New Beginnings: A Transatlantic Move from Mexico to Poland

One of my last cherished memories of Mexico City before the Big Move was basking in the sunset light on the balcony of our apartment, overlooking the endless sprawl of disoriented red-painted rooftops. The chaotic symphony of the city—dogs barking, "se compran colchones" blaring, cars honking—formed a soundtrack I had come to love. Leading up to that moment, I had a lot of doubt swirling in my mind: are we absolutely sure this is what we wanted? Are we prepared to bring three dogs with us on a plane, and then drive 10 hours to Kraków? What happens if the Polish government declines the language learning visa for my wife, aligning with the global trend of tightened immigration policies? Then what?

Quite a few folks have asked us how we were able to make the move, what was the planning process like, and, most importantly, why Poland? Why move to one of the few countries in the European Union where we cannot be legally married, where learning the native language is no easy feat, where there's a war raging on next door? It'd be a challenge to provide a succinct and satisfactory explanation without being reductive of all of the factors that came into play, but I'll try my best.

The Beginning of the End of Our Time in Mexico

At the time of our move, I had lived in Mexico for a bit more than five years. My wife for many more as it was where she was born and raised. Mexico gave me more than I ever expected. I proved to myself that I - a deaf person - can pick up a meaningful amount of another language to get by. I also learned what does matter to me on a day-to-day basis, and consequently, what luxuries and conveniences I could easily live without. And, I also learned that Mexico was not the place for us long-term. Financial stability felt out of reach, and the opportunities we sought for our future seemed distant.

Naturally, as our relationship took its roots, developed, and grew, my wife and I started having conversations on where we should go next. We began to dream of a new home—one that met our shared desires for safety, walkability, and a stable economy, and our individual wishes for museums, art, and mouth-watering local cuisine.

After exploring Europe twice and spending three months in Toronto, we narrowed our shortlist to Germany, Sweden, and Poland. Then, on February 7 of this year, everything changed: I picked up my Polish passport from the embassy in Mexico City. With that document in hand, our dream of moving to Europe became a tangible plan.

The next day, we boarded Air Canada to spend three months in Toronto. This was intentionally meant to be a short-term trial to see how we'd adapt to dark and cold winters, but by the time we landed four hours later, my mind was already thinking of the next place. It didn't take too long for both of us to agree that Toronto was definitely not the place for us, and also that we were absolutely prepared to leave Mexico.

Before my friends in Mexico that are reading this pick up their pitchforks, I want to be clear that I did love my time in the country. It has helped shape me to be the person I am today: more humbled, more knowledgeable of the beautiful cultures and traditions in the country, and more cognizant of the impact of my presence in foreign lands. However, it just wasn't the place for me long-term, which I'll touch upon at another time.

So within the first few days of our stay in Toronto, we had already started pulling together the plan to make the transatlantic move.

The Planning Process

International moves are a marathon, not a sprint. We had to balance thorough preparation with avoiding burnout. Going in with this expectation helped us divide tasks into two categories: Must-Have and Nice-to-Have. Health certificates for the dogs, language courses, and securing housing fell into the first category. Booking an airport porter and buying extra packing material went into the second. This approach helped us stay focused and prioritize what truly mattered.

We then set a moving date that “felt right” and worked backward to create a timeline. Planning far in advance allowed us to tackle complex tasks, like exporting and importing our dogs, without paying exorbitant fees to a pet travel agency. We scoured the internet, found helpful YouTube videos and articles specifically for importing dogs from Mexico into Germany - our first stop in Europe - and managed to pull all that we needed. By handling this ourselves, we reduced costs from an estimated $12,000 to around $4,300, half of which went toward high-quality, reusable dog crates.

Aside from the exportation process for our dogs, our top biggest expenses were the following:

• Airbnb for the first two weeks in Kraków: $1,200
• One-way flights from Mexico City to Frankfurt: $1,400 (total for 2 people)
• Airbnb for two weeks in Mexico City prior to our move: $799
• Deposit and first month’s rent in Kraków: 9,500 PLN (~$2,300)

Despite the stress of coordinating every detail ourselves, we felt a sense of accomplishment as each piece fell into place. It goes without saying that international moves look differently for everyone, but the general theme I've observed from perusing similar posts is that the top expenses largely fall in the following categories: short-term stays upon arrival, deposit and first month's rent for an apartment in the new home, and the flight tickets themselves.

The Big Day

On September 26, I jetted off for Benito Juarez International airport with my luggage and two of our dogs in tow. Laura was already in Frankfurt with one of our dogs as she flew in a day before me. Aside from a few moments of stress prior to her departure, everything ended up going smoothly, which gave me hope that perhaps we did enough planning to make this worthwhile. That perhaps maybe this was in the cards for us after all.

I used my questionably intermediate level of Spanish to ask for some help to transport the dogs and their crates through the airport, which required going down some stairs from the parking garage, down one level in an elevator with not more than 1 centimeter left in the entryway for our kennels, across half of Terminal 1 to the SENASICA office to complete the exportation process for our dogs, back across Terminal 1 to the elevator up to go up one level, and then onto the Lufthansa terminal where we could finally check in. In retrospect, this was the hardest and most stressful part of the move, despite the fact that it couldn't have gone any smoother given the circumstances at hand.

Upon arriving to Frankfurt, I was quickly reassured that my dogs made it on the same flight when I saw their Airtags in the same area as me. I had heard horror stories of dogs ending up on wrong planes, of being left behind, of who knows what else, which - while they had very little chance of happening - took up more rent in my head than it should have. Upon walking into the baggage claim area in the airport, I met up with the airport porter named Ben who already had my dogs in tow, wrangled with two large taxi vans to get the crates in, and then I was on my way to the Airbnb to meet up with Laura. To continue the theme, everything went Just Fine.

The next day, I battled against my jet lag woes and picked up our rental moving van at the Enterprise office located in Frankfurt's main train station. It took a minute longer than I had expected to refresh my memory of driving a stick-shift car, but then we were on the road. The scenery along the A4 made the long drive well worth it, passing by picturesque towns nestled in rolling hills. I kept stocking up on caffeine and hopeful dreams and pushed through the night. At midnight, we finally arrived in Kraków - our new home.

But Why Poland?

This question is deeply personal for me. It's complicated, heavily nuanced, and ever-changing. How can I succinctly explain the calling that comes from deep inside of me to move to my ancestral homelands? To bring the Polish language and ways of life back into the family? To answer questions I have about my family's history and - while a hopeful wish - eventually write about it?

On a practical level, Poland offers safety, affordability, and a growing economy. These factors, combined with the country’s central location in Europe, make it an ideal base for travel and exploration. But above all, it was the intangible pull of heritage and the promise of new beginnings that brought us here. There’s a quiet fulfillment in walking the streets of Kraków, knowing I’m connected to this place in ways I’m still discovering.

And so, here we are, embarking on a new beginning for us.