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Great video and accurate account of life in Zakia. It’s great to see a different perspective from a couple in a different situation than ours. Some of down sides for a couple with no kids is why we loved it with Louie; clean, open, we knew our neighbors very well because he’d play with all the kids, and the distance from centro made us feel safer with Louie due to all the traffic and narrow side walks. Keep up the good work. It’s amazing how much those plastic covers in the showers keep the smell out of the house!😊
Perspective does change everything. What works for some, doesn't for others. But the serenity and safety of Zakia can't be denied and it is a lovely development. It provided everything that we needed, just lacked in some of what we wanted.
For the landing spot, I think it was a good choice. You guys had a great experience getting your Resident cards, plus the close proximity of other towns to scope out. Also having stores and restaurants that what were familiar to you. Saying that, you weren’t completely head first into deep waters 😅 I’m with you on Zakia being to isolated, that would not be our cup of tea either. For families where kids are going to school and parents working….great spot!
You are right Tracey, it did what we needed it to do. And yes, Zakia really is a bedroom community, very similar to the states. No, there were a lot of upsides to being there and in the end, it was a very easy introduction into life in Mexico. And every day it gets a little easier and and it really is now starting to feel like home. The newness has worn off, not the excitement level though, but the overall anxiety has begun to subside and now we are settling into more of a daily routine. Gina works and I tan. LOL
@@GringosRUs So glad to hear you guys are settling in. It certainly takes some time. I am sure now being in SMA you will feel somewhat unsettled again, but the familiarity of how things work will shorten that for sure. We plan on Lake Chapala area to be a home base and take trips from there. I felt it would be an easier transition for my husband as he has spent very little time in Mexico. Who knows if Chapala remains home base, but either way it’s going to be a great adventure!! Excited for all of us!! Now go work on that tan lol
@@traceyb715 We are really getting quite settled here in SMA. I think it is that we now have that routine to rely on. Getting up at the same time Monday through Friday and the increased familiarity with the Mexican way in general is making it so much easier. Glad that you have that master plan. Even with it being somewhat fluid, I know that for us it makes all the difference when we start to talk about the what, where and when's of what is coming at us. I agree that Lake Chapala will be a much easier place to start, but then we are the type to just jump in the deep end and hope we can swim. LOL Ok, now back to my tanning. Thanks Tracey!
Another great video. I laughed at the driving at night thing because it’s so true… I always say if I win the loteria, I’ll become an alux that paints the topes.
Hell, I would paint them for free to just to avoid what we went through Denise. LOL it was one hell of a ride. And they tend to put the signs, most of the time, so close to the topes, that if you are going fast, there isn't enough time to slow down. Good luck with the lottery numbers!
Loved the drone shots of the Park were great ! What a nice place to walk! Would you say there is a large percentage of Expats in that community? Just curious! I really love your description of Zakia. I spent 3 plus months in an almost ghetto town... the locals became protective of me and would tell me not to walk at night... but the only time I ever felt even slightly Nervous was during the day... LOL..... Anyways great information. I do keep sharing and hoping to grow your channel because I do NOT want you to stop! MIL GRACIAS!!!
LOL, thank you so much and you don't have to worry about us stopping. We have almost 4 more years of our journey to find our ultimate home. I would say that based on the community that we were in, it was mostly nationals that worked in Queretaro and lived in Zakia. We never heard English in the restaurants or the OXXO, so it was not a huge expat influence there. The guards in the shack took pity on us not knowing how the whole trash system worked, so they just had me put the bags by the bins and they would separate them. LOL. Thank you so much for kind words and for sharing our channel. It is a channel that a lot of you have invested a lot of time and emotion into and we are ever so grateful for all of you.
She is trying. The interesting thing is that she has the Mediterranean heritage and I have Northern European and I am the one that gets tan just thinking about the sun while she gets red. LOL She constantly says it isn't fair. Wait until we get to the beach. Then I will be really getting dark. Thanks Lisa
Fun video ! Good synopsis! We did sww all thise cookie cutter neighborhoods when passing through QRO to San Miguel. where are you off to next ? How do you like SMA? We did like it and loved Mexico city!! We are behind you moving in June!
