Episode 3: Balance, Calm, and an Endless Summer on a Beach in Mexico

International Living’s Bigger Better World podcast delves into the stories behind the story. This week, the podcast features International Living contributor Bel Woodhouse, an infectiously enthusiastic world traveler and expat who currently calls Cozumel, Mexico, home.
 
The largest of Mexico’s Caribbean islands, Cozumel is some 12 miles off the coast of the Riviera Maya city of Playa del Carmen. Regular ferries connect the island with the mainland, while cruise liners bring a steady footfall of visitors. 
 
With two airports, a hub city, and great communications, Cozumel is not at all an isolated destination. Besides the white-sand beaches and lush jungle, there are hospitals, supermarkets, restaurants, bars, and much more. It’s a perfectly viable spot for a full-time retirement, part-time snowbirding, or even as a temporary stop on a world tour. 

That’s how Bel first thought of it—as a stopover on her extensive world travels. But something about Cozumel has kept her there much longer than she originally planned. Perhaps it’s the place where she’ll finally settle down?
 
Join Jim Santos as he learns about the low-cost Caribbean island of Cozumel, and how one single-woman traveler has learned to adapt and thrive in this heavenly slice of Mexico.

Just how far can sign language and a smile get you on Cozumel? Settle in, press play, and find out as we welcome you to the latest episode of International Living’s Bigger Better World podcast.

Read Bel's article here: https://intliving.com/podcastbel.

If you haven’t become a member yet—you can do it today with a special discount offer for podcast listeners. You’ll receive our monthly magazine plus a bundle of special extras. Subscribe here: https://intliving.com/podcast.

Music: Royalty Free Music From timtaj.com.

Transcript

Jim Santos

Hello, everyone. I'm Jim Santos and this is Bigger, Better World from International Living. In this podcast series, we introduce you to a bigger world full of communities that are safe, welcoming, beautiful, and largely undiscovered. A better world. A friendly, warm, great value world where you can live richer, travel more, invest for profit, and enjoy a better life. We talk with our writers and other people just like you who took a chance and followed our guidance to create for themselves bigger, better lives all around the world. Let's get to it. 

Welcome to the show. Today we'll be taking you to the island of Cozumel, Mexico, a small island east of the Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan Peninsula. It's about 12 miles offshore and it's only about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, but that still makes it Mexico's third-largest island and its largest in the Caribbean. It's also the largest permanently inhabited island in Mexico. Population is only about 1,000, with a bit over 75% of them in the city of San Miguel. Its coral reefs and clear, warm waters makes it one of the best scuba diving places in the world.

Not surprisingly, tourism is its biggest economic sector. Giving us the lowdown on Cozumel. Today will be resident Bell Woodhouse, a fun loving, all sea writer and photographer living her dream life on Mexico's island of Cozumel in the Mexican Caribbean. Okay, and today our guest is Bel Woodhouse. Bel is here with me now. She's also a frequent international living contributor. 

Well, first of all, Bel, welcome to the show.

Bel Woodhouse

Thank you very much. It's lovely to be here.

Jim Santos

Now, we do want to talk to you about Cozumel today and the article that you wrote. But first of all, you're a native Australian from a continent-sized island with the Great Barrier Reef. Just how did you end up moving to a much smaller island with an admittedly beautiful, but much smaller, coral reef area:  Cozumel?

Bel Woodhouse

Well, as you can tell, I'm a tropical girl. I don't like cold weather. So the weather here on Cozumel in the Caribbean is almost identical to the weather that I had in Cairns in the northern part of eastern Australia. So I like that combination of jungle or rain forest and reef. That's me to a T. And what happened was, I used to be in the Royal Australian Navy, and I took a holiday for the first time in over a decade. And I remember sitting on the beach in Bali thinking, “I don't think I want to be in the Navy anymore, but what can I do?” And thankfully, one of my friends sent me an email with a course on how to become a writer, a travel writer specifically. So I thought, “Well, there's my answer.” So I did the course and I left the Navy, and I am now a writer living abroad. And I sort of went walkabout and I sold my house and I went traveling all through Cambodia and all through India. And then I came over to the Americas and I started in Mexico and went all the way down to Costa Rica.

And then I came back up and lived in Belize for a little while. Then I jumped over to Guatemala for a couple of years and taught English and photography and art. And then I decided that I wanted my ocean again. I'd missed the ocean after a couple of years. So I left the mountains and I came back to beautiful turquoise waters and swimming in the ocean every day. And that's where my heart truly is. So I've been on Cozumel for five years in February. I'm a Mexican resident, and I absolutely love my life in the Caribbean.

