Mexico Expats

Lee is Latin America Editor and Senior Property Correspondent for Live and Invest Overseas. 

After spending six years flying with the US Navy, he completed a successful career in the nuclear power industry. Taking advantage of a post-merger early retirement offer, he left the US in 2001 at age 49 and retired to Cuenca, Ecuador.  

Since that time, Lee has enjoyed and invested in properties in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. And beginning in 2001, he’s written for a number of publications about living abroad, travel writing, and property investing. 

Lee has obtained residency in Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, and Mexico. And he’s visited as many as 17 countries per year throughout Europe and Latin America, traveling and writing about retirement and investment opportunities.  

Lee’s network of property insiders from those travels, along with his understanding of local cultures and languages, has helped him develop insight into local property markets that only the locals usually possess. 

What began as a mid-life sabbatical has become a full-time Mexican lifestyle for this expat duo who, for the past two-and-a-half years, have called La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, just north of Puerto Vallarta town, home. 

After many years of self-employment, Chris announced, “I need a break!” So he and Cindy sold their business in Vancouver and set their sights on Puerto Vallarta, the Pacific coast Shangri-la where the couple had enjoyed many vacations. A real estate agent suggested they look at La Cruz. They checked it out and found a lovely rental that would suit the needs of their sabbatical. It was only five minutes from Bucerias, which they loved. After only a couple of months, Chris and Cindy bought a condo with the intention of renting it out and using it for vacations. Today it is their full-time home. 

In Puerto Vallarta, Chris and Cindy will share with you the story of how they transitioned from what could be described as “work-a-holics” to relaxed “do-a-holics,” building a part-time business in Mexico. Their only complaint: “We have so much going on—local live music and theater, walking the malecon, road hockey, paddle surfing, boogie boarding, sailing, writing, etc., etc., etc., that there’s just no time left to vegetate in front of the TV!”

In 2012, Michelle traveled to Isla Mujeres, Mexico to fulfill the requirements and her dream of becoming a Yoga Teacher.

At the 200 hr Teacher Training at Vastu School of Yoga Michelle was taught the gentle confidence to teach Sivananda Yoga, a hatha style of yoga. 

In 2016, she went to Ajijic, MX to Yoga Veda’s 200 hr Teacher Training to renew and expand on her Sivananda experience and add Ayurveda and Meditation. 

In 2018, Michelle completed her 300 hr Teacher Training at the Vinyasa Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh, India.  This added Vinyasa Yoga to her knowledge. The combination of Sivananda and Vinyasa is now the focus of her Yoga Navan, Yoga Teacher Training School in Tulum, Mexico. 

Sasha Savinov is an English teacher, language student, blogger, and video producer from Michigan. He studied video production at Michigan State University (Go Green!) and moved abroad right after graduating, since living in China, Indonesia, and Mexico and currently trying the digital nomad lifestyle with his wife across South America. Together they run Grateful Gypsies, a blog focused on teaching ESL, long-term travel, being a digital nomad, and live music. When Sasha’s not working online and planning grand adventures, you can find him following his favorite band, Phish.