Malahki Thorn vividly remembers flames encroaching on his house in the wilderness of northern California.
It was 2015, and the Saddle Fire burned about 1,500 acres in Hyapom, a small town about six hours north of San Francisco. Over nearly three decades, Thorn had watched as blazes became more frequent and destructive, polluting the air with smoke for months at a time.
Thorn, 52, said sheriffs managing the emergency response told him to evacuate. Otherwise, he should write his Social Security number on his arm just in case they needed to identify his remains.
“I just remember thinking, ‘I’m not ready to start over,'” Thorn told Business Insider. It felt like too much change, he said, having recently separated from his partner of 17 years. “I didn’t know where to go, with three dogs and three cats and my Toyota Tacoma.”
Thorn said surviving that experience and then struggling to find affordable home insurance made it clear that living in Hyapom was too risky.
“I couldn’t figure out how I was going to have an enjoyable retirement,” Thorn said.
In 2023, Thorn sold his house in Hyapom and permanently moved to Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, where he’d vacationed for many years. Thorn considers himself a “climate mover” who escaped the wildfire risks of California. He also joins many Americans who are relocating in search of a lower cost of living. Thorn said paying less for housing, food, and utilities allowed him to pursue entrepreneurship.
He told Business Insider what it was like to choose where to live, start a business as an expat, and make friends in Puerto Vallarta.
Starting a business in Puerto Vallarta
Before making the move, Thorn spent a couple of years going between California and Puerto Vallarta to network in the real estate industry.
He connected with a real estate agent in Puerto Vallarta who helped him secure several online interior design projects in the area, including oceanfront condos. Since then, he co-founded RavenThorn Group, which includes his design business, a carpentry studio for custom furniture, construction, and property management.
Puerto Vallarta’s real estate market is booming, with the inventory of 1 and 2-bedroom condos soaring by 105% from 2023 to 2024 and gated luxury communities rising in value, according to local realtors and finance professionals at TheLatinvestor. The short-term rental market saw a 5% increase in tourists during that period.
“A lot of buyers also undertake renovations because the price of property in Puerto Vallarta is less expensive than in America,” Thorn said. “You can’t find oceanfront anything in America for $600,000. So people have some money to spend. It’s like a gold rush here with the construction and all the people moving here.”
‘I didn’t want all my friends to be retired Americans’
Thorn hired a local immigration attorney to advise him on how to legally live and work in Mexico. He applied for temporary residency and work visas, as well as a unique tax identification number and a local bank account.
Thorn said he decided to buy a house away from Puerto Vallarta’s main tourist areas to make friends with locals and network with working professionals. He’s happy with that decision, even though he said it requires being more vigilant about safety.
“I think it’s possible to come here and live a very insulated lifestyle inside a gated community or condominium,” Thorn said. “I chose to live differently. I didn’t want all my friends to be retired Americans.”
Thorn said he never expected he’d leave California. Now he’s grateful he moved before wildfires get worse and that he was able to start a new business venture.
While little data indicates that climate risks like hurricanes and wildfires are directly causing massive migration, Thorn’s story suggests that they may become more of a factor.
“It hasn’t been completely easy,” Thorn said. “But I feel grateful I had the courage to come. If I had waited until my house burned, I might not have had these options.”
Do you have a story to share about moving? Contact this reporter at cboudreau@businessinsider.com.
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