May 29, 2025 • 29 mins
The secret is finally out - my family and I are moving to Mexico! In this episode, I'm joined by my husband as we share the announcement that's been two years in the making. We're relocating to León, Guanajuato with our boys, and I'm so excited to bring you along on this incredible journey.
I open up about how this decision came together - from our four-week trip to Mexico that changed everything, to the stars aligning with our current living situation, and most importantly, our boys being at the perfect age for this adventure.
What You'll Hear:
- The real story behind our two-year planning process and what finally made us take the leap
- Why we chose León, Guanajuato over other Mexican cities and how it balances big city life with family proximity
- How the Viva la Mami Collective is evolving to serve Latina moms globally
- Why this move isn't just about us - it's about giving our children core memories in our motherland
For detailed show notes, visit vivalamami.com/episode127
Resources Mentioned:
- VLM Newsletter signup: vivalamami.com/newsletter (subscribers heard this news first!)
- VLM Collective: vivalamami.com/vlm-collective
- Follow our Mexico journey on Instagram @vivalamami
- Watch the full video version on YouTube @vivalamami
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jessica (00:00):
with Mexico, I mean we thought that this would make
(00:02):
much more sense just becauseit's connected to our Cultura,
it's connected to our families.
You know, we're only onegeneration behind, if you will,
from like being disconnected oraway from the the motherland.
And so what a great way for usto come back.
And for us to bring our littlekids.
And I think, like Alex said,like I think that is our
inspiration.
(00:23):
Our kids are kind of like theforce between this so that we
can do something different.
And again, just like the starsaligned very well for us.
So if you ever, you know, payattention to that.
If you ever pay attention tofate or you know, just like any
signs, right?
Like take that as a sign.
Like maybe it's time for you toit.
(00:44):
Time for a change.
Yeah, exactly.
(01:53):
Everyone, thank you so much forbeing here.
So as you see, I have a, anempty chair, and that is because
I am very excited.
To have a special guest like Ishared with you all who we will
be sharing a very specialannouncement.
I have this Instagram Live and Iwill be posting it later on
(02:16):
tonight for those of you whocouldn't join us.
But I will also have this videoon, on YouTube, and as well as
on the podcast.
But thank you all for those whohave recently joined.
I'm very, very excited to haveyou all here.
You have no idea so.
Without further ado, I'm goingto bring over my guest just so
(02:39):
that we wouldn't take too muchof your time here.
So my special guest, as youprobably know, is my.
Husband.
So, you know, I, I wanted tohave him here because I think it
is very important to share withyou all of this big announcement
(03:02):
that we have.
And it's so funny, I havegathered a mix of responses as
to.
What is next in line for, for meand for Viva Ami and for our
family really in general.
And so we are very excited toofficially announce that we are
(03:25):
moving to Mexico.
And so this is why I wanted tobring Alex here with me because
obviously he is a part of this.
We've been.
This has been pretty much liketwo years in the making.
We knew that we wanted to moveto Mexico, but we just didn't
(03:45):
know when the time was going tobe right.
We didn't know, you know,whether if right now is the
perfect time, or later on, youknow, all of us have our hopes
and aspirations and dreams toeventually go back to the
motherland, but for us itdefinitely came sooner.
And so us as first generationfolks are kind of, you know,
(04:11):
we're doing this right reversemigration.
And I think that it is veryimportant to talk about that
because you know, we all somedayhope that we would return or
some of us.
We have been ingrained it, ithas been ingrained in us to not
even consider going back toMexico because of outta
(04:31):
survival.
Our parents had to, were forcedto move out of the country, and
we still envision Mexico as thatway.
But in all honesty, over a yearand a half ago, we went to
Mexico for like.
Four weeks.
We stayed there for four weeksand we literally saw ourselves
there.
And Alex, I don't know if youwanna say anything about that.
Alex (04:52):
No.
Yeah, for sure.
First of all, thank you forhaving me.
I feel super honor to be infront of your, your followers
here, and hopefully, I don'tknow, I can bring some
excitement here.
No.
Yeah.
But to answer your question, forme personally, just like how
Jess said when we went overthere about a year and a half
ago, I fell in love with it.
Right.
I mean, I've always been, we'vealways been city people and
that's where we're gonna begoing to.
(05:14):
It just gave me personally thatbig city vibe that Chicago gives
us, right?
Mm-hmm.
And I'm not saying, I'm notcomparing that both of they're
the same.
You know, obviously each hastheir own individualistic
characteristics, but León isLeón.
It's beautiful.
And that's where we ultimatelydecided to, to move to.
Jessica (05:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think that this is theperfect time and I will be
answering a couple questionsthat people had asked.
So if you haven't signed up tothe newsletter, to the Viva AMI
newsletter, I did share thiswith my subscribers as well as
the Viva Ami Collectivecommunity in advance about this.
And I did have a couplequestions about.
(05:56):
Our move and, and really rightnow, we felt like it was the
right time just because we havetwo little ones.
You know, as you know, we havetwo little toddlers who are two
and four years old, and we feltthat right now we could
definitely take advantage ofthat just because
Alex (06:14):
they have no friends.
Yeah.
They, they, they don't have likean
Jessica (06:17):
established friend group here or you know, I know
that as they get older, youknow, they might.
Pushback on a lot of things.
Like I remember when I was ateenager, I would be so
unappreciative of going toDisney World for some reason,
and so let alone doing a bigmove like that.
And so.
We felt like right now is theright time.
And for those of you who haven'tfollowed us for a long time,
(06:39):
currently in the space thatwe're in, we're in a living
situation where we arehomeowners to a three
Alex (06:48):
three flat
Jessica (06:49):
building in Chicago.
And so we knew that eventuallywe could always move out and
then rent it out.
And so that's something that,you know, didn't keep us kind of
like restricted in terms of ourcurrent living situation.
And
Alex (07:02):
yeah, we definitely give ourselves a year tops.
Live here to here because a onebedroom, one bathroom with four
people definitely gets on intoyour mind.
So yeah, that was definitely abig contributing factor for us
to make this move.
