In the last few years, Mexico’s reputation has taken a downward turn as stories of drug cartels, a corrupt police force and sky-high homicide rates are splashed across the media. However, discarding Mexico as an unsafe, crime-ridden destination because of these reports would be like writing-off the entire United States because of high crime rates [...]

You may be able to find Starbucks at every corner, but don’t be surprised if you also spot an indigenous couple walking barefoot down a main highway. Mexico City is a fast-paced, colorful, textured, rich urban hot spot. It is chock full of amazing museums, art, music, delectable food, traditional dances and events, soccer stadiums and fans and breathtaking architecture.

Mexico is a favorite vacation destination as well as corporate hub where visitors fly in from all over the world, despite the growing reports of violence and danger that are giving Mexico a reputation for not being travel-safe or tourist friendly. Most large cities have safe neighborhoods and rough ones, and Mexico City is no different.

So you finally did it: You quit your job, sold your home and bought a one way ticket somewhere south of the U.S/Mexico border; fast forward a couple months and you're living the so-called dream life somwhere near the Equator but it's not exactly the glamerous existence you'd been anticipating.

If your idea of retirement is living a simple life in a small house far outside any major city, then yes, you can probably live on $1,000 a month. Of course, if you want to live in a nice apartment in a nice part of town in a large city, your cost of life goes up. But the truth is, it's really quite hard to answer this question because some countries are more expensive than others and some cities are pricier than others.

People often ask me what motivated me to leave the U.S. for Colombia. Most of the time, the askers are Colombians themselves, many of whom would do pretty much anything to get a visa to the U.S. or Canada and can't understand why someone would willingly choose to move to the "disaster" (their words not mine) that is Latin America.

Spotlight on Jacobo Ángeles, a woodcarver in Oaxaca

Big fish. Low prices. Where to cast a line in Mexico.

LatinWorld writer Alvin Starkman goes on a culinary journey in southern Mexico

Oaxaca expat Alvin Starkman recounts a chaotic, indulgent double-celebration in rural Mexico