What to know before I go

Google is my friend!

I started joining a number of Facebook groups about digital nomads to learn more about how other people are traveling the world full time. These groups are eye-opening! I read many posts from people in the US saying they want to move to another country to live and work. Boy are they in for a reality check. Have you heard of illegal immigrants? You will be one, if you don’t do the research and paperwork.

Passport Stamp on Entry

I knew I wanted to hang around the Caribbean Sea and Latin America first, so I would Google immigration information and find out how long I could stay in a particular country upon entry. For example, Mexico gives US passport holders 180 days upon entry where Belize has some inconsistent procedures. Most often you can get a 30 day passport stamp, but the word in the Facebook groups is that you can get a 90 day stamp depending on the immigration office. Otherwise, every 29 days you need to go to an immigration office and pay for another stamp. I found some countries allow you to renew your tourist visa (passport stamp), where other countries don’t make the process easy, so you need to do what is called, a border run; meaning you need to leave the country for a bit before returning to obtain the full length of time again. Overall, every country has different laws for travelers so there’s lots of research that I do before picking a country to enter.

I think it’s important to note that I’m traveling for a lifestyle choice. My business is in the US and I have US clients and contractors. I do not travel for work, or to work. I travel to explore, learn, and live like a local. This is why I enter countries with a passport stamp or travelers visa, and not a work visa. That’s a whole other can of worms, I’ve learned.

Travel Vaccinations

Besides knowing how long I can stay in a country legally, I have also researched travel vaccinations and cost of living. Holy cow, are vaccinations in the US super expensive!! I spent nearly $3,000 on vaccinations for rabies, tetanus, Hep AB, cholera, flu, yellow fever, some pills for malaria, and generic antibiotics to have on hand just in case. Needless to say, I feel like a super human, and I should be immune to anything that tries to get me. Knock on wood. Now, I could have saved a significant amount of money had I obtained some of the vaccinations while I was in Mexico, or another country for that matter. However, I wanted to have all of these done and taken care of prior to leaving the US for good.

Health Insurance

Around the time of scheduling my vaccinations was when I researched global health insurance and travelers insurance, two very different types of insurance. I used a broker and ultimately choose the Silver Plan with Cigna Global Health Insurance for $2900 annually. This breaks down to about $8/day or just shy of $250/month. This plan includes repatriation, and emergency evacuation which were the two main reasons I wanted to hold health insurance. More information about the plan is here.

Estimated Cost of Living

Let’s talk more about the cost of living. My first stop was going to be Mexico so that’s where I started. I had narrowed down two towns I’d like to live in: Puerto Morelos and Playa Del Carmen. First, I searched for flights into Cancun since that is the major airport for the region. I found it was cheaper to fly from Dallas to Cancun instead of Phoenix, so I planned a trip to see my best friend and her family in Dallas prior to flying off to Mexico. I also use airline points to fly, so as long as I use my credit cards for almost everything, or at least rent, food and entertainment, I’ll have enough points to fly to the next destination. I predict that I’ll need to pay for one flight a year, and I’ll use points the rest of the time.

Next, I started searching through local Facebook pages for condo/apartment rentals, and then I also used other search methods on Google, Airbnb, VRBO, etc. Additionally, my friends and family knew what I was up to so I had connections coming my way about possible lodging from people they knew who had a second home or a rental property. I’m all for reaching out to my network and gathering a wealth of knowledge and resources from them! Pertaining to rent, I found accommodations ranging from $500 to $1200 per month, depending on how close to the beach you wanted to be. And keep in mind, rent includes a fully furnished unit, all utilities, and WiFi. Some units include a bicycle to get around, and every host/owner will share a wealth of knowledge on transportation, entertainment, local hangout and restaurants.

To start getting an idea about a budget for food, I would gather names of popular restaurants, and find their website or Facebook page. Often a menu with prices were available so I could easily price out what I may spend on breakfast, lunch or dinner. I also found the names of the grocery stores in Puerto Morelos and Play Del Carmen, so I could try and find online ads about costs of food. Plus, at this time, I had connected with a number of people in the various Facebook groups and the discussion of cost of living, was ample. This allowed me to estimate how much I may spend on various categories including sightseeing and excursions.

Overall, I found that a monthly budget of $2500 would allow me to live like a queen, and often many retired expats have a $2000 monthly budget. Multiply these values by 12 months, and my anticipated annual budget should be between $24,000 and $30,000, and this is to live very, very comfortably. If I change some bad habits (like reduce or eliminate wine consumption -- guilty pleasure), I could easily live well below these ranges and not feel like I’m going without.