Entrepreneur Expat
On this podcast, we connect entrepreneurial expats and aspiring expats together to build a global community of adventurous entrepreneurs. Each week we bring you a new podcast where we share our expat adventures and highlight 6 and 7 figure expat entrepreneurs on how they run a business from anywhere in the world.
Entrepreneur Expat
Expat Stories: Almost Retired In Mexico with Brighton West
👉 Book a Mexico Relocation Consult: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/consult
👉 Need to start creating a location independent business so you can go anywhere in the world? Get started with our Get Your First High Paying Client Online Bootcamp: https://entrepreneurexpat.com/firstclient-yt
👉 Want to learn how to move to Mexico in the next 12 months? If so, click here https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/mexico
V I D E O S T O W A T C H N E X T :
Online Business Tips to Working and Traveling In Mexico: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGH0voCyOc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j&index=2
Moving to Mexico: 10 Reasons Why We Chose to Live in Guadalajara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK23vD8_xjc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_LAY7UV78YMgms-f2e1UcwN&index=23
Tips for Moving Overseas: Top 5 Remote Work Skills That Make Money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzjCrlNAL8&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j
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Inquiries: community@entrepreneurexpat.com
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Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Entrepreneur Expat. Today I am joined by Brighton, who is the founder of the YouTube channel, almost retired in Mexico, that Amanda and I have been following for quite some time. Uh, he makes some really good content for that niche of people that maybe aren't quite the, the youngins in their twenties and thirties like I guess we are, although we're. We consider ourselves old souls here, um, but also not quite retired in Mexico that are still doing stuff, um, but looking to lay low a little bit. Enjoy life and, uh, live really what's a, what's a semi-retired type of lifestyle. So thank you so much for joining us here, Brighton.
Brighton West:Awesome. Thank you so much for, for inviting me onto your channel.
Justin Keltner:So I'd love it if you could tell us first a little bit about your story and how it is that you ended up in Mexico. You're down in La Paz now, is that correct?
Brighton West:Yes. So I'm in La Paz, which is about two hours north of Cabo. That's something people typically know on the, uh, on the Baja Peninsula down near, near the, uh, the end of it. And, uh, the story is, is actually pretty simple of how we ended up here. We lived in Portland, Oregon, and we still live in Portland, Oregon for six months out of the year for the summer months when the, when the weather is nice.
Justin Keltner:That's you and your wife?
Brighton West:wife? Yes, me and my wife, yep. And our two dogs. So. We were spending a couple months every winter in San Diego because in Portland it rains a lot. My wife is a consultant, so she can work from anywhere. I run my own business so I can work from anywhere. And so we would go down to, to San Diego, which was, you know, probably the most expensive place that we could think of to go and, and paid outrageous amounts to Airbnb for a nice little, you know, two bedroom apartment, like, you know, a block or two from the beach. So we loved it. But for my wife's birthday, I said, let's go to Mexico. Let's, let's just take a trip. The Tijuana airport is right there on the border with a great bridge over to the San Diego side. So it's really super, super easy. And so we chose La Paz because it was a cheap, cheap flight. I think it was like a hundred dollars round trip. And we had never heard of La Paz. I had seen it on a blog post that someone had done up in Portland. Uh, someone had come down, I think for Christmas. That same year and, and wrote about, Hey, there's this place in La Paz. It's got this cool Malone and I, and they had some pictures of it and I was like, this, this place sounds good. My wife and I are adventurous travelers, so we're like, let's just try this place called La Paw that we'd never heard of. So we got here, I think it was a Sunday when we got here. Sunday nights is just magical on the Malone. Malone is like the boardwalk along the water along the Bay of La Paws and there were just families out and there was music and food and just. So just an amazing place. We were like, wow, we would, this would be a great place to live. Let's get a real estate agent just to kind of see what shows up. So we got a real estate agent and the first house that he showed us, we bought, and
Justin Keltner:Wow. You move. Move fast. Right?