Thanks. Yeah, when you get outside of Centro in Queretaro, there is a whole lot of planned developments going up everywhere in an effort to keep up with demand. The feeling here in San Miguel is so different. For a lot of reasons, the number of expats, the smaller size, the slower lifestyle. There is a lot to like about SMA for sure but we will know better after we have been here longer. The location of our next stop is part of a game that we will be playing with all of you. We aren't announcing it, but we will be showing some scenes from it for about a week after we get there to see who can guess where we are. Trying to keep things fresh since we have 4 years of doing this. LOL Good luck with the move and keep us updated on how it is coming along. It will be here in a blink of an eye.
Looking good you all. Mark, how are you doing with sticker shock here on puros? We are heading back to CT next week to pack up my house, put it on the market (horrible timing, with the market, I know) and load up a trailer to drive down. Trying to keep it all down to lease than 30 days for expat status on taxes - and also fly out to SD super quick for the change in residency! Your journey with the mail services companies was hugely useful to me - I went with Dakota Post and they are very responsive. Have a great weekend! Your fellow North Carolinian (lived in Charlotte), Jim
Olympic High School graduate here, so I know Charlotte very well. Back when you could drive from one side of town to the other in 10 or 15 minutes. That was all before liquor by the drink. That resolution was what spurred the explosion of people in Charlotte. Anyway, LOL. Yeah, Jim, los puros son muy caros. However, in this weeks video we discuss the cigar situation and our trip to Black Chazaro. It was a blast. If you are going to the States, I would be ordering some sticks from somewhere if you want to take advantage of the better pricing. If I could only find someplace online that I could order the cigars from at a reasonable price. So far no luck with that at all. I may be forced to make drastic lifestyle changes in the coming future. Good luck with the drive. We enjoyed our time in Sioux Falls, but then we didn't go in February either. LOL At least with the driving, you know what to expect so that will make it much easier to handle. Glad that we could help with the decision on the Mail company. Wish that we didn't have two of them. but it is what it is and Dakota Post will make things very easy to get the drivers license. Make sure that your bill for where you stay has the same address as Dakota Post. Otherwise, the DPS will reject it. Getting the plates was very simple, getting the title was not. It took almost 14 weeks for the title, fortunately it wasn't required at the border. Only a registration card was needed.
@@GringosRUs Myers Park, Class of 74 - then UNCC for my first and last years - 2nd and third were in Puerto Rico (Dad was in the FAA @ Douglas Airport/transferred there and back); send me your cigar specs - hell, might as well get J&R Churchills and cut them in half!
@@geonav1 LOL, you remember what Charlotte was like back then. Hard to even recognize it now. I get the Cuban Rounds Churchill maduros from FamousSmoke.com I buy them in the bundles of 20 as they are cheaper than buying the entire box. It makes no logical sense, but I save money that way. Let me know if you want to get some and I will gladly pay for them and a handling fee as well. LOL Thanks!
Too funny with the lyric issue, lol. Well, it's good that you already know what you don't want as far as a place to live. I am always leery of planned communities. They can be convenient for some but I feel that it is an exercise in separation.
It doesn't rule Queretaro out. More like it rules Zakia out. It was really not a bad place to land for our first place, Cindy. It gave a chance to acclimate and also had some familiarity like Tracey had mentioned with the grocery stores that were fairly familiar close by. But we feel like we missed out on the Centro excitement. It was a good lesson on where we are looking for future AirBnB's in future cities.
@@GringosRUs Yes, Queretaro is big and there are plenty of other places where you could live. I agree that it was a good landing spot for your first home in Mexico. I too would like a place where I can find some English speakers to help get acclimated. Enjoy SMA!
@@cindyk3076 So far that would be SMA. We here more Spanish, obviously, but there is a smattering of English. We didn't here that very often in Queretaro.
Nice planned community just like living in the US if that's what someone is looking for. 🙁 Can't wait to see you guys experience a more true Mexican way of life. Isn't that what moving to Mexico is all about?
