August 14, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode of the "Living in Mexico" series, I address my recent hiatus and share the journey of moving my family from Chicago to León, Guanajuato.
You'll hear about the planning and preparation for our road trip with two toddlers and a cat, the challenges and decisions we faced, and the valuable lessons we learned along the way. I also answer your frequently asked questions, discuss community support, and reflect on the privileged nature of our reverse migration.
Join me as we embark on this new adventure and explore what it means to pursue a different dream for our family.
For detailed show notes, visit vivalamami.com/episode132
What You'll Hear:
- The logistics of planning a move to Mexico with a family of four
- Overcoming challenges during our road trip
- Our experience crossing the border
- Lessons learned about resilience and flexibility
- Our ongoing journey of reverse migration and reclaiming our roots
Resources Mentioned:
- Amazon Storefront link to the products we used during our trip
- Episode 130: In-depth discussion on why we decided to move
- Follow mi amiga, Juliana @thebilingualmomlife
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jessica (00:00):
We're not just reclaiming our roots, we're not
just reclaiming our culture, ourlanguage, the traditions and
everything, but we also wannapursue our own dreams.
And that is going back toMexico.
a lot of people are now pursuingthe Mexican Dream, El Mexicano,
and.
(00:21):
That is because we'veexperienced a lot, especially in
the last 25 years, I would saysince the start of millennia
like we've experienced a lot andthis is causing trauma and the
fact that we aren't able to feellike stabilized, that we're not
able to feel like.
We belong in a way that perhapsother generations did and were
(00:47):
able to prosper, and so we're.
Trying to not just like rebuildthis life to reclaim our roots
and heritage, but it's also howcan we rebuild a life that is
sustainable for us, that makesmuch meaning to us and our
families, especially withraising our kids in a different
(01:08):
country.
(02:17):
Welcome back to the Viva la Mamipodcast i'm your host, Jessica
Cuevas, and if you're new here,well bien.
Before we dive in today, I needto address the elephant in the
room.
Where the heck have I been?
I know it's been a while sinceour last episode, like literally
(02:39):
a month ago, but honestly,moving to a new country with two
toddlers while running abusiness has been a lot.
So I have been quiet becausesometimes life requires you to
step back and focus on whatmatters most.
Our familia, if you haven'tnoticed yet.
(03:02):
Literally has been in fulltransition mode and PIC really
needed their mommy more than myphone needed content and
everything else in between.
But Amos now in Mexico.
And I'd be honest with you, weare still adjusting.
(03:24):
We are two weeks in at the timeof this recording, so a lot has
been going on, and in today'sepisode is.
Extra special because it's partof our monthly living in Mexico
series.
If you've been following alongon Instagram, you know that my
family of four plus Arita justmade the big move from Chicago
(03:47):
to Leon Guanajuato and Mamas.
Let me tell you, the questionshave been flooding my dms like
no other.
This month I want to talk abouthow did we prepare to drive from
Chicago to Mexico with a4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a
(04:08):
cat who has never left the city.
And yes, we drove, we drove allthe way down to Mexico and we
all survived.
In addition to sharing you howwe prepared for the drive to
Mexico as a family of four, Ialso want to answer a couple
(04:30):
questions that have been sent inmy dms.
If you haven't followed me,which I highly recommend that
you follow me on Instagram andon TikTok as well, but I'm
mostly active on Instagram.
I ask my followers and my, ingeneral, any questions that they
may have about our life inMexico.
(04:51):
And as we were preparing for ourmove, I definitely got a lot of
questions.
And so throughout this episode,I will be asking those questions
as well.
So let's start from thebeginning, because I know some
of you are probably thinkingwhat you drove.
Toddlers says Luca.
And honestly, there were momentsI questioned that decision
(05:14):
myself and even my husband aswell.
But let me walk you through howwe got there and how we planned
this whole thing out.
Well, we were contemplatingwhether if we wanted to drive or
fly, we were actually thinkingabout.
Me flying with the kids and ourcat and Alex, my husband,
(05:37):
driving alone with our car.
Initially we were thinking aboutwhether to sell our car in the
United States, but for now wejust decided to keep a temporary
permit, which is called the tip,uh, through the, and basically
(05:57):
it allows.
You to drive and keep your carin Mexico for six months, you
can always renew it, but youhave to go back to the border
and renew it, uh, because that,that just happens that way.
However, I have heard ofdifferent ways to renew the tip,
and so I'll be sharing with youmore as.
(06:19):
Time goes on because I believeour car may be eligible to get
it legalized in Mexico.
And so there's a lot ofinformation about that and a lot
of misinformation as well.
So before I share anything aboutwhether to renew our car or what
have you, I'll definitely besharing that.
(06:41):
Once we have a better idea, butin the meantime, we have kept
our car.
We have our car here.
Our car that is plated throughthe state of Illinois is here,
but legally through the tip.
But it was definitely expensive,I would say.
And.
I think in coming episodes Iwill be sharing with you the
(07:02):
cost associated with likerelocating and how expensive it
was.
Alex is still mind blown, and Iget it.
I, I kind of knew that we wouldbe spending a lot of money even
though we were being verystrategic in terms of not
spending a lot, but.
You know, with getting the carfixed and ready to hit the road,
(07:25):
we ended up buying a cargo boxso that we can pack more things
above the car, uh, because wehave a tiny SUV and you know, we
also had to get the tip, andthat in itself was a cost, and
we had to get.
Mexican, uh, car insurance aswell.
So there were a lot ofadditional expenses that maybe
(07:49):
it would've been cheaper to justfly, but also it was the
experience and also justcarrying all of our things with
us, and what we decided to bringwith us specifically were the
belongings that made sense, themost practical ones, we
definitely brought our clothes,some of the kids' toys, some of
(08:12):
their books.
We brought our computerequipment and that was it.
I would have to say that wepacked a lot for the road trip
and I think that I probably.
Spot, uh, more things for theroad trip than the actual like,
(08:34):
move for us to utilize here.
And, and the reason why wasbecause, you know, I just wanted
to make sure that the.
The experience was going to beeasy on us and for the kids to
not like get bored or getoverstimulated or overtired.
(08:54):
And so I kind of overpacked andover prepared for the road trip
itself, and that ended upcluttering even.
More of our, of the space thatwe probably didn't already have.
So what we ended up doing wasthat some of the things that we
wanted to bring, like forexample, a booster seat for
Mateo at the dinner table, likeI wanted to bring that with, but
(09:19):
it just didn't Fit.
