4 Countries: Our pros & cons
Mexico, Italy, France, or the U.S.? Our Full Pros and Cons List
A long, honest, occasionally contradictory lists. Here's how Mexico, Italy, France, and the U.S. stack up for a family like ours.
Mexico
Loud, warm, and alive — if you can make peace with the trade-offs after dark.
- Amazing food, and genuinely good variety
- Spanish is one of the easier languages to pick up
- Family friendly in the cities
- Cheap — housing, gas, electric, daily life
- So much to explore, historically and geographically
- Surprisingly safe in the right pockets
- Easy to buy land or build affordably
- High business potential
- Currency exchange works in our favor
- Nighttime safety drops off in certain areas
- Housing gets expensive once you factor in safety
- Water isn't clean; microplastics are a real concern
- Food isn't as organic as we'd want for Emmy
- Not especially dog friendly
- Cartel activity and human trafficking are heavy in places
- Earthquakes, and air pollution
- Hot in exactly the beach areas we like
- Public transport is unreliable
Italy
La dolce vita, with a side of disorganization we'd have to learn to laugh at.
- The food. Full stop.
- Cheap houses are genuinely findable
- Clean, real food
- Feels safe
- Walkable towns
- Dog and baby friendly
- Cappuccinos slap
- Trains are decent
- The art and history are everywhere
- Parks for Emmy and Cali
- Less food variety day to day
- Gas and electricity run expensive
- Systems feel disorganized and slow
- Cities can be dirty
- Some spots feel loud and a little trashy
- Currency exchange can just as easily work against us
France
The longest pros list we wrote — and the one that keeps pulling us back.
- The food, again, full stop
- Cheap baguettes, cheap staples
- Clean food and clean water
- Feels safe, consistently
- An organized system and organized people
- Clean cities, clean air
- We love the café culture
- Baby and dog friendly
- Quiet in public spaces
- Walkable, with variety in every grocery store
- Dead center of Europe for easy travel
- Uber Eats is fast, and cheap delivery fee
- Strong dog culture
- Excellent trains
- Art and history at every turn
- Parks everywhere
- A cappuccino doesn't hit the same as it does in Italy
- Gas and electricity are pricey
- The language is genuinely hard
- Eating out adds up fast
- Currency exchange works against us
- Houses are affordable compared to the U.S., but the down payment and fees add up
The U.S.
Familiar and comfortable — but comfort has a price tag we keep underestimating.
- Family is right there
- Anything we need is easy to find or order
- No credit-building or currency exchange to think about
- It's simply comfortable
- English
- Dog friendly
- Mountains, city, and beach all in one state (NC)
- Dryers and A/Cs are standard
- Electric isn't as pricey as abroad, and more accessible
- Trader Joe's exists
- School shootings
- Food isn't clean; water isn't either
- Everything costs more — food, stuff, experiences, tickets
- Little day-to-day inspiration or culture
- Public transport is weak; a car is required
- Safe schooling comes at a premium
- Renovating or buying is expensive
- Racism remains a real issue
- ICE and the current administration feel disrespectful, unprofessional, and evil
- Healthcare is broken and expensive
- No currency advantage if we ever buy or invest abroad
How They Stack Up
| Country | What pulls us in | What gives us pause |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | Cheap livingGreat foodEasy Spanish | Cartel activityNighttime safetyWater quality |
| Italy | Food & cultureAffordable homesWalkable | Disorganized systemsUtility costs |
| France | Clean livingSafetyCentral location | Home pricesLanguage barrier |
| U.S. | Family nearbyFamiliarityNC geography | Cost of everythingSafety concernsHealthcare |
Looking at it laid out like this, most of the cons feel solvable if the pros are worth prioritizing — a steep down payment, a hard language, a system that moves slow. Those are things we can work around, save for, or adjust to. What we can't manufacture is the stuff on the pros side: how a place feels, whether it's safe, whether the food and water are clean, whether Emmy and Cali would thrive there.
This list isn't final, either — we're planning to visit more countries and add them to the mix as we go.