Brighton West:So fast, right? We moved very fast. That is not typical of us at all. We are typically very slow moving people, but I think part of it was we were living in San Diego. Prices were. You know, over a million dollars for a shack anywhere near the beach, and we got a house for$160,000 on the beach. So. You know, it was, it had been abandoned for five years, so it was, it needed a little love, but we were kind of like, wow, you know, we're gonna kick ourselves if we don't do this. And if we do it, and it was a bad investment. I mean, 160,000 to lose$160,000 would hurt. I, I mean, don't get me wrong, but it wouldn't destroy our retirement. It wasn't like something where making a bad decision with$160,000 is going to like. Make us indigent. It was gonna make it so that we had to work another year or something like that. So we decided it was worth the risk. And I mean, quite frankly, it has paid off. Um, in, this was right before the pandemic that we put the offer down on the house and we moved in in December of the pandemic. It was great. Mexico was a great place to be During the pandemic. Everything is outside. Uh, the Mexican government was, was strict, but really. Really well calculated and it was really obvious how things were gonna work. So it was a great place to be. You could still go out to restaurants, you just had to be further apart from, uh, from other diners. And that was easy to do. And it was a great place to be during the pandemic. And now because of, uh, entrepreneurs that can be expats, the price of everything has gone up significantly. And we are sitting on a property that's worth at least a half a million dollars, probably more because. Everyone is either retiring early or they're moving abroad and working from, from anywhere because they've found a way to work from anywhere and it gives them the opportunity to live in Mexico and uh, spend pesos and earn dollars.
Justin Keltner:So I bet you're pretty happy with the investment now in retrospect.
Brighton West:Yes, we are very happy with this, with the investment that we made at that time, and it's just great. I mean, one thing I really like about real estate is. You can live in it. So even if you're not necessarily making all that money, you're still, you're not paying rent to someone else. You're living inside your investment. So, uh, we definitely enjoy life down here.
Justin Keltner:Amazing. And and what are some of the things that you have seen are very different between? Uh, where you were at in Portland and, and down here, or the US in general, like what are the biggest differences you've seen?
Brighton West:I think it's, I mean, the biggest thing right now I think is just the, the tranquilo attitude. Um, there's not all this angst. The US seems to have a lot of angst right now. Um, and there's a lot of controversy. There's a lot of political divide, and we still feel some of that because we still get the news from the US and we still are hanging out with people who are from the US and. And Canada too. And there's, you know, you know, there a lot of things that are going on in the US are worldwide too, but we can avoid so much more of it by just not being in the middle of it. And the Mexican way of life is just so much more kind to each other and there's, there's not all that kind of bickering and whatnot that goes on in the United States. That just doesn't exist down here. People are very polite to one another, even if they disagree, and I think that politeness has kind of disappeared in the United States. That's probably the biggest thing I would say is different.
Justin Keltner:I've noticed that down here in Guadalajara as well. It's like you actually know your neighbor. Uh, you make friends with everybody in, in your neighborhood and your little lon people tend to be more friendly and also just look out for each other a lot more in the US maybe partly it's because you pretty much need to, to drive everywhere in the US versus in Mexico there's much better urban planning, but uh, people are just more connected and friendlier and it's uh, kind of like what. Maybe like what the US used to be many decades ago, at least to a small extent. But, uh, I, I find that to be the case as well. And
Brighton West:I, I agree with you there. The, the idea of Mexico being like the United States was decades ago. It feels like this is the, the world that I grew up in, uh, where things were more simple and there wasn't all this controversy going on. That's what Mexico feels like now.
Justin Keltner:Do you Find that people, both locals here in Mexico and also other expats like yourself that moved down here, uh, it kind of has a little bit of a calming effect on them. Like, have you seen that, where people start to like, assimilate and, and they just really chill the heck out, like.
Brighton West:Yeah, and I, I think really what happens is it's the people who have that innately inside them that, that have that chill. It's, it's maybe buried deep inside them when they're in the United States, but it's there. Those people will thrive in Mexico. And the people who don't have that inside them anywhere who are just really type A personalities to the max and just are thrive on controversy. I. Those people don't do well in Mexico and those people don't tend to stay in Mexico.'cause I, I know some people right now who are moving back and they are some of the people who are the most controversial in their neighborhood. Um, because they're always fighting with their neighbors and now they're moving back to the United States and it's like, well that was probably gonna happen because they're not the type of person that does well in Mexico. Okay
Justin Keltner:of funny you mentioned that because you were just interviewing me for your YouTube channel and we touched a little bit on the tip that I would give people, uh, that want to move down to Mexico or really anywhere else outside of the us, especially Latin America, which is to be flexible. And it sounds like you've noticed on your end as well that the people who. Don't do well moving to Mexico are the ones that are inflexible. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Or like what, what are some other aspects of maybe that type a personality, uh, or whatever EL else it is that you would say to someone that either, Hey man, you gotta work on that first and fix it. Or you, maybe Mexico is not a good fit if you are like this. I know it's a lot about wanting things done right now, right.
