25 expat voices: Marie Dwyer-Bullock and Ray Bullock

Expats: Ray Bullock and Marie Dwyer-Bullock

Business: Focus on Mexico

Website: focusonmexico.com

Ray Bullock and Marie Dwyer-Bullock

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Ana Prado

We asked our 25 featured expats if they have a specific Mexico “moment” or memory—something that always makes them think, “Yep, this is home,” or “That’s what I love about this place.” View Slideshow >>

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Originally from:

Marie: Ray is originally from England but spent a number of years in Australia, then twenty years in Canada before moving to Lake Chapala, Mexico thirteen years ago. 

Ray: Marie is originally from Nova Scotia in Canada, then moved to Alberta, where she lived twenty years before moving to Lake Chapala. 

Live in: We live in a little pocket of paradise called Lake Chapala, with our home being in San Antonio, Tlayacapan (next to Ajijic). We are nestled between the largest lake in Mexico and the Sierra Madre Mountains. National Geographic rated this area the second best climate in the world (my guess for best climate is Heaven). Living in this Land of Eternal Spring, with virtually no humidity-no need for air conditioning or heating-we eat all our meals on the terrace, 365 days a year.

Living in Mexico: We have lived here for a little over thirteen years, having moved here in 1995.

Why did you move to Mexico?

We were first attracted to the Lake Chapala area of Mexico because of the temperate climate and affordable cost of living, plus we wanted an adventure, but in a secure environment. Soon after arriving, we realized we had found more than we were looking for. When the indigenous people first arrived, they called this the "Healing Place" or "Energy Point." Many artists, writers, poets, and musicians are attracted to the area and say they are more inspired here. The biggest benefits to living here though are the wonderful Mexican people who welcome us with open arms.

Tell us about Focus on Mexico.

We are the founders of Focus on Mexico. When we moved to Lake Chapala we weren't in a position to stop working. Having a real estate marketing background, we were contracted to promote a condo project.

Back in 1995 most of our clients were not on the Internet, and corresponding by mail was a tedious and slow process, so for many years we would go to major Canadian cities and do presentations about Mexico, and offer people the opportunity to sign up for our programs to bring them here to experience Mexico firsthand. The programs were so successful we sold out the project in two seasons.

From our own experience, we knew that Lake Chapala was an ideal place for expats to live, but it was (and still is to some degree) one of the best-kept secrets out there. Plus, there were (and are) a lot of myths and misconceptions about Mexico.

Marie's initial idea with the concept of Focus was doing a series of seminars in Canada to give people a better understanding of Mexico and the opportunities available in Lake Chapala. As part of the seminars, we offered the opportunity to visit the area on an eight-day educational program so people could experience firsthand what we called "One of the Last Best Places on Earth¨.

This concept has since expanded its reach throughout Canada and to the US and Europe with the Internet. 

Why is it so important to you?

Firstly, we love our life in Mexico and we want to give back to the country. The Focus programs allow us to do this by educating people about what we call "The Real Mexico," not the old image of Mexico shown in Hollywood movies and on TV. Most importantly, it allows us to support our community by providing jobs to local residents, revenue to local businesses, investments in housing and financial institutions, and the expansion of local facilities and infrastructure through additional revenue to the Municipality.

What do you when you aren't teaching Mexico?

We both love to dance and have had a "standing date" on Friday nights for twenty years now.

Do you have a specific Mexico "moment" that makes you think, "That's what I love about this place"?

Every morning we sit on our terrace overlooking the lake and imagine that we are visiting the area for a few weeks. We look around and say "wouldn't it be wonderful to live like this forever" and then we smile because we do. This is definitely home.

What are both the best and the hardest things about being an expat in Mexico?

Moving to Mexico gave us a new lease on life and allowed us to reinvent ourselves. Now we live our life "on purpose," not by default.

Learning a new language can be challenging, although in the Lake Chapala area you can actually get by with very limited Spanish. That gives you some breathing space to learn Spanish on your own time.

Running a business has its own special issues. Fortunately we have an incredibly talented group of people we work with that eases this process for us. We call ourselves a NAFTA company, as we have Canadians, Mexicans, and Americans on staff, all of whom are hard-working and now part of our extended family.