Jim Santos

When did you start your travels? Did you leave the Navy and start on this path?

Bel Woodhouse

I left the Navy September 2015, and I left Australia about three weeks later. And I haven't been back since 2015. Seven years I've been wandering around the planet, and my father thinks it's hilarious. He just says, “Send me a postcard wherever you end up.” Okay, dad.

Jim Santos

That's a long time to wander.

Bel Woodhouse

Well, walkabouts can take a lifetime.

Jim Santos

Do you mind if I ask, are you single?

Bel Woodhouse

Yes, I am. Although I have been adopted by a street cat. He's very cute.

Jim Santos

You know, attending International Living conferences and talking to people who are interested in an expat life, I often get approached by single people, women in particular, who want to know if it's safe for them to be traveling on their own. It sounds like you did a fair amount of traveling on your own. Maybe you could weigh in on that.

Bel Woodhouse

Oh, yes. I've traveled extensively by myself. I am very much a solo traveler. I love the freedom that it gives me because I like to wake up and think, “Oh, today's a museum day” and I'm going to three different museums. Or “Today I just feel like sitting in the plaza and talking to an old man on a bench and doing photography.” I love the freedom that there's no set itinerary. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, and I'm not so much of a lady’s lady. I hate shopping. 
 
 

I can't think of anything worse than lying on a beach, getting a massage and drinking margaritas all day. If I go to a country, I want to see the country. I want to do day trips and climb mountains and swim in the oceans and all that sort of stuff. I can get a massage anytime. I can get a margarita anytime. When I travel, I like to see things, so I'm always out and about. I've never had an issue when traveling, not in any country. Like, I take that back… in India, there was quite a pervy little man in a bazaar, but I set him straight in about three seconds because I was twice his size.

Thankfully, I'm almost six feet tall, so he backed off very quickly. But yeah. As long as you are a conscientious traveler, be aware of your surroundings. Obviously, don't walk down the dark alley at night by yourself. I wouldn't do that in any country.

Jim Santos

Right.

Bel Woodhouse

Just things like that. There's people out and there's lights on. I've never had an issue, so I get that question a lot, particularly by ladies, as you said. And I've spoken at a couple of International Living conferences and spoken to a lot of single ladies, and all I can say is, if your heart believes that you'll be happy in another country, go and check it out. You will make new friends, you will find your tribe. And you know what? It will probably make your heart sing. It will be a whole new life of happiness. I have found that in all three countries that I've lived in—stayed in long enough to live in—and I still have friends to this day in every country.

Jim Santos

Which three did you feel like you lived in?

Bel Woodhouse

Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Jim Santos

How long were you in Belize?

Bel Woodhouse

Belize, I was only there for about three months, but Belize is very small. In that time, I've driven the length of the country and explored all of it twice.

Jim Santos

You could walk the whole country in three months!

Bel Woodhouse

I think, yeah, pretty much. In Guatemala, I was there two years. I taught in an international school. I taught English, and once again I discovered I went all around the country a couple of times. And now I've been in Mexico five years, and I've mainly just traveled down in the south. I haven't gone up north so much. I'm not really drawn up north. It's very dry, and I like my little Caribbean life, so I'll get up there eventually, but I'm not really dying to get up there at any point. So horses for courses. Mexico is very large. It has something for everyone.

Jim Santos

I really liked what you said about wanting to see new things and see different things. So that was a major drive for you?

Bel Woodhouse

Yes, very much an explorer.

Jim Santos

My wife and I lived in on the coast of Ecuador for six years. And as a writer for International Living, I also traveled around Ecuador a lot, writing about the different places, and everything we saw was just, well, “this is really great.” And then we traveled to Peru, we did the Inca Trail, we went to Uruguay, we went to Buenos Aires. And after a while you start to feel like, “what else am I missing? There's all this incredible stuff out here.”

Bel Woodhouse

And every town, every country. I always seem to meet these amazing people and have these magical experiences, and I'm always blown away by the wants and the friendliness of the people. Maybe it's just the people that I meet, all the places that I go, but as I said, I've never had any issue. I've never felt unsafe. And the more I travel, the more I want to travel, because there are so many places that I want to go and so many things I want to see. I'm just scared that I won't live long enough to see it all.

Jim Santos

That is the traveler's dilemma. The more you see, the more you want to see.

