Sayulita?

[mom2tatum]

I so want to move there...considering it sort of seriously. I would love to hear from any families who are actually raising kids there. I have been digging and digging into info online that I can find, and basing some ideas off of things an old friend has told me (she lives there)

Would a doula/CBE/general birth services business thrive there? Could we survive as a family of 4 on a minimal income for a while until we establish a more stable job and income for us?

[arts4work]

Considerations from a Sayulita Mom

I'm the mother of a 7 month old and I have been living in Sayulita for nearly 3 years now. I do think people would be interested in a doula/gen. birth business both in Sayulita and neighboring communities; however, with all those communities combined (Bucerias, Sayulita, & San Pancho) the population comes to about 10,000-12,000 people. That's the population of all the communities together, all the inhabitants. Now consider the number of persons within that a) are in need of your services, b) are interested in your services and c) can afford your services.

Schools are another consideration. All my foreign friends (American, Canadian, etc.) have their children in private schools. My Mexican friends who can afford it or who can obtain scholarships do as well because, they say, the public schools in our town are lacking. (I can't really say from my own experience as my child is too young for school.) I mention this because if you have to put your kids in private school, that's another cost to consider.

Could a family of 4 survive on "minimal income"? That depends on how you live. As a general guestimate, I would say inflation has risen about 20% in Sayulita since I moved here, about 60% since we starting coming to Sayulita in 2002. That guess is based on the price of food both in the local groceries and restaurants. Sayulita is VERY expensive for Mexico. It is the Riviera and its prices reflect that and I expect them to continue to rise as its popularity increases. If you have a car, you can drive into Vallarta for bulk shopping to save yourself some money, but that also has drawbacks. I'm sure your Sayulita friend can give you more information on the cost of groceries, electricity, etc.

As far as community, this is a small town. That's great in many ways: you know your neighbors (and pretty much everyone else in town), people look out for each other, crime here is minimal, the distractions are less and family takes the forefront. But, as it's a small town, it comes with certain limitations.

You should check out a local mothering blog: quemadre.wordpress.com. Maybe she can give you another perspective. I strongly suggest you move here and rent a place for 6 months, both during high and low season, to see if Sayulita is a good fit for you.

Hope this helps.

[jadebutterfly]

Hi, I too live here, Ive been here arround 6 years now, chillin... Its real nice, and different, small town but full.

but yeah Ive watched it grow and yes now its so full of americans, so they have made it all expensive now haha.

But what is a minimal income? 5 or 6 hundred, and yes many may live with that but it depends how low cost you can be, or hippie, though im not sure if ur 4 family could.

That sounds like a good idea you want to do, but you would have to be very inexpensive to compete with our low cost hospitals, but yeah i would love something like that arround here, I dont know if theres anything like that arround here, PV and Tepic, though there is midwifes and doulas, Im actually interested in that too, though i have no experience, ive lately been very in natural birthing and stuff, felt like studying some doula stuff, but anyway...

Are you here yet? or probably not...

Well i might be building an apt ontop of my house, and my father has his house here that could be rented, if u care, let me know if you do decide to come over, I ll be glad to help :)