It's not like you can fold itand put it under the seat.
And I was like, you know what?
I can definitely find this inMexico.
There were other things that weleft behind, like the kids
scooters, there were a couplethings that I left it behind as
well.
I know I can find here and wewill come back.
(09:39):
I mean, it's not like we are, wehave left the United States
forever.
So, we put them in a storageunit.
We've been having a storage unitfor over two years now.
From the time that we.
Uh, lived in the suburbs andthen moved to the city and
downsized.
And so we still have a lot ofour belongings there.
(10:00):
But at the meantime, for thepurpose of this move to Mexico,
we just brought the essentialsand the things that we knew that
were going to make sense, atleast for a couple months.
And so when it came to theadventure itself, like.
It took us five days to travelfrom Chicago to Mexico.
(10:25):
So we left the city technicallyit was the 22nd of July.
Uh, we initially wanted to havea city experience where we.
Uh, booked a room at a hotel.
Actually, Alex did through hiscredit card, uh, because
(10:46):
apparently you got more pointsand blah, blah, blah.
Well, it ended up being thatthat hotel didn't reserve the
room, although it was quoteunquote booked.
So I, which it made sense why atthe end we noticed a lot of
unpleasant reviews about thathotel.
(11:07):
uh, Apparently they just didn'tknow how to update their
bookings.
And so on our end, through the.
Credit card company of Alex's,like he was able to reserve and
book a room well, I guess therewas a misconnection there that
the hotel didn't have enoughspace and we ended up getting in
(11:27):
at the hotel like pretty late.
I think it was like 10 or 11.
At night because we wereliterally like trying to empty
out the apartment where we wereat and loading up the car and
everything, getting things readyso that we can spend our just
one night in, in the city indowntown Chicago and.
(11:50):
Uh, yeah, I, I guess at thattime, because it was so late,
everything was booked and when Imean everything, like I called,
we, we both called like local,uh, hotels in the city.
Okay.
This is.
The city of Chicago and therewas nothing available that
night.
(12:11):
Something was happening.
No, it wasn't Lalapaloozabecause we intentionally wanted
to move like a week beforeLalapalooza.
Uh, because even with trafficand everything, we knew it was
gonna gonna be bad.
I, I honestly don't know whathappened, but it.
We just couldn't find a room.
We ended up finding a room inOakbrook, Illinois, which is
(12:33):
like 20 minutes west of thecity.
It's a suburb, and we were like,you know what?
I guess we.
Couldn't have the cityexperience one last time before
we hit the road.
Like we already lived in thecity anyway.
We just wanted the kids to havethis like, fun experience
(12:53):
staying at a hotel in downtownand getting to get like
Garrett's popcorn one last timeand all of that.
But honestly, like we're gonnareturn back.
It's, it's fine.
But we just wanted thisexperience.
So anyway, we ended up juststaying at a hotel in the
suburbs and it was fine.
The next morning we hadbreakfast and we just did some
(13:16):
last minute shopping becausehonestly, I had some gift cards
that I had to get rid of, and wedid a little bit of shopping,
and then we officially hit theroad, I think it was like in the
afternoon.
So that was the 23rd of July.
We drove, uh, and we ended upspending the night in St.
Louis, Missouri, the next day onthe 24th, we were kind of doing
(13:40):
mini, a mini excursion.
We got to see the arc, and wehad breakfast and we hit the
road.
Uh, we then decided to havedinner in Springfield, Missouri,
and we had a, it was a prettycool restaurant.
It was a Dutch restaurant, neverhad Dutch food.
Uh, and it was the best.
(14:03):
Dinner I I've had in a while andit was really good.
So we had dinner there and wedecided to just like hit the
road from Springfield, Missouri,all the way to Dallas.
So this was almost like anovernight kind of.
(14:23):
Like drive.
And honestly, the kids werefine.
We did do one pit stop, and thatwas like once we arrived in
Oklahoma and there was a restingarea and we just changed the
kids to their pajamas.
And this was like already 9:00PM and we were like, you know
(14:45):
what?
Let's just, let's just plungethis.
Let's just hit the road.
And so.
We, we ended up arriving toDallas at 3:00 AM and we had
already booked a hotel, areservation.
Uh, but unfortunately I had avery unpleasant experience at
(15:07):
the hotel where I booked.
Some situation happened.
I really don't know what reallyhappened, but the front desk
person at the hotel was justnot.
Happy and accommodating.
I guess what ended up happeningis that I didn't call the hotel
letting them know that we wouldarrive that late, that it
(15:27):
resulted into an automaticcancellation.
Honestly, I wasn't aware that Ihad to do that.
I thought that once you book aroom, you, it's yours until like
12:00 PM when you're supposed tocheck out or whatever.
But I just wasn't aware of that.
And so it ended up being anargument.
So she ended up kicking me out.
(15:48):
So we ended up calling.
The hotel chain.
This was an actual hotel chain,and I called the corporate
number and I was like, Hey, thisis a situation.
I need a room right now.
And luckily there was a roomwithin a mile away from that
hotel in Dallas.
And so we ended up sleeping thenight there and we were like,
(16:10):
you know what?
Let's just spend two nightshere.
Because we already did a lot oftraveling, like literally from
St.
Louis to Dallas.
And you know, we were justexhausted.
So I'm really glad that we endedup spending two nights because I
actually reached out to a mamauh, Juliana, Schomberg, who is
the bilingual mom life.
(16:31):
And she has been on the podcasttwice.
We've been connected throughsocial media.
We've been doing, um, a lot ofcollaborations and we will be
doing even more collaborations.
And so I was like, oh my gosh, Ineed to see this mu in person.
So she lives in Dallas with herfamily, and it happened to be
her birthday that Friday when wewere in Dallas, and it was
(16:54):
amazing.
We got to celebrate herbirthday, she and her.
Husband invited us over to theirhouse and the kids got to play
with each other because she hastwo little ones as well.
So it was such a great time andI'm really glad that we ended up
spending the night because thenthe next morning we were fully
rested and we got to hit theroad, and so we left Dallas that
(17:18):
Saturday morning.
And then we drove through Texas.
We stopped at the outlet mallnear San Antonio, which is
called San Marcos.
Y'all.
It's the biggest outlet mallever.
And one of the mamas who I meton social media, she and I
(17:39):
reconnected.
Because she lives in Leon andshe's from the US and she is
also raising her family here inMexico.
And she recommended, Hey,anything that you wanna buy,
just get it at an outlet mall onyour way to Mexico before you
(17:59):
arrive to Mexico.