Bel Woodhouse

Where you want to see grows, I think.

Jim Santos

A lot of it may just be attitude. When you enter a new country and you're obviously excited, you're obviously happy to be there, you obviously want to know about it. You're not trying to impose your view on them. I think people just respond to that.

Bel Woodhouse

Yes, and I'm very much like that. You meet a little abuela in the market and you get to chatting. Most of it's sign language and pointing at things, and me asking how to say things in Spanish because I know I've not Spanish to get around, but it's more like Spanish that a child would speak. I'm not fluent by any means, but I can get around all of the Central American countries with no problem at all. And people love that you try and they invite you over for a cup of tea and an old man will make you a cake…and it's really sweet.

Jim Santos

That's a big thing that you're actually trying.

Bel Woodhouse

Oh, yes.

Jim Santos

I remember an instant when my wife and I were training for the Inca Trail. We went into the mountains of Ecuador, and we're hiking at about 12,000ft, and we've got our backpacks and our water devices. That’s just a little hose you put in your mouth. And we've got our sun hats and our hiking poles and all this equipment. And we come upon this Quechua woman who's got a blanket wrapped around her that's holding this huge thing of sticks. And she's got a baby in front of her and walking with her little child, and she's just in little rubber boots, and it looks like we just stepped out of the lunar module or something.

Bel Woodhouse

Yeah. And she's probably looking at you thinking, “What is all that stuff?”

Jim Santos

But she smiled and said hello to us, and we said hello to her. And with our bad Spanish, we were able to tell her that we lived at the ocean. She was very excited because she'd never seen the ocean. These wonderful little vignettes that happen when you travel. And it's such a great experience, and I wish more people could take advantage of that.

Bel Woodhouse

That's the one thing that I always love about Central America. I haven't made it through South America yet, that's next on my list. But I love all of the color and the beautiful, friendly people, and I love taking photos of their portraits. Just those beautiful faces I find absolutely captivating and lovely. And they are just the nicest people. And I think that's part of the reason why I love being here so much. I find the entire culture just marvelous and wonderful.

Jim Santos

I haven't been to Mexico yet myself. It's definitely on our list. But I have heard that again from people that they were surprised at how friendly and welcoming the people were.

Bel Woodhouse

Everywhere that they are, they will bend over backwards to help you.

Jim Santos

Yes, and that was certainly true in Ecuador, too, I'd have to say. Just about everywhere we've been. But again, I think it's attitude. If you're friendly and polite to them instead of screaming at them in English.

Bel Woodhouse

Must admit, yes, if you do travel to Mexico, please don't be one of those tourists that thinks that if you say things louder, people will understand you. It's not the case. If they don't speak English, it doesn't matter how much you scream at them. They don't speak English. It's just terrifying.

Jim Santos

Yeah, I think smiling and making exuberant hand gestures works a lot better.

Bel Woodhouse

Yes, there was a lady at the supermarket the other day, and for the first time we had these big bunches of fresh basil. I mean, the Italian basil, the green stuff. We normally get a different version of basil here, which is delicious, but not the big Italian stuff. So I was very excited to have found it, and I had it in my little bag, and the lady next to me waiting at the checkout, she's like, “What's that?” So I opened it and let her smell it, and I took a leaf off, and I ate half, and I gave her half, and it just blew her mind. She was just so incredibly grateful that someone would share a leaf with her. And she just looked at me, and I think she said in Spanish, because, as I said, I'm not fluent, she said, “Thank you so much. You are really kind.” And that's kept me going for days. That just warmed my heart. I thought “No, thank you.” You know, it's those little interactions that just make your day.

Jim Santos

The thing about trying languages, too. I remember one of the first restaurants we went to in Ecuador, we had very little Spanish at the time and were ordering steaks, and my wife wants it well done. And I had no idea how to say well done. So I told him, mucho fuego—much fire.

Bel Woodhouse

Oh, no!

Jim Santos

And the waiters laughed and thought that was hilarious and started nodding.

Bel Woodhouse

See?

Jim Santos

See.

Bel Woodhouse

I've had a lot of whoopsies like that. I mean, not with steak. I'm a vegetarian. But when I went to get my COVID vaccine, I didn't know the word for pregnant, but I know abrazo is hug. And so this woman, she's like, I think it's embarasada or something like that is “pregnant”. And I thought she was saying “hug”. So we've got all these social distancing rules, and I think she keeps asking for a hug. So I meant to, I try to chase this woman around and hug her. She's laughing. The Marines next to us were laughing. And then she's doing the big hand gesture with her belly going, “Pregnant.” And I went, “Oh, no, I'm not pregnant.” Because I was the only white person there and no one spoke English. So I'm that poor woman, I'm chasing her around, trying to hug her.