LOL, sort of our thoughts exactly Gail. It is a little different here in SMA, but also a gated community but a whole lot closer to Centro than we were in Queretaro.
@@mexigail Thanks Gail. We are looking forward to it as well. We are booking our upcoming houses tonight. Getting stressful with one location as the houses are going quickly and the one we wanted had to be cleared that the owners weren't going to be in it for the two months that we wanted it. They worked it out and we are good to go! Three booked and two to go for the rest of the year. Yeah!
There were plenty of bus stops on the main road. Not sure as to the frequency of them or where one would have to change buses to get into Centro, but yes, there is public transportation.
We will outline all of our costs for every city that we go to. Right now we are in San Miguel de Allende and we are putting the finishing touches on the Queretaro wrap up.
Thank you, Wilfredo! We have the DJI Air 2S, which costs about $1000 USD. We got the "Fly More Combo" package which includes a bag, a charging hub, 2 extra batteries, extra blades, and a set of neutral density filters for the camera. The combo package is about $1300 ($1245 on Amazon) and when we ordered it, it was on sale for $1039 USD at Amazon. It's not hard to learn to fly, but it takes some time to get used to working both controllers so you can get a really smooth video without jumps. Eventually, you get used to it. The controllers are very sensitive and too much pressure on them will make the drone move VERY quickly. If it gets out of GPS sync with your phone, you have the ability to hit a "return to home" button which normally finds you and brings the drone back to you...unless it can't find you. That happened to me in this video and the drone started going higher and higher into the sky on its own while it tried to find the GPS and my phone. It went higher than it was probably allowed to go in that location (there is an airport nearby). Fortunately, it finally found me, locked in on my signal, and made its way back to its launch site. I'm still learning. One thing I want to finally learn is how to do is fly a circle around a focal point. 🤩
We did. Gina needed a reliable internet connection for an interview and they have a Work Loft location in Zibata. It is a very nice community with controlled access just to enter Zibata. There are shops, a Walmart express and restaurants in the community. It is much more supported commercially than Zakia. It really is a community that you don't need to leave very often. The houses and communities were very modern and looked very nice. The grounds are very well kept similar to Zakia. I don't know about the house prices, but I would assume, again, an assumption on my part, are higher than they are in Zakia. There is also the University right there as you enter at the eastern side of Zibata so there is a high presence of students there. We felt very comfortable and safe there. That is all that we can attest to about Zibata. Hope it helped.
Sounds like a nice place but it makes me kind of sad that cookie cutter places like that are popping up. I really hope this doesn't turn into a trend for Mexico. I like the plaza style where you have a zocalo, some shops, and then the houses in a circle plan. Doesn't mean the streets have to be all over the place but it is nice when there are circles. In Aguascalientes you can see this with their anillo system.
Aquascalientes is on our list to stay down the road. I totally agree. The cookie cutter developments are so devoid of personality. Plus it seems that the same problems that are in the US are prevalent in them as well. People are staying inside and not talking to one another. That was one of the things that drew us to Mexico was that people conversed and even if it was just a quick hello, which about covers our Spanish knowledge, it was a welcome change to the uptight nature that exhibited north of the border.
If you would like to support our channel, you can buy us a coffee www.buymeacoffee.com/gringosrus but the easiest way is to support our channel growth by giving our video a thumbs up and sharing it with your friends. We are so thankful for all of you! ❤
Thank you for sharing your experience in Zakia. Gina, I always love your flower shots. 😍
She does like to add those extra touches and they do make such a difference. See you soon!
Great video and accurate account of life in Zakia. It’s great to see a different perspective from a couple in a different situation than ours. Some of down sides for a couple with no kids is why we loved it with Louie; clean, open, we knew our neighbors very well because he’d play with all the kids, and the distance from centro made us feel safer with Louie due to all the traffic and narrow side walks. Keep up the good work.
It’s amazing how much those plastic covers in the showers keep the smell out of the house!😊
Perspective does change everything. What works for some, doesn't for others. But the serenity and safety of Zakia can't be denied and it is a lovely development. It provided everything that we needed, just lacked in some of what we wanted.