Jessica (07:14):
Yeah, and essentially, you know, we gave ourselves a
deadline.
To live here for a year.
And we were like, okay, wellwhat is the next move?
And you know, we were trying tolook at the conventional things,
right?
Like trying to look at, tryingto find better jobs, better
paying jobs to afford anothermortgage, because we don't
wanna, you know, sell thisproperty.
This is sort of a, a, a realestate and investment property.
(07:37):
And so for those of you whodon't know what house hacking
is, we did talk about thisactually with Alex here on the,
on the podcast.
We did share about, you know,what it's like to.
To house hack and kind ofbuilding that generational
wealth, but.
Yeah, so if we felt like rightnow was the right time to do
that, because everything seemedto align very well with us and
(07:59):
our current season of life, andso, yeah.
I can't believe it.
We are moving to Mexico, whichis wild.
Yeah, so it, you might hearthis.
Place a little echoey justbecause we are slowly getting
rid of our stuff.
We got rid of like somefurniture, but not all.
I think within the next coupleof weeks we will be kind of
(08:22):
getting rid of some things just.
Because that's the nature ofdoing a big move.
Alex (08:27):
Check off Facebook market, buy some stuff
Jessica (08:29):
for those of you who are in Chicago.
Yeah.
And so, yeah, like, you know,one question was like, what made
you decide that now is the righttime to make this move,
especially with two young kids.
And so.
You know, I already said, youknow, right now we felt like
it's the great time because theyare little.
But it's also so that, you know,I don't know about y'all, but
(08:52):
like growing up, at least mygrand grandma used to take care
of me.
Myta used to take care of me.
You know, Alex had a verypositive childhood experience
like.
Those, those are core memoriesthat I personally have at least,
you know, like the, the firstfive years of my life, maybe up
until maybe I was like eightyears, everything else is a blur
(09:14):
because you're kind of in thispreteen stage.
But at at least for like for me,like I really wanted to have our
kids create this like corememory and that is of Mexico.
And I know a couple friends, infact my hairstylist, she.
Lived in Mexico for a year and,and she was like, oh my gosh, I
(09:35):
remember how fun it was like mysiblings and I loved it.
And so, you know, we felt like,okay, right now.
Maybe we can create this kind ofonce in a lifetime experience
for our kids.
And so if anything, we're doingthis for our children just that
way they can be immersed in theculture, they can be integrated
with just like having thisbicultural, bilingual
(09:58):
experience, not just from theUnited States but in our
motherland.
And one of the questions was,why now?
And especially with our kids.
And so I don't know if you haveanything else.
To share?
Alex (10:08):
Yeah, I mean, just like how Jess mentioned that
obviously one of the biggestcontributing factors was that
Diego and Mateo, they don't havelike any established roots here
in terms of like friendships orlike friends or whatever.
So yeah, hopefully they canbuild some of that over there in
Mexico.
And for me personally was, Itold Jess that one of the
biggest things that if it didn'thappen for me, mama knows right?
(10:28):
It was, I was looking for apromotion in my job, didn't
happen.
So just like I just said, thestars were aligning.
So once I, I got that bad news,Hey, you know, let's make this
good news and let's get outtahere.
Jessica (10:40):
Yeah, yeah.
And so there's a lot of waysthat you can kind of go about
this, right?
Like you can't either.
Leave your job.
I know a lot of families wholeave their jobs and just like
start a new chapter in theircareer, in their lives really.
And they start a new and, and Ithink that's the beauty with us.
(11:00):
We are able to, I don't know,just create some, like start a
new chapter in our lives.
It's just like when we getmarried, it's just like when we
graduate college, right?
There are so many milestones andI think all of the decisions
that.
We've made, we, we did itmutually.
We did it through, you know,just like listening to each
(11:20):
other.
Mm-hmm.
And, and honestly, I don't knowwhose idea it was, it almost
like, it was just like, we were,well, but you too.
You were like, you know what,let's just go.
And so like, I think we wereplanting the seed for each other
and then it, it happened.
One of the questions in advancethat we received was, where in
Mexico are you moving to?
And why did you choose thatspecific location?
(11:42):
So Alex a answered that earlier.
But we are moving to LeonGuanajuato, which is one of the
largest metropolitan cities inthe, in, in the United States,
in Mexico.
I think it's the sixth largestcity I believe in Mexico.
I'm, I'm, my family's fromGuanajuato.
And so, you know, a lot ofpeople are like, well, are you
(12:04):
moving there because yourfamily's there?
And actually my parents arecurrently there, and my
grandparents live there too.
I think it's.
Helpful to have my familynearby.
They're gonna be about an houraway.
But honestly, I loved Leon, andoften people don't talk about
Leon.
When you think about Guanajuato.
People think about San Miguel orDelogo or Guanajuato City and
(12:29):
the big surrounding cities.
People often think aboutGuadalajara and Guro, but.
You know, we really like Leonebecause it created that balance
between, you know, the big city,but also it's not as big, like
Mexico City.
I love Mexico City, and we werethinking about moving to Lada,
Mexico, but we were like, no,that's too big.
Like, yeah,
Alex (12:47):
it's, it's mindboggling how big that place is.
Yeah.
It's really
Jessica (12:50):
big.
And so we're like, you knowwhat, maybe Leon is a good sort
of like in between.
In between, yeah.
Especially for us city folkslike who ha grew up in in
Chicago.
I think it's a happy medium toto be in a city like Leon.
And then the other second partis, oh, I guess when are we
planning to move?
And so we are planning to movein the next two months, so yes.
(13:16):
Mm-hmm.
Please send us well wishes,prayers, or whatever.
Like, it's going to be a lot ofwork, to be honest, just
because, you know, we have tohave everything kind of.
Set, I guess with the apartment,right?
We wanna get it rented out.
So if anyone's in the Chicagoarea, and if you know anyone who
lives in the city and wants torent, like feel free to reach
(13:38):
out.
Let us tell, yes, let us know.
But it's also just like thelogistics of getting there.
And so I will be sharing contentabout that just because there's
a lot of information aboutrelocating to Mexico, but this
is more so out of the expatperspective and or.
