Many of you have sent me private messages asking if you missed a post or something, “what happened to Canada?” “Weren’t you planning on going back?” “Are you still building there?”
No you didn’t miss a post. We’re so used to change that sometimes we don’t even realize when it’s happening.
Last summer when we left Canada, and our build site there, we had full intentions of returning this summer and keep going with the build of our yurt homes.
Plans Change
The original idea was we would move to Todos Santos, get our boutique hotel started with our partners here, and then return to Canada the following summer to keep building.
Our boutique hotel in Todos is starting off small. We want to keep it quaint, secluded, jungly. Three units. With our partners, we had come up with the layout, and had done the sketches on our computer. It wouldn’t take us long to start getting those built. Or so we thought!
We had lived several years on the boat in the Caribbean, and knew what island time was like. But let me tell you something, Mexico time is just like island time only with siestas!
We have been here nine months now and we have not broken ground yet. Paperwork, permits, contractors and engineers, that’s what we’re dealing with. We are trying to find the right team that can take the vision we have in our heads and make it a reality.
That’s Where The Money Is
Right now we have no income. Money is just going out of the bank account. The hope with this hotel, once it is built, is that it will become an income for us. We don’t need a lot to live off of…but we do need some! We do have savings, outside of what we have invested in hotel, but that is what we are living off of.
Our priority is to get the hotel built and going. Because without money, well, you can’t build much!
Once it is built and being rented out, once we see an income, then we will have more freedom to share our time with our other projects. But to use our savings right now, to continue to build a house in Canada, would be a commitment that would take away a little too much of both our money and freedom.
Canada Costs Money
We love the Canada build project. And we will return to it one day, but maybe not this summer as we had thought.
Getting to Canada and living there for a summer would mean more money coming out of our bank account while none is going in. We’re talking about 4 return flights, cost of living in Canada, and still having to cover those months of rent money in Todos Santos while we are away. That’s without even talking about the money it would cost us to continue on with building.
But don’t worry, we’ll get there.
We Go With The Flow
Our lives are constantly changing. Plans are fluid. Although at first it was a little tough making the decision not to go back, it was the smart decision. We are not upset about it. The girls do miss their cousins though.
We don’t know when we will return to building there. It has become a “back burner” project until the boutique hotel, our priority, is doing well enough that we can step away.
Staying in Mexico
The plan for now is that we will be staying here in Mexico. I mean, it’s already August! The girls are back in school in a few weeks. Life here is good. Cost of living is cheap. We have a good group of friends here and are feeling like part of the community.
And soon enough our little dream is going to sprout from the seed we’ve been watering.
We wish you luck with your ventures! We love following along!