For the landing spot, I think it was a good choice. You guys had a great experience getting your Resident cards, plus the close proximity of other towns to scope out. Also having stores and restaurants that what were familiar to you. Saying that, you weren’t completely head first into deep waters 😅 I’m with you on Zakia being to isolated, that would not be our cup of tea either. For families where kids are going to school and parents working….great spot!
You are right Tracey, it did what we needed it to do. And yes, Zakia really is a bedroom community, very similar to the states. No, there were a lot of upsides to being there and in the end, it was a very easy introduction into life in Mexico. And every day it gets a little easier and and it really is now starting to feel like home. The newness has worn off, not the excitement level though, but the overall anxiety has begun to subside and now we are settling into more of a daily routine. Gina works and I tan. LOL
@@GringosRUs So glad to hear you guys are settling in. It certainly takes some time. I am sure now being in SMA you will feel somewhat unsettled again, but the familiarity of how things work will shorten that for sure. We plan on Lake Chapala area to be a home base and take trips from there. I felt it would be an easier transition for my husband as he has spent very little time in Mexico. Who knows if Chapala remains home base, but either way it’s going to be a great adventure!! Excited for all of us!! Now go work on that tan lol
@@traceyb715 We are really getting quite settled here in SMA. I think it is that we now have that routine to rely on. Getting up at the same time Monday through Friday and the increased familiarity with the Mexican way in general is making it so much easier.
Glad that you have that master plan. Even with it being somewhat fluid, I know that for us it makes all the difference when we start to talk about the what, where and when's of what is coming at us. I agree that Lake Chapala will be a much easier place to start, but then we are the type to just jump in the deep end and hope we can swim. LOL Ok, now back to my tanning. Thanks Tracey!
Mark's got that retired living in Mexico tan going on!
Yes he does. By the time that we go to the resort for Christmas and New years I will look like I have been at a resort all year. LOL
Another great video. I laughed at the driving at night thing because it’s so true… I always say if I win the loteria, I’ll become an alux that paints the topes.
Hell, I would paint them for free to just to avoid what we went through Denise. LOL it was one hell of a ride. And they tend to put the signs, most of the time, so close to the topes, that if you are going fast, there isn't enough time to slow down. Good luck with the lottery numbers!
@@GringosRUs oh yes, that’s true. By the time you see the sign, you’re already there! 🫣
@@DenLD Or airborne. LOL
¡Hasta la próxima, amigos!
Soon? We are waiting for you! 😍
Loved the drone shots of the Park were great ! What a nice place to walk! Would you say there is a large percentage of Expats in that community? Just curious! I really love your description of Zakia. I spent 3 plus months in an almost ghetto town... the locals became protective of me and would tell me not to walk at night... but the only time I ever felt even slightly Nervous was during the day... LOL..... Anyways great information.
I do keep sharing and hoping to grow your channel because I do NOT want you to stop! MIL GRACIAS!!!
LOL, thank you so much and you don't have to worry about us stopping. We have almost 4 more years of our journey to find our ultimate home. I would say that based on the community that we were in, it was mostly nationals that worked in Queretaro and lived in Zakia. We never heard English in the restaurants or the OXXO, so it was not a huge expat influence there. The guards in the shack took pity on us not knowing how the whole trash system worked, so they just had me put the bags by the bins and they would separate them. LOL. Thank you so much for kind words and for sharing our channel. It is a channel that a lot of you have invested a lot of time and emotion into and we are ever so grateful for all of you.
Hi Gina & Mark! Loved this video...
Feel free, Romy, if you want, to use the drone footage to show the Zakia neighborhood if you have someone interested.
great video, Mark love that Tan, Gina you have to work on your tan too. 😂😂
She is trying. The interesting thing is that she has the Mediterranean heritage and I have Northern European and I am the one that gets tan just thinking about the sun while she gets red. LOL She constantly says it isn't fair. Wait until we get to the beach. Then I will be really getting dark. Thanks Lisa
Fun video ! Good synopsis! We did sww all thise cookie cutter neighborhoods when passing through QRO to San Miguel. where are you off to next ? How do you like SMA? We did like it and loved Mexico city!! We are behind you moving in June!