People who are.
(13:58):
Don't identify as like LatinAmerican or Mexican for this
specific example.
And so, and yeah, so we'recoming in from a different lens,
from a different experience.
We are children of immigrants.
I've obtained my dualcitizenship.
Alex is still working on his,that process is gonna be a
little lengthy, to be honest.
Mm-hmm.
But I'll be sharing that aswell.
(14:20):
And so we come from a differentvantage point than other people
that wanna move to Mexico, who.
Don't have any roots, if thatmakes sense.
And so, yeah, we, we will besharing a lot of information
about that as far as with ouradventure, let me see, I'm
getting, there was
Alex (14:37):
a question here from Uhhuh.
Yeah.
They're saying what type of workwill you both be doing While
they're my partner, my partnerand I have been planning,
planning to move to India, toMexico.
Jessica (14:48):
Yeah.
Alex (14:50):
So I could kind of briefly answer that one.
I'm still gonna keep my job my,I'm fully remote.
So I'm super, super blessed tohave that, you know, this
position.
So that's basically what I'mgonna be doing my, the same old
nine to five job, but in adifferent location.
Jessica (15:05):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And for me, I am currentlyunemployed, but you know,
through Eva la.
You know, I, I'm o open toreceiving, whether if it's
partner, brand, partnerships,sponsorships, whatever it is,
speaking engagements.
I'm currently working on thatand I'm also working as a
(15:26):
contractor and so more likefreelance.
And so the benefit is that weare earning US dollars.
Mm-hmm.
And so that is a privilege,right.
But I always say like, this ispart of the American dream that
our parents.
Left and are, do, have done forus, right.
They came to this country sothat we can have some
(15:48):
advantages.
And one of the advantages isthat being bilingual, being
bicultural, you know, we're ableto really navigate this and you
know, just leverage, kind oflike our existence, right?
As, as people who can be fromhere and from there, if that
makes sense.
Another question that was asked.
(16:08):
Uh, what are you most excitedabout and what are you most
nervous about with this bigchange?
So what makes you excited, Alex?
Alex (16:15):
For me, what makes me excited is making these new
memories with my family.
Right.
Getting to watch my two kids,not be enclosed in our little
house, you know, if we want togo outside, let'em go outside.
And yeah, just pretty muchhaving new experiences in a
different country.
Right.
And yeah, just exploring everyday pretty much that that's
(16:36):
what, that's what I'm personallyhoping to do.
Yeah.
And as far as what makes mescared, the logistical part of
it, right.
Right now we're currently tryingto look for, for an apartment.
What I'm kind of worried aboutis the actual drive down there.
Being in a car with two littleones is a freaking cat.
Jessica (16:54):
Yeah.
We haven't shared that yet.
Yeah.
But yes, we are planning to.
Drive from Chicago to mm-hmm.
To embark on this move.
A lot of people just like flyto, to relocate, but know we're
actually gonna bring our car andtalking about legalization and
plating our car to a Mexicanplate, like, that's gonna be
(17:16):
different.
And so again, there's a lot ofthings that, you know, it's not
just like, grab your bags andleave, right?
Mm-hmm.
There's so many logistics andfor us, we are planning to live
there for a minimum of a year.
So we are giving ourselves atleast a year to try this whole
thing out and, you know, see howthis works.
But we're also open, we're opento, you know, staying there for
(17:39):
a couple years.
And for me at least with mycurrent season of life, like I,
I am a stay at home mom, right?
Like that is my full-time job.
I am a stay at home mom and weare going to enroll the kids to
school.
So actually.
If y'all haven't been followingme or have seen my stories, I, I
went to Mexico alone with thekids last week.
(18:00):
Or is it gonna be two weeks?
I, two weeks?
I don't remember.
Two weeks.
Yes.
And we were there for a weekbecause we were, we went to the
school where we decided toenroll them.
We, during our spring break, wevisited a bunch of schools and
we decided to enroll them intoone where they're both gonna be
together.
It's gonna be, and both.
Kids will be there, and thatwill allow me, you know, to
(18:22):
focus on Viva la Mommy and, andcreating different and new
content for you all.
So feel free to share any, youknow, suggestions or topics that
you want us to talk about.
But yeah, the, you know, we, wehave thought about this and you
know, it's not just about, likeI said, packing our bags and
leaving like, no, this is verylogistical.
(18:43):
It's very formal.
It's like legit, it's legal,right?
Like we are.
Again, not, not going there aslike tourists for 180 days.
We are going there as citizens
Alex (18:55):
365 days
Jessica (18:57):
minimum.
I have a question here, so let'ssee.
Is there a timeframe of stayingin Mexico?
Yes, so I did answer that and soyeah, like we we're planning to
stay there for at least a yearand then go from there.
Let's see.
Another question that was asked,how are you preparing the boys
for this move?
Are they excited about living inMexico?
(19:19):
Okay.
To be honest, Diego,specifically, if y'all haven't
heard him talk, this kid onlyspeaks Spanish.
You know, right now he's in thatage where we, we have fully
immersed him in in the language,right?
Like.
It's 100% Spanish, everythingeverywhere.
With the exception of school.
Right now, school isn't likefully 100% Spanish, but had we
(19:42):
stayed here, it would be duallanguage after this year.
But this kid, I kid you notlike, is obsessed with anything
Spanish speaking, obsessed withthe culture, obsessed with
Mexico in general and even inthe winters he would, he would
be like.
And I was like, okay, well if,if this is your goal, then hey,
(20:04):
this dream is about to happen.
Yeah.
And so I guess we officiallytold them And specifically
Diego, right?
Yeah, because Diego's four andMateos two, but we officially
told Diego like, Hey.
How do you feel about us movingto Mexico?
You know, or you know, how doyou feel about going to a
different school and meeting newfriends?
And so just like having thoseinitial conversations and it's
(20:26):
really equipped him to have abetter understanding of like,
oh, we are moving to Mexico.
And honestly I think he isexcited more than anything.
Mm-hmm.
I think he's very excited for usto road trip down to Mexico.
He's excited to meet newfriends, like.
