Customer Reviews

Retirement Tales: Two Gringos Living in Mexico

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4 star:		(3)
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This book relates the experiences of one American couple who take the plunge and retire to Mexico. It is not a comprehensive guidebook to retirement south of the border, and readers looking for that kind of information would be well-served to look elsewhere. But even the best guidebooks often fail to give their readers a real "taste" of what day-to-day life will be like in their chosen retirement haven. So, if you're considering retirement in Mexico, it helps to have both a "guidebook" and "guide." Charlie Montemayor is a great guide! His tales, told with wry humor and equanimity, reveal the everyday obstacles and frustrations, but also the small insights and large rewards, of navigating in a culture not one's own. These tales, told in the author's distinctive voice, ring true. Recommended!

I loved this book because it gives anyone toying with the idea of relocating to Mexico the experiences of a real person who has done it and doesn't look back. Since I am in my early 40's, I view this as a great primer to plan with as well as being an informative "story" of how they went about it.

If you're looking for an A to Z how-to-do-it guide on moving to Mexico, keep looking. If you're looking for a more personal story of what life might be like south of the border, this is it. There are facts and figures on the cost of living and the logistics of moving and living in Mexico that are useful, but it's not really what this book is about.

This account of retired life in Guanajuato, taken from a series of newsletters to family and friends, is charming, thoughtful and uplifting. The author's warmth and humor comes across on every page, and his curiosity and keen observations make for interesting reading. Despite growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, with a Mexican cultural influence (his parents immigrated from Coahuila), Mr. Montemayor experienced frustrations in adjusting to some aspects of life south of the border, recounted with his usual droll asides. His reactions to Mexican life and his interactions with the people he meets offer good examples of successful cultural adjustment.

The book is self published, and it shows in that there are numerous grammatical and spelling errors. It could greatly benefit from professional editing. However, if you can get past that, there is a lot to like about this book.

This collection of anecdotes opens a window to what life in Mexico is really like for a retiree the way that the Move to Mexico guides aren't meant to. If the Guanajuato Chamber of Commerce has any positions open, they should consider Mr. Montemayor for a job. His book will make you want to move there!

As an American living in Mexico, I found "Retirement Tales" to be "right on"! It's a highly personal view of what it's like to live in Mexico and encounter the oftentimes amusing, sometimes frustrating, but always interesting cultural differences. Written with a wry humor, it provides practical and useful info on the people, places, foods, and customs. I would highly recommend it to anyone planning a visit to Mexico, and especially to those contemplating moving here.

I would venture a guess that the majority of people who would be interested in this book are people looking to retire to Mexico and they are looking for the real life experiences of someone who has done it. While Charlie Montemayor did move to Mexico this book is filled with silly stories, trivia and digressions that often became quite frustrating and tiresome to wade through. They are a compilation of letters sent to friends and relatives living back in the US and it reminds me of those shallow Christmas letters we receive summing up the writer's experiences for the year with cute little attempts at humor. Some interesting insights but very little concrete information....and a good editor should have told him to leave out the lame, liberal political humor. On Mexican Time did a much better job telling, in a personal way, one couples adventure in moving to Mexico.

Everyone must realize that not all authors will take the same slant on how to write their memoir book. And that is what Charlie's book is--a memoir of his experiences in Guanajuato--also my adopted Mexican town. Buy his book and get a taste of his perspective of his expat experience.

Doug Bower
Author, THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO