Updated January 2020

Part-time expat life: Oh the stress!

In 10 days I’ll be leaving the apartment I keep in LODO, a district in downtown Denver, for Mexico, my other part-time home. I’ll likely be gone six to eight months. You would probably think that I’d be very busy getting ready to be gone for such an extended trip, right? I am! Here’s my schedule before I leave Denver.

• Invite friends for dinner

• Take a hike in the foothills with a friend

• Visit a new exhibit at the Contemporary Art Museum with a friend

• Go to a musical with friends

• Take some photos of Denver for my Mexican friends to see

• Take salsa lessons with a friend (who’s been begging me)

• Do some writing and research for my blogs and cookbook

• Pack one large and tw0 carry-on suitcases

How stressful does that sound to you?

From time to time, a person tells me that having a life divided between two countries would just be too much trouble, too hectic for them. I hope the above schedule demonstrates that in fact, living in two countries can be less complicated than living in one.

One of the chief tenets of part-time expat life, as I outline in my book, The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico is that part-time expat life shouldn’t make your existence more complicated. The weeks right before you leave the US shouldn’t be spent in panic mode. It should be spent relaxing and enjoying your friends.

From time to time, I feel it’s important to to cover the mundane mechanics of the lifestyle for readers who are actively considering the part-time expat life, covering boring but vital information on things such as electricity in Mexico and VISA requirements. The topic of simplifying your life may not be riveting, but the information is critical if your want your pre-flight schedule to look like the one above instead of arriving to Mexico looking like one of the last people to helicopter out of Saigon in 1975.

Developing two habits in particular makes the big difference in how easy the part-time expat life in Mexico can become.

Minimalism

One look into my storage unit in Denver explains a good bit of why simplicity is key. My possessions fill about a third of the smallest unit you can rent. Once you begin a two-country lifestyle, you have to evaluate the clutter right out of your life.

You don’t want to be waist deep in some freezing storage unit trying to find which box has your winter coat during an unexpected winter return, nor which bike your hiking shoes are in for a summer return. After several years I learned to pack clothes as complete outfits, rather than having shoes in one box and coats in another. I learned this after having to take apart three boxes for one evening out in Denver - leather jacket was in one box, gloves in another, shoes in another.

Culling your stuff down is not always easy. Any time you question an item to toss, try showing it to a friend and say, “Does this look like junk to you?” That small exercise of looking at an item through another person’s eyes helps me be more objective.

I don’t always agree with their assessment. But usually, I do. My small storage unit still gives me plenty of room for what matters, paintings, seasonal or special occasion clothing I really wear, several boxes of souvenirs and old love letters and photos I’ll want to bawl over in my dotage (some junk is not junk.)

Ideally you should be able to get possessions down to a small storage unit (you can pack these units to the ceiling you know). Everyone is different on what adds value to their life. With practice, you will develop a refined eye for the difference between valuable and what’s junk to you. Planning a two country life gives such culling a sense of urgency hard to attain by mere intent.

When I say with practice, that you’ll learn what’s junk and what’s not, I’m not only referring to knowing what to get rid of but also what to keep. One can get a little over-exuberant with minimalism too.

I have tossed a few things I regret getting rid of, a topic authors on minimalism never write about. One mistake was throwing away an expensive pair of roller blades. I hadn’t used them in years. Then one morning I saw someone rollerblading on a nice day. I realized I’d probably never rollerblade again whether I want to or not. I’ll never spend $200 on roller blades again at this point in my life.

The lesson I learned from my roller blades is not to throw away a costly item that would be integral to an experience unless you know with absolute certainty you will never engage in that activity again. I cut myself off from a potential future experience, which as experts remind us, are more important than things.

These days I ask the question “If my favorite person in the whole world invited me to [fill in the blank of the experience or special event] would I cringe and say, “I can’t. I don’t have a [blank].” If an attractive person of the opposite sex asked you to, for example, go skiing, would you want to? Then keep the skis and parka, even if you haven’t used them in 10 years.

If you got unexpectedly invited to a gala at $300 a ticket, would you be able to afford a new tuxedo or gown? Asking myself this question is why I still have a 20 year old pair of golf shoes and a golf glove. Would not having it limit participation in an activity? If the answer is yes, keep it.

Housing maintenance at home

A two-country lifestyle is not for procrastinators. It’s an on-going, year-round process. If you get into the habit of doing tasks within days of even thinking of them, they won’t load up on you the 30 days before you leave your home country, when you want to spend time with loved ones. This especially comes into play if you’re renting out your apartment or house in the US - which you’ll need to do if part-time expat life is part of your financial plan.

Do you think your bank might have new services that apply to you in particular as a person doing their banking from another country? Walk into your bank the minute you think of it and talk to them. This goes for anything you will need to do between now and your departure to Mexio. Do it as soon as you think of it to have time in the back-end when all kinds of emergencies can pile up.

Maintaining your home or apartment especially needs to be proactive. If there’s a deep cleaning projects you need to do before a renter comes in, plan and do it months, not days before you go (and just wipe it down later). Tasks always take longer than anticipated. Concentrate on developing a sense of urgency about all of it, and you will be rewarded with a gentle, enjoyable period of time to say goodbye to friends rather than running around with your hair on fire.

Think about your banking and bill paying. While you can do all your banking online, I find that knowing a real person, and having a direct number to a real human at my bank branch at home very comforting while I’m in Mexico.

So each year before I leave for Mexico, I think of some excuse to go in and chat with a banker for a few minutes, explain my lifestyle and get a business card. I never want to be in a position trying to convince a customer service person on the phone of my identity from Mexico.

Do tasks as soon as you realize they will need to be done, keep your possessions down to the essential and meaningful, and the days before your departures can be spent with those you love, doing the things you love.

Related:

How to store things properly in a storage unit by Extra Space Storage.

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About the author:

Kerry Baker is the author of two books for those considering expat life.

The second book is ““If Only I Had a Place.,” your guide to renting luxuriously for less in Mexico, plus tips on how to set the stage for your most gratifying expat life. Her second book is “The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico.” Most recently she released a cookbook, “The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico” Over 150 recipes for travelers, snowbirds and expats who want to maintain a healthy diet in Mexico.