I could write a book about expats, the most interesting people I’ve ever met. I found that most have life experiences that could fill a book, so I wrote “Boomers in Paradise: Living in Puerto Vallarta” while living in that jewel of the Mexican Riviera.
Krystal Frost’s story is in the book. She, among other things, earns her living by providing therapeutic massage and acupuncture. But how she got to Puerto Vallarta is her real story.
Krystal was born and raised in California, educated in Canada and struck out for Colombia to work on a master’s degree. While in Bogotá, she agreed once to carry drugs to earn some extra money and was rewarded with two years in prison, where she taught Colombian women English.
In love with Latin culture, she spent the next 8 years after prison working her way around South America as an actress, waitress, model and interpreter before returning to the U.S. for jobs in the film industry and marketing.
She got married, started a family and then left to become an expat once again after her marriage soured. How did she pick Puerto Vallarta? She got out her map and drew a parallel line from Hawaii to Mexico and chose PV for both its beauty and Hawaii-like climate, which she loved.
Krystal has taught yoga on the beach, sold time shares, helped develop and market a Mexican coffee brand and many other things. She also took time out to get a degree in acupuncture and eastern medicine from a university in Guadalajara that had a local campus.
Not all expat stories are quite as colorful as Krystal’s but all are very interesting.
I’m now working on a new book about the lives of the new American expat generation and am looking for your story or the story of an expat you may know.
If you’re an American, have become an expat during the last 10 years and would like to tell the world your story, I’d like to hear from you. If you’re interested, please use the Contact form on our website to contact me, Robert Nelson.