He got to visit his school, hisfuture school, as well as Mateo,
and they interacted very wellwith the, with the students, the
(20:48):
teachers.
They love the playground thatthere is.
These kids are.
Super active kids, and I knowthat Mexico is very outdoorsy.
I mean, and yes.
Okay, we're moving to a, a, alocation in Mexico that isn't
considered like hot, right?
Like it's pretty mild, I wouldsay in the winters.
(21:11):
And for us, I mean mild is likewhat?
40 degrees or, you know, likefor us.
Yeah, yeah.
Like we're used to having 20degree weather in the, in the
city of Chicago.
So
Alex (21:24):
I'm gonna be the one that's struggling because I
start sweating at 70 degrees.
Yeah.
Jessica (21:28):
Well I, so, yeah, so I think the kids understand the
concept and we are working withthem.
So for those of you who haven'theard or known of this yet,
Diego.
Is currently going to therapyand occupational therapy, and
both therapists know about usmoving to Mexico and they're
helping him with sort of like atransition plan.
(21:50):
That way it's not going to fullylike hit him hard, but you know,
I think.
He, he's excited.
I think he's ready.
Excited.
Yeah, he's definitely ready.
He's ready.
He's
Alex (21:58):
more ready than we are, honestly.
Jessica (22:00):
Yeah.
One question that I had was,what about Viva LA and the Viva
AMI Collective, which is myin-person community?
And so for ami, we'll start outwith that first.
It's still gonna be the same,right?
It's still going to focus onLatina motherhood.
It's still going to focus on howwe can redefine mahood as modern
(22:24):
Latina moms and how we can sortof reclaim our culture and mold
that into this modern parenting,right?
And so this is still the samepremise, but now that I will be
living in a different countryand especially.
In a country where my, ourfamily comes from, I think I
will be able to share a betterperspective.
(22:45):
Right?
I will be definitely sharingmore content about our
experience.
So what we've decided to do,and, and Alex is partnering up
with me here, we will becreating a a, a series of
YouTube videos.
So it will still be under myYouTube channel, Viva la.
But there will be uniqueplaylists about our stay in
(23:07):
Mexico, our relocation toMexico, where it will be kind of
like, like vlogging lifestyle,but also just like educational
videos.
Alex (23:16):
Yeah.
Sharing tips and tricks.
Right.
We'll be making all themistakes, so hopefully you guys
won't have to,
Jessica (23:20):
especially for those who have shared that they, this
is a dream, right?
And so we will be adding morecontent specifically on YouTube,
but also on social media.
So please stick around, youknow, and, and I'm always
welcome to receiving feedback toreceiving.
You know what your thoughts are,if you have any topics that you
want us to, to talk about.
(23:42):
But yes, we will be sharing morecontent as it relates to our
official move to Mexico.
As far as with the Viva AmiCollective, and I did share this
with the community members, I amin the process of revamping it.
You know, initially it was a, itessentially was a monthly kind
of in-person.
Mommy meetups that we would do.
(24:03):
So each month mammies would meetup in person around the
Chicagoland area, and then wewould also offer virtual
workshops kind of con, I alwaysconsidered it like the, the
professional development ofmotherhood, right?
Where we talked about differenttopics and how we can best be
the, a better version.
Of ourselves through this lensof mothering.
And so I am planning to revampit just a bit.
(24:26):
So I still wanna have acommunity just because I feel
like there's so many benefits toit.
But it will definitely be moreof a virtual setting, which I
know it's, it can bedisappointed, especially for us
mamas who lived through thepandemic.
We wanna make those in-personconnections.
But trust me, I mean.
There's a, a lot of different,you know, platforms that offer
(24:49):
in-person meetups, and I'm inthe process of, you know, trying
to figure out if I can gather acouple ambassadors where they
can host these in-person events,you know, based upon, you know,
the area that they live in.
So there's still more to come,but I will let everyone know
about, you know, this.
New makeup of the Viva AMIcollective.
(25:11):
I do see an importance and Ihave received really positive
feedback about this, especiallythe mentorship program.
But I, I also wanna scale to adifferent level where, you know,
we can be inclusive of likemama's outside of the Chicago
area, so that way, you know.
We can have more mamas like,trust me, and I've gotten
(25:32):
requests from mamas in Texas,Puerto Rico, Australia,
Colombia, so like differentLatina moms that are just
navigating, you know, thisunique journey and having this
kind of sense of, of this dualidentity where they are mamas,
but also Latinas and how thatreally impacts the way that we
parent.
Alex (25:50):
Just excited for this new move.
So, yes.
Yeah.
So
Jessica (25:53):
like I said, a lot of new content.
Coming up as it relates to ourofficial move to Mexico.
We'll still be around here inthe Chicago area for the next
two months, but you know, wewill.
Yeah, embark on this new journeyand I'm very excited to have you
all here.
You know, for us to share all ofthis to you.
(26:15):
I think it's, it take this as asign that if you ever wanna make
change, I think it's doable,
Alex (26:23):
right?
You make it happen.
It,
Jessica (26:24):
yeah.
You can make it happen.
And I think a lot of us are.
Scared to, to do big changeslike this or were just like
comfortable.
Alex (26:32):
I for sure was, I definitely for sure was scared,
Jessica (26:35):
but, you know, props to you, you know, like I think I,
I've always told that I waslike, I'm, I'm, I'm such an
adventure person that I, I'vealways envisioned myself.
Living outside of the country.
You know, at first it was likewhat Ireland and then Italy and
now
Alex (26:50):
everywhere she visited, oh, I wanna live here.
Jessica (26:53):
But obviously with Mexico, I mean we thought that
this would make much more sensejust because it's connected to
our Cultura, it's connected toour families.
You know, we're only onegeneration behind, if you will,
from like being disconnected oraway from the the motherland.
And so what a great way for usto come back.
And for us to bring our littlekids.
(27:14):
And I think, like Alex said,like I think that is our
inspiration.
Our kids are kind of like theforce between this so that we
can do something different.
And again, just like the starsaligned very well for us.
So if you ever, you know, payattention to that.
