Expatriates. Downsizing by leaving the USA

If things completely go off the rails in the USA, you can leave.

In fact, you can leave even if things are OK here.

Erich Almasy and Cynthia Blanton

Today's guest post is from two college classmates who have lived much of their adult lives outside the U.S. They weren't protesting anything. They liked living in Toronto, where Erich Almasy had a job, and they chose to live in retirement in the Mexican city of San Miguel de Allende, a favorite place for U.S. expatriates. Erich and his wife Cynthia Blanton have settled into their new home and feel so comfortable there that they act as cultural ambassadors. They have written a guide to foods of Mexico and Cynthia maintains a blog site where she describes their lives in Mexico: https://cynthiablanton.blogspot.com

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Guest Post by Erich Almasy

Earlier this month, Cynthia and I celebrated twenty-five years of living outside the United States. We remain American citizens, file taxes, and just submitted our absentee ballots. We simply don’t want to live in the USA. There are four to five million American expatriates like us, with nearly 500,000 living in México. Why did we decide to abandon the place of our birth, upbringing, education, and work experience? It’s not simple.

When we met, long before JD Vance was born, we quickly determined we didn’t want children. For fifty-three years, we have enjoyed a very independent lifestyle. We had our own business so we could live where we wanted and travel extensively. We visited over 70 countries and saw cultures and perspectives different from our native land. In 1999, my company in New York City moved us to Canada; we were ready for a foreign adventure.

Canada is very similar yet very different from the U.S. Language (except for Quebec); entertainment and work experience are almost identical. Social attitudes, personality, and history are very different. When we got dual Canadian citizenship, the immigration judge cautioned the roomful of candidates who resembled a United Nations convention. He warned that, unlike the United States, Canada had never had a revolution, so we had to challenge our new government at every turn. I used to brag to native Canadians that they depended upon a benevolent government since their executive (prime minister) also ran the legislative branch and appointed the judiciary. I smugly asserted the superiority of the American system of checks and balances. It goes to show just how wrong you can be.

Canadians are notorious for being “nice.” They aren’t nicer, but they did build a social welfare state that retains a strong sense of capitalism and self-determination. Canadians overwhelmingly support a social safety net, universal health care, and low-cost education, even with higher taxes. I smiled when I first presented a health card, not a credit card, for my doctor’s visit.

Where to go after retiring? Health care was a major consideration. We tried Medicare and got two shocks. First, Medicare hit us with a penalty for our five years abroad when we had saved the United States government more than $30,000 (NOTE: Two-and-a-half years later, they apologized and refunded the penalty.) Second, we discovered our Medicare Advantage plan was a scam that would still cost us significant out-of-pocket amounts. We now self-fund our medical care and have excellent doctors here.

Location, housing, and social environment were also important. We avoided Trump while in Canada, but the divisiveness and anger we saw on our visits to the United States were disheartening. Nobody smiled! In 2020, we walked out of a Pennsylvania Walmart. Inside, we and the employees were the only people masked against COVID-19. Outside, the driver of a pickup truck yelled, “Fucking Democrats!” And, yes, I did check for an AR-15 in his gun rack. We had no “home” to return to in the U.S., and no place appealed. And then, we visited San Miguel de Allende.

I annoy people when I crow about the place we landed. It’s in the Mexican highlands near the country’s center. The climate is mild, with a year-round average temperature of 70°-80°. Many of the 180,000 people in the municipality live in countryside villages, but most of them are concentrated in the 500-year-old colonial center. We are the wedding capital of México, with couples coming from around México to marry in our 150-year-old parish church modeled after the Gothic cathedral in Köln, Germany. In fact, despite a large number of ex-pats (or “gringos”), we remain primarily a Mexican population, and 90% of the tourists who visit are Mexican.

Our excellent Spanish teacher is Warren Hardy, who also offers online programs. Warren’s initial class discussed the differences between Americans and Mexicans. He said Americans are primarily concerned with succeeding materially for themselves and their families. Many classify themselves as patriots who believe in American exceptionalism and America First! The model citizens are rugged individuals who pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Many Americans seem desperate, living on the edge financially and afraid of losing their health care if they lose their jobs. There is so much anger and fear about racial minorities, immigrants, and political opponents.



Mexicans are focused on family above all. Mexican children are doted upon until the age of twelve. Old people are revered, and the Day of the Dead, our November 2nd remembrance of family members who have passed, is our national holiday. Above all, people are happy with much less. Walking down our cobblestone streets is an adventure in smiles, as everyone says Buenos días, meaning “May you have good days.” We frequently ride the town bus, where the children are clean, immaculately dressed, and beribboned. Being 6’6” tall, I attract much attention, and the children’s smiles and giggles make my day.

When we came here five years ago, we stopped watching the American nightly news, and our stress levels plummeted. Most of all, we began to make friends, some Mexican, mostly ex-pats. Cynthia calls this “summer camp for seniors” because there are endless cultural and volunteer activities. On our first visits to local restaurants, we were struck that people at nearby tables would unilaterally start conversations with us. Everyone carries calling cards so they can exchange numbers and addresses. We had never experienced anything like this, even in “nice” Canada.

We are not deluded about the violence and criminal corruption in México. So far, we have been immune to it; in an equal amount of time in San Francisco in the 70s, we had our house and two cars broken into. Health care is excellent and inexpensive, with some of the best practitioners we have ever seen. Canada and México are, to a large extent,dependent on the U.S. If America sneezes (i.e., has a recession), both countries will get sick. However, I am convinced that Americans, including myself, are not better than people I have met in other countries, many of whom seem much happier. Perhaps our values changed, so we no longer felt included in the United States. Did we abandon America, or did America abandon us?

Erich Almasy and Cynthia Blanton

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