10 Reasons I’m So Happy We Moved to Lake Chapala, Mexico: A One-Year Reflection
It is hard to believe that a full 365 days have officially passed since we packed up, downsized our lives in the Carolinas, and embarked on this brand-new chapter in Jalisco, Mexico.
When you make a major international move, people always ask: “Is it everything you expected?”
Looking back across our first year here—filling our calendar with town festivals, hosting visits from friends and family, navigating vibrant street markets, and learning to slow down—the honest answer is no. It hasn’t been what we expected—it’s been so much better.
If you’ve been following our journey here on Retire and Roam, you’ve seen snapshots of our daily life. To mark our one-year milestone, I’m looking back at 10 reasons we are so deeply grateful we chose to call Lake Chapala home.
1. Daily Reality Outshines the Headlines
Before moving, friends and family naturally asked about news headlines regarding Mexico. It’s a fair question and one we take seriously. But walking out our front door every day in Jalisco reinforces what on-the-ground expat life actually looks like: peaceful, warm, incredibly vibrant, and filled with neighbors who look out for one another.
Ordinary days here feel full in a way that’s hard to explain until you experience it. The malecón walk, the market, greeting strangers as you walk down the street, the evening rains that cool everything down — even the unremarkable days have a texture that feels like living rather than just existing. That quality of daily life may be the thing we are most grateful for.
2. Living Lighter & A Walkable Life That Keeps You Moving
Downsizing wasn’t just a physical process — it was an emotional reset. Leaving behind excess clutter allowed us to step into a walk-everywhere lifestyle where our daily routine naturally keeps us moving. My yoga studio is a five-minute walk from the house. The malecón is five minutes away. The market, the restaurants, the pharmacy, the friends — almost everything we need in daily life happens on foot.
Between walking to the local market, yoga classes, and evening strolls when the light on the lake is doing something beautiful, the body keeps moving here simply because the life invites it. The spring-like weather year-round means there is never a bad day to go outside. We didn’t realize how much energy we spent maintaining a life back home until we stopped maintaining it. We need less. We want less. That simplicity has been such a welcome shift.
3. The Kindness of the Mexican People
This thread runs through so many interactions here in our daily lives…. The mechanic in Tepec who showed up within thirty minutes and charged us $12 to get us back on the road. The stranger who handed us cactus fruit while we waited on that repair. The kind stranger who offered me his bike to ride home when I accidentally got off at the wrong bus stop after dark and was walking back alone. The group of people who took us in at a World Cup Watch Party in Guadalajara making us part of their family.
The warmth here is not a performance and it is not reserved for tourists. It is simply how people are with each other, and they extend it to us. A year in, it still brings me joy.
4. Unforgettable Fiestas, Theater, & Open-Air Energy
Life here is never dull. Whether standing in Ajijic during Carnaval getting covered in flour by the Sayacas, watching castillo fireworks light up the sky over Ixtlahuacán, or attending Día de Muertos and the Festival del Café, Chocolatey Vino, Mexico celebrates loudly and constantly.
Beyond the street festivals, we were thrilled to find a thriving local performing arts scene—complete with English-language theater productions, improv groups, and live music everywhere. In one year, we have attended and participated in more cultural celebrations than most people see in a decade.
5. A Community That Lets You Be Exactly Who You Are
The Lake Chapala region has long been known as one of the most welcoming, open LGBTQ+ communities in Mexico — visible, vibrant, and genuinely integrated into the local fabric. People here are who they are without judgment, and that spirit of acceptance extends into every corner of social life.
At Zona Bar — our local gathering place — everyone knows your name or at least your face and your dance moves within three visits. People dance like nobody is watching, because nobody is. The music pulls everyone in regardless of age or background. That freedom to be yourself, surrounded by a room of people genuinely enjoying life without self-consciousness, becomes addictive fast.
6. Small-Town Lakeside Peace with Big City Access
Lake Chapala offers the tranquil charm of small-town lakeside living — and Guadalajara is right up the road, providing an international airport where we have used our Volaris passes countless times already. That connection with friends, family, and the entire world is huge for use.
An easy bus ride to a world-class city of nearly five million people means Lucha Libre on a Tuesday, dinner at one of Latin America’s best restaurants on a Friday, a concert by an artist we’ve never heard of on a Saturday night, and back home by the lake on Sunday morning.
That balance — genuinely small-town community life with genuine city access — is rare. It was a key factor in choosing this region over others and it has delivered exactly what we hoped.
7. Becoming a Gathering Place for the People We Love
One of our biggest goals in moving was keeping our doors wide open—and our year-one guest book proves we succeeded. We hosted spring break with one of my oldest friends and her crew, celebrated Joe’s birthday with his brothers, and welcomed Joe’s mom to celebrate her own birthday here with us. We threw a last-minute DJ party for my birthday that had everyone dancing long into the night, and a friend even timed a visit around getting high-quality, affordable dental work.
Our home in Lake Chapala has become a destination — a place people make the effort to reach — and the memories made here with the people we love have been among the most meaningful of the year. Moving abroad did not mean moving away from our people. It meant giving them a reason to spend time with us in a new place, strengthening bonds and creating memories.
8. An Incredible Local Food Culture & Fresh Sourcing
From the Swiss chard tamales in Tapalpa to fresh seafood on the coast, food here is rich with flavor and deeply connected to tradition. But the everyday food culture is equally extraordinary. Our neighborhood abarrote stocks things we didn’t know we needed. The carnicería provides the opportunity to buy locally sourced meats. The pastelerías are a daily temptation. Fresh produce markets, tortillerías making them by hand, local coffee and wine festivals — eating well here is not a luxury. It is just a regular day.
9. Endless Unplannable Surprises & Discovering Local Art
Mexico keeps handing us moments we could not have planned. A woman carrying an opossum on the Chapala malecón. A man surrounded by twenty Chihuahuas in the town square. The Sayacas appearing around a corner on a Sunday morning with bags of flour and zero warning.
That unplannable magic extends to our home, too. A year in, we have unexpectedly built a burgeoning collection of Mexican art — acquired at local auctions, weekend bazaars, and gallery openings. Our walls now tell the story of this unpredictable, beautiful year in a way that makes us smile every time we walk past them.
10. Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
This is the one that underpins everything else.
The move to Lake Chapala coincided with a chapter of genuine personal freedom — and the region has met that moment completely. The friendships we’ve built. The trips we’ve taken. The life Joe and I have built together here. So many moments that make me reflect on the fact that I am in the best place and time my life has ever been in.
A year ago we made a choice. A year later, we are still making it — every single morning when we walk out the door and into this life. Here’s to year two!!
Are you considering a move to Mexico, or reflecting on your own expat anniversary? Drop a comment in the contact page—I’d love to connect!