So we got a couple things.
We didn't go all crazy, but Idefinitely got myself a pair of
shoes, got the kids some shoesbecause for some reason their
feet grow like every two months.
And we gotta update their shoes.
And so yeah, we decided to spendthe night that Saturday night in
(18:20):
like the border.
Uh, so this was still in Texas,and we decided to cross between
the Eagle Pass and Piera Negra aborder.
I've heard really.
Good positive things about it,especially as a family who has,
you know, we have two littleones.
We decided to go to a very lowkey, um, border just because I
(18:45):
remember when we traveled toMexico we would cross Laredo and
it was kind of intense.
It.
We were waiting in line for avery long time.
I just remember seeing like somuch traffic and once you cross
the border, it's a big city andPiera, Negras is pretty small.
Honestly, once we crossed theborder, it didn't even feel like
(19:07):
we did, and this is veryprivileged for me to say this,
right, but when we.
Drove from Texas to Mexico, likethe border No one asked for our
passport.
No one asked for documentation.
I don't know why.
We took another loop around andwe asked, Hey, where are we
(19:29):
supposed to go?
And they're like.
Just keep going.
And we were like, uh, okay.
One of the traffic people thatwere there, they didn't even
know where to direct us for usto get our passport stamped.
And so, it felt surreal, butthen again, it's very privileged
because we are coming from theUnited States to Mexico now.
(19:50):
We got to see the other side ofthe border from Mexico to Texas,
and we got to see lines and alot of people and people were
getting stopped and so.
Just because of the things thatare going on right now, I
believe with immigration anddeportations, it's almost like
they're just letting a lot ofpeople coming from the United
(20:12):
States to Mexico, like prettyloosely.
Which for me, honestly, I thinkthat's, uncomfortable just
because like anyone can come toMexico, whether if you have a
good background or not.
And so that made me feel alittle, mad and disappointed
just because, I gathered all ofour documentation, like I made
copies of our car registration.
(20:34):
I even made copies of our cat'smedical records and all of this
stuff and nothing.
And I was just like, pretty, it,it honestly, it felt so surreal.
Like I kept thinking as we weredriving south and south and
south from the border, I keptthinking, well, we're gonna get
(20:54):
stopped.
Like someone's gonna check ourdocumentation.
And no.
We ended up, uh, arriving toSaltillo.
Which is a pretty big city inIlla and we spent the night
there.
Uh, we stayed at a really nicehotel.
And so then that Monday wedecided to drive from Saltillo
(21:15):
all the way down to Guanajuato.
So that was a pretty.
Big stretch.
I wouldn't say from like St.
Louis to Dallas, but it did takeabout eight hours.
So we strategically left prettyearly from Saltillo just so that
we can make it to El Rancho,where my family is from, uh,
which was our second to lastfinal destination.
(21:36):
I am already familiar with thatarea, so we arrived.
Around 8:00 PM Actually it was9:00 PM Yeah, it was 9:00 PM So
yeah, that's how it was.
I mean, we didn't really map outlike specific staffs.
We weren't, specific on likewhere we're going to stay at.
Honestly, I made reservationslike hours before we were
(21:59):
supposed to check in.
Uh, so we were pretty open interms of like how long we would
essentially take this trip.
We did it with ease.
We did it with an understandingthat if we're ever going to have
a situation like our carbreaking down or getting pulled
over or whatever, like we wereopen to that.
(22:20):
And honestly, like nothinghappened.
Like even when we were drivingthrough Mexico, like.
Oh my gosh.
Like honestly, I just thinkthat, I mean, I'm not a
religious person, but I thinkthat the universe, again, has
reinforced that we are making agreat decision and everything
(22:42):
was pretty much set into place,everything was put into our
favor, and I'm really glad thatthis all worked out because I've
definitely heard horror storiesfrom specifically like family
members that have had negativeexperiences like driving through
the border or driving throughMexico.
And these are recent incidents.
(23:02):
It's not like.
Stuff that happened like 10years ago or whatever.
Uh, and so I'm really glad thateverything worked out very well
for us.
so now I'm going to answer someof your questions that you sent
me on Instagram because I seeyou, I see that so many of you
are thinking about makingsimilar moves.
(23:23):
And so the first question thatcame up over and over again was,
what we packed for the road tripspecifically, and I actually
have an Amazon storefront, soI'm going to link that in the
description of the show notes.
But.
Again, I felt like I overdid it,but then again, as a mom, like,
(23:47):
I'm like, you know, I'm justgonna bring this stuff just in
case.
So I brought like activity booksfor the kids.
My sister, uh, gave us a bunchof stuff from her job.
I did get them like a stickerbook.
I got them a lot of snacks.
We definitely brought a lot ofsnacks and not just for the road
trip, but also for life inMexico, just because my kids are
(24:08):
very particular and they wantspecific snacks.
And that was something that wasrecommended from La Mama Ma that
I told you all about.
Who, um, I'll be having on theshow.
By the way, I'm very excited tohave her on the show and what
her experience is like raising afamily in Mexico, but.
She definitely recommended tobring snacks, especially like
specific snack bars because theydon't have them here compared to
(24:30):
the United States.
What else did I pack?
We packed comfort items, so likefamiliar things that the kids
knew.
So a couple months ago we wentto Build a Bear and those two.
Build a bear.
Stuffies have been theirfavorite.
I bet you they're not in thenext coming months, but that's
how it is.
(24:51):
Um, I did get them a tray sothat way they can eat if in case
we were like on the go.
So we definitely utilized thatwhen we were driving through
Mexico from Tyo to Guanajuato.
That tray eventually convertsinto a dry erase.
Board.
Um, and then Diego, I rememberhe made like a little road and
(25:13):
he, I brought like a couple HotWheels that were easily
accessible to them.
And they were kind of likedriving the little cars on that
like, uh, tray.
And so yeah, that tray was veryuseful because it, the kids were
able to use it in differentways, they're versatile in their
foldable and everything, as faras with our cad, I definitely
(25:35):
prepared.
Uh, for the worst.
Luckily she didn't do anincident in the car, but the
first time when we put her inthe carrier, she freaked out and
she did a little incident there.
But, I brought travel laundrydetergent, and I was, you know,
I had Alex like clean up, uh,the mess that she caused in her
(25:59):
carrier and.
We definitely discussed thiswith her vet as, as far as with
like road tripping with a cat.
And they prescribed her likethis calming medication.
