Author Topic: Digital Nomads with baby! Argentina, Mexico? Advice Please! Thanks!  (Read 843 times)

ejmyrow

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Dear Amazing Mustachians,
My husband is currently working 20 hrs per week remotely. I am not working but I have unemployment that may expire in January. We have a 1 year old. We are fairly adventurous, went to 2 countries in Asia and 2 in S. America just before babe was conceived. Looking to spend about $1000 per month. Before pandemic hubby was working full time but now he wants to spend time with the baby and also to work on his e-commerce store (btw do you recommend any drop shippers?). We are thinking of moving to Argentina for 6 mo to a year so babe can learn more Spanish and we can save money and have quality time together. Puerto Vallerta, Mx is also of interest. We visited Buenos Aires and like it a lot, but not sure how it would be with baby. Do you know of baby-friendly neighborhoods? Should we consider a different part of Argentina? Are there other places in Latin America that you recommend? We're going for a warm climate, fun culture, baby friendly, relatively safe, and of course, cheap! We've also just considered staying in Denver but that would require us to work more... Our families are in NY so that factors in re: flights. Thank you, thank you, thank you for any advice!
E2
« Last Edit: April 30, 2021, 08:45:55 PM by ejmyrow »

Sibley

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Re: Digital Nomads with baby! Argentina, Mexico? Advice Please! Thanks!
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2021, 06:08:51 PM »
Um, covid? That is not safe for baby. At all. And baby can't get vaccinated yet, and who knows when that will be an option. Last I heard they were doing tests for 6 and up. I do not follow the news so I have no idea how these various countries are doing with covid, and plus then are the borders open.

ejmyrow

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Re: Digital Nomads with baby! Argentina, Mexico? Advice Please! Thanks!
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2021, 06:44:05 PM »
Borders are open I believe. My husband and I are both fully vaccinated and I am breast feeding so babe gets antibodies that way.

Esquinkle

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Hello! I sympathize with the wanderlust for sure, but I would not go to Argentina right now. Its health systems is entirely overloaded. You may be vaccinated, but there are other issues at play. They have had seriously intense lock downs on and off (as in, NO leaving the house unless for necessity) for the past year. I would hold tight for at least a year or so and then pursue it. Mexico depends a lot of exactly where you are traveling to--I wouldn't do it personally, but I think there are ways in which it could be done more responsibly and more enjoyably than Buenos Aires.

https://nypost.com/2021/05/02/hospitals-are-full-as-argentina-covid-19-cases-hit-3-million/

Adventine

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Hello! I sympathize with the wanderlust for sure, but I would not go to Argentina right now. Its health systems is entirely overloaded. You may be vaccinated, but there are other issues at play. They have had seriously intense lock downs on and off (as in, NO leaving the house unless for necessity) for the past year. I would hold tight for at least a year or so and then pursue it. Mexico depends a lot of exactly where you are traveling to--I wouldn't do it personally, but I think there are ways in which it could be done more responsibly and more enjoyably than Buenos Aires.

https://nypost.com/2021/05/02/hospitals-are-full-as-argentina-covid-19-cases-hit-3-million/

I agree with this. Even if the parents are fully vaccinated against COVID, if any member of the family needs medical care for ANY condition, they may not receive adequate care because the hospitals are overloaded.

Lockdowns are no joke either. The US has been extremely lax in this respect. Other countries enforce their lockdowns much more strictly. Depending on the country, police roam the streets specifically looking for lockdown violators. Expats who think that local lockdown rules do not apply to them can be met with hostility. Anyone doing serious research into moving to other countries during a pandemic should take this into consideration.

MrThatsDifferent

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This sucks for all of us dying to travel, but: the world is not ready for leisure travel. There is still a pandemic raging, absolutely raging. Let countries take care of their people, let the world heal and then think about travel. We’re a good 2-3 years away from normality. As tough as that is to deal with it, it’s not even as tough as dealing with death, long term health issues and businesses that have gone under. This is not a cool, fun time to experience the world and geo-arbitrage living a great cheap life in foreign country while their people die.

yachi

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I like Chile, very safe, but maybe not as cheap as some others you're considering.  Keeping in mind your baby's talking milestones, I don't imagine them getting significantly more language skills from living in a foreign country than you can give them at ​home until at least age 2.  At 18 months they're learning names for parts of the body and names for objects, something you'd be reinforcing at home anyway.
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby-talk-your-babys-first-words#1
Do you envision baby going to daycare, preschool, mom & baby meetups or something similar for language exposure to other kids? 

Rdy2Fire

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I love Argentina so part of me would say choose that BUT there is definitely more instability in the government/economy. I don't think safety would be a huge issue but definitely something to consider.

As much as I think Argentina would be a better experience, with more culture, adventure and probably significantly cheaper, in your case, with a child, if these are your two choices, BA and PV, I'd probably lean toward Mexico.

However I saw someone suggested Chile which may be a better option, also, if considering other places I'd suggest looking at Costa Rica and Panama both of which have plenty of ex-pats and good healthcare which would be a factor with a child.