Jim Santos

Yeah, I believe it's embarasado because people have told me they tried to say they were embarrassed and actually said they were pregnant.

Bel Woodhouse

Well, it's one of those fun little whoopsies that I think everyone can relate to. If you've ever tried to speak another language, you will make mistakes. And half the time it is hilarious.

Jim Santos

Well, and it's an opening wedge. It really brings people closer when they have something like that to share.

Bel Woodhouse

Everyone around me, you can see them all relaxed because they were nervous because they didn't speak English. And then when we were all laughing and it was fine, it was all common sense after that. And everyone around me just kept smiling at me. So I felt a little bit silly, but they were very sweet about it.

Jim Santos

Bel, I did want to bring up this article. It's in the December 2022 issue of International Living in the section called Living the Dream. The overall article is called “Balance, Calm and an Endless Summer on the beach in Mexico.” And you interviewed two of the three people in this article. What I noticed was unusual, especially in International Living, is this wasn't a story of two expats. This was a story of two part-timers people from very cold places: Windsor, Canada, and Twin Cities, Minnesota, that come down to Cozumel to get away from the winter. 

Is that the norm in Cozumel? Do you think it's more of a place for snowbirds or is it becoming an actual expat spot?

Bel Woodhouse

Oh, no, there is a huge expat community here that live year round, but we do also every year we have an influx of snowbirds. Because what happens is that particular couple, Ina and Clayton, lovely couple, actually had breakfast with them last week. They're back on the island. They've just arrived back. And what happens is they'll come down and they'll love it so much that when they go back to their retirement homes or wherever they're living, they tell everyone else about it. And then the next year they'll have three different couples join them. 

So they end up arriving as a group, and then the year after that there's more. And we end up with all of a sudden there's ten different couples coming down and there's always that mad scramble and, can you find this accommodation next year? And things like this. Because they come once, they fall in love with it so much, and they want to come back and bring all their friends the following year. So we have a big population of snowbirds and we have a big population of year-round expats that live here.

Jim Santos

We lived in Salinas, Ecuador. It's a beach resort. It's the biggest Ecuadorian beach resort. So it gets a lot of Ecuadorian people there, too. But it's also very popular, especially with Canadians, as a place to flee the winter.

Bel Woodhouse

Well, I think they're very pleasantly surprised because Cozumel is the largest cruise line port in the Caribbean. And I've heard that it's one of the largest worldwide. So people, when I say I live on an island, they think of something like Belize, like one of the Cayes, where you run around in golf carts and it's sand streets. You don't have to wear shoes. There's over 1,000 people on this island, and we get up to eight cruise ships a day, all of which have a couple of thousand people on them, up to 6,000 sometimes. So we get an influx of 10,000, 20,000 people a day. There is every restaurant you can imagine. There is every brand you can imagine. There are six different hospitals. Anything you could possibly want, you can get it. It's like a major metropolis on an island. It is Mexico's largest island, but it's a lot bigger than people think. So they think, “Oh, you live on an island, you can't get anything.” That's far from the truth. You can get anything that you want. And if it's not here, Amazon delivers.

Jim Santos

Yes, I do want to ask about that. It being 12 miles offshore, how difficult is it to get to the island?

Bel Woodhouse

Very, very easy if you have a car. We have a car ferry that goes across every couple of hours. And we have fast boat ferries that take half an hour to go to the mainland. They are very luxurious, very comfortable. Big laidback flush seats and air conditioning. And it's all very fancy. And I actually sometimes I just go on a ferry ride just because I miss boats. Being ex-Navy, every now and then I get that itch to get on a boat, and I just go over to Playa for the day. I just doddle around and grab some lunch and then come back because I just want to go on a boat. And for residents, for people that live here, it's about $10, I think, for a ferry ride. If you're not a resident, I think it's $15 or $20. I haven't looked at the prices recently because I haven't paid them in years. But, yeah, I think it's $20 for a non-resident.

Jim Santos

Is there an airport on the island?

Bel Woodhouse

Yes, we do. We have two airports. We have a small airport for a lot of doctors and specialists fly in daily to work at the hospitals. And we also have the big one that flys internationally from all over the world. And we have flights constantly arriving. So, yes, you can get here by plane, boat, your own boat, if you have it. The only thing you can't do is drive here unless you go on the car ferry, so there's no bridge across the strait. You do have to arrive by barge or boat.