So once we gave her that, shedefinitely like eased down and
she was actually enjoying theroad trip.
I was so amazed and surprisedbecause our cat, Rena, she is,
(26:22):
she's a very nervous cat I didbuy a portable litter box, so it
was kind of a mess, but it wasall right.
I mean, I would say that it did.
The job well because she used itwhen, once we arrived at the
hotel, we tried to have her doher business at like whenever we
stopped at resting areas orwhenever we had lunch or
(26:44):
whatever.
But she wasn't a fan of it justbecause of the noise and
everything, so.
I am glad that we were able tospend a couple nights during the
trip because this was when shewas able to release her stuff
and she, she did great.
I would say, Another questionthat I had was, When did you
(27:06):
start planning your move?
If you haven't yet heard theprevious living in Mexico
episode, I, definitely talkabout.
Why we wanted to move, why wedecided now to move as a family
of four, especially, you know,having two little toddlers.
And so I'll definitely link thatepisode in the show notes.
(27:30):
But I would say that we finallytook this leap of faith to make
this move to Mexico.
And in coming episodes I'll besharing a little bit more about
what it's actually like to live.
In Mexico, but I would have tosay that overall we are pursuing
a different dream, a verydifferent dream than what our
(27:51):
family.
Had, I don't think that ourparents ever envisioned us to
move back to the motherlandbecause when they left their
country, hence Mexico, like theythought that they were going to
be fully established in theUnited States, raise their
family, have jobs, and for theirfamily to basically retire and
(28:14):
die there.
But I think that there is a waveof so many second generation
people like us where.
We're not just reclaiming ourroots, we're not just reclaiming
our culture, our language, thetraditions and everything, but
we also wanna pursue our owndreams.
And that is going back toMexico.
(28:38):
And I've said this before, uh,through on Instagram and on this
podcast, how a lot of people arenow pursuing the Mexican Dream,
El Mexicano, and.
That is because we'veexperienced a lot, especially in
the last 25 years, I would saysince the start of millennia
(28:59):
like we've experienced a lot andthis is causing trauma and the
fact that we aren't able to feellike stabilized, that we're not
able to feel like.
We belong in a way that perhapsother generations did and were
able to prosper, and so we're.
(29:21):
Trying to not just like rebuildthis life to reclaim our roots
and heritage, but it's also howcan we rebuild a life that is
sustainable for us, that makesmuch meaning to us and our
families, especially withraising our kids in a different
country.
And so there's a lot that Iwanna talk about this, but for
(29:44):
now, this is.
Why we made the decision to moveto Mexico, and that is to pursue
a different dream than what ourparents did.
And I, and if you ever thoughtabout making a big move like
this, or any big change and lifetransition, it is okay.
(30:05):
Like as long as you and yourpartner, if you are in a
partnered relationship.
You know, agree with what youwanna do and in, in achieving
your dream, like it is doable.
It can be attainable.
It can be achievable.
It just is all about letting gopast the fear if our families
(30:30):
were able to move to a newcountry, that is so different
than theirs, without any assets,without any money, at least in
my family situation and in myhusband's situation, like I'm
sure that you can do it.
Because we were able to do it.
And I know that that is a veryprivileged thing to say and to
(30:51):
do, and I recognize that.
But I think that is part of thedream that our families had so
that we can live a better lifethan they did.
And that's what we're trying toaim for, to aim for a better
dream, a better life.
so that way we can.
Live.
Well, I mean, that's all whatI'm trying to say.
(31:12):
Okay, AMI, well, as we wrap uptoday's episode, I want to leave
you with the biggest lessons welearned from this whole
preparation process, becausehere's what I wish someone had
told me when I was Googling howto drive to Mexico with toddlers
first of all, it definitelytakes community and building
connections, and this literallymade everything possible I would
(31:34):
have to say that.
The best thing that we have asLatinos is that we have this
wealth, and that is communitywealth.
And the fact that we made thismove possible, it wasn't because
of us joining these expatgroups, quote unquote, like I,
I'm not a fan of.
(31:55):
These expat communities justbecause it's not relevant to our
experiences and our intentionsof moving to Mexico to the
motherland where our family camefrom.
Uh, and what we had to do wasjust to branch out and reach out
to the people that have beendoing this, but on the low key
(32:17):
that haven't been recognized fortheir intentions of moving to
Mexico so those were the reallygood connections that we got to
build along the way that.
Not only were we equipped withhaving Google Maps at our hands
and knowing where to go, butit's also having an
understanding that in ourpreparation for this big move
(32:39):
and the big road trip part ofthis was because of the people
that were with us along the way.
in addition to this Our kids aremore resilient than we think,
and I am so amazed and in awe ofhow amazing our kids did during
this road trip, and even ourReina like the boys did so
(33:03):
great.
And I am so like in shock almostthat.
It, it happened.
Like I was like, oh, this, thiswas it.
Like for some reason I thoughtthat we were going to spend
weeks on the road or that weweren't going to sleep, or that
the kids were going to screamand yell.
No, they had as much of a funtime than we did, to be honest.
(33:26):
And I would say that there, oneof the lessons learned was that
planning helps, but flexibilityis key.
And I already told y'all thatlike.
We were pretty much like goingwith the flow and that's all
what matters.
And then finally the biggestlessons that we learned from is
that the privilege andresponsibility of reverse
(33:46):
migration.
Like I said, no one ask us forpapers, even though we are dual
citizens.
It was just.
Very interesting to experiencecrossing the border in a, in a
different way than the way thatour families came to the United
States from Mexico.
And I am definitely going toshare a lot more about this.
(34:09):
Uh, but for now, that was one ofthe biggest lesson that there is
a lot of privilege in, in us notjust traveling and driving
through the border, but also thefact that we are here in Mexico.
Because of different choicesthan what our families did.
(34:31):
They did it outta survival tomove from Mexico to the United
States.
And for us it was a choice.
It was a decision.
It was a privileged decision.
Right?
And so I'll be sharing moreabout this in incoming episodes,
but for now, that was a biglesson learned.
All right, well in next month'sliving in Mexico episode, we
(34:52):
will cover what it's like livingin Mexico, at least for the
first month.
I'll be sharing a lot about thefirst weeks because I've got a
lot to share.
And in addition to our living inMexico series, you'll also be
hearing regular guest episodesevery week on Thursdays
(35:14):
beginning at 6:00 AM centraltime, and please encourage other
people to listen to Viva Lame.
It really helps a lot,especially if you know in Amiga
who is struggling in motherhoodor who wants to build uni.
