Why We Left an Anthology of American Women Expats by Janet Blaser

Author:Janet Blaser
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2019-02-23T05:00:00+00:00

13. “Not Quite What I Expected”

Gwyn Higbee

San Felipe, Baja California

My story is one of losing control and learning to just go with the flow.

I was first introduced to San Felipe, Baja in 1997. My husband and I had just moved from Seattle, Washington to Tucson, Arizona. He had grown up in Southern California and spent a lot of time in Baja because he raced off-road. We made the seven-hour drive from Tucson to San Felipe that year.

My first time in Baja we stayed in a hotel and quickly learned that hotels in Mexico are not the same as in U.S. We had two rooms: one that had a heater but no hot water, and the other with hot water but no heat. (I’ve since learned that hot water is not always a guarantee at many hotels.) We explored the area, enjoyed the culture, met new people and overall were happy with our vacation and ready to do it again.

By 1999, we’d been coming to San Felipe frequently for a couple of years and were really starting to think about our future. We figured we usually spent a minimum of a few thousand dollars each year on vacations, and if instead we saved that money, in a few years we’d have enough to buy a small piece of property in Mexico and have our own place to go instead. Since my husband was in the construction business and very handy, we knew we could buy a fixer-upper and make it into whatever we wanted.

One day we were walking in the neighborhood and noticed a house for sale. We called the realtor and asked to look at it. He met us the next morning and told us the previous owner had been widowed, was overdue on her HOA fees and would probably negotiate. So we thought, let’s make a ridiculously low offer and if she says no, so be it. We wrote up the contract, went to the beach and came back to our friend’s house for dinner. We walked in the door and she threw us a huge pile of keys and said “Congratulations, you’re a home owner!” The realtor had brought the keys to her to give to us. That was the beginning of our life in Baja.

The biggest thing that made San Felipe so affordable was the house. Our initial investment in our home was less than $10,000 USD. For that money we got a 480-square foot house with a 22-foot travel trailer, two solar panels, two batteries, a water tank and a septic tank, plus a year of HOA dues paid. We like to say that our house has been like a chia pet: We add money and it grows. Today we’ve grown from 480 sq. feet to 1,500 sq. feet, more than enough for a retirement home.

Our home is in a gated expat community that’s considered the largest solar community in North America. Yep, our house is 100% off-the-grid. If you’re not familiar with an off-grid solar

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