Jim Santos

A twelve-mile bridge would be pushing it a bit.

Bel Woodhouse

I think so. Especially considering we have a hurricane season every year. I don't think the bridge would last long.

Jim Santos

Yeah, I was going to ask about that because one of the reasons we picked Ecuador is it was so close to the equator. You don't get hurricanes, and even if they did, they'd be spinning the opposite way because it's below the equator. Have you had any problems with catastrophic weather in the area?

Bel Woodhouse

Okay, let me say in the last five years, I've just finished the fifth hurricane season I've had on the island. And two or three years ago, we had a pretty bad one. We had about four hurricanes and about 15 tropical storms. So there was just a lot of rain and a lot of wind, and it was like, “Come on. Jesus!” But I have never lost power during a hurricane. I've probably been through about eight in five years, and I've never lost power. I've never had property damage, had a couple of wet cats. That's about it. So I normally just open a bottle of wine and binge watch Netflix till it's over.

Jim Santos

Now, both people that you interviewed in that article seem to mention some of the same points. Low cost of living, the great weather and getting away from the cold. I'm a little surprised about the low cost of living because when you describe it as a place where cruise ships dock, I tend to associate those places with jacked-up tourist prices.

Bel Woodhouse

Yes. On the malecón, if you sit right on the water, watch the sunset and have a pizza, you know you're going to pay for that. They are tourist prices, but most of the island are the people that actually live here. And we have… I think I read the other day there was over 300 seafood places, and a lot of them are local places where you can turn up and you can get a seafood lunch for, like, $5. You know, they're just little local places that you can go. But if you go to the big major hotels and the big major restaurants right on the waterfront, you will pay the tourist prices for those. 

Okay, but so many restaurants on the island are not like that. And even just simple things like when you go to the supermarket, instead of buying a big bag of spinach for 50 pesos, about $2.50, which is still cheaper—back in Australia, that would have cost me $6, $7—but here you can buy like, the entire plant, a local spinach plant, and you pick it up for seven pesos. So I can truly buy six or seven plants, like the whole big thing, and come home with masses of spinach for the same price as one bag of imported spinach.

It's just things like that. It depends on how you live. I embrace the local culture because I believe that if you do eat the local plants and you eat the local honey and you get the local eggs and things like that, a) it's better for the planet, but b) it also gives your immune system, I don't know, it can handle anything that is in the natural environment. So I have no problem. And I've never been sick. I have never had food poisoning. I've never had, we call it Bali belly, but I'm sure there's an equivalent for Mexico—it’s Delhi belly in India. I've never been sick or had food poisoning or anything, and I eat basically everything I can get my hands on, apart from meat. I try all this weird stuff, and I'm always saying to my friends, I'm like, “Oh my God, have you tried this?” And they look at me and they say, “What the hell is that?” I thought about doing a little YouTube series called “What is that?” Because so many of them, they walk past it in the supermarket, they're too scared to try it. I'm like, “Oh, it's fabulous, look at this.”

Bel Woodhouse

I just eat everything because I'm curious and I think, “What if that's the thing, the best thing I've ever eaten, and I never try it? I'm missing out.” So I get severe FOMO. I want to try everything.

Jim Santos

I'm a big believer in shopping at the mercados first and then getting whatever else you can't find at the grocery stores.

Bel Woodhouse

Sometimes I get a hankering. There are certain things I won't skimp on, like really good tea. I like my pot of tea in the morning. I know it's very English, but that's my heritage. And I like a good, strong pot of tea, so I don't skimp on that. I go and buy the imported Bigelow and Twinings and things like that so I can have my nice strong cup, because that's not part of Mexican culture. So I do buy some imported things sometimes. I want that wheel of Brie because I just want cheese that week. So you can get all of your fancy Nancys and all of the things and comforts from home. But if you do buy the imported things, you will pay a higher price. But honestly, my rent is $400 a month. I live in a gorgeous apartment. I'm a block and a half away from the beach. I'm a block and a half away from major supermarkets. But it's really quiet, it's really safe. I've been here nearly three years now. I have never even had someone look at me sideways, or anyone trying to break in or anything like that. It's incredibly safe. And as I said, I'm a single woman. I walk everywhere or ride my bicycle everywhere. I've never had an issue, ever.

