Into the Heart of Mexico: Expatriates Find Themselves Off the Beaten Path

by John Scherber

INTO THE HEART OF MEXICO: EXPATRIATES FIND THEMSELVES OFF THE BEATEN PATH For those who are thinking to retire in Mexico, the expatriate colonies in San Miguel de Allende and Lake Chapala are well known. For many Americans and Canadians coming south of the border to simply live or start a business abroad, the ability to tread a well-worn path is reassuring. Other folks who know the ropes are willing to help you get settled. But what if you're looking for an experience of Mexico undiluted by the presence of so many foreigners? This book reveals the stories of people who have moved to Mexico to retire or to work in places that have only small or hardly any support communities; in one case a place that is nearly a ghost town. Is this a different kind of expat? Does it require more independence of mind or only better Spanish? Find out here in their own words as you follow these conversations around the less well-traveled roads of Mexico off the beaten path.

280 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 2013

About the author

John Scherber, a Minnesota native, settled in México in 2007. He is the author of 15 Paul Zacher mysteries, (The Murder in México series), set in the old colonial hill town of San Miguel de Allende, as well as his three award-winning nonfiction accounts of the expatriate experience, San Miguel de Allende: A Place in the Heart, Into the Heart of Mexico: Expatriates Find Themselves Off the Beaten Path, and Living in San Miguel: The Heart of the Matter. In addition, two volumes of the Townshend Vampire Trilogy have appeared, and a paranormal thriller titled The Devil’s Workshop.
His work is known for its fast pace, irreverent humor, and light-hearted excursions into the worlds of art and antiques––always with an edge of suspense. Neither highbrow nor lowbrow, his books are written as entertainments and dedicated to the enjoyment of reading. While he has acknowledged being no single one of his characters, he also admits to being all of them.

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this report by an American expat living in San Miguel de Allende on other expats living in out of the way places in Mexico where there are far fewer expats. The people he interviewed were interesting and varied and for the most part had integrated far better into the Mexican culture than the majority of those expats who have written about their own lives in Mexico. Since that would be more my inclination, it was fun to imagine something more like their lifestyles if we ever move our expat life back to the Americas.