Things You Need to Pack for an Extended Stay in Mexico in 2022
Updated December 2021
Needs are different from a vacation stay.
Living three to six months in Mexico differs from a resort stay. Things that you barely miss over a week-long stay emerge as more important than you anticipated. Sure, eventually you might find most of what you need there (and Amazon show great promise!) but doing without until you have time to find out where to purchase it can get on your nerves.
You will be busy with getting settled in. First you have to feed yourself. Every grocery shopping trip will mean new discoveries of what is and isn't available, often to your amazement (both as what you can find and what you can’t). You probably will have to determine if the internet is reliable enough to keep you sane and work out bugs in communicating via Skype and phone with people back home. These are first-priority issues and can be time-consuming. That’s why it’s important to have certain things packed.
Living in Mexico for six months or more a year at a time, I’ve learned which things improve my quality of life most while I'm in Mexico. While a few of the items are admittedly girly, most apply to even guys (especially if the guy cares about his feet).
Spices, oven thermometer, a good knife, maybe even an apple corer - If you are staying more than a week, you’ll be doing some cooking. Cooking healthy meals you like, once that first flush of enthusiasm over Mexican cuisine is over, will be challenging. Many spices, such as fennel, dill, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander, ginger, rosemary may not be available at all or availability will be erratic at best - even if you know what they are called in Spanish.
Spices often look different than what they do at home. Have some recipes with you and the spices that go with them if they are not the most common ones. Consider bringing an oven thermometer. I haven't lived in a place in Mexico yet that has an oven with a regular temperature gauge. Some ovens are just fire coils in a tin box. A meat mallet is useful.
Don’t forget your ereader.
An electronic reader and a library card from a major U.S. library.
Hauling books is not practical and the availability of English language materials is sporadic, even in most popular expat areas. Don’t forget your library card to your own U.S. city library. Many libraries provide books online, and will send them directly to your Kindle or e-reader. This amazing bit of technology has been a surprising game changer for expats.
Noise cancelling earphones -
Good ear cancelling earphones are a big investment and one I decided to make after seasons of banda music, construction noise and party buses. Mexico is a very noisy place and these from Sony, recommended to me by a friend in Mexico City where the noise is the worst, can save your sanity when the mariachi strikes up.
A thin money belt -
When you are arrive to a foreign country, your balance will be off at first. People who have never lost a credit card in their lives have told me about lost cards the first few weeks of a stay. So much new information; sights, smells, different currency and even the new energy of a place bombard your senses. You'll be distracted. A money belt can carry a key to where you’re staying, $500 pesos, a copy of your I.D, and a debit card.
For woman, opt for those designed for sports rather than those designed for travel. I'm wild about mine, marketed as a "hand-free" belt for runners rather than a money belt. It's a black nylon belt you step in to. You can’t even see it when wearing under work-out tights.
Sound speakers for your computer or phone
Sound speakers are so compact now that I can't imagine not carrying them. If your surroundings don't quite meet your expectations, quality music sound will transcend those conditions. With your music with you, you will be home no matter where you are. Before you leave home, take the time to pour yourself a glass of wine some evening and download new music. You won't regret it.
Extra debit and credit cards
Debit cards from two separate banks has saved the neck of many an expat. Twice ATM’s have “swallowed” my card. Access problems with pin numbers or a lost debit card can be terrifying, and debit cards are inconvenient to replace in a foreign country.
Americans take for granted the luxury of a secure postal service (a Mexican boyfriend once told me it was the only thing he admired about America). It can take weeks to get new card and you may not yet have people you trust in Mexico to receive your mail. Banks no longer will allow you to use them for receiving new cards like they used to. Rather than sweat it out, have two.
An extra “wallet’
Bring us to the idea of a whole separate wallet with a copy of your passport and an alternate photo I.D. and birth certificate, along with international bank customer service numbers. These need to be kept separate from your primary wallet. Make sure you know your credit card PIN, which is different from your debit card PIN. The code will be required if you need to draw emergency cash from a credit card. Your face and passport will not do it at a bank. You have to have that PIN.
A tablet or laptop (two laptops is an excellent idea if you plan on working)
Be careful to lock your technology in a safe where you stay if the place is new to you until you get a real feel for the security. If you have an old laptop, take that, unless you want to buy a more costly laptop with a Spanish keyboard should yours break. Do not be the least bit embarrassed to demand a safe in which to lock up valuables, even if your lodging appears to have a secure door. If you can't lock them up, hide anything very valuable to the greatest extent possible no matter how upscale the place appears to be.
A book dictionary
Many a time I wished I had my pocket dictionary with me after starting up a conversation with a stranger. In the States I had gotten used to looking up words on my phone. At times, you may not want to carry your iphone in Mexico. Same goes for taking an old fashioned calculator rather than your expensive phone as a calculator into busy marketplaces. Sure, all the Mexicans around you are carrying their phone, but they won't have the hassles you will have if they lose theirs.