This podcast is all about that.
You will not only hear about me,but you'll also hear about.
(35:38):
Guest experts, other mamas whoare going through the same
struggles as you are.
And so please have your Amiga orAna or another mommy that you
know to tune in and listen tothe podcast and also to please
follow me on Instagram.
I am at viva la and you're alsomore than welcome to ask any
(36:00):
questions about our new life inMexico.
All right, AMI.
Well, thank you so much forlistening and I'll catch you in
the next episode.
We're not just reclaiming our roots, we're not
just reclaiming our culture, ourlanguage, the traditions and
everything, but we also wannapursue our own dreams.
And that is going back toMexico.
a lot of people are now pursuingthe Mexican Dream, El Mexicano,
and.
(00:21):
That is because we'veexperienced a lot, especially in
the last 25 years, I would saysince the start of millennia
like we've experienced a lot andthis is causing trauma and the
fact that we aren't able to feellike stabilized, that we're not
able to feel like.
We belong in a way that perhapsother generations did and were
(00:47):
able to prosper, and so we're.
Trying to not just like rebuildthis life to reclaim our roots
and heritage, but it's also howcan we rebuild a life that is
sustainable for us, that makesmuch meaning to us and our
families, especially withraising our kids in a different
(01:08):
country.
(02:17):
Welcome back to the Viva la Mamipodcast i'm your host, Jessica
Cuevas, and if you're new here,well bien.
Before we dive in today, I needto address the elephant in the
room.
Where the heck have I been?
I know it's been a while sinceour last episode, like literally
(02:39):
a month ago, but honestly,moving to a new country with two
toddlers while running abusiness has been a lot.
So I have been quiet becausesometimes life requires you to
step back and focus on whatmatters most.
Our familia, if you haven'tnoticed yet.
(03:02):
Literally has been in fulltransition mode and PIC really
needed their mommy more than myphone needed content and
everything else in between.
But Amos now in Mexico.
And I'd be honest with you, weare still adjusting.
(03:24):
We are two weeks in at the timeof this recording, so a lot has
been going on, and in today'sepisode is.
Extra special because it's partof our monthly living in Mexico
series.
If you've been following alongon Instagram, you know that my
family of four plus Arita justmade the big move from Chicago
(03:47):
to Leon Guanajuato and Mamas.
Let me tell you, the questionshave been flooding my dms like
no other.
This month I want to talk abouthow did we prepare to drive from
Chicago to Mexico with a4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a
(04:08):
cat who has never left the city.
And yes, we drove, we drove allthe way down to Mexico and we
all survived.
In addition to sharing you howwe prepared for the drive to
Mexico as a family of four, Ialso want to answer a couple
(04:30):
questions that have been sent inmy dms.
If you haven't followed me,which I highly recommend that
you follow me on Instagram andon TikTok as well, but I'm
mostly active on Instagram.
I ask my followers and my, ingeneral, any questions that they
may have about our life inMexico.
(04:51):
And as we were preparing for ourmove, I definitely got a lot of
questions.
And so throughout this episode,I will be asking those questions
as well.
So let's start from thebeginning, because I know some
of you are probably thinkingwhat you drove.
Toddlers says Luca.
And honestly, there were momentsI questioned that decision
(05:14):
myself and even my husband aswell.
But let me walk you through howwe got there and how we planned
this whole thing out.
Well, we were contemplatingwhether if we wanted to drive or
fly, we were actually thinkingabout.
Me flying with the kids and ourcat and Alex, my husband,
(05:37):
driving alone with our car.
Initially we were thinking aboutwhether to sell our car in the
United States, but for now wejust decided to keep a temporary
permit, which is called the tip,uh, through the, and basically
(05:57):
it allows.
You to drive and keep your carin Mexico for six months, you
can always renew it, but youhave to go back to the border
and renew it, uh, because that,that just happens that way.
However, I have heard ofdifferent ways to renew the tip,
and so I'll be sharing with youmore as.
(06:19):
Time goes on because I believeour car may be eligible to get
it legalized in Mexico.
And so there's a lot ofinformation about that and a lot
of misinformation as well.
So before I share anything aboutwhether to renew our car or what
have you, I'll definitely besharing that.
(06:41):
Once we have a better idea, butin the meantime, we have kept
our car.
We have our car here.
Our car that is plated throughthe state of Illinois is here,
but legally through the tip.
But it was definitely expensive,I would say.
And.
I think in coming episodes Iwill be sharing with you the
(07:02):
cost associated with likerelocating and how expensive it
was.
Alex is still mind blown, and Iget it.
I, I kind of knew that we wouldbe spending a lot of money even
though we were being verystrategic in terms of not
spending a lot, but.
You know, with getting the carfixed and ready to hit the road,
(07:25):
we ended up buying a cargo boxso that we can pack more things
above the car, uh, because wehave a tiny SUV and you know, we
also had to get the tip, andthat in itself was a cost, and
we had to get.
Mexican, uh, car insurance aswell.
So there were a lot ofadditional expenses that maybe
(07:49):
it would've been cheaper to justfly, but also it was the
experience and also justcarrying all of our things with
us, and what we decided to bringwith us specifically were the
belongings that made sense, themost practical ones, we
definitely brought our clothes,some of the kids' toys, some of
(08:12):
their books.
We brought our computerequipment and that was it.
I would have to say that wepacked a lot for the road trip
and I think that I probably.
Spot, uh, more things for theroad trip than the actual like,
(08:34):
move for us to utilize here.
And, and the reason why wasbecause, you know, I just wanted
to make sure that the.
The experience was going to beeasy on us and for the kids to
not like get bored or getoverstimulated or overtired.
(08:54):
And so I kind of overpacked andover prepared for the road trip
itself, and that ended upcluttering even.
More of our, of the space thatwe probably didn't already have.
So what we ended up doing wasthat some of the things that we
wanted to bring, like forexample, a booster seat for
Mateo at the dinner table, likeI wanted to bring that with, but
(09:19):
it just didn't Fit.
It's not like you can fold itand put it under the seat.
And I was like, you know what?
I can definitely find this inMexico.
There were other things that weleft behind, like the kids
scooters, there were a couplethings that I left it behind as
well.
I know I can find here and wewill come back.
(09:39):
I mean, it's not like we are, wehave left the United States
forever.
So, we put them in a storageunit.
We've been having a storage unitfor over two years now.
From the time that we.
Uh, lived in the suburbs andthen moved to the city and
downsized.