Jim Santos

Back to the food, because I know when I travel, that's my favorite thing. I just love trying new things or whatever. The local cuisine is now in that area, being it's Mexican, but it's also Caribbean. Is there a Caribbean flavor to the foods there?

Bel Woodhouse

OK, so here on the Yucatan, they have a very distinct style of cooking. There's been Netflix series about it and all sorts. The main thing that you will probably want to try when you come here is the Maya have like an underground barbecue and they cook suckling pig wrapped in banana leaves like a Hawaiian chicken. The Hawaiians do it, the Polynesians do it, Tongans do it. Everyone all over the world, most of the ancient cultures do this. But it has that really succulent, fall-off-the-bone-tender meat that everyone raves about. And it's a real thing here, especially in the Caribbean part. 

Almost every Sunday when you walk around the neighborhoods, you will see people selling it from their home out in the street, because they've cooked it all night Saturday night. And they go to church in the morning and they come back. And Sunday is the day that the cruise ships don't come. Sunday's their day off. They work six days a week. They normally work from sun up to sun down or further. They're very hard working. And Sunday's family day. It's their one day to sit and relax and be with their family and eat and laugh and enjoy a beer and just relax for the day.

And you'll see cochinito everywhere. People are always trying to feed it to me, and I'm so sick of saying, “I'm sorry, I'm a vegetarian. Thank you.” And then they look at me like I grew a second head. Like, how can you not want to eat the pig? Because they just don't understand. It's so ingrained in them since they were children. So that's a big one. Here’s another one. My favorite that I love is nopal—cactus—it’s very popular and it's all through everywhere I've been in Mexico. Give it a go. It's very surprising, but I personally really like it. It's a little bit zesty. It's got a little bit of a zing to it. Depending on how much they cook it, it might be a tiny bit crunchy, but I love it in an enchilada wrapped up with some cheese and then just with the tomatillo sauce, the green sauce, over the top. Oh, it is heavenly. Absolutely heavenly. So there's another one. And as for flavors for drinks, jamaica is very popular here in the Caribbean. It's hibiscus flowers. And they make it like an iced tea. It's a deep red color. It looks almost like red wine. Depending on how much sugar they put in, it can be quite sweet or a little bit bitter if they don't put in enough. And I make it here all the time. It's actually really good, especially for ladies. So it's very healthy. It's very good. It's very refreshing if you're walking around, especially during the summer months. And it's just perfect. 

Tamarindo is another very popular one. It's a bean from a tree and it's very sweet. Kind of looks a little bit like mud, but it's really delicious. It's a very tan, camel sort of color, so it's not the most appetizing when you look at it. And I've seen quite a few people sort of go, “No, thank you.” And I said, “Just try it.” And then they have a sip and say, “Oh my God, this is amazing.” It's really popular in Asia as well.

Jim Santos

Close your eyes and try it.

Yes. Give it a go because you'll be pleasantly surprised by a lot of the things that you think, “Oh my God, I'm not going to go and eat cactus,” but cactus is actually really delicious. Okay, so just give it a go. You can buy a lot of things that people just walk past because they don't know what it is. They don't ask anyone how to cook it or what it is, or, you know, they just look at it and think, “Oh, that's weird.” 

Jim Santos

Anyway, you mentioned your home. Did you buy a house there or are you renting?

Bel Woodhouse

No, I rent because I like well, I used to I've sort of nestled into this one here, but I like to live somewhere for six months or a year and then move to a different area. So then I can explore that whole area or move to a different town. So that's sort of the way that because I'm a writer, I work from home, so I can work from anywhere as long as I have internet. So it's nice. You go somewhere for six months and you go for your morning walk and you explore all around the neighborhoods and the township and everything else, and then pop the cat in a bag and off you go to the next town and explore all of that. 

And it's a fabulous way to actually see and get to know areas. Like if you go there for a week or two, yes, that's lovely, but you're eating at different restaurants every night. And it's not like living there. When you live somewhere, you really get to know a place. You really get to know the vibe of it, the people, the culture. It's completely different. It's such a more enriching, in-depth experience, and that's what I prefer.

Jim Santos

I've mentioned on other episodes that my wife and I feel like you need to spend at least a month someplace to really get the feel of it.

Bel Woodhouse

I'm the same. When I traveled, when I went to Italy, I actually walked into Italy. I did the European Peace walk. And we started in Chicago and Hungary, and we walked through six European nations and entered in Trieste in northern Italy, up near Venice. And what we did, it was so wonderful. I spent a month after that just traveling all around Italy by myself. And I love their fast trains because I could get on a train in Milan, an hour and a half later, I'm in Florence. Like, it was crazy. They are so fast.