Consider a small set of high-thread count sheets.
If you love your 800-thread sheets, bring a set of flat sheets and a pillowcase. Only the nicest hotels have them in Mexico and they are impossible to find in stores. For day-to-day luxury over the long haul, nice sheets will give you far more pleasure than extra clothes do, especially in hot coastal areas where coarser cotton can be downright uncomfortable. Buy colored sheets that are easily recognized as yours by housekeepers.
House shoes, long sleeved high quality soft cotton shirt, a sewing kit, extra reading glasses
Most everywhere you stay will have tile floors. They thrash your feet quickly and are hard on the back. Make sure your "house shoes" have grippy soles. Those tile floors are treacherous when wet. A thin long-sleeved button-down cotton shirt, even for coastal areas, is a must as the for air-conditioning from splits can be breezy. Take an extra pair of reading glasses if you use them. Travel sewing kits and a pair of scissors are on many people's list.
A protective cell phone case
For some reason, everyone in Mexico seems to have a cracked phone screen... must be the tile floors. Don’t kid around with this. Get an Otterbox. (When my Otterbox-ensconced phone skittered harmlessly across the floor of a waiting room in a doctor’s office once, everyone in the room broke into an applause.)
Extra make-up or toiletries
Your favorite brands will probably not be available. You might be far more attached to a brand than you realize. Same goes for your suntan lotions. Think about all the kinds we use; SPF 30, 50, 100 for face, spray or body or sunless, zinc oxide. Endless choices. Even in resort towns, that selection is not going to be vast, and is more expensive (people will actually steal fancy sun-screens from towels at the beach).
Even if your brands are available, you may not recognize them if your Spanish isn’t great. I used Pond’s “Crema C” as body lotion (vitamin C, right?) for a week until I finally looked up the Spanish word “limpiadora” in English, which translates "cleansing." I’ve become a big fan of sunscreen milk sprays, which can be spritzed over make-up before heading out.
Fans are still quite popular in Mexico and Spain.
A fold up yoga mat
If you practice yoga regularly, you will find beautiful places that inspire your practice. Moreover, yoga mats have many functions. You can stretch on a yoga mat after a day of walking. You can do floor exercises in small quarters. You can fold them into a sitting cushion. You may even run into a real yoga class - a great way to mingle with the locals. Buy flat ones that fold for travel rather than the rolled version. Foldable mats are smooth so take a a pair of yoga socks.
Extra meds
Carefully calculate what you will need and see your doctor about the re-fills you'll need a few months before you go. Doctors can surprise you about how many months prescriptions they are willing to give you. They might even decide that this of all times is the time to change a medication. They can get ornery about it so plan ahead.
Extra chargers
This is a big one. It can be difficult to find high quality, brand name chargers for your electronics. Even phone chargers sold in Walmart or larger stores are second market. If you use an Apple iphone, the chargers will not be “ Apple certified” and frequently will not work reliably after a few days regardless of what the packages say about compatibility. Spend the extra money and buy extra chargers before you leave, and a portable battery.
Scale back on clothing you bring.
Take as little clothing as necessary. If you are staying here for several months, you will find it easier and much more fun to pick up a few items in the local stalls or stores than taking multiple sets of dresses, shoes and jackets. I bring four outfits from the US. and buy four outfits in Mexico. That takes me though the season. Before leaving, I give away four outfits.
(Unfortunately, American women in Mexico tend to dress like they’re visiting a nice campground. Men lean toward Tommy Bahama. Neither is a good choice. Here's my post on how to dress in Mexico.)
Well-dressed Mexican women may not dress expensively, but you don't catch them in khakis either. Mexican women dress in a very feminine style, with lots of inexpensive jewelry. They do like make-up. Once you are here awhile, you may begin to notice some very attractive characteristics about the way Mexican women and men dress and become interested in fitting in a little.
Why not? Didn’t you leave the States to try another side of you? Part of the fun of living a “double life” and spending extended time every year in another country is exploring your edges.
Shopping around in Mexico for a piece of art, jewelry, or Mexican clothing is fun. Running around frantically trying to find a particular type of sunblock or a phone charger is not. Take the right things with you and spend your time enjoying the more interesting shopping experiences every Mexican town has to offer
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About the author, Kerry Baker
I'm a partner with Ventanas Mexico which provides insight and resources to people considering full or part-time expat life in Mexico, include "If Only I Had a Place," a renting system for the aspiring expat. The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity and quality of life through living part-time in Mexico, is both a how to and entertaining romp on what to expect when you’re new to Mexico. My most recent book is The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico, a cookbook for travelers, snowbirds and expats who want to maintain a healthy diet in Mexico (hint: you must cook).