If there’s one word I’d use to describe this past year, it would be change. So much has changed in my life. I’m a mother now. I quit my job. I started a new career. We moved to Reno.
Well, it looks like the biggest change of all might be happening soon.
Luke’s been offered a big opportunity at his company that requires us to live in Mexico for three years.
Many, many things are going through my head as we weigh the decision to move, but mostly I am so proud of Luke. His role would be overseeing a restructuring of all accounting in Mexico for three gold mines there. Careerwise it’s a big step up and financially it’s very appealing.
We’d be living near one of their three mines either in Hermosillo, a modern city of about 850,000, Durango, a smaller, more cultural town or down the road, possibly La Paz, a coastal town near Cabo.
This is Hermosillo:
This is Durango:
This is La Paz:
To be frank, I’m pretty scared about the idea of living in Mexico. Mainly I am worried I will be completely isolated and lonely. I have four years of school in spanish, but by no means am conversational. From my research I can’t find any vibrant expat scene in Hermosillo or Durgano, which is likely where we’ll be.
I am afraid I’ll be stuck in a house with no friends or activities to do on a day-to-day basis. Plus Luke will still be traveling a lot around Mexico, putting in long hours and have a high amount of stress. We’re trying to see if we can work in some travel budget so I can visit family in the states often, but it’s still leaves me feeling uncertain.
I’m trying to focus on the upside of the situation. The long-term career benefits for Luke, the money we’ll save for a house someday, becoming fluent in Spanish and the adventure of living abroad in a new culture.
For now, no decision has been made and we’re going to fly down to visit so we can get a feel of where we’d be living. I feel like I will be able to get a gut-check on whether or not I can live there for three years once we see it in person.
I’d appreciate any advice, prayers or good vibes as we tackle this decision. What would you do if you were us?