For Theo and Romina, a Canadian couple, living part time in Playa had been a dream for years and each year they kept coming back during the same months, spending thousands of dollars on hotels, villas and condos at times, they would come by theirselves or with family other times.
Back in 2013, they contacted All About Playa through facebook to get more info about things to do in the area, then as we gave them tips, it turns out they had a little extra time on their hands and wanted to look at property, We sent them to see the guys at American Realty, right on 5th avenue, they spent a few days looking at property, fell in love with a house and bought it!
Since they have bought, they spend half of the year in Playa! enjoying different types of activities, they even bought a car here and drive around the area to explore new places!
Now they spend slightly less than half the year in Playa and just over half the year in Alberta, Canada, to maintain their Canadian tax status and healthcare.
For them, this is the perfect situation. It lets them spend plenty of time with friends and family in Canada in the summer and over the holidays, and plenty of time in the Maya sunshine in spring and fall, while avoiding most of the long Canadian winters and the hottest part of the summer in Playa. They often leave Alberta in a snowstorm. hopping on the plane saying good bye to those cold winters and endless times of shoveling snow!
As Romina says, “We love Canada. Our family is there. We’re always in Canada over the summer. It’s a lovely time of year. Then we shorten our winters by spending time here in Playa. And we go back to Canada at Christmas to see family again. Really, we have the best of both worlds.”
The couple enjoys the great weather, long walks, and their current location right in the heart of the Riviera Maya. They also love that the Cancun Airport is so accessible!
“We do things differently here because the pace of life is different,” says Romina. “I do groceries every couple of days. I walk to one store for fresh fuits and to a nice bakery on 5th to get nice croissants. I could do my groceries the way I do them in Canada, but we want to walk and see people. We love to walk on 5th avenue for coffee (they have great coffee beans in Mexico) and pastries. It’s a very different pace of life here and there’s always somewhere to go and something to do.”
The cost of living in the Playa is so much lower that their costs in Canada, with property taxes being super low, along with day-to-day things like wine costing far less.
“We even know expats who have gotten cancer and decided to stay in Playa for their treatment. You’d think you’d want to go back to your home country—that you’d feel more comfortable there—but they stay here, instead. That’s how good it is and how much affordable it can be.”
We wanted to share their experience to highlight how great our beloved Playa is, how great it is to live here and how people that move here from all over the world see it!
