How I Ended Up in Puerto Vallarta and Why It Changed Everything

In January 2022 Canada announced a third lockdown. The worst one yet. My ex husband (spoiler) and I sat there in our Toronto condo listening to the news and thinking: Absolutely not! We had already survived eight months of the previous one. The idea of doing it again felt like dragging our sanity across broken glass. We knew we had to get out for a while or we would lose our minds.

We talked about different places. Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Los Angeles. Anywhere that did not involve being trapped inside with a winter that bites your face off. But we already had a ten day vacation planned in Puerto Vallarta. So we looked at each other and decided why not turn ten days into four months.

We scrambled to pack our lives. We found a renter for our condo. We booked long term accommodations. And a few weeks later we were sitting in the Vallarta sun wondering why we had waited this long.

Those four months were a dream. Maybe too much of a dream. We ate everything. We danced everywhere. We lived in a blur of sunsets, beach days, and late nights. We found a version of happiness that felt easy. Simple. Warm.

Then the end of our stay began creeping in. Flights were booked. Plans were made. And one night we looked at each other again and said the same thing we said in Toronto but with a completely different meaning: Absolutely not!

We cannot go back.

So we returned to Toronto only long enough to pack up our condo and say goodbye to the life we once built. At the end of September 2022 I got in the Jeep with Frank, our English bulldog (your dads miss you every day), and drove all the way from Toronto to Vallarta. Just the two of us on the highway. I had to drive because airlines don’t allow English bulldog to fly and there was no way he’d pass as a service animal. It was long, emotional, and strangely beautiful. My ex joined us a few weeks later and we began our new chapter in Mexico.

Shortly after arriving I knew I needed to focus. Really focus. I wanted to build a real estate career here and that meant the party version of Vallarta had to fade into the background. The nights out slowed down. The early mornings started. The hustle began. And piece by piece, I built something real. My success is owed to everyone of my clients and fellow agents who acted as mentors.

My relationship with my ex did not survive the transition but our connection did. We remain close friends and will always be in each other’s corner. Some love stories do not end. They simply reshape themselves. Adrian, thank you for everything. You are family.

Life here was not always easy. The last few years came with loss, grief, and moments that tested me deeply. But Puerto Vallarta gave me something I did not know I needed. A place to stand. A place to rebuild. A place to find the strongest version of myself. This city cracked me open and then helped me put myself back together in a way that felt honest and grounded.

When I look in the mirror now, I see a man I am proud of. A man who grew. A man who did not run from difficulty but rebuilt through it. A man who took a risk that changed the course of his life.

I continue to grow my career. I continue to grow as a human being. And Puerto Vallarta has given me more than sunshine and ocean views. It has given me clarity, courage, community, and a sense of home I never expected to find.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes the life you want is not something you plan. It is something you choose in a moment of courage. A ten day vacation turned into four months and four months turned into a life I never imagined. If you feel that restless pull inside you, the one that whispers you deserve something different, something warmer, something more alive, listen to it.

Your new chapter might be waiting in a place you have not discovered yet. And if it happens to be Puerto Vallarta, well, you may just find that this city has a beautiful habit of giving people exactly what they need.