We are homeowners in Mexico and renters in the US. This has allowed us to live the best of both worlds for twenty years.

• My husband and I rent an apartment on the north coast of California and own a house in Mexico.

• We live in Mexico Guanajuato part of the year and love the walkability and vibrancy.

• We also enjoy spending a lot of time at our condo near the beach in Eureka, California.

My husband and I, who are 82 and 73 respectively, love being renters – but we also have a house outside the US.

For more than twenty years, we have divided our time between our rented apartment on the north coast of California and our 150-year-old adobe house in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Luckily, both my husband and I are writers who can work from anywhere. We often spend spring, summer and… fall in California before heading to Mexico around Thanksgiving to live in our house until it’s time to fly back.

By dividing the year between the two places, we can live a bicultural, bilingual life.

Our Guanajuato neighborhood is walkable and vibrant

We first encountered Guanajuato in 1999 travel throughout Mexico and visited several times before purchasing property there in 2005.

The charming, colorful city is a walker’s dream, with an abundance of pedestrian areas, winding alleys and vibrant architecture.

Our house is located on a pedestrian street, just minutes away from shops, theaters and the central park. We love the city and the fact that we can walk out our front door and hike the hills above the city in 10 to 15 minutes without a car, bus or bicycle to take us to the starting point.

In Mexico I speak the sweet Spanish language every day. After many years of study and practice, I speak it fluently, but that doesn’t mean I have nothing left to learn. Once a week I see my teacher, who is also my cultural interpreter and friend.

Our California city has its own charms and advantages

While nowhere I’ve ever been can match the vibrancy of Guanajuato, I also appreciate the unique features of our walkable neighborhood in Eureka, California.

There we rent a two-story, one-bedroom apartment 10 minutes from the ocean. Fortunately, our rent has only increased incrementally in the 23 years we’ve lived there.

Our cozy, loft-like space is steps from Humboldt Bay, where my husband and I explore funky old wharves, marinas, pilings and docks a few times a week – he in his kayak, me on my paddleboard.

We rarely drive, but instead walk to the local library, cafes and supermarket. When I need to reach neighborhoods that are too far to reach on foot, I ride my new e-bike.

I also love Eureka’s quirky Victorian architecture and the cool, cloudy weather of the North Shore – a far cry from the extreme heat found in other parts of California.

Having two lives isn’t always easy, but we love it

We have been yendo and viniendo (coming and going) for almost 20 years, and I couldn’t ask for a more stimulating lifestyle.

Sometimes it’s hard to live two different lives. We can’t expect friends to keep track of our schedules, so we have to take the initiative to connect with people after we’ve been away, wherever we are.

We have two areas to take care of, but we are fortunate to have friends and hired help who can check on our house and water our plants.

Our house in Mexico is old, which means it needs a lot of maintenance. Fortunately, we have an experienced contractor who can repair almost anything.

Flying back and forth can also take its toll, as Guanajuato is almost 7,000 feet above sea level and Eureka is barely above that. It usually takes us a few days to adjust to the altitude of Guanajuato once we arrive from California.

But in the end, we live part of the year in a hip coastal neighborhood in the US – and the rest in a lively city in Mexico. What more could I want?

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