Start Here: The Controversial Newsletter for Expats & Nomads
The best posts to read first—plus the shortcuts if you want help.
If you’re new here, you’re probably in one of three situations.
You’re planning a move and trying to avoid the classic mistakes that cost people months.
You’re already in Mexico (or somewhere in Latin America) and realizing that simple tasks, renting, banking, paperwork, even basic customer service, don’t work the way you’re used to.
Or you came for the lifestyle side, and you’re learning that dating and social life feel easy in some ways, but confusing in others, because you’re reading the culture through the wrong lens.
The fastest way to get value from this Substack isn’t to scroll randomly.
I organized the best entry points in the order you actually experience them:
1) Residency and Legal posture
This is the base layer.
People treat residency like a formality. It isn’t. Your residency posture affects how long you can stay, how stable your housing situation is, how you open accounts, how you handle problems, and how seriously you’re treated when friction shows up.
If you’re building a real life here—not just doing a long vacation cosplay—start with these.
Politics and Operating environment
You don’t have to be a “political person” to get hit by political reality.
If you’re living abroad, politics shows up as enforcement, headlines, narratives, protests, immigration mood swings, border policy, cartel messaging, and periodic moments where the rules get rewritten.
These posts are the context layer. They’ll make the rest of the newsletter make more sense.
Travel and choosing your base
Your city choice determines your burn rate, your safety envelope, your dating market, your social ceiling, and your quality of life. A lot of foreigners make one bad base decision and spend the next year thinking “Mexico isn’t for me,” when really they chose the wrong ecosystem.
Start here if you’re deciding where to land, or if you already landed and it feels off.
Culture and Social class
LAtin America and Mexico have layers.
These posts give you the map.
Dating
Dating is the fastest feedback loop in Latin America.
These posts are the best starting points.
Optional: health, logistics, and “just tell me what to do”
Some readers like the long-form cultural lens.
Other readers want the shortest path to a workable life: where to go, what to do, what to avoid, and how to stop bleeding time.
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And if you want the shortcuts:
The Mexico Move Blueprint
Are you ready to swap the grind for a life of vibrant culture, year-round sunshine, and a lower cost of living? Moving to Mexico is an big move, but the red tape can be overwhelming.
If you’re new, read the residency section first and treat it like infrastructure. Then read politics so you understand what environment you’re actually in. After that, travel, culture, and dating become much easier to interpret.
Please don’t forget to like the article to boost it in the Substack algorithm.
Comment with where you’re based (or moving to) and what you want next: residency, money, culture, or dating.