For us there are some obvious reasons, the large expat community will allow us to slowly immerse ourselves into a Spanish speaking country while still being able to get around in English, there is good infrastructure with international cuisine, theaters, medical care and a fabulous library with a vast English representation. It is close to Mexico City and Leon so we will have a travel hubs nearby and that will be important to us for our travel goals and getting back to the Bay Area when we need to. And of course to fly from for future travels. We love the look and feel of San Miguel with its relaxed atmosphere and beautiful cobblestone streets, courtyards and terraces and of course the Mexican people are warm and welcoming. Glenn has lived there before and we have visited several times since so we have a general lay of the land. When Glenn lived in San Miguel in 2005 there was mainly an older expat crowd. He was much younger and working all the time so he had a harder time fitting in and did not enjoy it to the full extent that we believe we will be able to this time. The expat community now is more varied and the age range is broader so we think this will make our transition easier. We have heard that San Miguel is getting more crowded; it has certainly been mentioned quite a bit in the travel industry, media and blogs as the place to be, so we are a bit worried about finding a comfortable home in our price range. But we also know that a choice of housing is available and with some work we should be able to find a place we can call our own and welcome friends to. San Miguel is a place to be outdoors, the Jardin is a hive of activity throughout the day but especially at night. It is always amazing to us at how the children run around free, their parents happy to have the community watch over them. The constant festivals and fiestas are both a source joy and a source of overload. The noise sometimes is hard to deal with so we hope to find a place a bit outside the absolute Centro but still within reasonable walking distance. With Glenn not working we will have the time to explore and walk a lot, as San Miguel is a walking town. This will also help with getting fit and keeping ourselves that way, a big goal for us. Sitting around at desks and in front of computers has made us soft, not how we want to be. A general lifestyle change in all respects is something we are looking forward to. We think we will find all of this in San Miguel de Allende. We have months before we get there and a lot of life changing challenges too go through. But time will go by quickly and before long we will be saying good-bye to the Bay Area and excitedly setting off to our new home.
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