If you ever pay attention tofate or you know, just like any
signs, right?
(27:36):
Like take that as a sign.
Like maybe it's time for you toit.
Time for a change.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Well, thank you all so much forthe lovely comments.
I appreciate it.
I don't know.
That's it.
Yeah, that's it.
Okay.
That was it.
This video will be obviouslyposted on my Instagram account,
but you'll be listening to thisas the audio version on the
(27:56):
podcast, and it will be postedonline on YouTube as well.
So all these different channels,and that way we can reach out to
more folks.
But thank you all so much fortuning in and.
Bye.
with Mexico, I mean we thought that this would make
(00:02):
much more sense just becauseit's connected to our Cultura,
it's connected to our families.
You know, we're only onegeneration behind, if you will,
from like being disconnected oraway from the the motherland.
And so what a great way for usto come back.
And for us to bring our littlekids.
And I think, like Alex said,like I think that is our
inspiration.
(00:23):
Our kids are kind of like theforce between this so that we
can do something different.
And again, just like the starsaligned very well for us.
So if you ever, you know, payattention to that.
If you ever pay attention tofate or you know, just like any
signs, right?
Like take that as a sign.
Like maybe it's time for you toit.
(00:44):
Time for a change.
Yeah, exactly.
(01:53):
Everyone, thank you so much forbeing here.
So as you see, I have a, anempty chair, and that is because
I am very excited.
To have a special guest like Ishared with you all who we will
be sharing a very specialannouncement.
I have this Instagram Live and Iwill be posting it later on
(02:16):
tonight for those of you whocouldn't join us.
But I will also have this videoon, on YouTube, and as well as
on the podcast.
But thank you all for those whohave recently joined.
I'm very, very excited to haveyou all here.
You have no idea so.
Without further ado, I'm goingto bring over my guest just so
(02:39):
that we wouldn't take too muchof your time here.
So my special guest, as youprobably know, is my.
Husband.
So, you know, I, I wanted tohave him here because I think it
is very important to share withyou all of this big announcement
(03:02):
that we have.
And it's so funny, I havegathered a mix of responses as
to.
What is next in line for, for meand for Viva Ami and for our
family really in general.
And so we are very excited toofficially announce that we are
(03:25):
moving to Mexico.
And so this is why I wanted tobring Alex here with me because
obviously he is a part of this.
We've been.
This has been pretty much liketwo years in the making.
We knew that we wanted to moveto Mexico, but we just didn't
(03:45):
know when the time was going tobe right.
We didn't know, you know,whether if right now is the
perfect time, or later on, youknow, all of us have our hopes
and aspirations and dreams toeventually go back to the
motherland, but for us itdefinitely came sooner.
And so us as first generationfolks are kind of, you know,
(04:11):
we're doing this right reversemigration.
And I think that it is veryimportant to talk about that
because you know, we all somedayhope that we would return or
some of us.
We have been ingrained it, ithas been ingrained in us to not
even consider going back toMexico because of outta
(04:31):
survival.
Our parents had to, were forcedto move out of the country, and
we still envision Mexico as thatway.
But in all honesty, over a yearand a half ago, we went to
Mexico for like.
Four weeks.
We stayed there for four weeksand we literally saw ourselves
there.
And Alex, I don't know if youwanna say anything about that.
Alex (04:52):
No.
Yeah, for sure.
First of all, thank you forhaving me.
I feel super honor to be infront of your, your followers
here, and hopefully, I don'tknow, I can bring some
excitement here.
No.
Yeah.
But to answer your question, forme personally, just like how
Jess said when we went overthere about a year and a half
ago, I fell in love with it.
Right.
I mean, I've always been, we'vealways been city people and
that's where we're gonna begoing to.
(05:14):
It just gave me personally thatbig city vibe that Chicago gives
us, right?
Mm-hmm.
And I'm not saying, I'm notcomparing that both of they're
the same.
You know, obviously each hastheir own individualistic
characteristics, but León isLeón.
It's beautiful.
And that's where we ultimatelydecided to, to move to.
Jessica (05:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think that this is theperfect time and I will be
answering a couple questionsthat people had asked.
So if you haven't signed up tothe newsletter, to the Viva AMI
newsletter, I did share thiswith my subscribers as well as
the Viva Ami Collectivecommunity in advance about this.
And I did have a couplequestions about.
(05:56):
Our move and, and really rightnow, we felt like it was the
right time just because we havetwo little ones.
You know, as you know, we havetwo little toddlers who are two
and four years old, and we feltthat right now we could
definitely take advantage ofthat just because
Alex (06:14):
they have no friends.
Yeah.
They, they, they don't have likean
Jessica (06:17):
established friend group here or you know, I know
that as they get older, youknow, they might.
Pushback on a lot of things.
Like I remember when I was ateenager, I would be so
unappreciative of going toDisney World for some reason,
and so let alone doing a bigmove like that.
And so.
We felt like right now is theright time.
And for those of you who haven'tfollowed us for a long time,
(06:39):
currently in the space thatwe're in, we're in a living
situation where we arehomeowners to a three
Alex (06:48):
three flat
Jessica (06:49):
building in Chicago.
And so we knew that eventuallywe could always move out and
then rent it out.
And so that's something that,you know, didn't keep us kind of
like restricted in terms of ourcurrent living situation.
And
Alex (07:02):
yeah, we definitely give ourselves a year tops.
Live here to here because a onebedroom, one bathroom with four
people definitely gets on intoyour mind.
So yeah, that was definitely abig contributing factor for us
to make this move.
Jessica (07:14):
Yeah, and essentially, you know, we gave ourselves a
deadline.
To live here for a year.
And we were like, okay, wellwhat is the next move?
And you know, we were trying tolook at the conventional things,
right?
Like trying to look at, tryingto find better jobs, better
paying jobs to afford anothermortgage, because we don't
wanna, you know, sell thisproperty.
This is sort of a, a, a realestate and investment property.
(07:37):
And so for those of you whodon't know what house hacking
is, we did talk about thisactually with Alex here on the,
on the podcast.
We did share about, you know,what it's like to.
