That’s a beautiful house, I wish to comeback to my country Guatemala someday as I’m getting older and honestly renting or buying a home here in California is ridiculously expensive, I haven’t been in my country for over 40 years, so much has changed.
40 years is a long time to be away. I have no doubt that so much has changed. I think you would find Guatemala a much more affordable place to live than California for sure. I hope you get back at least to visit in the very near future.
Now I know you guys moved to Xela! I was just there a few weeks ago, and I loved it. It's much less expensive to live there compared to Guatemala City where we live!
We have visited the City many times though and we do enjoy our time there. I think there are pluses and minuses to both. If we lived in the City we would not drive as often probably. But the climate in Xela keeps us here. We love our weather.
@@LifeinGuatemala I will never drive here in the city! Haha! My husband is from Guatemala City so he drives here. The climate is Xela is much better than here too!
@@KerryinGuatemala Driving in Guatemala is sooo fun (sarcasm intended). The City is worse than Xela but no matter what, it is an experience. Next time you are in Xela, let us know for sure.
@@WomenBlazingTrails originally when we moved to Guatemala, the first two years we moved to the department of San Marcos in San Marcos. Then the pandemic hit. I really thought a need for a change and by moving to Xela, I have a lot more of the conveniences I was used to. This helped alleviate some of my sickness lol. We retired early and it’s my husband and myself and we have a small nonprofit to help students from Orphanage we used to visit. We helped them with their advanced education after high school.
Hi! I have a quick question how do you guys manage access to money? Did you keep your US banks and us ATM’s to get money out? When I visit family in Guatemala city or Xela I wire $ to family and they give me the cash because I don’t have a DPI & a us citizen without dual citizenship but the transfer fees are killing me average $25-30 when I wire 1000
@@jday3671 we have a Wells Fargo account. For $5 fee we can do an international transfer up to I think it’s $3000 a day or something like that obviously we don’t need to transfer that much or that often. Many people that live here also keep accounts with Charles Schwab. With a Charles Schwab account, you can take out money at the ATM up to a max at an ATM but each month they refund your ATM fees. Wire transfers obviously would be way too costly as you are finding out. I have heard of many people that do Western Union. I think that’s only five dollars but I don’t know what their limits are. I used to use Xoom and I could transfer money either to Guatemala account or just to my Husband or myself and we would pick it up at Guatemalan bank with our identification. It is part of the PayPal process. I ran into a couple of hurdles with it and found Wells Fargo to be easier. There are still people that use it though. I hope those answers will help you.
@@jday3671 also I wanted to let you know, I’m giving you a thank you for the question. We have plans to put together a question and answer video with ourselves and a panel of other Expats in the upcoming weeks.
I am so sorry to hear about your friend. I also know anything can happen anywhere. We are careful and up to this point, we have never felt unsafe in our surroundings. Of course we are older, we don't bar hop (not saying your friend did, just saying) We are usually together when walking around. Oh yeah, my husband is 6'4" and a big guy, most don't bother him. We are not usually out late either. But I appreciate your thoughts.
Nos encanta el clima de Xela. Es una de nuestras cosas favoritas. Somos originarios de Michigan, por lo que no creemos que haga demasiado frío. Además, no nos gusta el clima muy caluroso.
@@LifeinGuatemala i liked Antigua where everybody's house was wide open to the elements. Do you have indoor heating in Xela? I did like the traditional fabric designs from Xela however
@@edwardj3070 Actually our house is in the style of many of the houses of Antigua as are most in our specific condominium complex. It is a very open design. No we do not have any kind of heat or air conditioning although many of our friends do use either an electric or propane space heater. For us that would be a waste due to the open design of the house. But we are usually pretty comfortable with just a change of clothes or an extra blanket. My husband does like an electric blanket on the coldest nights though. LOL
That’s a beautiful house, I wish to comeback to my country Guatemala someday as I’m getting older and honestly renting or buying a home here in California is ridiculously expensive, I haven’t been in my country for over 40 years, so much has changed.
