“We Can Afford to Eat Out Every Day in Foodie Oaxaca”

Oaxaca has the best food in all of Mexico—and possibly the best in the world,” says Dan Levinson of the historic, colonial-era city, in the highlands of south-central Mexico.

“And there’s art everywhere you go—traditional art and modern art that takes on traditional themes. It’s so inspiring to be around.”

Dan and his wife Cheryl Goldberg retired last year from their jobs in North Carolina. They wanted to spend their retirement years being active, traveling around the world, and immersing themselves in new cultures.

They initially came to Mexico with a 180-day tourist visa in the fall of 2021.

“We went to Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, Ajijic, Mérida, Oaxaca, and then spent 10 days in Chiapas. Other than Mérida, which was too hot for us, we liked each place better than the one before it,” Dan says.

When they first visited Oaxaca City though, they knew they’d found a place where they could stay long-term. Home to about 300,000 people, it’s a big enough city to have everything you need, but small enough to know your neighbors.

Cheryl says, “Our long-term plan is to live here for eight months out of the year, avoiding the hot months from March through May. Our goal is to live somewhere that’s inexpensive and nice enough for most of the year so that we can save up and travel for the remainder of the year.”

Though they could get by reasonably well without being bilingual, Cheryl and Dan felt learning Spanish would enhance their experience in Oaxaca. They’ve enrolled in an intensive immersion school called Oaxaca Spanish Magic. “I want to be completely fluent by the time I’m 65,” Dan says (he’s 62). “There are a dozen Spanish language schools within a couple of miles from where we live. We pay $140 per week for classes that last four hours a day, five days per week. That’s 20 hours of full immersion every week. The Oaxaqueños speak their language slowly, so it’s easier for me to understand.”

“I’m taking an online fiction writing class in addition to the Spanish lessons,” Cheryl says. “We go out for lunch or dinner every day. We never did that in the U.S. because it was too expensive… and the food wasn’t that good. My biggest pleasure is sitting down for a lunch—the food here is exceptional and it costs practically nothing. To me, it’s the greatest thing ever.”

Everyone who lives here raves about the local cuisine. Oaxaca is famous for its mole sauces, silky Oaxacan cheese, and molotes, a popular street food similar to empanadas. “Sometimes, it’s just tacos or street food for us,” Cheryl says. “We don’t go to the fancy restaurants; we find that they’re no better than the ones where you don’t have to spend so much. One of our favorite places to eat is La Cosecha; it resembles a food court and its food is organic. All the expats like to eat there. There are several places like that in Oaxaca, but this is our favorite. When you sit down for a meal in Oaxaca, it’s superb. You never have a bad meal here.”

And it’s not just the restaurant food that’s better in Oaxaca. “We often shop at the Chedraui supermarket, which is about a 25-minute walk from our home, Dan says. “It has a couple of aisles with organic products. There’s another market in the Reforma neighborhood of the city where we buy our produce… It’s incredibly good and very inexpensive. Plus it’s farm-to-table so it tastes better. It’s easy to eat healthy in this town. So much of the cooking is done without using any oil on a big grill called a comal. I can eat things here that I’ve had trouble with in the States.”

Oaxaca City has a large expat population—about 20,000 altogether—but many are young remote workers who live here during the winter months and return to their home countries during the hot season. It’s cooler and less humid than the lowlands, and the city’s average annual temperature is a comfortable 70 F, though some days can exceed 90 F.

Cheryl and Dan have met other retired expats, but they say they’ve had to work at it. “It’s a little harder here because this isn’t an expat haven,” Dan says. “There are some retired expats, but they’re spread out around the town. Many of them want to immerse themselves in the country and have Mexican friends, so it’s not a place to move to in order to be around other expats.

“We’ve found ways to do it, though. There’s a language exchange, or intercambio, that meets on Saturdays. Native Spanish and English speakers meet and we speak one language for an hour, then switch to the other language for an hour. It’s a good way to meet other expats and Oaxaqueños, too. There’s something about being forced to speak another language; we learn about their culture and their day-to-day lives, so it makes it real,” Dan says.

“The Oaxaca Lending Library offers a wide variety of programs; people who live around here will lecture on various topics, maybe art or politics,” says Cheryl. “I’d like to start volunteering there. The library sponsors a hiking group that meets twice a week during the high season—we might walk from one village to another—and we’ve met other expats that way.

“There are opportunities for getting involved with music, visual arts, and excursions around the area. We find out about these activities through the lending library, on the Telegram app through “Oaxaca Events and Meetups,” and also on Oaxacaevents.com. The library hosts newcomer’s orientations every Monday, where you can ask about how to get around or practically anything.”

Healthcare throughout Mexico is excellent, and Dan says that he’s been satisfied with the care he’s received in Oaxaca. “We caught Covid-19 last year and I had long-Covid symptoms. I saw a doctor at the Osmo Clinic for an hour-long, hands-on visit. She ordered labs and a follow-up visit. The care I received was excellent, and the two visits plus the lab work only came out to $105. The doctors here are kinder, very inexpensive, and spend more time with you.

“We currently have insurance through Cigna Global, but we’re going to reevaluate that. It’s expensive and now that we have permanent residency, we may qualify for other plans.”

Mexico does offer affordable public healthcare through the IMSS program that expats with legal residency qualify for, which includes zero-deductible medical care and prescription drug coverage. A policy for someone Dan or Cheryl’s age costs about $745 a year.

Cheryl and Dan rent a three-bedroom apartment on the edge of Oaxaca’s large historic district. “We live at the end of the street next to the river, near a charming church and a lot of murals,” Cheryl tells us. “It’s right at the base of a mountain, so we can go hiking whenever we want. It’s about 1,000 square feet, with a full kitchen, living room, dining room, air conditioning in the bedroom, and a little outdoor courtyard. It includes housekeeping once a week (we take care of our own laundry).

“The rent is $900 per month, which includes all utilities (we buy our own bottled drinking water). The internet isn’t perfect but it’s not bad. The price is good for us.

“We’ve talked about buying a larger house and running it as an Airbnb. We would hire someone to manage it for us. Mostly, it’s to have someone looking out for the property when we’re not there.”

Altogether, they spend between $4,000 and $4,500 per month, excluding their health insurance and some expenses they still have in the U.S. Dan notes, “That includes eating out, our rent, our groceries and incidentals, and our trips around Mexico. In North Carolina, we’d be spending more than twice this amount—we’d have to pay property taxes and utilities, and eating out costs at least three times as much. There’s just no comparison.”

Dan and Cheryl don’t own a car and have no plans to buy one… Oaxaca is a pedestrian-friendly city, and they walk at least five miles every day, both for recreation and for necessities. “They don’t have stop signs at a lot of intersections, so I’d find it terrifying to drive here,” Cheryl says.

“If we want to go somewhere and it’s too far to walk, we’ll take a bus or a colectivo, which looks like a taxi, but the driver lets people get on and off, like they would a bus. They go all over the place. For about 90 cents, you can go to one of the surrounding villages; we go out the door, pick a place and go.

And work is underway on a highway to connect Oaxaca City to the coast, which means we’ll be able to get to Puerto Escondido and the Pacific Ocean in three hours instead of the seven hours it takes now. It’s expected to open later this year, so we’ll have even more options to get out and explore.”