To house hack and kind ofbuilding that generational
wealth, but.
Yeah, so if we felt like rightnow was the right time to do
that, because everything seemedto align very well with us and
(07:59):
our current season of life, andso, yeah.
I can't believe it.
We are moving to Mexico, whichis wild.
Yeah, so it, you might hearthis.
Place a little echoey justbecause we are slowly getting
rid of our stuff.
We got rid of like somefurniture, but not all.
I think within the next coupleof weeks we will be kind of
(08:22):
getting rid of some things just.
Because that's the nature ofdoing a big move.
Alex (08:27):
Check off Facebook market, buy some stuff
Jessica (08:29):
for those of you who are in Chicago.
Yeah.
And so, yeah, like, you know,one question was like, what made
you decide that now is the righttime to make this move,
especially with two young kids.
And so.
You know, I already said, youknow, right now we felt like
it's the great time because theyare little.
But it's also so that, you know,I don't know about y'all, but
(08:52):
like growing up, at least mygrand grandma used to take care
of me.
Myta used to take care of me.
You know, Alex had a verypositive childhood experience
like.
Those, those are core memoriesthat I personally have at least,
you know, like the, the firstfive years of my life, maybe up
until maybe I was like eightyears, everything else is a blur
(09:14):
because you're kind of in thispreteen stage.
But at at least for like for me,like I really wanted to have our
kids create this like corememory and that is of Mexico.
And I know a couple friends, infact my hairstylist, she.
Lived in Mexico for a year and,and she was like, oh my gosh, I
(09:35):
remember how fun it was like mysiblings and I loved it.
And so, you know, we felt like,okay, right now.
Maybe we can create this kind ofonce in a lifetime experience
for our kids.
And so if anything, we're doingthis for our children just that
way they can be immersed in theculture, they can be integrated
with just like having thisbicultural, bilingual
(09:58):
experience, not just from theUnited States but in our
motherland.
And one of the questions was,why now?
And especially with our kids.
And so I don't know if you haveanything else.
To share?
Alex (10:08):
Yeah, I mean, just like how Jess mentioned that
obviously one of the biggestcontributing factors was that
Diego and Mateo, they don't havelike any established roots here
in terms of like friendships orlike friends or whatever.
So yeah, hopefully they canbuild some of that over there in
Mexico.
And for me personally was, Itold Jess that one of the
biggest things that if it didn'thappen for me, mama knows right?
(10:28):
It was, I was looking for apromotion in my job, didn't
happen.
So just like I just said, thestars were aligning.
So once I, I got that bad news,Hey, you know, let's make this
good news and let's get outtahere.
Jessica (10:40):
Yeah, yeah.
And so there's a lot of waysthat you can kind of go about
this, right?
Like you can't either.
Leave your job.
I know a lot of families wholeave their jobs and just like
start a new chapter in theircareer, in their lives really.
And they start a new and, and Ithink that's the beauty with us.
(11:00):
We are able to, I don't know,just create some, like start a
new chapter in our lives.
It's just like when we getmarried, it's just like when we
graduate college, right?
There are so many milestones andI think all of the decisions
that.
We've made, we, we did itmutually.
We did it through, you know,just like listening to each
(11:20):
other.
Mm-hmm.
And, and honestly, I don't knowwhose idea it was, it almost
like, it was just like, we were,well, but you too.
You were like, you know what,let's just go.
And so like, I think we wereplanting the seed for each other
and then it, it happened.
One of the questions in advancethat we received was, where in
Mexico are you moving to?
And why did you choose thatspecific location?
(11:42):
So Alex a answered that earlier.
But we are moving to LeonGuanajuato, which is one of the
largest metropolitan cities inthe, in, in the United States,
in Mexico.
I think it's the sixth largestcity I believe in Mexico.
I'm, I'm, my family's fromGuanajuato.
And so, you know, a lot ofpeople are like, well, are you
(12:04):
moving there because yourfamily's there?
And actually my parents arecurrently there, and my
grandparents live there too.
I think it's.
Helpful to have my familynearby.
They're gonna be about an houraway.
But honestly, I loved Leon, andoften people don't talk about
Leon.
When you think about Guanajuato.
People think about San Miguel orDelogo or Guanajuato City and
(12:29):
the big surrounding cities.
People often think aboutGuadalajara and Guro, but.
You know, we really like Leonebecause it created that balance
between, you know, the big city,but also it's not as big, like
Mexico City.
I love Mexico City, and we werethinking about moving to Lada,
Mexico, but we were like, no,that's too big.
Like, yeah,
Alex (12:47):
it's, it's mindboggling how big that place is.
Yeah.
It's really
Jessica (12:50):
big.
And so we're like, you knowwhat, maybe Leon is a good sort
of like in between.
In between, yeah.
Especially for us city folkslike who ha grew up in in
Chicago.
I think it's a happy medium toto be in a city like Leon.
And then the other second partis, oh, I guess when are we
planning to move?
And so we are planning to movein the next two months, so yes.
(13:16):
Mm-hmm.
Please send us well wishes,prayers, or whatever.
Like, it's going to be a lot ofwork, to be honest, just
because, you know, we have tohave everything kind of.
Set, I guess with the apartment,right?
We wanna get it rented out.
So if anyone's in the Chicagoarea, and if you know anyone who
lives in the city and wants torent, like feel free to reach
(13:38):
out.
Let us tell, yes, let us know.
But it's also just like thelogistics of getting there.
And so I will be sharing contentabout that just because there's
a lot of information aboutrelocating to Mexico, but this
is more so out of the expatperspective and or.
People who are.
(13:58):
Don't identify as like LatinAmerican or Mexican for this
specific example.
And so, and yeah, so we'recoming in from a different lens,
from a different experience.
We are children of immigrants.
I've obtained my dualcitizenship.
Alex is still working on his,that process is gonna be a
little lengthy, to be honest.
Mm-hmm.
But I'll be sharing that aswell.
(14:20):
And so we come from a differentvantage point than other people
that wanna move to Mexico, who.
Don't have any roots, if thatmakes sense.