40 years is a long time to be away. I have no doubt that so much has changed. I think you would find Guatemala a much more affordable place to live than California for sure. I hope you get back at least to visit in the very near future.
Now I know you guys moved to Xela! I was just there a few weeks ago, and I loved it. It's much less expensive to live there compared to Guatemala City where we live!
We have visited the City many times though and we do enjoy our time there. I think there are pluses and minuses to both. If we lived in the City we would not drive as often probably. But the climate in Xela keeps us here. We love our weather.
@@LifeinGuatemala I will never drive here in the city! Haha! My husband is from Guatemala City so he drives here. The climate is Xela is much better than here too!
@@KerryinGuatemala Driving in Guatemala is sooo fun (sarcasm intended). The City is worse than Xela but no matter what, it is an experience. Next time you are in Xela, let us know for sure.
How did you guys choose Xela?
@@WomenBlazingTrails originally when we moved to Guatemala, the first two years we moved to the department of San Marcos in San Marcos. Then the pandemic hit. I really thought a need for a change and by moving to Xela, I have a lot more of the conveniences I was used to. This helped alleviate some of my sickness lol. We retired early and it’s my husband and myself and we have a small nonprofit to help students from Orphanage we used to visit. We helped them with their advanced education after high school.
@@LifeinGuatemala oh wow! That's great.
Em chào anh chị chức anh chị một ngày mới thật nhiều sức khỏe ❤❤❤❤❤
I had to translate you remark, but thank you so much.
Hi! I have a quick question how do you guys manage access to money? Did you keep your US banks and us ATM’s to get money out? When I visit family in Guatemala city or Xela I wire $ to family and they give me the cash because I don’t have a DPI & a us citizen without dual citizenship but the transfer fees are killing me average $25-30 when I wire 1000
@@jday3671 we have a Wells Fargo account. For $5 fee we can do an international transfer up to I think it’s $3000 a day or something like that obviously we don’t need to transfer that much or that often. Many people that live here also keep accounts with Charles Schwab. With a Charles Schwab account, you can take out money at the ATM up to a max at an ATM but each month they refund your ATM fees. Wire transfers obviously would be way too costly as you are finding out. I have heard of many people that do Western Union. I think that’s only five dollars but I don’t know what their limits are. I used to use Xoom and I could transfer money either to Guatemala account or just to my Husband or myself and we would pick it up at Guatemalan bank with our identification. It is part of the PayPal process. I ran into a couple of hurdles with it and found Wells Fargo to be easier. There are still people that use it though. I hope those answers will help you.
@@jday3671 also I wanted to let you know, I’m giving you a thank you for the question. We have plans to put together a question and answer video with ourselves and a panel of other Expats in the upcoming weeks.
@@LifeinGuatemala amazing looking forward to your guys next video 😊
My best friend from college, an US citizen, was killed in Antigua. Be very careful! There are safer countries!
I am so sorry to hear about your friend. I also know anything can happen anywhere. We are careful and up to this point, we have never felt unsafe in our surroundings. Of course we are older, we don't bar hop (not saying your friend did, just saying) We are usually together when walking around. Oh yeah, my husband is 6'4" and a big guy, most don't bother him. We are not usually out late either. But I appreciate your thoughts.
Xela? frio!!
Nos encanta el clima de Xela. Es una de nuestras cosas favoritas. Somos originarios de Michigan, por lo que no creemos que haga demasiado frío. Además, no nos gusta el clima muy caluroso.
@@LifeinGuatemala i liked Antigua where everybody's house was wide open to the elements. Do you have indoor heating in Xela? I did like the traditional fabric designs from Xela however
@@edwardj3070 Actually our house is in the style of many of the houses of Antigua as are most in our specific condominium complex. It is a very open design. No we do not have any kind of heat or air conditioning although many of our friends do use either an electric or propane space heater. For us that would be a waste due to the open design of the house. But we are usually pretty comfortable with just a change of clothes or an extra blanket. My husband does like an electric blanket on the coldest nights though. LOL