What is going on Members of the Barrio
It's Jon coming to you from Ajijic
Which is on Lake Chapala
The largest freshwater lake in all of Mexico
And I have found out one of the most popular retirement destinations
In the world
For Americans, Canadians, and British people
I've been so curious about this place
I want to find out exactly what it is.. About this lake..
That draws people from all over the world
To spend time here
And we are at an awesome hotel right now called Real de Chapala
It had the highest rankings on Trip Advisor
That's the reason I chose it
And before we head to town.
I want to show you guys around a little bit
And Adriana is going to be giving you a tour of the room
Alright Adriana you're going to be the tour guide
Are you excited to explore Lake Chapala?
Of course it looks so beautiful guys.Let me show you
And give you a tour
This is our room which has beautiful light
And it has two full size beds
Which is good because Jon can sleep there
And I can sleep there
It has this table
Where we can work
It has this lazy guy.. here
I love this couch because I like to sit on my computer
But I don't like to be on the bed so..
I love it
It's really cool
Like touch here
And my favorite part
We have this view
That blue part you see there
Is the lake
Which looks beautiful
We have the pool which is warm
So we might jump in later
And we are going to show you more about this hotel
Alright lets go guys
Heck of a pool side view I must say
It's like 71 degrees right now
And I found it amusing that when we checked in here
All the hotel staff was wearing heavy jackets
And all of the guests at the hotel were wearing short sleeves
I could even go for short sleeves right now
Now that I've shown you around the hotel a little bit
It's about a 15 minute walk
To the malecon
To the heart of Ajijic
I really want to explore this area
We're going to at least walk there
Maybe take an uber back
Let's enjoy this walk
Instead of an Uber we can pay the horses 5 dollars to go to town
You want to do it?
No..
My first impressions as we get closer to the town
Is that everything is very well manicured
This is a very well put together town
I can see immediately it's pretty beautiful so far
I'm liking all of the colors
Very calm
I'm starting to dig this hippieish vibe of this town
Very very neat
A lot of cool murals
On the street walls
You know you are in an American town
Brunch
I've seen breakfast before
From Mexican towns
But i've never seen Brunch
We have reached the fabled Malecon here
And it is absolutely
Gorgeous
It's beautiful
Here's Jon flying baby drone
In that direction
Bye bye..
Bye
Baby drone
You know what I think we need to do guys
We need to find a resident here
Who is not from Mexico
And let's hear somebodys opinion
on why Ajijic is this amazing spot to retire?
There are many reasons why people come here
And want to stay here
Number one the weather
The weather is very very constant
It's certainly not like the weather in Canada
Another reason is the cost of living
Is quite cheap here
If you're on a retired income
You can live very well
The third reason is the medical
The medical is very good here
A lot of the doctors have been trained in the U.S or Europe
So they're very very qualified
The hospitals are like hotels
Okay
It's a very friendly environment down here
Lots of friends that you can make
Lots of activities
Lots of fundraisers
You could be busy every night of the week
If you want to be
Alright thank you so much for helping me out with that
That interview was actually unplanned
I was looking for somebody, Syliva just happened to be sitting on the Malecon
I asked here if she would talk to us about the experience of being retired here.
I thought her answers were so interesting to me
Because i'm living in Mexico for 4 months
As a digital nomad
There are some similarities I suppose
Between being a retired person in Mexico
And being someone who just works remotely here
But something she told me off camera
That really resonated with me
Is that when you come to Mexico
As a foreigner
Especially as someone from the United States or Canada
You are used to service being super quick
You are used to everything being exactly the way you want it
Back home
But here the pace of life
Is much slower
And she said there's people that get used to it
And there's people that don't get used to it
After living in Mexico for now close to 3 months..
I'm definitley getting used to it
And in some ways it's actually healthier
Because you have to slow down.. your pace of life to be happy
This is the biggest antique shop I've ever been to before
It just keeps going
Cuidado la cabeza, esta suelta
I think it means the heads cut off
Guys I didn't break this
He came like this
For 90 dollars you can have a japanese made radio
That store was called Bazaar Barbara
And it is quite bizarre
All the things they have in there
Not to play on words
That place is really really cool
Check them out
When you come to Ajijic
We just randomly stumbled in
Now we're going to show you The main square
Which i've heard is quite pretty
Actually 90% of my customers are Canadian or American
Definitley a lot more culture from the U.S.A and Canada
In some of these shops
We just went to that really cool hot dog place
Which is themed like a shack
The owner even told me.. that the reason that place exists is for the foreigners to feel more at home
He said 90% of his customers are not from Mexico
Check this place out
And we've got Lake Burgers
Now you feel at home?
I feel at home now, yes.
Something that I noticed here
And it's quite nice
And I don't know it makes me feel happy.. and excited
This is a very Mexican square
But even though you see all these Americans.. or Canadians walking around
Like this is there home..
So it's a contrast.
I don't know.. I like it..
It's interesting
I was thinking the exact same thing
Becaues this is your typical square in a Mexican city
All around us
Vendors..
But it's populated by a lot of ex-pats here
Which is really unique
I've been absolutely blown away
By the cool street art in this city
The school which has skulls on the outside
And then across we have..
A church
Members of the Barrio
Honestly.. I did not want to like.. Ajijic
I hadn't really done much research on it
I thought it would be super touristy
Like Cancun
I know there are a ton of retired Americans.. Canadians.. British people living here..
But I think they're onto something.. Seriously..
All the people I saw..
I interacted with.. I walked by..
In this town
They looked super happy
Super relaxed
I feel like they're trying to become
A greater part of the community here
That lady Sylvia was telling me
That she's involved in a lot of volunteer things
And the other people here are as well
If you're watching this video
And you're of a retirement age
Maybe you could consider Mexico
And who knows maybe in 30 or 40 years
I could be retired..
To a spot like this
I hope you guys enjoyed
All of the footage from Ajijic
We've got one more episode coming up from Lake Chapala
So make sure to check that one out as well
When it comes out
Make sure to subscribe to this channel
If you are new here
Thank you so much for watching
Until next time