We recently passed the milestone of four years retired (I’ll stop counting when the number exceeds my thirty-eight work years). Around this time each year, I review our decision to retire early and choose the expat life in Mexico. Yet the coronavirus and on-and-off again quarantine has me pondering the bigger questions (“what’s it all about, Alfie?” “Is it technically a weekend if it’s not a work-week?” “just how near is a near occasion of sin?”). Oh, that and the liturgical year just ended, with daily readings about the end of all things leading to Advent, a season popularly misunderstood as a festive build-up to Christmas, but in reality a chance to take stock whether we’re prepared for the inevitable end of our existence. Phew, that’s an existential load!
Retired life in general, and retired expat life in particular, give one the time and perspective to consider such things. But how many times can I say “we enjoy being retired” or “the weather is amazing” or “life is good” without becoming repetitive or annoying? 2020 threw us all a curve ball and — unlike Michael Jordan– I want to make contact on it.
If there ever was a time or condition which would cause one to reconsider choosing to live the retired expat life, the 2020 Covid experience was it. One reason for being expats in Mexico was to enable us to travel the world. Not so much now. Few countries would welcome us, and few things are open to see or do if they did. Another reason to be here in Mexico specifically was for the climate: perfect weather enabling daily outdoor activity, including alfresco dining year-round. Ehhh, sometimes. Restaurants have been hard hit, some closed and others forced into carry-out only. And wearing a mask even to exercise outdoors is a drag.
On top of all that, one of the biggest challenges to expat life is ensuring quality medical care. We have that, but no medical system in the world has done well during the pandemic: they have all flailed and failed in one way or another. That is not a criticism: this is simply what happens when a novel, contagious, and sometimes deadly disease appears. It just so happens this was the first really contagious one in a century, and many people had started to “believe in science” (what an oxymoron!) to the point they were surprised by the inevitable.
Mexico doesn’t engage in widespread Covid testing, so no one knows how bad it is here. Mexico’s health minister mused out loud ‘why test if you have no treatment?’ which was medically accurate if terribly tone-deaf. The hospital admissions here mirror the rates in the States, so the incidence and case load are likely about the same.
So here we are, quarantined in a developing country during a pandemic. And loving it nonetheless. Why?
Let’s start with the medical situation. Mexico has a higher death rate then the States, but that is mostly due to the high incidence of co-morbidities and poor public healthcare services. There is no magic treatment in either place, and the best outcome is prevention in all cases. The prevention outlook is the same: state-by-state, with some closures and restrictions on movement, mask-wearing requirements, sanitizing at the entrance of public facilities (restaurants, bars, shopping centers). In the end, it’s a wash for us as to where to get sick, and our best protection is our own ability to abide by the necessary health policies.
One major difference is the attitude: nobody seems particularly upset or angry about all this here in Mexico. Nobody expects the government to get it all right, and most understand that some things–like novel pandemics–are beyond the current understanding of even modern medicine, so we learn by experiencing. People die. But to Mexicans, death is a tragic reality of daily life, and coronavirus only provides the how and when, but does not change the if. Every person’s death is mourned, but there is a realism (not fatalism) here that affects how Mexicans deal with a pandemic. And that’s a very positive thing, in my opinion.
Travel? Why yes, please. Small secret #1:despite all the headlines, at no time during this pandemic did the United States prevent American citizens from returning home. All the announced restrictions were only for foreign nationals. We’ve traveled back to the States twice during the restrictions without trouble or even questioning. The US Department of Homeland Security did recently announce that ‘US persons returning to the States could be denied entry if they were sick.’ Small secret #2: That has always been the case. ANY airline, and ANY country, can and will deny you boarding/entry if you show symptoms of illness. You can be (and some returnees have been) put into quarantine. Thus it has always been.
One overlooked aspect of travel is that while the cruise industry is stuck in port and the land border open only to “essential business” (a term with significant discretion: Canadians have learned it may not allow them to drive from Mexico to Canada), Mexico and the USA have kept their airline connections open. While individual states may have stringent provisions once landed, there have been few restrictions on flying back-and-forth across the border, a fact unique to the Mexican-American relationship. Importantly for us, it has permitted two trips back to visit family, all with limits and distancing, of course.
As time goes by and we learn more about Covid, things change. We’re not wiping down every product which enters our casa. Most restaurants have adapted to socially-distanced dining, and since the weather is great, that option remains. Places like our Church have reopened for regular Mass with distancing rules. Even when the case rates rose, the government didn’t overreact and re-enact the original restrictions, but changed them to fit what we’ve learned.
We’ve noticed many of our Canadian snowbird friends returning to Mexico of late. Whether they would, given their health insurance and government warnings, was an open question among us year-round expats. Mostly they have, sensing that enduring the pandemic in sun and warm weather is the better option. That and the less tangible sense that the pandemic is something which demands serious–but not overwrought–attention, which is more the case here than elsewhere.
All things considered, Mexico in general, and lakeside in particular, remains the place for us to be in this Annus Horribilis of 2020.