We love to travel. As long as it is to a beach. You will not catch us anywhere with snow. The first time we went to Playa was based solely on the fact that it was a cheap, quick trip. We had little knowledge of Playa other than it had a beach and was near Cancun. In the years that followed, we would travel to many different beaches in several other countries and the US. We found something wrong with each of them. Too expensive. Too long of a flight. Too dangerous. Too uptight. Too remote. We just kept coming back to Playa. It ticked all of the boxes for travelling. As a future home, Playa fulfilled our requirements, also.
The cost of living is much lower than where we live now. We won’t have a mortgage (more on that in our post about purchasing our lot). With solar panels, our electric bill will be almost non-existent. All of our other monthly bills are relatively low. Health insurance is substantially cheaper. Our largest monthly expense will be Emmi’s private school. We need a fraction of our income in the US to live in Playa.
It’s also cheap to travel between Playa and Texas. There are plenty of flights and airlines that go between the two, and the flight is short. We both want our families to easily be able to visit us and be able to visit our families often. Our oldest daughter will be in college in Texas, and I’m certain I’ll be flying back to see her often during the school year.
Access to good doctors and healthcare is a must. There are several options in Playa, itself. Having both Cancun and Merida within driving distance is a bonus.
As previously mentioned, we hate snow and cold weather in general. Actually, I hate anything under 80 degrees. As we have lived in the Houston area for most of our lives, we are accustomed to heat and humidity. I hate cold weather so much even the winters in Houston are too cold for me! The weather in Playa is a major selling factor for us. With rare days that the temperature dips below 80, it is ideal for me.
We can’t get enough of the beaches in the Riveria Maya. We have traveled to many different beaches, but we love the beaches in Playa. The combination of white sand and turquoise water makes me happy.
Most importantly, we love the city itself. Both of us have lived in Austin, Texas at some point, and we refer to Playa as the Austin of Mexico. It has that we-want-to-be-hippies-but-with-nice-homes-and-clean-hair vibe. Flip-flops are appropriate everywhere and it’s twenty minutes to anything. The large expat community from around the world contributes to the feel of Playa. Playa has felt like our place since we first began travelling there almost fifteen years ago.
