One of the great joys of my life when I lived in Puerto Vallarta was spending time with my good friend Maria O’Connor, our Expats In Mexico culture blogger. Maria has lived in PV for about 27 years, so when we decided to produce a video for our YouTube channel, we turned to her because we knew that Puerto Vallarta through the eyes of Maria O’Connor would be something special.
Puerto Vallarta is home to one of the largest expat communities in Mexico, drawn to the Bay of Banderas by its stunning beauty, soaring green mountains, tropical climate and, most importantly, the warm and friendly people of Vallarta.
As most expats know, the ingredient that makes life in Mexico so pleasurable is the people. It’s what attracted Maria to Puerto Vallarta in the first place. In the video interview, we asked Maria for the top three things she loves about Puerto Vallarta. Here’s what she says:
“The top thing is the people. The people are the nicest, most wonderful and warmest people that I’ve ever met anywhere in the world. There are beautiful places all over the world, but for me Vallarta is Vallarta because of the people.”
Her other top reasons for choosing to live in the jewel of the Mexican Riviera are the ocean and the happy state of mind she finds in the city by the bay.
“I love the ocean, I love being able to walk down to the ocean and it’s kind of my happy place,” she says. “If you have a bad day and walk down to the ocean and just think to yourself that you live here, then it doesn’t seem as bad. I like the fact that when most people are here everyone seems to be happy and in a good mood. Sure, people have bad days but there is something about Puerto Vallarta that puts a smile on everyone’s face.”
There are many reasons why expats love PV but Maria’s top three are hard to beat.
Maria fled her icy hometown of Chicago to replant herself in sunny PV in 1990. After receiving her law degree in Puerto Vallarta, she has been a practicing attorney for the last 15 years, mainly in real estate law. She has been with Tropicasa Realty for 10 years. You can read more about Maria in our article, “Puerto Vallarta Is an Easy Place to Love.”
Maria’s video interview take on living in Puerto Vallarta is the eighth in our Expats In Mexico hometown series. You can view the video in our Video section on our homepage or find it on our YouTube channel in our Expats in Mexico playlist (just click on the YouTube icon in top right of any page).
