Mexico Newsletter —
October 2023

Your monthly Mexico newsletter is filled with inspiration, meaningful knowledge, helpful connections, and tips for better living, lifestyle, and leisure in Mexico.

Autumnal air leading up to key festivals

An unmistakable transition from summer to autumn can be felt across Mexico during October, as temperatures cool along the coastal plains and lowlands, and early mornings and evenings begin to feel distinctly crisp or sharp at higher elevations.

The rainy season on the mainland typically ends around early November, although plenty of moisture remains in the ground for a while after, keeping the foliage green and the dust settled before the dry season makes itself apparent across most of Mexico’s landscape—usually by mid-December.

Since most of Mexico stopped observing ‘Daylight Savings Time,’ nightfall arrives sooner on the evening clock, although as we have often remarked in these pages overall daylight hours remain long all year, and the light here is extraordinary.

Europe moves its clocks back again by one hour on Sunday, October 29, and the US & Canada move its clocks back by one hour on Sunday November 5, 2023.

Our Mexico Cost of Living guide, presented in a series of articles, has been thoroughly revised and updated.  We’ve also published a detailed summary article about the process to apply for residency in Mexico, a new article about the rules for driving foreign-plated cars here, and added some helpful updates to our guide about importing your personal goods.

You can read more about clock changes, living costs, residency and more in this month’s Lifestyle & Leisure notebook.

Looking ahead, Day of the Dead festivities, which culminate on November 1st and 2nd, mark one of the most important events on Mexico’s cultural calendar.  This year, the dates fall midweek but that won’t deter children calling door-to-door around their local neighborhoods during late October asking for their Calaverita to be fed.  Remember to stock up on some sweet treats!

As each year unfolds in Mexico, September always feels like a pivotal month and a portal to the autumn season that takes hold during October and furnishes some of the most remarkable weeks of the year to experience the wonder and magic of these extraordinary lands.

Whether Mexico is your home, a place for your future home, or you’re just planning a visit, the pages of this website are composed to help you discover, explore and connect with ideas and people who can help you form something outstanding.

Wishing you well as autumn steps in and your plans and activities take shape!

Matthew Harrup is founder and editor of Mexperience.

Mexico Lifestyle & Leisure Notebook
October 2023

Enjoy highlights of hand-picked articles that have been recently added or updated, and gems from our archives.

Autumn season, clocks and time zones

The autumn equinox on September 23rd heralded the start of autumn in the northern hemisphere and although most of Mexico doesn’t move its clocks its two close neighbors to the north do—and so many people living in Mexico need to make adjustments to their schedules to accommodate.

We recently revised and updated our article about Mexico’s Seasonal Clock changes—and with special thanks to Richard Lang in Oaxaca for his very thoughtful and detailed email that brought several important points to our attention.

Residency procedures and managing your card

Several readers emailed us this last summer asking about renewing an expired residency card.  If you’re a temporary resident, or have minor children whose permanent residency cards need renewing periodically, fall is a good time to check yours and your family’s cards’ expiry dates.  Expired residency cards can be renewed in some cases, but be prepared to dance with lots of paperwork. Our associate can help, if you need assistance.

Managing your Mexico residency card

Learn more about the differences between Temporary and Permanent residency, and learn about the renewal rules and process for temporary residency cards.  If your residency card has expired, read this. If your card is lost or damaged, read this.

Cost of Living in Mexico

Our detailed information about the cost of living in Mexico has been thoroughly revised and updated.  The PDF eBook has been substituted with a series of online articles that make the information easier to digest and share, and enables us to update it swiftly.

There’s a lot of information online about the cost of living in Mexico with some sites quoting specific amounts of money you need to live here.

Our guides take a different approach, recognizing that living costs are based on our life stage, lifestyle, and key choices we make, so the guides we present help you to form a budget based on your individual circumstances and connect you to resources that publish real-time pricing information.

Driving in Mexico: helpful updates

Whether you bring your foreign-plated car to Mexico, or drive a Mexican-plated car, the extensive guides and articles we publish can help you to plan your journey and prepare for the road ahead.

Autumn leisure time in Mexico

Autumn is the ideal season to step outdoors and enjoy the outstanding experiences Mexico offers for your leisure and cultural enjoyment.

The Monarch Butterflies return to the Oyamel fir tree forests situated in the mountains west of Mexico City, and if you’ve been intending to witness this extraordinary natural phenomenon (or return to see it again!) our travel associate can help you plan your visit.

As the rains pass, it’s a perfect time to take a walking tour of Mexico City, and our associate David Lida can create a customized tour for you or your small group.

Our associates can also help with custom tours to experience Mexico’s Copper Canyon on what is one of the world’s most extraordinary train journeys; if you like wine, consider a custom tour of the Baja wine region.

We are working with associates to bring more custom tours to you starting this fall and we’ll announce these in forthcoming newsletters.

Mexico Lifestyle Planning & Home Life

Mexperience offers you extensive and comprehensive information, ideas, and local knowledge when you’re planning a move to Mexico, and afterward when you’re settling-in and cultivating your lifestyle here.

Lifestyle plans: Our section on Mexico Lifestyle Planning is packed with helpful information to help you consider your situation and make informed choices and decisions about what a lifestyle might look and feel like for you, your partner, and your family in Mexico.

Wholesome home: Interwoven with that is our Mexico Home Life section that shares valuable insights and local knowledge to help you settle-in, adapt and cultivate your day-to-day living arrangements here.

Interwoven with those you’ll find countless articles and guides to help you delve deeper and discover Mexico more fully—whether you’re planning a move, a recent arrival to these lands, or a seasoned resident.

Learning or improving your Spanish this autumn

Our PinPoint Spanish series is extensive and offers practical insights into the usage and nuances of Mexican Spanish in everyday situations and conversations. To accelerate your learning, connect with one of our associates that offer Spanish language learning and join a course to help you become more agile in your everyday Spanish conversations.

Property matters

Regardless of where in Mexico you choose to live, you’ll need to find a place to dwell, and the range of choices and home types is enormous in Mexico, from simple rustic casitas to luxury mansion homes situated in a city or the countryside—and everything in-between.

Our articles and guides about real estate in Mexico cover all the bases, whether you rent or buy a house, and for owners there is a great depth of local knowledge about buying, owning, insuring, renting-out, maintaining, and eventually selling your house in Mexico.

Getting well and staying well in Mexico

Health care and medical insurance is one of the most common concerns people have when thinking about moving to Mexico.  There are choices for those seeking health and medical coverages for long term stays in Mexico, including a state-run program, private health insurance, and medical evacuation insurance.

Discover and experience more of Mexico

Mexperience helps you discover Mexico and experience the wide range of opportunities available here for lifestyle and leisure.

Mexico Lifestyle

Whether you’re considering a move to Mexico, in the throes of moving here, and even if you’re already here and considering ways to reformulate your current situations, our Mexico lifestyle planning articles and eBooks provide invaluable help and local knowledge:

• Lifestyle Planning articles and updates
• Mexico Home Life updates—practical insights for daily living
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Latest updates and real estate and property in Mexico
• Browse the latest updates about Spanish language study

Mexico Leisure

Whether you’re visiting Mexico or living here, there’s an abundance of travel and leisure options for you to explore and experience.

• Browse the latest Travel & Leisure updates
• Guides: Colonial Cities, Beaches, Pyramids, Big Cities, Nature
• Discover custom travel tours of Mexico

Mexico Essentials

Articles and insights about essential things you need to know as you make your Mexico lifestyle and leisure plans

• Latest Mexico Essentials insights
• Guides to transport and getting around in Mexico
• Insurance coverages for your Mexico lifestyle