Brighton West:Mm-hmm. Yeah. Especially wanting things done right now, having. For instance, if you need to go get your driver's license, you know there's gonna be bureaucracy. I mean there's bureaucracy in the United States, but it seems like. It's gonna be easy to get frustrated because you've gotta have, you know, all these different forms and things and everything has to be perfect. And you might have to go back a couple of times because it's like, oh yeah, you need to have copies of that because they won't make copies for you often if you're in some, going to some government office or something. You have to show your passport, but you also need a copy of your passport and they're not gonna make a copy for you. So. There's little things like that that are just kind of, they're inconveniences. Once you get to know, it's like, okay, uh, my wife just got her RFC number last week, and so I sent her in with, you know, multiple copies of her passport, multiple pa copies of her residency card, uh, multiple copies of the, the electric bill. The electricity is, is run by the government, and so that's your official address is on your electric bill. So. You can get better at being, uh, at working in Mexico with these kind of things. But I, I lost my ATM card. It took me two hours in the, in the bank to go through the process to get a new ATM card. So things are
Justin Keltner:Two hours. You, you, you got out of there in record time. I I've, I've spent days at banks, but like multiple days.
Brighton West:Yes, it, it can definitely. It, it, it can be challenging and um, but if you learn to celebrate the win at the end of that, to say like, Hey, you know, I got it. I got my ATM card. It took an awful lot of effort to do it, but some people are just so stuck in. That the United States is, is so efficient. Um, you probably, you know, to get an ATM card, you probably don't even go into an office. You probably just go online and, you know, type in something like, you know, I, you know, click a radio button, I lost my ATM card, and then one shows up in the mail a couple days later. Um, you know, mail down here doesn't really so, um, yeah, things are not as efficient in Mexico and. If you're able to adapt to that, that's a really good thing. And you just really, you learn to enjoy how things just kind of move slowly. Also, uh, people who are big rule followers, it doesn't work well here. Uh, no one stops at stop signs. In Mexico, I actually got, I got pulled over by the police because I went too slowly through, I rolled a stop sign too slowly'cause I saw'em behind me and I'm like, oh, I should go. Normally I would go 15 miles per hour through this, but. I'll go five. Um, and he pulled me over. He said I was gonna cause an accident if I didn't, you know, more drive like a local, like like roll the stop sign like everybody else. So
Justin Keltner:You probably stood out as a gringo too. He, he is like, oh, he's here.
Brighton West:he he pulled over next to me and looked inside the car and he is like, okay. Then he, then he pulled behind me and turned the lights on. So I was like, okay. He saw that I was a gringo, but it was, it, it's. And it was fine. I just said, give me a ticket. He didn't have a ticket to give to me because there's not a offensive of rolling a stop sign too slowly. So it worked out. It was funny. Um, but if, if you're really like into, like, I will stop at every stop sign because the stop the sign says stop. That's probably not, it's, it's probably not gonna work out for you.'cause they, they
Justin Keltner:do you think he was looking for a little, little something, something? Wait,
Brighton West:I think he was looking for a little something something
Justin Keltner:if, as we call it the, the, the, the, a couple pesos for a, a soda.
Brighton West:Yes, exactly. think so. And I was like, you know what, this, this is, it happens in Mexico, the police will pull people over and and expect a little more Dita. Um, and I was like, Hey, let's just go to the police station. And, and that's the other thing is like, it, it it was gonna take time for him too. It was gonna be an inefficient process for him to go through this whole process of taking me to the police station or writing a ticket or whatnot. So he is like, okay, just. Be more careful and let me go. So
Justin Keltner:that's
Brighton West:it works in many different ways.
Justin Keltner:You know, my, my lawyer definitely says that, uh, if, especially if you're not doing something actually wrong or against the law. You just gotta call'em on it, because most of the side note, most of the police here, unless they're the, which is like not the, the municipal ones can't even write you a ticket anyway. It's a whole inefficient process. So you just say, Hey, you know, aga or you, you tell them you don't speak Spanish or you say, all right, right. Write me a ticket. I'll follow you. Let's go. And like, no, no, it's okay. It's okay. Green. Go. We're move on.
