Travelling Archives - Focus On Mexico

16 Tips to Maximize Your Visit to Lake Chapala

Coming to Lakeside on an Exploratory Visit? Here are some tips to help you maximize your stay. If you are looking at a possible move to the Lake Chapala area, we recommend two main steps. First, plan an exploratory trip to "kick the tires" and see what everyone is talking about. Just why is Lakeside the number one lifestyle destination for people moving full time to Mexico? The second step is to take our interactive online program - ideally before your visit. In this way you will know what you are looking to confirm and can make your visit more than just a pleasant vacation. There … [Read more...]

Top 8 Reasons Retirees Move to Lake Chapala

So you've worked hard for years and can finally look at retiring! That's great! But where will you live? For some people, getting out of the rat race and enjoying a much better quality of living for far less money is more than wishful thinking, it's their reality and one of the many reasons Lake Chapala is one of the top retirement destinations in the world. This article lays out what I feel are the top reasons why you too should consider Lake Chapala as a retirement destination. For the sake of brevity, I'm going to limit this to eight reasons why people fall in love with--and choose to … [Read more...]

Wide Eyed Mexico

While visiting Lakeside you may want to take a tour of the area with one of the expert local tour companies/guides. There are several excellent tour experiences available depending on your interests. In this post, we interview Carlos Martinez, co-founder of a new tour company called Wide Eyed Mexico formed by long term Jalisco residents with extensive travel expediente throughout the world. Please describe Wide Eyed Mexico for our readers. Wide Eyed Mexico is a very distinct tour company offering private off the beaten track custom tours for groups of 6 to 10 people who are family or … [Read more...]

A Focus Alumna in Morelia

A few months ago we gave an overview of Morelia, Michoacan in the post Focus on Morelia. On a recent return trip to Morelia, we met Maureen, a Focus alumna who recently moved to Morelia from Lakeside. She graciously agreed to sit down for an interview about her life, Focus, and Lakeside experiences and her move to Morelia. We met for morning coffee at a charming downtown cafe/restaurant where the Morelia expats meet for a monthly coffee and have set up a small English lending library. Please tell our readers a little about your background and how you came to Mexico. I grew up in Southern … [Read more...]

How to Bring Your Vehicle into Mexico

Applying for a Vehicle Permit Online You can apply for your temporary vehicle import permit on-line through the Banjercito Bank after reviewing the requirements outlined in this post. Foreigners are only allowed to temporarily import one vehicle into Mexico. Why Only Temporary Importation? All foreign vehicles can only be imported into Mexico on a temporary basis. Foreign cars cannot be nationalized and must be taken out of the country after four years. For this reason if you are moving to Mexico on a long-term basis it is not a good idea to bring a new vehicle of any kind into the … [Read more...]