Jim Santos

We spent three weeks in Italy and took the train from Rome to Naples so we could go to the coast there. Just so stunning. The trains were so fast and they bank on the turns and they have flip-down wineglass holders on the seats. Civilized.

Bel Woodhouse

I just sat there. It's like, “Oh my God, this is fabulous.” And I also love England where they come around with the trolley and they give you a cup of tea and a shortbread to dip in it. That's just as good. But I must admit I was very impressed with the wine holders. I just thought “Welcome to Italy.”

Jim Santos

One of the people you interviewed, I think it was Ina, mentioned how much she loves the art and the artists on the island. I guess that's part of the cruise ship thing there you're trying to sell.

Bel Woodhouse

No, actually. A lot of it is because we are on an island and it's such a tourist destination. They call the Riviera Maya the crown jewel of tourism in Mexico, okay? It's the place that most people want to go. And once you've been here, you'll understand it is just stunning. But the artworks, because we are on an island and because there's a bit of a conversation sometimes about how many cruise ships are coming and if they'll ruin the reef systems and stuff like that. 

So there's a big project here on the island and it's called Sea Walls—artists for oceans. And these are all over the world. They've got them up in Canada, they've got them through Asia and Europe and everything. But we have one here on Cozumel. And these murals, like, there is one that takes up the entire side of my local supermarket. It's about three stories high. It is phenomenal. And these artists come onto the island every couple of years and they do them all around the island. And it's a tourist thing. People go and walk around the island and see the different murals and they are gorgeous. 

I put one up a couple of weeks ago in the VIP social media, on Facebook, in the group, and I made a joke out of it and I said, “Where's Bel?” I was just wearing some black tights and a pink shirt and I fit into the mural so well, people couldn't find me because it was all of these wonderful pinks and golds and oranges and black, and it was all the sunset colors. And so I sort of snuck in there and it's like, Where's Bel? Where's Waldo? But it took a little while and they're like, “That's awesome.” 

I adore the art. It's how I navigate because I don't have a car. I literally say, “Oh, go up 25 till you hit the tuna, and then turn right.” Because there's a big mural of a tuna there because I can't remember the street names. So I'm just like, “Oh, go to the tuna, turn right.” God help me, if anyone ever paints over the tuna, I'm going to get lost. But yeah, I use the art to navigate around and just people's homes painted every color of the rainbow. And a lot of them do have artworks. There is a gorgeous big nautilus shell in a reef scene on someone's house. A lot of them have sea turtles and stuff like this, and they just have the most beautiful decorations.

But not only that, they also have textiles. They'll have big landscapes in tiles. It's absolutely gorgeous. Just walking around the streets. You want to stop a couple of times on every block just to take a photo of the street art. It's not graffiti. It's not, you know, lower class scrawling and scribbles everywhere. This is art. It is beautiful. I actually took Ina and a group of other snowbird ladies on their second year that they came down here. I took them on a walking tour of all the sea walls so they could all get photos of the art. And she's been a big fan ever since she fell madly in love with the art. And she said she'd never seen anything like it. And she's in her 70s and she said, “I've never had anything like this. It's just fabulous.” They loved it.

Jim Santos

If you're a former expat like myself, you're looking to find a place to go and spend just maybe a month or two exploring. Is there a preferred time of the year, you think, for Cozumel?

Bel Woodhouse

Yes. We're coming into it now. We have a distinct high season and a low season. Okay. It's basically summer and winter during the summer months here. I won't lie, it's a bit warm. Okay. If you are from Canada or the northern U.S. you may actually melt into a little puddle, but it's okay. We do have air conditioning and the bills will be a lot cheaper than you’re used to paying at home. But it does get warm. Most of the snowbirds, most of the people come during the winter months. So they normally arrive around Halloween. So around the beginning end of October, beginning of November, and it goes through to about April, you can expect to pay a bit higher prices for accommodation because this is the high season where everybody wants to come to the island. 

So if you are looking at coming down, just do some research before you come, have a look at a few different places and get some quotes because a lot of owners will give you discounts if you stay for a month or two. If you come down for a week, you're going to get the premium rate. Whereas if you say, “I want to stay for a month or two months”, a lot of them will say, “Oh, we'll give you a 10%, 20, 30% discount because you're staying for a longer time.” So just be sure that you do a little research and ask the owners because most of them do discounted rates.

