The "Chef Wife" Life in Mexico
Maybe it’s FOMO, or the grass is greener mentality, but for as long as I remember, I’ve yearned for a life of travel since my gap year trip to the UK in 2008. From that point on, after a short return to my hometown of Melbourne, I left for New York City on a one-way ticket and never looked back. But that’s for another post.
For now, let’s focus on the past five years, after I met my now husband right before the pandemic. Don’t get me wrong, I love food, but marrying a chef was not on my life bingo card, and after doom scrolling some really depressing Facebook groups and googling “What’s it like being with a chef”, I wondered if the “chef wife life” was for me. Turns out, it complements my lifestyle pretty well. It’s quenched my thirst for travel, given me space to continue to explore my own interests and hobbies, plus I never really have to worry about a bad meal again — except for El Farallon. I don’t recommend it for the faint of heart, and if you’re codependent, then forget about it. My husband, besides becoming one of the kindest and generous souls on the planet, is also a walking guide book on the best meals and hidden food spots. Through him, we’ve become a rolodex for recommendations whenever friends of ours are traveling.
Los Cabos, Mexico, was the first of three moves. The job offer came six months after dating in Los Angeles, and he made an executive decision to take the role and asked if I wanted to move with him. I had just started a new role which happened to become fully remote, so it was meant to be. I resisted the move at first, to the point when I first set foot in Cabo I would order Indian and Chinese food. You probably already have second hand embarrassment learning that the above cuisines were not good (especially the neon pink chicken tikka I regretfully ordered) and that I was better off sticking with the local food (well, duh). I spent a good part of the first year balancing my time between LA and Mexico, but ended up getting deeply attached to Cabos that it was hard to leave almost three years later.
My life in Cabo was idyllic: weekends taking surf lessons in San Jose Del Cabo and wheel throwing pottery at Casa Musa, where afterward I would have brunch at Pez Gallo and Es Por Ti; long weekend road trips to Pescadero, East Cape, and Todos Santos, where I visited gems like Paradero, Hotel San Cristobal, Oystera, Dum, and Barracuda Cantina (best battered fish tacos of my life). The laid back, beach lifestyle reminded me of home in Australia, and the warmth and kindness embedded in Mexican culture helped calmed down my nervous system, which had been hard-wired after hustling the past few years in New York City. We also spent two-weeks traveling around the country to Meridá, Oaxaca City, Puerto Escondido, Yucatan, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Ixtapa. It’s safe to say I was converted after that trip.
It’s been three years since we left, and I hope to return one day. Thankfully I will have an excuse, as half of my life’s belongings is still in storage there after the next move came abruptly. But until then, here are some of my favorite snapshots.
PHOTO | Copy Director
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