And so we still have a lot ofour belongings there.
(10:00):
But at the meantime, for thepurpose of this move to Mexico,
we just brought the essentialsand the things that we knew that
were going to make sense, atleast for a couple months.
And so when it came to theadventure itself, like.
It took us five days to travelfrom Chicago to Mexico.
(10:25):
So we left the city technicallyit was the 22nd of July.
Uh, we initially wanted to havea city experience where we.
Uh, booked a room at a hotel.
Actually, Alex did through hiscredit card, uh, because
(10:46):
apparently you got more pointsand blah, blah, blah.
Well, it ended up being thatthat hotel didn't reserve the
room, although it was quoteunquote booked.
So I, which it made sense why atthe end we noticed a lot of
unpleasant reviews about thathotel.
(11:07):
uh, Apparently they just didn'tknow how to update their
bookings.
And so on our end, through the.
Credit card company of Alex's,like he was able to reserve and
book a room well, I guess therewas a misconnection there that
the hotel didn't have enoughspace and we ended up getting in
(11:27):
at the hotel like pretty late.
I think it was like 10 or 11.
At night because we wereliterally like trying to empty
out the apartment where we wereat and loading up the car and
everything, getting things readyso that we can spend our just
one night in, in the city indowntown Chicago and.
(11:50):
Uh, yeah, I, I guess at thattime, because it was so late,
everything was booked and when Imean everything, like I called,
we, we both called like local,uh, hotels in the city.
Okay.
This is.
The city of Chicago and therewas nothing available that
night.
(12:11):
Something was happening.
No, it wasn't Lalapaloozabecause we intentionally wanted
to move like a week beforeLalapalooza.
Uh, because even with trafficand everything, we knew it was
gonna gonna be bad.
I, I honestly don't know whathappened, but it.
We just couldn't find a room.
We ended up finding a room inOakbrook, Illinois, which is
(12:33):
like 20 minutes west of thecity.
It's a suburb, and we were like,you know what?
I guess we.
Couldn't have the cityexperience one last time before
we hit the road.
Like we already lived in thecity anyway.
We just wanted the kids to havethis like, fun experience
(12:53):
staying at a hotel in downtownand getting to get like
Garrett's popcorn one last timeand all of that.
But honestly, like we're gonnareturn back.
It's, it's fine.
But we just wanted thisexperience.
So anyway, we ended up juststaying at a hotel in the
suburbs and it was fine.
The next morning we hadbreakfast and we just did some
(13:16):
last minute shopping becausehonestly, I had some gift cards
that I had to get rid of, and wedid a little bit of shopping,
and then we officially hit theroad, I think it was like in the
afternoon.
So that was the 23rd of July.
We drove, uh, and we ended upspending the night in St.
Louis, Missouri, the next day onthe 24th, we were kind of doing
(13:40):
mini, a mini excursion.
We got to see the arc, and wehad breakfast and we hit the
road.
Uh, we then decided to havedinner in Springfield, Missouri,
and we had a, it was a prettycool restaurant.
It was a Dutch restaurant, neverhad Dutch food.
Uh, and it was the best.
(14:03):
Dinner I I've had in a while andit was really good.
So we had dinner there and wedecided to just like hit the
road from Springfield, Missouri,all the way to Dallas.
So this was almost like anovernight kind of.
(14:23):
Like drive.
And honestly, the kids werefine.
We did do one pit stop, and thatwas like once we arrived in
Oklahoma and there was a restingarea and we just changed the
kids to their pajamas.
And this was like already 9:00PM and we were like, you know
(14:45):
what?
Let's just, let's just plungethis.
Let's just hit the road.
And so.
We, we ended up arriving toDallas at 3:00 AM and we had
already booked a hotel, areservation.
Uh, but unfortunately I had avery unpleasant experience at
(15:07):
the hotel where I booked.
Some situation happened.
I really don't know what reallyhappened, but the front desk
person at the hotel was justnot.
Happy and accommodating.
I guess what ended up happeningis that I didn't call the hotel
letting them know that we wouldarrive that late, that it
(15:27):
resulted into an automaticcancellation.
Honestly, I wasn't aware that Ihad to do that.
I thought that once you book aroom, you, it's yours until like
12:00 PM when you're supposed tocheck out or whatever.
But I just wasn't aware of that.
And so it ended up being anargument.
So she ended up kicking me out.
(15:48):
So we ended up calling.
The hotel chain.
This was an actual hotel chain,and I called the corporate
number and I was like, Hey, thisis a situation.
I need a room right now.
And luckily there was a roomwithin a mile away from that
hotel in Dallas.
And so we ended up sleeping thenight there and we were like,
(16:10):
you know what?
Let's just spend two nightshere.
Because we already did a lot oftraveling, like literally from
St.
Louis to Dallas.
And you know, we were justexhausted.
So I'm really glad that we endedup spending two nights because I
actually reached out to a mamauh, Juliana, Schomberg, who is
the bilingual mom life.
(16:31):
And she has been on the podcasttwice.
We've been connected throughsocial media.
We've been doing, um, a lot ofcollaborations and we will be
doing even more collaborations.
And so I was like, oh my gosh, Ineed to see this mu in person.
So she lives in Dallas with herfamily, and it happened to be
her birthday that Friday when wewere in Dallas, and it was
(16:54):
amazing.
We got to celebrate herbirthday, she and her.
Husband invited us over to theirhouse and the kids got to play
with each other because she hastwo little ones as well.
So it was such a great time andI'm really glad that we ended up
spending the night because thenthe next morning we were fully
rested and we got to hit theroad, and so we left Dallas that
(17:18):
Saturday morning.
And then we drove through Texas.
We stopped at the outlet mallnear San Antonio, which is
called San Marcos.
Y'all.
It's the biggest outlet mallever.
And one of the mamas who I meton social media, she and I
(17:39):
reconnected.
Because she lives in Leon andshe's from the US and she is
also raising her family here inMexico.
And she recommended, Hey,anything that you wanna buy,
just get it at an outlet mall onyour way to Mexico before you
(17:59):
arrive to Mexico.
So we got a couple things.
We didn't go all crazy, but Idefinitely got myself a pair of
shoes, got the kids some shoesbecause for some reason their
feet grow like every two months.
And we gotta update their shoes.
And so yeah, we decided to spendthe night that Saturday night in
(18:20):
like the border.
Uh, so this was still in Texas,and we decided to cross between
the Eagle Pass and Piera Negra aborder.
I've heard really.