Jim Santos

And I assume most people are staying in San Miguel.

Bel Woodhouse

Yeah, San Miguel de Cozumel is the main township. Okay. So there is a south hotel zone and a north hotel zone. They are out of town. You have to get taxis to get there. Or you can ride your bike, you can walk if you don't mind spending 40 minutes hoofing it. Obviously in the hotel zones, it's mainly all hotels. There is the odd sprinkling of something, like a lot of dive shops will say you can stay here. And it's more like a hostel kind of thing for people that come down to go diving three times a day for the week and they just want to bed at night. So there is that sort of accommodation. 

But I'm in my late 40s, I grew out of that 20 years ago. I am not going to stay in a hostel with screaming 20-somethings and tweens. But there's a lot of accommodation. Anything from guest houses where you can just rent a room through to fully furnished functional villas and apartments. My friends got one that's fabulous. They're beautiful little villas, very close to town, but quiet and I think it's about $700 a month and they are fully stocked, kitchen, everything, so you can just fill the fridge so you can go shop for the week.

Jim Santos

Well, that's great. You've definitely made a believer of me. I'll have to add that to our ever-widening list.

Bel Woodhouse

Yeah, because now I'll show you around, I promise.

Jim Santos

Will you be there? Since you are a travel writer, how often do you get out of Cozumel to do any travel?

Bel Woodhouse

Well, I must admit sometimes when the tourists do get a little bit too much for me, sometimes I want to get off the island. I'd only duck away to somewhere like Puerto Morelos on the mainland, or I go down to Bacalar, down to the lake. It's about four hours south and it's called the Lake of Seven Colors and it is just divine, it is a little slice of heaven. So I go somewhere a little less touristy sometimes because I just want to get off the island. Or if I'm going to do a series of articles and somewhere, say, I'm going to Mérida for the week and I'm going to write about a bunch of stuff and it just depends. But I'm here a lot more than not because it's so quick and easy and cheap to travel. I duck away for a week here or two weeks there, but I spend a majority of my time on the island. Just remember that there is more to the Riviera Maya and to Cozumel than just water sports. Yes, we have some of the best diving in the world and people snorkel and dive and swim and you know, they do scuba and paddleboarding and all that sort of stuff and that's great, enjoy parasailing…but we also have a lot of other things on the island. We have our own planetarium, we have a Mayan bee sanctuary in the middle of the island in the heart of the jungle that is amazing and stunning. We have ruins, we have photography tours, we have a whole side of the island hardly anyone ever goes to. Horseback riding and through the jungle and ATV tours and you can swim in cenotes. Just remember to have a look at the whole island, not just the beaches, although they are fabulous and my favorite part, but there is a lot more to do than you may think. 

Even if you're not a water lover, like if a couple wants to come down and one of them is an avid scuba diver and the other one doesn't want to dive, there is plenty for you here as well. So there's a lot more to the area than you might think.

Jim Santos

Well, that's great advice and I do appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today.

Bel Woodhouse

It was wonderful. It was a pleasure.

Jim Santos

Thank you. We've been talking with International Living contributor and travel writer Bel Woodhouse. Get more information about Bel, read some of her articles from her blog, www.thetravelbag.guru. I took a look at it myself and I'm going to be diving back in for a little deeper study. So thank you again, Bel, for joining us.

Bel Woodhouse

Thanks. Bye guys.

Jim Santos

The Bigger, Better World podcast is the production of International living. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. If you have an idea for an episode or a question you'd like us to answer, email us at mailbag@internationalliving.com. And don't forget to put podcast in the subject line of your email. That's mailbag@internationalliving.com. We created Bigger, Better World to help showcase the ideas we explore at International Living each month and grow our community of travel lovers, experts and experts who believe as we do, that the world is full of opportunity to create a more interesting, more international life. You don't have to be rich or famous to do that, you just need to know the secrets and that's what we bring you at International Living. If you haven't become a member yet, you can do it today with a special discount offer for podcast listeners. You'll receive our monthly magazine, plus a bundle of special extras. You'll find the link in our show notes, or you can go to intliving.com podcast. That's intliving.com/podcast. Thanks again for tuning in to bigger, Better World.

Jim Santos

I'm Jim Santos for International Living, and I'll see you next week when I'll be talking with Bel Woodhouse about Costa Rica, the Mediterranean island of Malta, and an unusual new cruise ship for the well-heeled. Until next time, remember, there's a bigger, better world waiting for you. You.