The Dream Begins .........

My name's Barbara Naisby and I'm starting this blog as my hubby, Dave, and I reach the final stages of our preparation to leave the UK for our new retirement adventure - living in Mexico.

Some say we're mad, some say we're brave but the vast majority of people tell us they're just pure jealous!

I guess we've always been a bit crazy, relentlessly pursuing business dreams which many thought we're impossible to achieve but which we just knew could be attained - like setting up a membership only, referral only dental practice in the middle of a field, four miles from the nearest bus stop and inviting our clients to visit us on horseback. Bonkers? Not really; just different and creating stories people could tell about a mad dentist who chose a very different and relaxed way of practising dentistry. As this blog isn't about our dental lives, you can read the full story (if you're interested!) at
http://www.paddilund.com/content/view.asp?name=SuccessProfiles

Our home & dental practice in Culbokie, Scotland

As retirement approached and business adventures were no longer our priority, we decided we'd quite like to embark on a really different lifestyle. Having been tied to the business by on call schedules and our clients needs, we'd rarely managed to go on holiday for more than one week at a time so it was time to spread our wings a bit ...... mainly via the internet at first to find some areas of interest.

We looked at Ecuador, Costa Rica and Belize and then discovered a little known place in Mexico called Lake Chapala which just happens to have the second best climate in the world (Kenya taking first place). The more research we did, the more forums we found, the more interested we became and so in May 2012 we set off on our first trip to Ajijic, Lake Chapala.

If this small place had attracted our interest online, it succeeded in capturing our hearts in real life. The old way of families caring for each other, the kindness we were shown as obvious incomers by Mexicans and expats alike could not have been any more attractive. And then there are the colours! Everywhere you look, colour just leaps out at you, the flowers, the walls of the houses, murals on the street walls, the clothes - I could go on and on!


We took the local buses everywhere and despite our rusty Spanish language skills we got on fine because the local people just love it when you try to speak the language (I'm happy to say our Spanish skills are much improved now!)

Back home, we decided to book ourselves onto the Focus on Mexico programme for prospective immigrants in 2013 which was the best money we've ever spent. The seminars, information packs, home tours, mentoring and much more have paved the way for us to prepare ourselves for emigration to Mexico. www.focusonmexico.com

It's now November 2014 and by the end of this month we'll be starting our retirement dream in Ajijic, Mexico