Thanks. Yeah, when you get outside of Centro in Queretaro, there is a whole lot of planned developments going up everywhere in an effort to keep up with demand. The feeling here in San Miguel is so different. For a lot of reasons, the number of expats, the smaller size, the slower lifestyle. There is a lot to like about SMA for sure but we will know better after we have been here longer. The location of our next stop is part of a game that we will be playing with all of you. We aren't announcing it, but we will be showing some scenes from it for about a week after we get there to see who can guess where we are. Trying to keep things fresh since we have 4 years of doing this. LOL Good luck with the move and keep us updated on how it is coming along. It will be here in a blink of an eye.
Nice shirt Gina! ; )
One of many in her Genesis collection. LOL
That's because in the beginning, there was GENESIS!!! 😍 🥰💖
Looking good you all. Mark, how are you doing with sticker shock here on puros? We are heading back to CT next week to pack up my house, put it on the market (horrible timing, with the market, I know) and load up a trailer to drive down. Trying to keep it all down to lease than 30 days for expat status on taxes - and also fly out to SD super quick for the change in residency! Your journey with the mail services companies was hugely useful to me - I went with Dakota Post and they are very responsive. Have a great weekend! Your fellow North Carolinian (lived in Charlotte), Jim
Olympic High School graduate here, so I know Charlotte very well. Back when you could drive from one side of town to the other in 10 or 15 minutes. That was all before liquor by the drink. That resolution was what spurred the explosion of people in Charlotte. Anyway, LOL. Yeah, Jim, los puros son muy caros. However, in this weeks video we discuss the cigar situation and our trip to Black Chazaro. It was a blast. If you are going to the States, I would be ordering some sticks from somewhere if you want to take advantage of the better pricing. If I could only find someplace online that I could order the cigars from at a reasonable price. So far no luck with that at all. I may be forced to make drastic lifestyle changes in the coming future. Good luck with the drive. We enjoyed our time in Sioux Falls, but then we didn't go in February either. LOL At least with the driving, you know what to expect so that will make it much easier to handle. Glad that we could help with the decision on the Mail company. Wish that we didn't have two of them. but it is what it is and Dakota Post will make things very easy to get the drivers license. Make sure that your bill for where you stay has the same address as Dakota Post. Otherwise, the DPS will reject it. Getting the plates was very simple, getting the title was not. It took almost 14 weeks for the title, fortunately it wasn't required at the border. Only a registration card was needed.
@@GringosRUs Myers Park, Class of 74 - then UNCC for my first and last years - 2nd and third were in Puerto Rico (Dad was in the FAA @ Douglas Airport/transferred there and back); send me your cigar specs - hell, might as well get J&R Churchills and cut them in half!
@@geonav1 LOL, you remember what Charlotte was like back then. Hard to even recognize it now. I get the Cuban Rounds Churchill maduros from FamousSmoke.com I buy them in the bundles of 20 as they are cheaper than buying the entire box. It makes no logical sense, but I save money that way. Let me know if you want to get some and I will gladly pay for them and a handling fee as well. LOL Thanks!
Too funny with the lyric issue, lol. Well, it's good that you already know what you don't want as far as a place to live. I am always leery of planned communities. They can be convenient for some but I feel that it is an exercise in separation.
It doesn't rule Queretaro out. More like it rules Zakia out. It was really not a bad place to land for our first place, Cindy. It gave a chance to acclimate and also had some familiarity like Tracey had mentioned with the grocery stores that were fairly familiar close by. But we feel like we missed out on the Centro excitement. It was a good lesson on where we are looking for future AirBnB's in future cities.
@@GringosRUs Yes, Queretaro is big and there are plenty of other places where you could live. I agree that it was a good landing spot for your first home in Mexico. I too would like a place where I can find some English speakers to help get acclimated. Enjoy SMA!
