Quality of Life

Sep 23

Frugal Living Abroad – A Better Life For Half The Price

Posted by T.W. Anderson | Live Like a Local, Mexico, Negotiation, Quality of Life, Traveling Tips | 4 Comments

It was confusing as hell when I was at TBEX a few weeks back, because there happen to be two of us named Tim who live in Mexico. Myself, obviously, but for those of you weren’t aware of it, renowned travel writer Tim Leffel also happens to be based out of Mexico, although he’s far more north and west of where we are in Palenque. He currently lives in Guanajuato with his family.

Along with being in the industry for well over a decade and authoring the World’s Cheapest Destinations book as well as running the associated blog, he also heads Perceptive Travel. Earlier in 2013, he and I got to talking in emails and Skype about a few things related to living in Mexico and the whole “cutting your cost of living into a fraction of what it was in the U.S.”. Read More

Apr 06

The Scare Of My Life

Posted by T.W. Anderson | Mexico, Playa del Carmen, Quality of Life | 30 Comments

On the off chance you weren’t keeping up to date on our Facebook page, the last week was a nightmare.

It started off on Tuesday afternoon, March 25th. Cristina and I were out for an evening jog and roughly five minutes in she was doubled over in agonizing pain, barely able to walk. We made it back home over a 30 minute time period, me basically carrying her as she hobbled step by painful step. I wanted her to visit the doctor but she said not to worry, took a couple of Advil and it passed within a few hours.

However, the next day the pain was still there. Dull and throbbing, but still there. She spent all day in bed. Then Thursday in bed. And in the afternoon around 4:30 she got up to take a shower. She finished, and I was working on the laptop when I heard crying coming from the bedroom. I went to investigate and found her in bed, doubled up in pain again, this time in full-blown emergency mode.

She took a couple of Advil and then we went straight to the hospital (we almost NEVER take pills; the pain was intense enough for her to even consider taking something). Read More

Mar 24

Adventures In Frugal Living Abroad – The Cost of Living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Posted by T.W. Anderson | Live Like a Local, Mexico, Playa del Carmen, Quality of Life | 12 Comments

Welcome to our ongoing series, Adventures In Frugal Living Abroad. Our goal, above and beyond finding some of the cheapest destinations on the planet, is to show you how to get the most for your dollar while living in developing countries and cities around the world. Follow along as we uncover the bottom-dollar prices and local secrets that help your money go as far as possible. Read More

Jan 16

On Turning 34, Living Abroad, Finding Love, Enlightenment, and Never Looking Back

Posted by T.W. Anderson | enlightenment, Freedom, Human Evolution, Quality of Life | 26 Comments

This blog post isn’t one of our normal entries, focusing on entrepreneurship or travel. Instead, I wanted to take a moment to publicly reflect on the road thus far. What I’ve learned along the way, the personal journey, where I was when I left, where I am now, what happened in between, some of the lessons I hope have led me to become a better person, a smarter businessman, and hopefully, towards my Ultimate Destiny. Whatever that might be. Read More

Jan 13

How Living Abroad Made Me More Frugal

Posted by T.W. Anderson | Live Like a Local, Quality of Life, Traveling Tips | 33 Comments

(Or Becoming the Cheap Bastard My Friends Love to Tease)

One of the recurring themes throughout all of my publications (and most other “how to live a life abroad” posts, articles and books by other travel bloggers) is how to live cheaply. I’ve talked about it in regards to transportation, in regards to open markets, in regards to negotiating for accommodations, using discount days at the supermarkets, discount days at restaurants, and two for one days at the movie theaters.

I’ve picked up a lot of these habits over the years, which have led me to leading a frugal, down-to-earth existence where I don’t purchase things unless they are absolutely necessary, and even then, only doing so if I can get the best deal…even if I can afford to buy it at full price. Consequently, this has also led to me becoming known as the “cheap bastard” to some of my friends, and the “white Mexican” to others, and “mexicano” to my wife and Mexican family/friends. Read More