For the past several months I have been subtly dropping hints that my new book, “Expats in Paradise: Life in Puerto Vallarta” was going to emerge from the keys on my Mac laptop this fall. Fall is here, and I am very happy to say, so is my new book.
I first wrote about my love for this city in in 2008 when “Boomers in Paradise: Living in Puerto Vallarta” was published. That book resonated with many of you who were considering or planning a move to Mexico and looking for a new life on the sunny and warm west coast of Mexico.
About 14 years have passed since that book was launched, and the interest and demand for living in Puerto Vallarta has not diminished one lick. As a matter of fact, in our Expats In Mexico Survey 2021, Vallarta remained the most popular destination for aspiring expats, followed by Lake Chapala, Los Cabos, Mérida, and Playa del Carmen.
The combination of the Bay of Banderas ringed by tropical jungles flowing down the hills and mountains of this area leave an indelible mark on anyone who has spent time here. The tropical climate and abundance of sunshine doesn’t hurt either.
With the acceleration in interest, I dusted off my first book to see what made it a best seller. People. It’s always people. People want to know about other people. And those of you who have Puerto Vallarta on your minds a lot lately wonder about who lives here, what their lives are like, what they do, how much it costs to live here and a thousand other questions that need answers from the people who live in Puerto Vallarta.
Expats in Paradise: Life in Puerto Vallarta looks at the day-to-day lives of 13 expat singles, couples and families who live in Puerto Vallarta or along the Bay of Banderas. It examines their cost of living, healthcare, the quality of local schools, why they chose to live in Vallarta, where they are from, where they live, how they live and answers a hundred other questions about life in Puerto Vallarta. The first chapter of the book is loaded with detailed information from our many surveys on moving to Mexico and living, working or retiring in Mexico and Puerto Vallarta.
For a bit of comparison, the book also includes a couple, John and Cyndee, from my first book to show how their lives have changed after a dramatic event struck them in 2012. The coda for the book is its last chapter, featuring the life of Maria O’Connor, my dear friend of over two decades who passed away unexpectedly at a young age a year ago. Her story also was in the first book. I asked her good friend and mentor Wayne Franklin, who is the founder and owner of Tropicasa Real Estate, to help fill in the highlights of Maria’s life from 2008 onward. The book is dedicated to Maria.
If you’re interested in moving to Puerto Vallarta and want to find out how it really is like living here from the expats who live in Vallarta, “Expats in Paradise: Life in Puerto Vallarta” just may be your ticket to paradise.