Brighton West:Yeah. just have to, to be a little contrite and say like, okay, yes, I, I should, I should go faster through the stop signs from now on. And they, they, you know, felt like they had taught me something, at least in
Justin Keltner:There you go. That that's probably part of it.
Brighton West:little a little bite
Justin Keltner:So what, what was like your, um, and we'll, we'll go to all the positive aspects, but I think this is kind of cool to touch on some of the idiosyncrasies first. This is kind of, kind of a fun, uh, thing to go into. So like. was your, I guess, craziest story of the inefficiencies or the, it doesn't work like it does in the US here.
Brighton West:God Yeah I think to get my Electric bill changed to my name Um you know from the previous owner to my name Took me 12 visits to the electric company And part of it was I was getting bad information Like I was like people online were telling me one thing my real estate agent was telling me something and the people at CFE were telling me something else and none of it was coming together And you know they were the they were telling me that I needed to go into this office to to get essentially my RFC number Um which As of the first of the year like we moved in in December and as of the first of the year that RFC number just like a social security number was required to change over your electric service And so nobody knew that that was the case because I was doing this right in early January so I was getting all this bad information and then the people at The um the electric utility didn't necessarily know how one goes about getting an RFC number if you're a foreigner So they were giving me bad information So it was a whole bunch of just scramble of bad information In the end it worked out and it was that you know real celebration of it you know I got it done Um and There are people here One thing to to say is there are people who help there There are businesses specifically lots of locals some expats who create businesses to help you with all of these things You want a driver's license We'll get it done in one shot You want your RFC number We'll get it done in one shot My wife actually hired someone Think it cost 50$50 and she went through that whole process scheduled the appointment My wife's in uh Spanish is not great My Spanish is not great Hers is a little worse Um so someone who was bilingual took her down there made the appointment online took her down there met with her got the whole thing actually got her ema which is another Process that can happen during the same appointment but I didn't even know that you could get those two things at the same time So it was the best$50 she spent because she got multiple things done that she didn't even need know that she needed Um and so but it was a it's a great idea that there is this entrepreneurial spirit down here is that people will see a need and they will fill it
Justin Keltner:Yeah. And we, same thing for us. I mean, we could, uh, Amanda and I could definitely. Have gotten our, uh, immigration cards renewed, you know, just ourselves if we wanted to, but we hired a lawyer to help us with that and with our RFC and our e FMAs and, uh, with pretty much everything else. Um, and, and then, you know, I, I, I made the mistake, same kind of thing where I, I fell into the bureaucracy and like I, it's taken me two days to receive a package at times because I had to go to the. Post office and then go to the bank and pay the tax on it, then come back and they were closed and I couldn't pay the tax at the bank on a Saturday because it was Saturday. And they, they, they were open, but they can't take tax payments that day. And then you go back the next day and then hope that by that time they haven't set your package back. Um, so yeah, that's, that's definitely something to look out for. And I think it's, it's important that we touched on that because people that, you know, are watching our channel maybe and saying, well, Mexico's uh, Mexico's just gonna be all sunshine and. And rainbows and it's just gonna be exactly like what I'm used to back home, but cheaper, uh, and with, you know, more sunshine and better beaches. Nah, not exactly. So talk about the
Brighton West:it's it's like um Cabo or the it's like their their most
Justin Keltner:areas.
Brighton West:vacation It's like no it's gonna be different And so I tell people if they are looking to move to Mexico is that their next vacation needs to be into real Mexico get an Airbnb go stay downtown somewhere Um And and explore your vacation into Mexico does not count as like exploring Mexico unless you really are exploring Mexico But if you're in a all inclusive you're probably not exploring
Justin Keltner:Tell me more about that. Like what are your, what are your main tips that you give people? That you speak with that are coming down to Mexico in terms of how to, how to really find the best area, how to really understand what the real Mexico is.
