The story of starting my business abroad, meeting my boyfriend and finding my home in Mexico.
3 years ago, I was sitting at my computer sipping my hot coffee while I mindlessly scrolled through my news feed, hoping something would catch my eye that was inspiring enough to distract me from the freezing cold weather that waited for me outside my downtown Spokane apartment.
As I sat there with eyes glazed over from boredom due to the monotonous schedule of my daily life, I started to daydream about my recent solo trip to Southeast Asia, a highlight in my life that I replayed in my head when I’d start to get that reoccurring desire to drop everything and travel the world - again.
I had a tendency in the past to liquidate everything I owned, save up just enough money to travel solo for a few months, return to nothing and build again.
But after a few years - it got exhausting.
I knew I needed to make a change in HOW I chose to travel, but I still wasn’t clear on what that actually meant.
I knew that I could no longer tolerate my life the way it was: Work - Home - Sleep - Eat - Repeat, and freeze my ass off while I was doing it.
The monotony killed my soul, my job was uninspiring and the weather was a frigid 22 degrees.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
Something needed to change
As I sat in front of my laptop glued to my chair, I decided to open one of my favorite flight hacking websites and entertain myself with a game I like to call ‘flight roulette’.
Basically, I search flights to anywhere.
I often played this little game with myself just to pass the time & keep the inspiration going, but today was a different day with an unshakably glaring intention.
Several options came up in my search from Australia to Spain, but since I was on a budget for time & money while desperately seeking a distraction from my modern life, I impulsively booked the first flight I found for the least amount of cash & travel time with guaranteed sunshine.
This is how I found Puerto Vallarta.
I hadn’t been to Mexico yet & Puerto Vallarta was as close to my old home in Hawaii that I could get without the eccentric price tag.
And 3 months later when I landed at the airport & took one look at the climate similarities of Puerto Vallarta to my previous tropical paradise, I’d known I had found another place I could call home.
I shuffled off the plane as quickly as I could, eager to hurry through the wave of travelers passing through customs to walk outside & feel the warm sun touch my skin. I marched through the line of officials to receive my first passport stamp from Mexico with a grin on my face, unaware that around the next corner I would meet the man who would contribute to changing the path of my entire life.
Monotony kills
After a whirlwind vacation of exploring new destinations & meeting a new friend, I found myself back at the grind spinning the wheels in the rat race to be Americas Next Top Consumer, yet unconsciously moving further & further away from the American dream.
As I stood there up against the corner of the old wooden bar at the moody, warehouse-chic Spokane pub I worked at, polishing wine glasses yet paralyzed with the same glazed over look in my eyes of monotony kills, I wondered how I could change my current environment to a sunnier, more heart-filling lifestyle without breaking the bank.
Gradually the voice of my coworker ascends into my ears as she talked about a large event coming to our city & how my condo’s location would make a killing if advertised on Airbnb.
Quick one-time cash, I thought, but worth a shot.
So, I went home after another day of uninspiring work, took a few pictures of my completely average downtown condo & threw it on Airbnb with a less than flattering description.
…and it booked in less than 5 minutes.
Shit! I should’ve charged more.
A few days later my first-time tenants came & went, the condo returned seemingly untouched, & $400 USD was deposited into my bank account with what felt in the end to be little or no effort.
It was too easy.
I didn’t expect there to be much demand for nightly rentals in my area after the annual event, but figured ‘ah, what the hell’ & opened up my condo’s availability calendar indefinitely.
And it booked EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND after that.
Paradise is calling
At the time it sure seemed like I had a good thing going.
Sure, I had two part-time jobs as a bartender & did enjoy working with people.
Sure, I had a nice little side-gig that made me enough cash to cover the expenses of my condo.
Sure, I had good friends, enjoyed dating & some of the modern-day creature comforts of the good ol’ USofA.
But what I lacked was challenge…
In every freaking way.
I lacked inspiration of any kind, whether it had been in culture immersion, exploring new destinations, the challenge of learning a new language or at least the freakin’ sunshine for crying out loud.
I needed ANYTHING but the chains of routine that came entangled with the sole purpose of building a life of material wealth.
I felt like I was working so hard to save money for a house full of stuff I didn’t want & two jobs I couldn’t take a vacation from for another 183 more days…and counting.
Work - Home - Eat - Sleep.
Then, repeat.
“We sacrifice our health in order to make our wealth, only later in life sacrificing our wealth in order to get back our health.” - Jay Shetty
I started to weigh a few of my top-choice destinations to live abroad as an American female alone with her dog.
