As Featured in International Living: Dream Baja Realty's (and my) Story
TL;DR: International Living recently published a piece on my move from thirty years at sea to opening Dream Baja Realty in La Paz. Here's the story, a few details the article didn't have room for, and what it's like to see your own relocation story become someone else's case study for why this place is worth choosing.
Somebody sent me the link before I'd even seen it myself — that's usually how you find out.
International Living, which has been telling people where to retire, invest, and relocate since long before "digital nomad" was a phrase anyone used, published a piece on my move to La Paz. It's called "After 30 Years at Sea, He Chose La Paz,"(https://internationalliving.com/after-30-years-at-sea-he-chose-la-paz/) written by Kirsten Raccuia, herself a longtime expat who's lived the version of this story in Malaysia and Puerto Vallarta before landing in Mexico. If you haven't read it yet, it's worth the few minutes — I'll link it again at the bottom.
The short version, for anyone who hasn't read it yet
I spent thirty years working on cruise ships before I ever set foot in La Paz for more than a visit. By the time my parents moved here in 2014, I was running departments for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises out of a corner office in Miami — a good life, on paper. Then 2020 happened, the cruise industry shut down overnight, and I drove from Miami to La Paz with everything I owned in the car, mostly just to see my parents while the world figured itself out.
Two months in, I told my then-girlfriend I was more anxious about going back to that corporate life than I was about starting over completely here. She didn't know we were moving to Mexico. That relationship ended. La Paz stayed.
What the piece captured that I still think about
Kirsten's article gets at something I try to articulate to clients constantly and usually fail to say as cleanly as she did: nobody here treated me like an ATM. No one chased me down the street with a flyer. I could just be here — a genuine difference in a region where the state capital runs on government and services, not tourism, as its primary economic engine.
She also wrote about my mother, who still lives downtown at 84, drives herself around the city, and has a busier social calendar than I do. That detail matters more than it might seem — it's not a stray anecdote, it's the actual reason I'm still here. I got two years with my dad before he passed in 2022 that I wouldn't have had in Miami. That's not a real estate pitch. That's just what happened.
Did You Know?
I opened Dream Baja Realty in January 2025, after four years of learning this market from the inside, out of a former art studio that still has weird art on the walls and a semicircular antique couch in the corner. It looks nothing like a real estate office, and I like it that way.
The part worth adding for readers here specifically
Since the article's focus was my personal story, it didn't have space for a detail I think matters to anyone actually considering a move: the demographic shift I've watched happen in real time. Buyers are getting younger. Families with school-age kids are moving down now, not just retirees. El Centenario — about ten miles north of central La Paz — has become the neighborhood I point most newcomers toward, roughly split evenly between American and Canadian residents, with small two-bedroom homes starting around $160,000. Center-city condos start closer to $263,000.
My advice to anyone seriously considering this hasn't changed since I gave it to Kirsten: rent for six months first. Get a facilitator for the bureaucratic stuff — utility accounts, a driver's license, anything official. It's not a luxury. It's just smart.
Dream Baja Realty has also recently featured in
Dream Baja Realty's story has also appeared in a couple of other places this year — [BizWeekly](https://bizweekly.com/dream-baja-realty-turning-baja-dreams-into-reality-through-education-trust-and-local-expertise/) and [USA News](https://usanews.com/newsroom/why-thousands-dream-of-moving-to-mexico-and-how-dream-baja-realty-helps-make-it-possible) both ran features on our education-first approach to helping Americans and Canadians navigate the Baja California Sur market, and the story was distributed via a national newswire as well. I'm genuinely grateful for all of it — every piece helps someone considering this move feel a little less alone in the questions they're asking.
Why I'm sharing this at all
I don't love talking about myself — ask anyone on my team. But readers considering a move this significant deserve more than my word for it, and there's something to be said for an independent journalist deciding this story was worth telling to International Living's audience of people actively researching exactly this kind of decision.
Next steps
- Read the full International Living piece for the complete story: [After 30 Years at Sea, He Chose La Paz](https://internationalliving.com/after-30-years-at-sea-he-chose-la-paz/)
- If you're weighing your own version of this move, start with the free Ultimate Guide to Relocating to Mexico — it covers the practical side the article didn't have room for.
- If you're ready to talk specifics, reach out directly. I answer my own email.
FAQs
Is the International Living article accurate? Yes — Kirsten interviewed me directly, and the details in it (my background, the timeline, the numbers) reflect my actual story.
Did Dream Baja Realty pay for the International Living feature? No — it's editorial coverage, written and published by IL's own team, distinct from sponsored or contributed content.
How is this different from the BizWeekly and USA News pieces? Those are labeled contributor or branded content on their respective sites — still a fair and accurate reflection of our business, just a different kind of placement than IL's independent editorial coverage.
Can I talk to Ian directly about relocating? Yes — reach out through the contact form or email me directly; I personally respond to relocation inquiries. [email protected]
CTA: Curious what your own version of this story could look like? Download the free Mexico Relocation Kit, or reach out and let's talk.
