To Take or Not to Take

Kevin & Michael 

In the past I followed the blog "The Admitted Liberal", written by the son of a good friend of mine from my high school days. His blog dealt with many of today's issues - political and otherwise. He became frustrated or like so many of us, felt like it was a futile effort to continue his commentary as the appalling state of the current administration continued to spiral out of control. He comments on this blog from time to time, and I email him in return. I did not know this last time that he had moved out of the country. His mother informed me, and shortly thereafter Kevin answered my email containing my request. He has already published one book, and is working on another. The following details his most recent move with his husband, Michael to Mazatlan, Mexico. If any of you ever consider moving south of the border, you must read this!

"Northern end of Playa Gaviotas...two blocks from our apartment."

"Marilyn recently asked me three questions.:

1. If I’d finished my book (the same book for which I cited the discontinuance of my blog last spring). 

2. If I was bored, and 

3. If I’d like to submit a piece for her blog.

I hope the following addresses all three. 

"Since last April I have come up with a myriad of reasons not to write in my home in Portland, Oregon; Beer-fest, urban hikes, beer-a-palooza, out-of-town visitors and beer-o-rama, just to name a few. But in addition to self-doubts about the project, the most pressing (and genuine) excuse for ignoring the next great American novel is the decision my husband and I made to move to Mexico. 

"Though the move was not accomplished until this month (January), we had hatched the plan last May. Michael had a full-time job to worry about until just before our departure, leaving me with most of the responsibility for research and planning. The bulk of my efforts involved hours pouring over the Mexican government’s immigration website and scouring blog entries of past and present U.S. ex-patriots, many of which contained conflicting or completely contradictory information. A common detail was, however, that Mexican apartments are typically rented furnished, a fact we validated during a house-hunting trip to Mazatlan in mid-December. 

"So we sold our condominium in Portland and ended up donating almost all of our possessions (a gesture of 'free-cycling' after a moving sale held a week after Christmas failed to produce any buyers), though we didn’t have a lot. Our one-bedroom unit was sparsely furnished primarily with IKEA products and a minimum of other chattel. Once all of the donations had been removed, we were left with five small suitcases and five small moving boxes.

Sometimes people smuggle the darnedest things! 

"The suitcases contained our newly pared-down wardrobe (as FedEx had listed 'used clothing' at the top of their list of things Mexico would not allow to be shipped in), our laptop, all of our important paper documents and a few small keepsakes. Among other things, the contents of the moving boxes included a couple of framed art pieces, some favorite kitchen accessories and containers, some bed and bathroom linens (including an at least 75-year-old quilt from my grandmother and hand-crocheted throw from my mother), a gallon-sized plastic bag of over-the-counter drugs that every household collects over time, a computer printer, two well-seasoned Le Creuset pans, four Baccarat wine flutes and a nearly new Vitamix.

"Michael had suggested several times that we were retaining too many things. He expressed his belief that to be geographically (and emotionally) nimble, we needed to divest ourselves of almost all physical possessions. It wasn’t that I disagreed, but even the Saharan nomads moved various trinkets and accessories required to equip their tents and I had already relinquished three pairs of Cole Haans, so I had insisted on the final inventory. As is often the case, however, the Universe sided with Michael.

"The five moving boxes had been hauled to FedEx the day before we left for Mexico. The boxes each contained a meticulous packing list that included a description of every item (in English and Spanish), their declared value and a declared 'box total' value.  A copy of each list was provided to the FedEx staff members assisting us, who verified the acceptability of the items being shipped before charging us an exorbitant fee for each parcel and indicating that they should be delivered in five days. 

"We boarded a plane to Mexico the next morning and spent much of the next eleven days hostage to erroneous delivery windows offered by FedEx. Three of the boxes had come straight to Mazatlan, but for various reasons the local office could not get them to our new apartment. Two boxes were held for a week in Mexico City by Mexican Customs to determine that 'bed and bathroom linens' were considered 'used clothing', OTC drugs were considered illicit, and the wood in framed art 'had to be tested'. They threatened to refuse entry for the boxes entirely, but we persuaded FedEx employees to remove the 'offending' items so that the remainder could be cleared. When they finally arrived, the residual items had not been properly repacked and consequently many were either damaged or destroyed.

"There was much gnashing of teeth and cursing of both FedEx and the Mexican Customs Office during that period. But I awoke on the twelfth day to find that the sun had still risen, our loved ones were still alive, and that we at least had our laptop (which contained what there is so far of my new book), so I calmed down and committed to resume writing ASAP.  The only hitches so far have been Cerveza-fest, beach outings, Cerveza-palooza, out-of-town visitors and Cerveza-o-rama. Oh Dios mio!"

I couldn't help but laugh at Kevin. I can certainly relate to the disposal of worldly goods. There is no way I could ever part with all my "treasures" to move anywhere. (Except maybe to Heaven?) I suggested that they might have got a lot of help if they had followed the Marie Kondo method of de-cluttering that is so popular on Netflix today. Marie Kondo  However, I told Kevin that although I am able to "thank" all of my treasures and possessions as Marie suggests, I could never throw them away afterwards! 

He replied: "Michael was VERY familiar with Marie. Of course, in my most recent experience, I didn't get to say "thank you" to all my stuff before it was gone." 

Thank you, Kevin, for such an informative essay on such an important move. I hope you continue to think it was worth everything you two went through, and that you enjoy your life in Mexico to the fullest! You must give me an update from time to time. Especially the progress on the new book.

Peace, sunshine, and lots of the best cervesa,

Marilyn