No Need for Latin America When Americans Got Texas & Florida

Why do Americans come to Latin America?

It makes no sense!

What are they looking for?

America has it all.

Do you desire a low cost of living?

Well, trailer parks in Alabama are cheap.

So are small, destitute towns in rural Indiana.

And if the cost of living is too high there, you can always build a remote cabin in Montana like Ted Kaczynski.

We got plenty of cheap areas in the US for those craving that minimalist lifestyle.

Want snow like in Punta Arenas?

Try New York City.

Want nice and warm weather?

You can go to California, Texas, Florida, etc.

What about the sex tourists who got a Latina fetish?

Well, the US has plenty of Latinas to satisfy those guys. No problem!

And, for those who appreciate all things Latin America beyond sex, does the US offer any Latino culture & food?

Of course!

In fact, we have Latinos from all of Latin America living in our country.

To be fair, a vast majority of them tend to be Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Salvadorian, Cuban, Dominican, Colombian Puerto Rican and Venezuelan.

But we got other nationalities not commonly talked about – the Nicaraguans, Bolivians and Paraguayans.

Doing a quick Google search, I can find restaurants that offer the food of all three nations above.

You got yerba mate sold in some supermarkets in the US.

And, even if you have trouble finding a bar in the US that plays very specific traditional Latin music, like punta from Nicaragua, you at least have the internet to satisfy your need to listen to Punta.

I do it all the time!

It’s a secret of mine that every night at 1:30 AM, I turn the lights off, pour some rum and drink it straight while listening to this here.

Good vibes. Good vibes.

And, if that’s not enough for you, you can always live in some part of the US that is close to Latin America allowing easy flights down to get your fix of Punta or whatever else from time to time.

So no need to live in Latin America!

….Is that true?

The Illogical Nature of Americans in Latin America

In all seriousness, it’s an argument that I have heard once in a blue moon.

It sometimes is indirectly referenced by family or other people you know back in the US who think you could get some of the same things back home like you could down here.

First, let’s take low cost of living.

I’ve heard the same argument before that “in Iowa, they got low cost of living. Why not return home?”

The problem though with that argument is home is a small town versus one of the largest cities in Latin America.

Funny enough, I have heard people say that “it makes no sense to live down there. Other areas of the US have low cost of living like Alabama.”

OK but I don’t want to live in Alabama.

The truth is that, as I’ve said many times already on this blog, is that you do generally get a better bang for your buck down here.

And that bang for your buck doesn’t have to involve living in small towns with nothing to do.

To compare my cost of living in Mexico City to the US, you’d have to compare it to basically New York City.

And there’s not many people living an alright life in NYC on somewhere between 500 to 1,000 bucks a month.

Or you can compare what you get in other cities like how much you can pay for a house in Queretaro as you can see here.

Second, you have the argument about food and culture for example.

Being honest, I almost kinda agree with this point but not entirely.

Yes, you have Latin Americans of every country living in the US and bringing their culture with them up there.

But the vast majority of them, depending on where you live, come from very specific nations.

I suppose the person who craves Nicaraguan culture is probably going to be disappointed compared to the person who wants to enjoy Mexican culture.

And, on top of that, you do genuinely get more of a taste of “Mexican” culture by living in Mexico than a neighborhood with Mexicans in the US obviously.

There are things that come with living down here that you couldn’t do in the US.

Like travel and see historical areas, appreciate actual cities in Mexico, try certain types of Mexican food that might be harder to find up north, etc.

And that’s for Mexico – as I said, I imagine maybe it would be harder for someone passionate about the culture of less represented Latin nations?

So, while I get the argument of what they are saying, I don’t entirely agree with it.

Third, you got sex tourists.

On this one, I also kinda agree with what people are saying but not entirely.

I don’t personally think it’s a smart thing to live in Latin America with all of the challenges that come just because you want pussy.

Now, if you just travel to Latin America on occasional visits to fuck prostitutes or normal Tinder chicks, then I get it.

I personally don’t judge people for their vices but I can at least get the logic here because the fact is you do have countless men (and some women) who find their sexual or dating options better down here than up there.

So it is what it is.

I do agree though that obviously the US has plenty of Latinas if said individual wanted a real relationship than just fuck a random prostitute.

Taking that into consideration, it might not make as much logical sense for the individual to live in Latin America but it honestly depends on what they want, if they have anything else driving them to live in Latin America and if they are actually intending to live here and not just visit.

Fourth, you got the argument about warm weather and beaches.

This is true.

The US has beaches and warm weather.

No argument from my end.

Fifth, you got the argument that someone could just live in the south of the US and enjoy their occasional flight south of the border.

I understand that logic completely.

Makes perfect sense.

Granted, if you absolutely want to live in Latin America for whatever combination of reasons, then go for it.

But I can see the benefits here – continue to live in the US with strong Latino culture where you can have some of the benefits of being up there (higher paying jobs, easier for family to visit you, likely safer, etc) while taking that trip down south for whatever purpose.

Being honest, I’ve considered that possibility but I just don’t pull the trigger.

Why not?

The Reasons of the Individual

There can be numerous reasons for why someone lives in Latin America that might be part of what we already discussed or include other motivations.

First, some people choose a life in Latin America because they want to reconnect with their Latino roots (some person born and/or raised in the US that wants to go back to the country of their heritage).

Second, a select few are oddly satisfied being the sex tourists and that truly gives them all they want in life. Maybe some retired person in their 60s with nothing left to do but drink and fuck prostitutes. If someone is happy living such a life, then cool. Not my problem.

Third, the low cost of living and better bang for your buck are really some of the bigger motivations for why people come here. You can’t really overestimate it in my opinion.

Fourth, you got those who are escaping Covid restrictions. Whatever your opinion is on the vaccine, that’s just how is it today. You got plenty who don’t want to be forced to take it and live a life somewhere where you can more or less live normally without many or any restrictions. Over the last year or two, this has been a bigger motivation on a lot of people.

Fifth, some people just want to travel and remote work has made it easier for them! They might not spend their whole lives in Latin America but very well might spend years or even a decade and more.

Sixth, some people found their way down here without any intention of being here permanently but ultimately chose to not return for whatever reason.

Perhaps they fell in love and married a local who doesn’t want to live in the US?

Maybe they just realized that they really like the flow of life down here. Took a job that relocated them oversees and found out they liked it.

So on and so on!

Of course, there likely are many other reasons that I didn’t address and likely don’t know about because I don’t have the story of every single gringo who lives in Latin America.

For myself, I can summarize why I live here. 

First, I found a way to leave Iowa at 18 and travel Latin America for 2 years. 

Enjoyed traveling and saw how my quality of life was better abroad than back home. 

Came to Mexico City to keep on doing that.

Beyond that, I’d also say that I am “just used to it.”

Which is a huge factor also. 

Most of my friends are here in Mexico City now. Most have drifted away back home and my family doesn't talk with each other much. So not many social reasons to be back. 

And I'm used to life in Latin America and the flow of life here after getting close to a decade here. 

For those specific states like Texas, I simply have no knowledge or interest in those states while I have a lot more experience in Latin America. 

So why do I live here? 

I enjoy the quality of life that I can have here relative to back home and I’m comfortable and used to it with most of my friends here. Even if I travel again, I’ll likely come back for visits.

Anyway, that’s all I got to say.

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Thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Matt