Good positive things about it,especially as a family who has,
you know, we have two littleones.
We decided to go to a very lowkey, um, border just because I
(18:45):
remember when we traveled toMexico we would cross Laredo and
it was kind of intense.
It.
We were waiting in line for avery long time.
I just remember seeing like somuch traffic and once you cross
the border, it's a big city andPiera, Negras is pretty small.
Honestly, once we crossed theborder, it didn't even feel like
(19:07):
we did, and this is veryprivileged for me to say this,
right, but when we.
Drove from Texas to Mexico, likethe border No one asked for our
passport.
No one asked for documentation.
I don't know why.
We took another loop around andwe asked, Hey, where are we
(19:29):
supposed to go?
And they're like.
Just keep going.
And we were like, uh, okay.
One of the traffic people thatwere there, they didn't even
know where to direct us for usto get our passport stamped.
And so, it felt surreal, butthen again, it's very privileged
because we are coming from theUnited States to Mexico now.
(19:50):
We got to see the other side ofthe border from Mexico to Texas,
and we got to see lines and alot of people and people were
getting stopped and so.
Just because of the things thatare going on right now, I
believe with immigration anddeportations, it's almost like
they're just letting a lot ofpeople coming from the United
(20:12):
States to Mexico, like prettyloosely.
Which for me, honestly, I thinkthat's, uncomfortable just
because like anyone can come toMexico, whether if you have a
good background or not.
And so that made me feel alittle, mad and disappointed
just because, I gathered all ofour documentation, like I made
copies of our car registration.
(20:34):
I even made copies of our cat'smedical records and all of this
stuff and nothing.
And I was just like, pretty, it,it honestly, it felt so surreal.
Like I kept thinking as we weredriving south and south and
south from the border, I keptthinking, well, we're gonna get
(20:54):
stopped.
Like someone's gonna check ourdocumentation.
And no.
We ended up, uh, arriving toSaltillo.
Which is a pretty big city inIlla and we spent the night
there.
Uh, we stayed at a really nicehotel.
And so then that Monday wedecided to drive from Saltillo
(21:15):
all the way down to Guanajuato.
So that was a pretty.
Big stretch.
I wouldn't say from like St.
Louis to Dallas, but it did takeabout eight hours.
So we strategically left prettyearly from Saltillo just so that
we can make it to El Rancho,where my family is from, uh,
which was our second to lastfinal destination.
(21:36):
I am already familiar with thatarea, so we arrived.
Around 8:00 PM Actually it was9:00 PM Yeah, it was 9:00 PM So
yeah, that's how it was.
I mean, we didn't really map outlike specific staffs.
We weren't, specific on likewhere we're going to stay at.
Honestly, I made reservationslike hours before we were
(21:59):
supposed to check in.
Uh, so we were pretty open interms of like how long we would
essentially take this trip.
We did it with ease.
We did it with an understandingthat if we're ever going to have
a situation like our carbreaking down or getting pulled
over or whatever, like we wereopen to that.
(22:20):
And honestly, like nothinghappened.
Like even when we were drivingthrough Mexico, like.
Oh my gosh.
Like honestly, I just thinkthat, I mean, I'm not a
religious person, but I thinkthat the universe, again, has
reinforced that we are making agreat decision and everything
(22:42):
was pretty much set into place,everything was put into our
favor, and I'm really glad thatthis all worked out because I've
definitely heard horror storiesfrom specifically like family
members that have had negativeexperiences like driving through
the border or driving throughMexico.
And these are recent incidents.
(23:02):
It's not like.
Stuff that happened like 10years ago or whatever.
Uh, and so I'm really glad thateverything worked out very well
for us.
so now I'm going to answer someof your questions that you sent
me on Instagram because I seeyou, I see that so many of you
are thinking about makingsimilar moves.
(23:23):
And so the first question thatcame up over and over again was,
what we packed for the road tripspecifically, and I actually
have an Amazon storefront, soI'm going to link that in the
description of the show notes.
But.
Again, I felt like I overdid it,but then again, as a mom, like,
(23:47):
I'm like, you know, I'm justgonna bring this stuff just in
case.
So I brought like activity booksfor the kids.
My sister, uh, gave us a bunchof stuff from her job.
I did get them like a stickerbook.
I got them a lot of snacks.
We definitely brought a lot ofsnacks and not just for the road
trip, but also for life inMexico, just because my kids are
(24:08):
very particular and they wantspecific snacks.
And that was something that wasrecommended from La Mama Ma that
I told you all about.
Who, um, I'll be having on theshow.
By the way, I'm very excited tohave her on the show and what
her experience is like raising afamily in Mexico, but.
She definitely recommended tobring snacks, especially like
specific snack bars because theydon't have them here compared to
(24:30):
the United States.
What else did I pack?
We packed comfort items, so likefamiliar things that the kids
knew.
So a couple months ago we wentto Build a Bear and those two.
Build a bear.
Stuffies have been theirfavorite.
I bet you they're not in thenext coming months, but that's
how it is.
(24:51):
Um, I did get them a tray sothat way they can eat if in case
we were like on the go.
So we definitely utilized thatwhen we were driving through
Mexico from Tyo to Guanajuato.
That tray eventually convertsinto a dry erase.
Board.
Um, and then Diego, I rememberhe made like a little road and
(25:13):
he, I brought like a couple HotWheels that were easily
accessible to them.
And they were kind of likedriving the little cars on that
like, uh, tray.
And so yeah, that tray was veryuseful because it, the kids were
able to use it in differentways, they're versatile in their
foldable and everything, as faras with our cad, I definitely
(25:35):
prepared.
Uh, for the worst.
Luckily she didn't do anincident in the car, but the
first time when we put her inthe carrier, she freaked out and
she did a little incident there.
But, I brought travel laundrydetergent, and I was, you know,
I had Alex like clean up, uh,the mess that she caused in her
(25:59):
carrier and.
We definitely discussed thiswith her vet as, as far as with
like road tripping with a cat.
And they prescribed her likethis calming medication.
So once we gave her that, shedefinitely like eased down and
she was actually enjoying theroad trip.
I was so amazed and surprisedbecause our cat, Rena, she is,
(26:22):
she's a very nervous cat I didbuy a portable litter box, so it
was kind of a mess, but it wasall right.
I mean, I would say that it did.
The job well because she used itwhen, once we arrived at the
hotel, we tried to have her doher business at like whenever we
stopped at resting areas orwhenever we had lunch or
(26:44):
whatever.
But she wasn't a fan of it justbecause of the noise and
everything, so.