@@cindyk3076 So far that would be SMA. We here more Spanish, obviously, but there is a smattering of English. We didn't here that very often in Queretaro.
Nice planned community just like living in the US if that's what someone is looking for. 🙁
Can't wait to see you guys experience a more true Mexican way of life. Isn't that what moving to Mexico is all about?
LOL, sort of our thoughts exactly Gail. It is a little different here in SMA, but also a gated community but a whole lot closer to Centro than we were in Queretaro.
@@GringosRUs can't wait to see all the experiences and fun ahead for you both!
@@mexigail Thanks Gail. We are looking forward to it as well. We are booking our upcoming houses tonight. Getting stressful with one location as the houses are going quickly and the one we wanted had to be cleared that the owners weren't going to be in it for the two months that we wanted it. They worked it out and we are good to go! Three booked and two to go for the rest of the year. Yeah!
Is there any public transportation system to the Centro
There were plenty of bus stops on the main road. Not sure as to the frequency of them or where one would have to change buses to get into Centro, but yes, there is public transportation.
Hi guys! where are you guys moving to? Can you talk about rent cost? …
We will outline all of our costs for every city that we go to. Right now we are in San Miguel de Allende and we are putting the finishing touches on the Queretaro wrap up.
Thank🫵
The drone, which one do you have? How hard was to learn to fly?…$$$?
Thank you, Wilfredo! We have the DJI Air 2S, which costs about $1000 USD. We got the "Fly More Combo" package which includes a bag, a charging hub, 2 extra batteries, extra blades, and a set of neutral density filters for the camera. The combo package is about $1300 ($1245 on Amazon) and when we ordered it, it was on sale for $1039 USD at Amazon.
It's not hard to learn to fly, but it takes some time to get used to working both controllers so you can get a really smooth video without jumps. Eventually, you get used to it. The controllers are very sensitive and too much pressure on them will make the drone move VERY quickly. If it gets out of GPS sync with your phone, you have the ability to hit a "return to home" button which normally finds you and brings the drone back to you...unless it can't find you. That happened to me in this video and the drone started going higher and higher into the sky on its own while it tried to find the GPS and my phone. It went higher than it was probably allowed to go in that location (there is an airport nearby). Fortunately, it finally found me, locked in on my signal, and made its way back to its launch site. I'm still learning. One thing I want to finally learn is how to do is fly a circle around a focal point. 🤩
Did you visit Zibata? I imagine it is similar? Any input?
We did. Gina needed a reliable internet connection for an interview and they have a Work Loft location in Zibata. It is a very nice community with controlled access just to enter Zibata. There are shops, a Walmart express and restaurants in the community. It is much more supported commercially than Zakia. It really is a community that you don't need to leave very often. The houses and communities were very modern and looked very nice. The grounds are very well kept similar to Zakia. I don't know about the house prices, but I would assume, again, an assumption on my part, are higher than they are in Zakia. There is also the University right there as you enter at the eastern side of Zibata so there is a high presence of students there. We felt very comfortable and safe there. That is all that we can attest to about Zibata. Hope it helped.
@@GringosRUs thank you so much. Keep on keeping on.
@@samuelpallottini5108 Never a problem. Glad to answer whatever we can.
Sounds like a nice place but it makes me kind of sad that cookie cutter places like that are popping up. I really hope this doesn't turn into a trend for Mexico. I like the plaza style where you have a zocalo, some shops, and then the houses in a circle plan. Doesn't mean the streets have to be all over the place but it is nice when there are circles. In Aguascalientes you can see this with their anillo system.
Aquascalientes is on our list to stay down the road. I totally agree. The cookie cutter developments are so devoid of personality. Plus it seems that the same problems that are in the US are prevalent in them as well. People are staying inside and not talking to one another. That was one of the things that drew us to Mexico was that people conversed and even if it was just a quick hello, which about covers our Spanish knowledge, it was a welcome change to the uptight nature that exhibited north of the border.
Kia plane!
We may have been airborne longer than the Wright Brothers. LOL