And so, yeah, we, we will besharing a lot of information
about that as far as with ouradventure, let me see, I'm
getting, there was
Alex (14:37):
a question here from Uhhuh.
Yeah.
They're saying what type of workwill you both be doing While
they're my partner, my partnerand I have been planning,
planning to move to India, toMexico.
Jessica (14:48):
Yeah.
Alex (14:50):
So I could kind of briefly answer that one.
I'm still gonna keep my job my,I'm fully remote.
So I'm super, super blessed tohave that, you know, this
position.
So that's basically what I'mgonna be doing my, the same old
nine to five job, but in adifferent location.
Jessica (15:05):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And for me, I am currentlyunemployed, but you know,
through Eva la.
You know, I, I'm o open toreceiving, whether if it's
partner, brand, partnerships,sponsorships, whatever it is,
speaking engagements.
I'm currently working on thatand I'm also working as a
(15:26):
contractor and so more likefreelance.
And so the benefit is that weare earning US dollars.
Mm-hmm.
And so that is a privilege,right.
But I always say like, this ispart of the American dream that
our parents.
Left and are, do, have done forus, right.
They came to this country sothat we can have some
(15:48):
advantages.
And one of the advantages isthat being bilingual, being
bicultural, you know, we're ableto really navigate this and you
know, just leverage, kind oflike our existence, right?
As, as people who can be fromhere and from there, if that
makes sense.
Another question that was asked.
(16:08):
Uh, what are you most excitedabout and what are you most
nervous about with this bigchange?
So what makes you excited, Alex?
Alex (16:15):
For me, what makes me excited is making these new
memories with my family.
Right.
Getting to watch my two kids,not be enclosed in our little
house, you know, if we want togo outside, let'em go outside.
And yeah, just pretty muchhaving new experiences in a
different country.
Right.
And yeah, just exploring everyday pretty much that that's
(16:36):
what, that's what I'm personallyhoping to do.
Yeah.
And as far as what makes mescared, the logistical part of
it, right.
Right now we're currently tryingto look for, for an apartment.
What I'm kind of worried aboutis the actual drive down there.
Being in a car with two littleones is a freaking cat.
Jessica (16:54):
Yeah.
We haven't shared that yet.
Yeah.
But yes, we are planning to.
Drive from Chicago to mm-hmm.
To embark on this move.
A lot of people just like flyto, to relocate, but know we're
actually gonna bring our car andtalking about legalization and
plating our car to a Mexicanplate, like, that's gonna be
(17:16):
different.
And so again, there's a lot ofthings that, you know, it's not
just like, grab your bags andleave, right?
Mm-hmm.
There's so many logistics andfor us, we are planning to live
there for a minimum of a year.
So we are giving ourselves atleast a year to try this whole
thing out and, you know, see howthis works.
But we're also open, we're opento, you know, staying there for
(17:39):
a couple years.
And for me at least with mycurrent season of life, like I,
I am a stay at home mom, right?
Like that is my full-time job.
I am a stay at home mom and weare going to enroll the kids to
school.
So actually.
If y'all haven't been followingme or have seen my stories, I, I
went to Mexico alone with thekids last week.
(18:00):
Or is it gonna be two weeks?
I, two weeks?
I don't remember.
Two weeks.
Yes.
And we were there for a weekbecause we were, we went to the
school where we decided toenroll them.
We, during our spring break, wevisited a bunch of schools and
we decided to enroll them intoone where they're both gonna be
together.
It's gonna be, and both.
Kids will be there, and thatwill allow me, you know, to
(18:22):
focus on Viva la Mommy and, andcreating different and new
content for you all.
So feel free to share any, youknow, suggestions or topics that
you want us to talk about.
But yeah, the, you know, we, wehave thought about this and you
know, it's not just about, likeI said, packing our bags and
leaving like, no, this is verylogistical.
(18:43):
It's very formal.
It's like legit, it's legal,right?
Like we are.
Again, not, not going there aslike tourists for 180 days.
We are going there as citizens
Alex (18:55):
365 days
Jessica (18:57):
minimum.
I have a question here, so let'ssee.
Is there a timeframe of stayingin Mexico?
Yes, so I did answer that and soyeah, like we we're planning to
stay there for at least a yearand then go from there.
Let's see.
Another question that was asked,how are you preparing the boys
for this move?
Are they excited about living inMexico?
(19:19):
Okay.
To be honest, Diego,specifically, if y'all haven't
heard him talk, this kid onlyspeaks Spanish.
You know, right now he's in thatage where we, we have fully
immersed him in in the language,right?
Like.
It's 100% Spanish, everythingeverywhere.
With the exception of school.
Right now, school isn't likefully 100% Spanish, but had we
(19:42):
stayed here, it would be duallanguage after this year.
But this kid, I kid you notlike, is obsessed with anything
Spanish speaking, obsessed withthe culture, obsessed with
Mexico in general and even inthe winters he would, he would
be like.
And I was like, okay, well if,if this is your goal, then hey,
(20:04):
this dream is about to happen.
Yeah.
And so I guess we officiallytold them And specifically
Diego, right?
Yeah, because Diego's four andMateos two, but we officially
told Diego like, Hey.
How do you feel about us movingto Mexico?
You know, or you know, how doyou feel about going to a
different school and meeting newfriends?
And so just like having thoseinitial conversations and it's
(20:26):
really equipped him to have abetter understanding of like,
oh, we are moving to Mexico.
And honestly I think he isexcited more than anything.
Mm-hmm.
I think he's very excited for usto road trip down to Mexico.
He's excited to meet newfriends, like.
He got to visit his school, hisfuture school, as well as Mateo,
and they interacted very wellwith the, with the students, the
(20:48):
teachers.
They love the playground thatthere is.
These kids are.
Super active kids, and I knowthat Mexico is very outdoorsy.
I mean, and yes.
Okay, we're moving to a, a, alocation in Mexico that isn't
considered like hot, right?
Like it's pretty mild, I wouldsay in the winters.
(21:11):
And for us, I mean mild is likewhat?
40 degrees or, you know, likefor us.
Yeah, yeah.