I am glad that we were able tospend a couple nights during the
trip because this was when shewas able to release her stuff
and she, she did great.
I would say, Another questionthat I had was, When did you
(27:06):
start planning your move?
If you haven't yet heard theprevious living in Mexico
episode, I, definitely talkabout.
Why we wanted to move, why wedecided now to move as a family
of four, especially, you know,having two little toddlers.
And so I'll definitely link thatepisode in the show notes.
(27:30):
But I would say that we finallytook this leap of faith to make
this move to Mexico.
And in coming episodes I'll besharing a little bit more about
what it's actually like to live.
In Mexico, but I would have tosay that overall we are pursuing
a different dream, a verydifferent dream than what our
(27:51):
family.
Had, I don't think that ourparents ever envisioned us to
move back to the motherlandbecause when they left their
country, hence Mexico, like theythought that they were going to
be fully established in theUnited States, raise their
family, have jobs, and for theirfamily to basically retire and
(28:14):
die there.
But I think that there is a waveof so many second generation
people like us where.
We're not just reclaiming ourroots, we're not just reclaiming
our culture, our language, thetraditions and everything, but
we also wanna pursue our owndreams.
And that is going back toMexico.
(28:38):
And I've said this before, uh,through on Instagram and on this
podcast, how a lot of people arenow pursuing the Mexican Dream,
El Mexicano, and.
That is because we'veexperienced a lot, especially in
the last 25 years, I would saysince the start of millennia
(28:59):
like we've experienced a lot andthis is causing trauma and the
fact that we aren't able to feellike stabilized, that we're not
able to feel like.
We belong in a way that perhapsother generations did and were
able to prosper, and so we're.
(29:21):
Trying to not just like rebuildthis life to reclaim our roots
and heritage, but it's also howcan we rebuild a life that is
sustainable for us, that makesmuch meaning to us and our
families, especially withraising our kids in a different
country.
And so there's a lot that Iwanna talk about this, but for
(29:44):
now, this is.
Why we made the decision to moveto Mexico, and that is to pursue
a different dream than what ourparents did.
And I, and if you ever thoughtabout making a big move like
this, or any big change and lifetransition, it is okay.
(30:05):
Like as long as you and yourpartner, if you are in a
partnered relationship.
You know, agree with what youwanna do and in, in achieving
your dream, like it is doable.
It can be attainable.
It can be achievable.
It just is all about letting gopast the fear if our families
(30:30):
were able to move to a newcountry, that is so different
than theirs, without any assets,without any money, at least in
my family situation and in myhusband's situation, like I'm
sure that you can do it.
Because we were able to do it.
And I know that that is a veryprivileged thing to say and to
(30:51):
do, and I recognize that.
But I think that is part of thedream that our families had so
that we can live a better lifethan they did.
And that's what we're trying toaim for, to aim for a better
dream, a better life.
so that way we can.
Live.
Well, I mean, that's all whatI'm trying to say.
(31:12):
Okay, AMI, well, as we wrap uptoday's episode, I want to leave
you with the biggest lessons welearned from this whole
preparation process, becausehere's what I wish someone had
told me when I was Googling howto drive to Mexico with toddlers
first of all, it definitelytakes community and building
connections, and this literallymade everything possible I would
(31:34):
have to say that.
The best thing that we have asLatinos is that we have this
wealth, and that is communitywealth.
And the fact that we made thismove possible, it wasn't because
of us joining these expatgroups, quote unquote, like I,
I'm not a fan of.
(31:55):
These expat communities justbecause it's not relevant to our
experiences and our intentionsof moving to Mexico to the
motherland where our family camefrom.
Uh, and what we had to do wasjust to branch out and reach out
to the people that have beendoing this, but on the low key
(32:17):
that haven't been recognized fortheir intentions of moving to
Mexico so those were the reallygood connections that we got to
build along the way that.
Not only were we equipped withhaving Google Maps at our hands
and knowing where to go, butit's also having an
understanding that in ourpreparation for this big move
(32:39):
and the big road trip part ofthis was because of the people
that were with us along the way.
in addition to this Our kids aremore resilient than we think,
and I am so amazed and in awe ofhow amazing our kids did during
this road trip, and even ourReina like the boys did so
(33:03):
great.
And I am so like in shock almostthat.
It, it happened.
Like I was like, oh, this, thiswas it.
Like for some reason I thoughtthat we were going to spend
weeks on the road or that weweren't going to sleep, or that
the kids were going to screamand yell.
No, they had as much of a funtime than we did, to be honest.
(33:26):
And I would say that there, oneof the lessons learned was that
planning helps, but flexibilityis key.
And I already told y'all thatlike.
We were pretty much like goingwith the flow and that's all
what matters.
And then finally the biggestlessons that we learned from is
that the privilege andresponsibility of reverse
(33:46):
migration.
Like I said, no one ask us forpapers, even though we are dual
citizens.
It was just.
Very interesting to experiencecrossing the border in a, in a
different way than the way thatour families came to the United
States from Mexico.
And I am definitely going toshare a lot more about this.
(34:09):
Uh, but for now, that was one ofthe biggest lesson that there is
a lot of privilege in, in us notjust traveling and driving
through the border, but also thefact that we are here in Mexico.
Because of different choicesthan what our families did.
(34:31):
They did it outta survival tomove from Mexico to the United
States.
And for us it was a choice.
It was a decision.
It was a privileged decision.
Right?
And so I'll be sharing moreabout this in incoming episodes,
but for now, that was a biglesson learned.
All right, well in next month'sliving in Mexico episode, we
(34:52):
will cover what it's like livingin Mexico, at least for the
first month.
I'll be sharing a lot about thefirst weeks because I've got a
lot to share.
And in addition to our living inMexico series, you'll also be
hearing regular guest episodesevery week on Thursdays
(35:14):
beginning at 6:00 AM centraltime, and please encourage other
people to listen to Viva Lame.
It really helps a lot,especially if you know in Amiga
who is struggling in motherhoodor who wants to build uni.
This podcast is all about that.
You will not only hear about me,but you'll also hear about.
(35:38):
Guest experts, other mamas whoare going through the same
struggles as you are.
And so please have your Amiga orAna or another mommy that you
know to tune in and listen tothe podcast and also to please
follow me on Instagram.
I am at viva la and you're alsomore than welcome to ask any
(36:00):
questions about our new life inMexico.
All right, AMI.
Well, thank you so much forlistening and I'll catch you in
the next episode.
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