I considered the fan favorites like Bali & the U.S. Virgin Islands, but quickly eliminated them once I’d discovered Bali’s quarantine requirements for dogs & the lack of fresh produce available on the tiny Virgin Islands.
Knowing what I’d already discovered about Mexico, I knew that Puerto Vallarta was a strong candidate for an inexpensive sunny destination I could build a foundation in.
Less than 6 months after my 10-day vacation to Mexico I had almost completely liquidated my few assets (again), turning my life upside down in the effort to accumulate as much cash as I could to get me back to the fun side of the wall.
Read: Why I gave up my executive career in Hawaii to travel the world.
Finally, I had gathered just enough resources to make the big move, with $3,000 USD in savings, a friend to crash with for a few weeks while I house hunted & a plan to continue my new & surprisingly in-demand vacation rental business that paired seamlessly with my solo travel blog.
And there we went.
All of the things I owned packed into one carry-on bag & my 14-year-old dog Myra.
That was it. Just us.
Two jet-set ladies on our way to another country to try our hand at a new way of life.
International Entrepreneur
We arrived in Mexico carry-on bag in hand & were greeted by the same friendly face I had met 6 months before during my first rendezvous in Latin America; the friend that would later become one of the most impactful & meaningful relationships of my life.
And of course, being the gentleman that he is, he graciously welcomed me into his home allowing me the stress-free time that I needed to establish my roots in Puerto Vallarta.
I spent the first month in my sunny new beach town stuck behind my computer, aggressively searching online for condos to rent for my business & my home, but never regretting a single moment of my no-less-than ballsy decision.
Life had been known to throw me its fair share of curveballs in the past, but it taught me how to be resilient, how to become an entrepreneur, how to trust in my talents & how perseverance always prevails.
Read: How I started my online travel business while living abroad
Also read: A thank you letter to the boss who fired me - You saved my life.
I searched for business opportunities until I found what I was looking for, ultimately building the foundation of my new life abroad, & the pillar of financial success in my journey as an entrepreneur.
Soon after, Myra & I moved into our fully furnished one-bedroom condo [for less than $500 USD/mo] located less than 20 steps from the beach in the center of Puerto Vallarta, eager to begin our new lives as expats of this culturally saturated mini-city in Mexico.
What is meant to be, will be…
Almost 2 years later I was fully immersed in the community of Vallarta, surrounded by inspiring new friends while I enjoyed working with local volunteer projects, hiking to waterfalls & exploring marine life, & got to experience dating in a foreign country first hand, accompanied with the glorious struggles of the arduous language barrier.
Read: How I survived my first year living in Mexico alone as an American Female
On a warm-sunny morning in late February, my aforementioned good friend joined me at my little beachside condo for a hot cup of coffee to catch up on some of things we’d missed in the few months since we’d seen each other.
He sat there next to me in his pressed slacks & crisp collared shirt, smelling of sweet cologne & sharing with me some of the recent events of his life as I was reminded of the first time I met him that day in the airport.
My mind flashed back to 2 years earlier when I was fresh off the jet & a still a tourist to Mexico, walking through the center for customs as I was greeted at the end by a tall, dark haired & handsome man in his late 30’s.
I remembered how friendly & welcoming he was to me that day I arrived as an American tourist to Mexico, how helpful he was with his local recommendations & how much of an impact his influence had on my first experience in his country.
He complimented his warm welcome with a few shots of tequila, a surprisingly delightful treat one can receive upon arrival in Mexican airports.
We quickly became friends & he took me to some of the most beautiful places in the Bay of Banderas, giving me a true locals experience of a highly trafficked tourist destination, ultimately supporting my conclusion that I’d found another paradise that I may be able to call home.
The memory faded while he sat next to me on the couch sipping his coffee as we began to laugh & reminisce about past memories, saying salud to our successes & thanks to our lessons we’d learned together as friends so far.
And now almost one year later, present time, I sit here at my computer next to our 3 dogs & 1 cat, telling you this story & laughing at the irony that is the full circle of my life thus far.
My business, my boyfriend & my home in Mexico are all a result of the sponaneous decision I made to search flights to anywhere.
“…sometimes the greatest memories are made in the most unlikely of places, further proof that spontaneity is more rewarding than a meticulously planned life.” - J.A. Redmerski
I played a game of flight roulette & gambled with my life.
And thAt is what happened.
Thank you for reading!
Myra Marie
My Little World Traveler
04/20/03 - 07/21/19
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Living abroad in Puerto Vallarta
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