Even though I no longer have a traditional 9-to-5 job, being a full-time writer isn’t quite what I expected. What did I expect? I’m not entirely sure—but I didn’t realize just how much life would get in the way.
I had this glorious vision of waking up, sipping coffee, and watching words spill effortlessly onto the page. Well, maybe not exactly that, but I did think my days would be filled with more writing than anything else.
Boy, was I wrong.
So what fills the space between my thoughts and the screen? Life.
If you’d like some background, keep reading—if not, feel free to skip ahead.
My husband and I “retired” and moved to Mexico. We still have a life in the U.S., where our kids are, but we now spend much of our time here as well. This isn’t the typical expat story—my husband was born in Mexico, his family is here, and we lived here over 30 years ago. We always planned to retire between countries, enjoying the best of both worlds.
Since we arrived, he decided to start a new business. While I’m not officially an FTE (full-time employee), I spend a lot of time supporting him. And because we’re in the early stages, we’re living on savings—meaning things that were once routine, like hiring help for cooking and cleaning, are now my daily responsibilities. And let me tell you, those tasks take up a lot of time.
Then there’s my time outside the house—mainly with my mother-in-law, which influenced where we chose to live in Mexico. At least, it did until we decided to go all in on the business.
And right now? My biggest distraction is that we’re moving. The apartment we’ve lived in for the past year was great at first, but it feels more like “the city” than the Mexico we imagined. So, for the past month (and the next few weeks), my time is consumed with house-hunting and packing. And anyone who’s moved knows: it’s exhausting.
The last big time-thief—one that isn’t actual writing—is building a brand and an audience. I finally launched my website (yay!), but social media? That’s a hurdle I didn’t realize I’d have to jump. And since I’m clumsy, it feels more like I’m running up to it, grabbing the top to keep it from falling, awkwardly straddling it, and then tumbling off the other side. Not pretty. Definitely humiliating. But my advisors assure me that social media is essential for growing my brand, so here I am—learning, stumbling, and trying to make it work.
For now, I hope life settles down after this next move. I’ll keep refining my social media strategy, supporting my husband in his dream, and—most importantly—writing. And for those wondering, yes, he supports me too. Don’t worry.
But for you, dear reader, I will keep working on my stories. And hopefully, you’ll read them.