Brighton West:Um yeah There's a number of of people here who who will help you Find you know kind of give you a tour type of thing I think you guys give tours too in Guadalajara Um so you can hire someone to give you a tour and I think that's probably the best way to find uh especially like Someone was asking me you know how do I get the best deal uh for rental Will you help me brighten it I'm like no I'm not into that But I know someone who does and they charge for that service and um they can help with just about anything It's actually the woman who who my wife worked with uh just last week for to get her RFC So having someone there who will help you I think is good and also Exploring the idea of getting an Airbnb downtown and then getting one out out here We're in the suburbs we're in something called El Sanrio It's like is this the area you wanna live in It you kind of and then city to city too is to really explore each place We bought on the second day that we were here and it's worked out really well And I know a lot of people who have that same story who it's worked out really well but The best advice I can give is to try out different places before you just pull the trigger um so you decide what is important to you Uh so if you stay somewhere for at least a couple of weeks you'll say like okay yeah those roosters are you know crowing That's a little too much for me
Justin Keltner:there's so much diversity too in terms of neighborhoods. I mean, here in Guadalajara. Where we live, it's actually very quiet. Um, a lot more kind of retirees and a handful of expats. But we're in Alta and it's just, it's so nice. There's trees, there's not too, too much going on, but you can still walk to cafes and there's other places where that are super, like party friendly and nightclubs and bars. And so any city here, just like in the US or Canada, I mean, you could find areas for everything. Um, I wanna talk a little bit about the flip side of what we were discussing earlier, which is. What are some of the positive things that you have noticed about the slower? I mean, I guess when you have, on one hand you've got like the bureaucracy and things are slower and you know, you've got the manana thing where people will say one thing and it really, like, you'll get your fridge finally fixed six weeks later and just have to deal with it. Um, but on the flip side of that, like what have you noticed that is a positive there in terms of how it's not like the US.
Brighton West:Well the expectation then is the same Like if you're running behind or you know you're going somewhere to meet up with someone and you're running late it's you don't have to hit the gas and try to get there get there get there Um Arriving a little bit late is is somewhat expected And so if you're going somewhere the idea is you know you should bring a book with you just in case the person is running a little late So the forgiveness of um of things like that is is very high here Uh one of the things this is something that's just Probably international It's probably the United States is the only place that brings your bill to the table before you're ready to leave And here it's something where you have to ask for your bill If you're in a restaurant you have to say like you know LA ent And then they will bring over the check but there's no pressure whatsoever to turn the table to flip the table and get some new new butts in seats So it's just um It it act Actually the other just just last night the the waiter came and gave me my bill and I hadn't asked for it yet And I was like oh I am I am offended here And then my wife was like was like Hey have you paid the bill yet I asked for it and we were there with a really big group of people everyone had separate bills And I'm like okay that totally makes sense My wife is going around and asking for bills when she's ready to leave Um and then I'm getting the bill So um So just that that's just something about just the speed of the way things work here is is can be really positive too when you are in a um a mode of relaxation No one else is in a mode of like get things done and move on and and get out of the way type of thing
Justin Keltner:Yeah. Yeah. It is a, a much slower paced, uh, type of lifestyle for sure. And it's more people focused versus let's just get as many dollars, for example, like you, like you said, outta this table as we can. Um, how did your experience living here lead to your, your creation of that, that concept of almost retired in Mexico and. How, how did you start the YouTube channel? Because you've got a very successful YouTube channel. A lot of people are following you, um, and taking your advice and watching your real estate tours and a lot of the other things you do. What was it that gave you kind of the spark to, to start that and what does almost retired in Mexico really stand for?
Brighton West:So here it is Almost retired on my coffee cup Um yeah well it is about being almost retired in in like a mental state of like retirement is coming soon I Or um I'm slowing down and I am you know acting like starting to act like I'm retired like maybe not working Um 40 50 60 hours a week Just kind of like slowing down and working what you need to make what you need to live And especially if you are working for if you have your own business or you're if you're working for a company up in the United States and you're getting paid in dollars and you're living down here and you're paying for things in pesos um economically um You're getting paid better than you're spending so uh you don't need as much money when you're living in Mexico The way this started though is I have a business that does remote video production and so I've done a lot of stuff with videos I've had a number of YouTube channels over the years I've helped clients with their YouTube channels and when my wife and I moved down here I think it was kind of at the end of the first You know four or five month period that we were down here and I was like you know what I should follow all that advice that I'm giving my clients that they're not necessarily following and I'm gonna do it all myself I'm gonna like it I'm gonna be my ideal perfect client and I'm gonna build this YouTube channel based on on that So and see how well it works And it's worked pretty well It hasn't worked quite as well as I had hoped in terms of you know I'm five years in and you 45,000 subscribers so it's not
Justin Keltner:darn good.
