, conveniently located place to live in the U.S. has given me the freedom to come and go to Mexico with only a few days preparation.

Keep what you need and love.

Living in two countries doesn't mean you have to live like a refugee however. What I choose to leave behind in each country symbolizes which side of my personality dominates there. In Denver, I come home to a few pieces of art that have special meaning and a shearling coat.

In Mexico, it’s a boogie board and special kitchen utensils.  Different possessions, different worlds. Once you’re in Mexico, you absorb a little bit more of its less materialist culture each passing day.

Living in a less materialist culture will make you sensitive to marketing pitches

You won’t realize just how relentlessly you are being marketed to until you live in Mexico and then go back to the US.  After six months in Mexico, you will be hypersensitive to how incessant the sales messaging is when you come back home. You'll notice the constant marketing, while on hold on the phone, while you are pumping gas, even in taxi cabs.

Living in two countries has the potential to simplify your life, and through that simplicity enrich it, paring it down to what matters.

About the author:

Hi, I'm Kerry Baker and a partner with Ventanas Mexico and the author of If Only I Had a Place," is your guide for renting luxuriously for less in Mexico. More than a how-to book, it walks you through how where you rent determines your infrastructure as an expat. Book includes a listing of rental concierges. 

My third book is “The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico.” The book is a guide to setting up the best mini life possible in Mexico. Most recently I wrote a cookbook, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico, for travelers, snowbirds and expats who want to maintain a healthy diet in Mexico. (You must cook.)