Many retirees who want to stay active during retirement choose to live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Workers are choosing to retire at younger ages than those of past generations. Retirees are not content to spend their golden years puttering around the house or watching television.

hey want to meet new people and experience new places. Many want to help others in some way. Retirees want to have active lives.San Miguel de Allende is an ideal retirement location for many people. The weather is mild year-round, which allows residents to swim, play golf or tennis, hike or horseback ride throughout the year.

The cost of living is less expensive than areas of the USA that have equivalent weather. San Miguel de Allende is less than an hour away from an international airport, making trips back home to visit friends and family easy and affordable. In addition, San Miguel de Allende has a well-established expat community with a myriad of clubs, activities, and charitable groups.The weekly, mostly English-language, newspaper, Atención San Miguel, has a section called “Que Pasa” that lists so many activities you might need to create a spreadsheet on your computer to keep track of all the possibilities.

No way could a retiree in San Miguel de Allende complain about being bored!San Miguel de Allende is said to celebrate more festivals than any other city in Mexico. For June, Atención San Miguel lists four religious feasts, a celebration of the birth of St. John the Baptist, and the Summer Solstice.

There is also a celebration of the birth of Ignacio Ramírez (a San Miguel native who was a writer, poet, journalist, lawyer, defender of Indian rights, and a political libertarian) as well as an observance of the anniversary of the death of General José Ignacio María de Allende y Unzaga (a hero in Mexico’s war for independence from Spain.

After the war, the town’s name, San Miguel el Grande, was changed to San Miguel de Allende in his honor). Every day of the week has a variety of activities. Sundays and Mondays seem to be “slow” days with only seven scheduled activities while Saturdays are the busiest with twelve activities.

For art lovers, there are outdoor art shows, art openings (four on one Friday alone), art exhibitions, a tour of artists’ studios, art lectures, painting classes, drawing classes, and photography classes. Music lovers can participate in an amateur chamber group, sing in a choir, or attend a concert. Game lovers can participate in rubber bridge, backgammon, and bingo.For retirees who want to keep fit, there are walking tours, a botanical garden tour, Yoga in the Park, and Zumba fitness classes.

Every Sunday, a House and Garden tour of some of San Miguel de Allende’s most beautiful homes begins at the public library around noon and lasts for about two hours.Retirees can take cooking classes, or participate in candle-making workshops, literary groups, storytelling groups, or writers and readers forums. They can take part in Philosophy of Life dialogues, join the Rotary Club, or educate themselves about wine. For retirees who like to travel, Instituto Allende offers weekly trips to cities and archaeological sites around the area.If all these activities are not enough to keep you busy, you can go to the movies. The Movie Pocket Theater shows seven different movies each week, a different one each day. There are three showings per day.

The $50 peso-entry fee includes two beers, a margarita, a glass of wine, or a Cuba Libre. Cinemateca, at the Public library, shows two or three movies a day in addition to offering guitar classes, music workshops, theater workshops, concerts, choir practice, and lectures.For retirees who like to dance or just listen to music, several of San Miguel de Allende’s bars provide music to fit almost any taste.

There are Salsa Nights, Tango Nights, Cabaret, Live Jazz, Gypsy music, World music, Folk and Pop music, Spanish ballads, and Nostalgia Disco.For the spiritually-minded retirees, there are meditation groups, lectures and church services (Atención San Miguel lists 24 different religious and spiritual groups, some with several meetings per week). For those interested in 12-step groups, there are 22 meetings per week (16 Alcoholics Anonymous, some just for men, some just for women; as well as Alanon, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Overeaters Anonymous, Eating Disorders Anonymous, and Codependents Anonymous). There are also Weight Watcher meetings.

Many retirees want to give something back to the community. San Miguel de Allende offers many charitable pursuits such as Friends of Animals; Friends of the Park (care and maintenance of Parque Juárez); ALMA (Apoyo a los Sanmiguelenses Ancianos A.C.), which helps the elderly; Public Library; Casa Ayuda de Niños Internacional, A.C., which is a shelter and pre-school for street children and children from broken families; Casa Hogar Don Bosco, A.C., which provides room, board, and education for teenagers; and many other organizations.If you want your life after retirement to be an active one, San Miguel de Allende just may be the place for you!

More resources

• Atencion San Miguel
• Visit Original story posted at Associated Content