Brighton West:Yeah it's not bad It's it's just
Justin Keltner:That's not bad at
Brighton West:where it's paying all my bills so it'd be nice to to get to that point I'm I'm planning on that in the future but I just kind of drew out my projections and uh maybe I I shot a little high but yeah that was it And so I just started making videos and it's just grown since then And it's grown You it started out more They're like how to pay your CFE bill online and how to do these things And I started like doing house tours of people and then I was like well you know it's more interesting to hear the story of the person Let's definitely show their house But the story of the person is more interesting Uh and then I started interviewing people and then I started traveling around Mexico during the summer to be like oh I'm gonna go to to Guadalajara or Ahi or Oaxaca And um explore a bit and and line up a whole bunch of interviews where I can tell other people's stories cause that's what I really like doing is Is getting these stories out there so that people can see the range of people that have made it happen
Justin Keltner:That's cool. I, I think that the stories of people in the places that you travel to or that you might wanna live in. Really shape the place and can also shape your experience of it. So like hearing about here's the, what this one person was able to do and, and move to Mexico and, and here's where they live and here's how they're living and how much money or how little money it takes to have the same or better quality of life. Uh, we share those stories, uh, from our lives and with these interviews all the time and we get so much feedback that it just helps to, to really inspire people and to actually take action themselves.
Brighton West:Yeah just last night the the dinner that we were at um there were probably 30 35 people that were subscribers of my channel and some some people who were who were just residents here And I do that about every sun Sunday night uh when I'm in town Just get together a whole bunch of subscribers and You know kind of everyone just kind of gets to know each other and and meet each other and uh build that sense of community And it's it's really definitely a fun thing And it helps me in terms of uh you know people will reach out and be like Hey can we get coffee Can we get can I buy you a margarita And it's like well let's just do that on a Sunday night when everyone's doing the same thing And then they get to meet meet each other too
Justin Keltner:That's great. I'm gonna have to come down to one of those dinners too with Amanda. I think probably either this fall or early next year, we're gonna have to take a trip down. Maybe we'll a road trip up, up the Baja and uh, come say hello.
Brighton West:Yes Well you're welcome stay here I've got a Casita
Justin Keltner:Oh, amazing. Cool. We might take you up on that. Um, so the last thing I want to talk about, since this is entrepreneur expat, is the money. So we want touch on how it is that you make money here as an expat in Mexico. Tell us a little bit more about that.
Brighton West:So My business kind of has three it's a three legged stool and one of them is the YouTube channel So the YouTube channel it's ad revenue is the biggest chunk And then there's also sponsorships There's merchandise You know you can get yourself an almost retired mug uh t-shirt something like that Um it's Also buy me a coffee I don't know if you guys do that but it's like Patreon People can give you you know I I call it buy buy me a margarita So buy me a margarita.com if you wanna buy me a margarita and
Justin Keltner:Nice. That's a great domain.
Brighton West:Yes exactly I was so excited to get it Um so there's all that kind of stuff adds up to about$20,000 a year So that's a YouTube channel that I'm I'm put a lot of effort into Um that's that's about what that brings in Also I have Amazon and when I'm back up in the states I get a bunch of stuff from Amazon I also look at like what my friends are buying and I'm like oh that's a good thing for me to make a video about So I make a video about it I can get a commission off of Amazon This this shirt actually Um the shirt was given to me for free They paid me 25 bucks to make a video and then I make a commission if people buy the shirt after watching the video So um and the videos show up on Amazon I also have videos that show up on other channels that direct people back So um it's multiple affiliate commissions through that And then other forms of affiliate commissions that I have through different YouTube channels And that's probably you know$20,000 a year and Then I do videos remotely for people So I work with a lot of coaches consultants people like that But the number one thing I do is I provide Testimonial videos So I will you know they'll they'll connect me with their client I'll get them on a schedule I'll do a 15 minute call with them just through their webcam you know adjust things to make them look great and then have them tell story of working with their coach or consultant And then I edit it up And provide it to them for their website or social media So that's probably the biggest thing I do also do things for like my client's websites directly or my client's YouTube channels but I call myself a virtual videographer so I do everything that a videographer would do in person but I do it over webcam or a smartphone So those are the the three parts of the stool and that's kind of and that's like you know probably$40,000 or something So I'm not making a a huge revenue but that's I'm able to be uh a little bit uh on the lazy side I guess in terms of my business I'm not
Justin Keltner:well. You're not an underachiever by any stretch ton.