Like we're used to having 20degree weather in the, in the
city of Chicago.
So
Alex (21:24):
I'm gonna be the one that's struggling because I
start sweating at 70 degrees.
Yeah.
Jessica (21:28):
Well I, so, yeah, so I think the kids understand the
concept and we are working withthem.
So for those of you who haven'theard or known of this yet,
Diego.
Is currently going to therapyand occupational therapy, and
both therapists know about usmoving to Mexico and they're
helping him with sort of like atransition plan.
(21:50):
That way it's not going to fullylike hit him hard, but you know,
I think.
He, he's excited.
I think he's ready.
Excited.
Yeah, he's definitely ready.
He's ready.
He's
Alex (21:58):
more ready than we are, honestly.
Jessica (22:00):
Yeah.
One question that I had was,what about Viva LA and the Viva
AMI Collective, which is myin-person community?
And so for ami, we'll start outwith that first.
It's still gonna be the same,right?
It's still going to focus onLatina motherhood.
It's still going to focus on howwe can redefine mahood as modern
(22:24):
Latina moms and how we can sortof reclaim our culture and mold
that into this modern parenting,right?
And so this is still the samepremise, but now that I will be
living in a different countryand especially.
In a country where my, ourfamily comes from, I think I
will be able to share a betterperspective.
(22:45):
Right?
I will be definitely sharingmore content about our
experience.
So what we've decided to do,and, and Alex is partnering up
with me here, we will becreating a a, a series of
YouTube videos.
So it will still be under myYouTube channel, Viva la.
But there will be uniqueplaylists about our stay in
(23:07):
Mexico, our relocation toMexico, where it will be kind of
like, like vlogging lifestyle,but also just like educational
videos.
Alex (23:16):
Yeah.
Sharing tips and tricks.
Right.
We'll be making all themistakes, so hopefully you guys
won't have to,
Jessica (23:20):
especially for those who have shared that they, this
is a dream, right?
And so we will be adding morecontent specifically on YouTube,
but also on social media.
So please stick around, youknow, and, and I'm always
welcome to receiving feedback toreceiving.
You know what your thoughts are,if you have any topics that you
want us to, to talk about.
(23:42):
But yes, we will be sharing morecontent as it relates to our
official move to Mexico.
As far as with the Viva AmiCollective, and I did share this
with the community members, I amin the process of revamping it.
You know, initially it was a, itessentially was a monthly kind
of in-person.
Mommy meetups that we would do.
(24:03):
So each month mammies would meetup in person around the
Chicagoland area, and then wewould also offer virtual
workshops kind of con, I alwaysconsidered it like the, the
professional development ofmotherhood, right?
Where we talked about differenttopics and how we can best be
the, a better version.
Of ourselves through this lensof mothering.
And so I am planning to revampit just a bit.
(24:26):
So I still wanna have acommunity just because I feel
like there's so many benefits toit.
But it will definitely be moreof a virtual setting, which I
know it's, it can bedisappointed, especially for us
mamas who lived through thepandemic.
We wanna make those in-personconnections.
But trust me, I mean.
There's a, a lot of different,you know, platforms that offer
(24:49):
in-person meetups, and I'm inthe process of, you know, trying
to figure out if I can gather acouple ambassadors where they
can host these in-person events,you know, based upon, you know,
the area that they live in.
So there's still more to come,but I will let everyone know
about, you know, this.
New makeup of the Viva AMIcollective.
(25:11):
I do see an importance and Ihave received really positive
feedback about this, especiallythe mentorship program.
But I, I also wanna scale to adifferent level where, you know,
we can be inclusive of likemama's outside of the Chicago
area, so that way, you know.
We can have more mamas like,trust me, and I've gotten
(25:32):
requests from mamas in Texas,Puerto Rico, Australia,
Colombia, so like differentLatina moms that are just
navigating, you know, thisunique journey and having this
kind of sense of, of this dualidentity where they are mamas,
but also Latinas and how thatreally impacts the way that we
parent.
Alex (25:50):
Just excited for this new move.
So, yes.
Yeah.
So
Jessica (25:53):
like I said, a lot of new content.
Coming up as it relates to ourofficial move to Mexico.
We'll still be around here inthe Chicago area for the next
two months, but you know, wewill.
Yeah, embark on this new journeyand I'm very excited to have you
all here.
You know, for us to share all ofthis to you.
(26:15):
I think it's, it take this as asign that if you ever wanna make
change, I think it's doable,
Alex (26:23):
right?
You make it happen.
It,
Jessica (26:24):
yeah.
You can make it happen.
And I think a lot of us are.
Scared to, to do big changeslike this or were just like
comfortable.
Alex (26:32):
I for sure was, I definitely for sure was scared,
Jessica (26:35):
but, you know, props to you, you know, like I think I,
I've always told that I waslike, I'm, I'm, I'm such an
adventure person that I, I'vealways envisioned myself.
Living outside of the country.
You know, at first it was likewhat Ireland and then Italy and
now
Alex (26:50):
everywhere she visited, oh, I wanna live here.
Jessica (26:53):
But obviously with Mexico, I mean we thought that
this would make much more sensejust because it's connected to
our Cultura, it's connected toour families.
You know, we're only onegeneration behind, if you will,
from like being disconnected oraway from the the motherland.
And so what a great way for usto come back.
And for us to bring our littlekids.
(27:14):
And I think, like Alex said,like I think that is our
inspiration.
Our kids are kind of like theforce between this so that we
can do something different.
And again, just like the starsaligned very well for us.
So if you ever, you know, payattention to that.
If you ever pay attention tofate or you know, just like any
signs, right?
(27:36):
Like take that as a sign.
Like maybe it's time for you toit.
Time for a change.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Well, thank you all so much forthe lovely comments.
I appreciate it.
I don't know.
That's it.
Yeah, that's it.
Okay.
That was it.
This video will be obviouslyposted on my Instagram account,
but you'll be listening to thisas the audio version on the
(27:56):
podcast, and it will be postedonline on YouTube as well.
So all these different channels,and that way we can reach out to
more folks.
But thank you all so much fortuning in and.
Bye.
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