I don’t hate many things in life, but being cold is no 1 on my list. For 27 years I would see the leafs change in Montreal and I knew that my worst nightmare was only a few months away, winter was coming! Anyone who’s lived a cold winter has probably gone through what I’m about to describe. Here’s a typical winter day in Montreal…

7:00…alarm goes off. Debating on whether or not to ever leave my warm bed.

7: 30…Decision finally made. Warm bum cheeks now pressed on cold toilet seat.

7:31…Waiting for hot water in shower to kick in. Counted over a billion goose bumps.

8:00…Used all the hot water. My Roommate is going to kill me…

8:20…Ate breakfast in 3 mins, spent 17 mins dressing up. I have to pee but will hold it.

9:00…Took 40 mins to remove two feet of snow and scrap ice off car windows. Now must travel back in time in order to make work on time.

Not only was it a battle every morning to get out of the house, but several months of cold weather takes a tool on your mind and body. I no longer was motivated to work out when it was minus 30 degrees. So after a lot of hard work, some basic planning, an opportunity came up and I made the jump from Canada to the Caribbean.

Moving to Barbados…

Three years ago I made the transition to Barbados, the most southern eastern Caribbean island. There were many reasons why I chose this island; a) warm weather all year round, b) safe island with very friendly people, c) tax treaty with Canada, d) direct flights from Canada, e) job, etc.. I had been to Barbados many times before and decided to move to Port St. Charles, a very nice marina located on the west coast, just north of Speightstown. Port St. Charles offers 24 / 7 security; the beach is very nice and not crowded at all. The management team led by Stephen Austin is very professional and you really don’t have to worry about much while you’re there. This is considered one of the most luxurious places to rent on Barbados so keep this in mind when seeing the prices.

Rent: $2,250 US / month (Based on 6 month rental agreement)

I rented a 1 bedroom condo which came fully furnished. It was about 1,000 sq ft in size and overlooked the lagoon. These rental rates included basic maid service but utilities were extra. I had access to their small gym, tennis courts, pool bars, yacht club and my favorite part, beach chairs with umbrellas!

Utilities: $250 US / month (roughly $ 0.11 US / KWh)

Coming from Quebec I had grown accustom to dirt cheap electricity rates so this was a little surprising. I would only run the a/c at night in my bedroom, using the nice trade winds to keep me cool during the day. Conserve power or you’ll pay for it!

Food: $1,250 US / month

Now this of course totally depends on how you eat. I like to eat healthy so I can stay in have decent shape for rugby. Almost all the food in Barbados is imported, it’s very expensive. You’ll pay for example, $4 US for one avocado! The fruits and veggies are not as fresh as we’re accustom to back home.

Transportation: Optional

Living in Port St Charles is like living on an island within an island. You can get away without having a car but taxis are expensive, roughly $40 US for a round trip to Holetown. Take the bus which is $0.75 US each way or do what I did, bring your bike and head to Speightstown for the basics (milk, bread). You can walk there too. Otherwise if you want to rent a car you’re looking at $1,500 US / month and up.

TOTAL COST: $3,750 US / month (no transportation)

For an executive living in New York, London, or Toronto these rates seem fairly competitive. You have direct flights, guaranteed warm weather, high speed internet, a fully serviced gated community and access to a respectable amount of restaurants….all considering the island only has roughly 270,000 people. Not bad eh.

Pros: • weather is very consistent all year round • very friendly people (English spoken) • safe island

Cons: • food is very expensive ($4 for an avocado!) • limited variety of restaurants • expensive flights

Moving to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico…

These were great times but in a post 2009 world, value has become not only my priority but I think many others too. It’s only after visiting Mexico this past winter that I quickly realized that this country offers fantastic value and I therefore decided to spend the winter here.

The town is located roughly 45 mins south of Cancun. It’s a very cosmopolitan town with many people from Argentina, Italy, Mexico and Canada. Not being able to speak a word of Spanish hasn’t been a problem for me so have no fear. There’s a healthy selection of restaurants, nightlife and things to do which are all benefits of being part of large country (vs. smaller islands).

Rent: $1,400 US / month (6 month rental agreement. Rent split with roommate = $700)

As a general rule, any accommodations east of the highway (so closer to the beach) will be more expensive. You can pay up to 3x times more for much less space. I decided to rent a 1,200 sq ft condo and split rent with my ex-girlfriend (yes, I know, I could write a book on this….she’s great) in a developing part of Playa Del Carmen. I can sprint to the beach in under a minute, or sprint back from the beach to my bathroom in under 45 seconds (it’s Mexico; everyone has experienced it at least once!). The Luna Maya Condos are pretty nice. Residents have access to the pool and there’s 24 / 7 security. Some of the best local restaurants are a few blocks away and the 12th, where the nightlife is located, is only a 15 min walk.

Utilities: $400 US / month (roughly $0.21 US / KWh)

Long story short, rates here vary with your location and the usuage from the previous tenant. I might pay $0.21 US / KWh but the guy downstairs is paying much cheaper and the guy across the street even cheaper. The key is to find out at what rate, or level, your unit is classified according to the CFE who run the power. You can read more about this issue from a blog post I found here:

Food: $600 US / month

I’ll head over to the Mega (large grocery store) and won’t hold back on buying fruits, veggies, steaks, and fish with my average bill around $150 US / week. The killer here in Playa is resisting the temptation to eat out every night which can add up….but that’s a great option to have :)

TOTAL COST: $1,500 US / month (half of rent + utilities)

Now you can live much cheaper than this in Mexico. The standard I’m describing is very nice to North American standards but you can rough it out and live in a van down by the beach rent free (by the way I’m not kidding, there’s an older Canadian man doing this and I think it’s awesome).

Pros: • access to good food at good prices • cheap airfare to Cancun or Cozumel • variety of affordable accommodations

Cons: • high utility rates • language barriers • corrupt highway cops

So if you’ve got a web based business or profession that allows you to work remotely, with some basic planning you can spend your winters down south. I’m sure there are tons of other cheap options but I figured I would share with you my personal experiences. So the next time it’s minus 20 degrees and you’re debating whether or not to get out of bed, just remember that you can change that if you really want it :)