Brighton West:Yeah So but I'm sure if I was really pushing and really working on my sales and stuff like that I could turn this into a bigger business but I'm usually pretty happy with where the business is at any point in time
Justin Keltner:And what are your living expenses? Because even with, um, you know, let, let's say 70 to$80,000 a year, you can live phenomenally well here. I mean, you, you guys said that you bought your house when we were talking earlier. You, you purchased that, uh, already. So you had the house purchased out of kind of the, the retirement money. Um. Which was a great investment because it would've been so much more now, so you don't have to pay rent between all the other expenses. I mean, if we, if we, we were to take rent out of the equation, um, I mean, what, what are you spending and like, what, what would somebody, let's say that was renting but with a similar lifestyle, probably spend on average there in La Paz.
Brighton West:You know we really we're really not good at keeping track of of our expenses but like you know um Having a a cell phone down here is like 10 bucks a month And my internet connection I do have a starlink connection but starlink is cheaper down here I wanna say it's 50 or$60 a month versus whatever it is up in the United States Um that is my backup connection and I have a internet connection that is you know um in 20 30 bucks a month or something like that electricity It's probably 50 bucks a month And that's on the high side Uh often it's less than that We do have a pool uh it's actually a hot tub so when we start to run the hot tub a lot in the winter uh that goes up a water bill you know 10$20 a month or something like that because we have a yard and so we water So that's actually a little bit higher than most people Uh so Expenses are really pretty low and we it's just going out to eat is pretty much our our biggest expense or feeding the dogs That's one thing I found here Vet care is incredibly cheap Dog food is very expensive so
Justin Keltner:Have you guys tried? Uh, barf. We, we give actually our dog and our cat barf, which is like raw, mostly raw, organic, uh, meat, vegetables, uh, they've got like prebiotics, all sorts of cool stuff. And it ends up being a lot cheaper actually than like even the Costco bags of dog food.
Brighton West:Interesting Yeah I'm gonna have to get the information on that cause well one of our dogs is on a specialty diet and so interestingly that specialty prescription diet costs the same in the US and in in Mexico So it's it's expensive in both places but just like the nor just normal dog food is is um
Justin Keltner:a lot of the package stuff, we noticed that here. And also in Columbia, like buying the same food.'cause she was eating the kibble before my, my golden retriever was just right near under my desk. Um, when we bought her kibble from Costco or from from one of the grocery stores, it ended up being significantly more expensive. I think it was like 30 or 40%. Um, what else do you notice that's expensive? I mean, I, I think electronics, but
Brighton West:Electronics
Justin Keltner:and imported goods, I think everything else pretty much is cheaper.
Brighton West:Yeah Um and and plus Over here in La Paz things are more expensive So the Baja Peninsula is acts like an island Everything pretty much comes over on a boat Uh and most things are actually coming from Guadalajara it seems So they're coming from Guadalajara down to Masantlan across on the on the boat into La Paz and that feeds into all the communities out here on the peninsula So everything has that kind of markup of being on an island And including food including labor Labor's more expensive here It's just there's just not as many people here to fill all the jobs that there are here So the the the wages are higher here not by any means high like still very affordable Everything
Justin Keltner:For Mexico,
Brighton West:For yeah it's high It's high for Mexico but not high for if you're from the United States you you wouldn't want to earn wages in in pesos here or compete with Mexicans in any kind of job here But um like for instance a nurse to get a nurse um In the Guadalajara area to like a a like a live-in nurse If you're if you've got an elderly person it was about four or$5 an hour in the Guadalajara area and it's about$15 an hour here in La Paz So significantly more for a nurse Um similar things with construction crews and it and the further you get from the pause like we actually are in the process of buying another house uh in to Santos which is a town a small town but Um because that's a small town and it's further from La Paz you know construction costs go up there too So everything kind of it's like being on being on an island out here but uh still much more affordable than being in what this island is connected to which is California
Justin Keltner:Yep. Would you say that for, for around 2000 a month, like an individual could well in La Paz?
