GUANAJUATO LIVINGHave you ever wondered why so much of the screed on Life in Mexico is so Ivory Tower that you can't read it for the blinding brilliance? And why are Americans here so gullible they fail to see the culture’s defects. Everything, no matter how objectionable, is "a beautiful native custom" and all Mexicans "are a beautiful people"...Want to know The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico? ... Stay tuned to this website. In fact, get a cup of your favorite brew and read The Plain Truth About Living in Mexico!
GUANAJUATO LIVING AUDIENCE: More than 360,000 Americans expatriate somewhere in the world each year. Most of them end up in Mexico. Currently, there are books, web sites, and newsletters that cover how to expatriate to Mexico in the most general terms. However, because of sky-high real estate prices in all the areas where Americans and Canadians have traditionally chosen to expatriate, people are now looking at LIVING IN GUANAJUATO Mexico where prices are still affordable. No how-to guide exists for LIVING IN GUANAJUATO, other than for San Miguel de Allende. This experience is vastly different from moving to and living in the traditional gringo enclaves of Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende, and others. My website and books provides that guide.
ABOUT THIS GUANAJUATO LIVING WEBSITE AND ITS NEED: I feel there is no online publication available anywhere that offers the RESOURCES I do. I provide a unique, first-hand account showing the life of the expatriate to LIVING IN GUANAJUATO. There is a need for the information I give in this book. Long-time expats in other areas of Mexico are now considering moving to GUANAJUATO since they are being priced out of the housing markets in towns such as San Miguel de Allende and Puerto Vallarta. Also, the cost of living in the traditional American expat enclaves has increased, making it difficult for the expat to maintain his or her current lifestyle. Potential expats are rapidly learning about LIVING IN GUANAJUATO and are moving here but are clueless as to what they face. I get numerous e-mails asking me about the “American Sectors” here in Guanajuato--nothing like that exists. Professionals in America who want to retire here express utter shock that Spanish is the dominant language. I wish I were making that up!
LIVING IN GUANAJUATO is nothing like living the Gringolandias or Gringo Gulches of San Miguel de Allende or Puerto Vallarta. Unlike San Miguel de Allende or Puerto Vallarta, there isn’t a huge gringo community here that acts as a support buffer for “newbies.” Nor is English as widely spoken as it is in other areas where expats live. I spell out the differences between living in Guanajuato and living in other areas where expats have traditionally congregated. I offer a survival manual for the potential expat. SOMETHING UNIQUE LIVING IN GUANAJUATO: This website will go beyond the soft-soaping and beyond the song and dance other “expatriation” guides resort to in their prose. Most books, ebooks, and online sites on the market that deal with expatriation issues do not mention the difficulties one will encounter when moving to Mexico. Because of my ability in the language, I am able to ferret out the nuances, good and bad, sadly missing in all of the current Mexico expatriation guides. I present my discoveries through a travelogue and memoir style of writing. Most of all I will present why the fabled and infamous San Miguel de Allende is not all the press about the place makes it out to be. I offer an eye-witness from San Miguel itself!
LIVING IN GUANAJUATO: AUTHOR BIO: My writing has a built-in audience online as well as in print magazines. I have an online column directory, Ezinearticles.com with a combined readership of more than 133,398 with 2,713 of those articles syndicated. In addition, I am a regular contributor to the print Ventana magazine. I have contributed as well as to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Associated Content, International Living, Escape Artist, and The Front Porch Syndicate. I also write a monthly feature for Expat Focus. I reach an extensive audience through my regular weekly and monthly column writing. I have used my writing venues to aggressively promote my other books. I also invest in online ads in targeted markets.
Book Credits: The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico CAN I LIVE AND WORK IN MÉXICO?: A Guide to Living and Teaching ESL in México You Can Learn Spanish No Matter Your Age or Disposition
BOOK REVIEWS: Former Vice President for News and Information with National Public Radio (NPR), Bruce Drake, reviewed Guanajuato, Mexico: Your Expat, Study Abroad, and Vacation Survival Manual in the Land of Frogs and The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico:
A Strong Recommendation for the Bowers Book on Guanajuato, September 8, 2006 Reviewer: Bruce Drake (Washington, DC)—“As someone who has visited Mexico several times as I struggle with my study of Spanish, and who is thinking of moving there, I found this book to be far superior to the general run of guides on the expatriate life or retiring in Mexico. Some of the others of this genre just lack the ring of authenticity, or seemed to be aimed at people with a lot of bucks who are headed for a gated community or an expensive house in Cabo San Lucas. But the Bowers' book has that ring of authenticity and is squarely aimed at the (for lack of a better cliché) "average Joe" who is looking for a life that is different and/or better and needs down-to-earth practical advice on how an American can make this transition.
To date myself, the Bowers' reporting reminds me of the usefulness of a Travel Forum I used to frequent on one of the pioneer online services, CompuServe, where I got the best travel ideas and advice ever from the many participants who gave their firsthand reports, and to whom you could pose the kinds of questions that you don't see answered in newspaper travel sections or guidebooks.
The Bowers live in Guanajuato which is not far from where I always visit, which is a too-Americanized well known town that they don't quite approve of, San Miguel de Allende. (And which also, because of the huge ex-pat community, far more expensive). But to each his own. While I don't have a lot in common with many of the ex-pats and retirees, having made a lot of friends in San Miguel, I am comfortable there.
I should add that as I contemplate in the back of my mind moving there, I scanned some of the key advice chapters into my computer (such as the most painless way to get a resident's visa) and sent them to friends in San Miguel, who told me they were right on the money.
So, if this is the kind of information you are looking for, buy this book as well as the Bowers' book, The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico."
I propose my new website will meet, in an even deeper sense, the need for…” that ring of authenticity and is squarely aimed at the (for lack of a better cliché) "average Joe" who is looking for a life that is different and/or better and needs down-to-earth practical advice on how an American can make this transition…”—Bruce Drake NPR News
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