Brighton West:Yeah definitely definitely Um I have a an interview with someone um Brad who is who eats really well I know Um I'm actually gonna see Brad in a couple of nights But um and he his budget cause he takes keeps track of everything was like$2,400 a month and that includes his rent So a rent for a um a a one bedroom place With a pool and everything um and$2,400 no problem with him eating out all the time
Justin Keltner:Yeah that's great. I mean, we, we live like, well, I mean, we have a maid that comes a couple times a week. We've got a three story house with, you know, an office for me, an office for Amanda, bedroom, guest room, all that stuff. And, um, all in all, I think we're spending under, still under like$3,000 US per month. And that's with like. Personal care, groceries, rent, all of our insurances, multiple internets to have backups, all that good stuff. So it's, it's definitely cheaper in Mexico and, and a better quality of life as well. Um, so I'm curious as, as we wrap up here, what is the number one thing that you would, you would say to somebody thinking about coming to Mexico? Like what's the number one piece of advice that you would give them?
Brighton West:I would say do it sooner rather than later. Uh, almost everyone says they wish they would've done it sooner. Uh, you're probably one of the only people who, who doesn't say that because you, you've. Did it so early on, um, in, in life and in your career or as an adult and whatnot and, and, um, trying out living in Mexico multiple times. But especially if you're looking at, you know, you're, you're coming up on retirement age. Um, you don't need to wait till you're 65 or 66 or 67. Uh, a lot of people here are. 60 or you know, 62 because it's less expensive you can get down here. So, um, plan on doing it sooner than you expected and also start doing your research. And YouTube is great way to do the research, but also schedule those trips down and look around and, and schedule a trip where you're your scouting trip. Uh, so you find the place that's gonna be your, your perfect spot. But don't. Don't wait, uh, until you're, until that, that magic age of retirement. Do it sooner.
Justin Keltner:Yeah, it's gonna be more difficult and more expensive later. For sure
Brighton West:definitely. Yeah. The prices are going up in Mexico.
Justin Keltner:Great. So what are some of the things that you help people with down there? I know you have your, your remote, uh, videographer service, which by the way, you know, if anybody here is thinking that you can't make money online, I. Doing whatever you're doing now or something really similar. I mean, I wouldn't have thought that one could be a remote videographer, but Brighton figured out how to do that, uh, in a location independent way. So you're just a little bit of brainstorming and maybe a chat GPT prompt away from figuring out how to do it. Uh, obviously we've got, um, guides and things that we help people with. Uh. In terms of the remote income thing, and we'll include some of those in the description, but what are some of the things that you help people with either in terms of coming down to Mexico? I know you've got partnerships with people. Do you, do you do tours as well? I know you have the dinners in La Paw, so if people are there, uh, maybe they can reach out. And what are other ways, what are other resources you have for people or ways that they can, that they can get in touch?
Brighton West:Yeah. Well, folks can find me, uh, all, uh. Almost retired in Mexico or youtube.com/almost retired in Mexico. And that's the biggest thing that I do is produce all of these videos. And I do have, when I'm in town on Sunday nights, I usually have a happy hour where I'll invite everyone to kind of come join together and meet each other. So I. Um, yeah, I don't do tours. I don't do a lot of the hands-on things other than those Sunday night dinners. Sometimes that Sunday night dinner ends up being like a, a Sunday morning brunch, like on Super Bowl Sunday, things like that. But I love meeting people. I love helping them, and I love being able to do it in a way that is, except for those Sunday nights, it doesn't necessarily. Put anything on my calendar so I can go out and say like, you know what? I want to do a, a trip to Guadalajara and I'm gonna shoot a whole bunch of videos and I've got things calendared out then, but I. I'm not trading, you know, dollars or time for dollars and, and, and having that, those direct relationships with people. Um, so, uh, I do, I do some, you know, consulting calls and things like that too, but, um, it's, it's
Justin Keltner:With people that have
Brighton West:The main thing, I'm away. Yeah. Yeah. And I do work with, with businesses, I mean, that I do have, get commission off of some of the, some of the videos do have a, that are, they're being paid for by the person who's who I'm making the video with or there's a, a commission. So that's part of the how I can make money, uh, with YouTube.
Justin Keltner:Amazing. Well, uh, anybody that wants to connect more with Brighton and check out his stuff, he's got some really amazing videos there on his channel on YouTube. Almost retired in Mexico. What a cool concept we really love. It that, that fits, uh, quite a neat niche and uh, a lot of our, uh, viewers are in that arena as well where they're still probably gonna be working, doing something remotely, but they wanna live that almost retired lifestyle. So we highly encourage you guys to check out, almost retired in Mexico. And thank you so much for all of your time today, Brighton. This has been really fun and we appreciate you, uh, having, uh, come on the channel and sharing your story with, with all of our subscribers and listeners here.