- Keith Romes moved to Mexico to work remotely when the pandemic hit without telling his employers.
- Rome demanded a better quality of life and lower costs of living than it had in California.
- He plans to work abroad again remotely because he values affordable living and cultural exploration.
This essay is based on a conversation with Keith Romes, a 40-year-old technology professional based in California. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
I didn’t go to college after I finished high school. Instead, I started applying for jobs right away in 2005. I love technology, video games, and Star Wars, so I wanted to find a job in that world.
I got good at interviews by doing group interviews and seeing what others did, and landed a position doing quality assurance for LucasArts. I had a six-month contract to work on the video game Star Wars Battlefront II.
I got more contract roles at Electronic Arts, Friend Finder and eventually companies like Meta and TikTok. For my first contract roles, I lived in California.
During some of my most recent contracts, I worked remotely from Mexico without telling anyone – and I got away with it.
While working at Friend Finder, I took my first international trip
My payment on Friend Finder was enough to take my first international trip to Tokyo, which started my love of travel.
I stayed at Friend Finder until 2008, and then I got a great opportunity – my first full-time job at Apple in the App Store division. I worked at Apple headquarters in Cupertino.
I had a crazy schedule because launching the App Store required a lot of work. I worked 80 hour weeks and got burned out.
I realized that I didn’t want my job to be my whole life. I stayed there for two years and then decided to take shorter contracts again and build more breaks into my work.
I re-entered the world of contract work in 2010
I got a contract with Google to work on the Google Play store and did the same quality assurance work I had done at Apple. I was at Google for almost a year and left in 2011.
After that, I worked for a video game company called Kabam in San Francisco for six months before leaving to take on a variety of contract roles at Meta, working in developer operations and testing chatbots.
I did analytics on Facebook’s newsfeed, but left because I felt like I had a terrible work-life balance and was burning out again.
After Meta, I worked for six months on a project-based contract at Twitter headquarters in 2016. After that, I decided to take a personal leave to regroup.
In 2018 I returned to Meta for another contract role.
I realized I wanted a better quality of life and less bills than in California
I had sought dental work in Mexico because the cost was lower and I heard there was a better quality of life there. I decided to go to Mexico in 2020, but I had to figure out the logistics.
When the pandemic started, we were told that remote work would be mandatory. This made the decision to go to Mexico much easier. I started that contract in California, but I didn’t tell my bosses about my decision to move to Mexico.
I moved with just a little luggage, set up my life and workstation in Cancun, and started working for Meta remotely from Mexico. I had no time zone challenges.
The cost of living was incredible compared to California – it was the total package for me. I loved the access to the beach, the great food, the amenities of my apartment complex, and the friendly people.
My new lifestyle was very affordable
I lived easily on less than $1200 a month. For the first year, I lived in an Airbnb and my expenses were a third to a fifth of my living costs in California.
I was initially worried that I had a problem with working remotely from another location, but once I got there, I connected to Meta’s systems. I didn’t have to use a VPN for remote work – just a regular WiFi connection.
While in Mexico, my pets and I survived two hurricanes and the WiFi was very good both times – I didn’t lose any data. Streams were great for holding meetings.
I had no problems working remotely internationally, so I stopped worrying about it
While still in Mexico, I took a second contract job as an application marketing manager for Avalara, an automated sales tax compliance software company for businesses. I used a family member’s address in California to apply for the role and did not tell Avalara that I lived in Mexico.
I had to go back to California to get a company laptop, but then I went back to Mexico. I don’t know if they would have fired me because I was quietly working from another country, but I didn’t want to take any chances.
I used to take meetings from my villa in Mexico and I loved life. I also visited cities near Mexico City, such as Guadalajara, and often took mini-vacations.
I worked both jobs until December 2021, when my contract at Meta ended. After that, I continued to work alone in the role at Avalara.
A new job brought me back to the US
In March 2022, I left Avalara and started a new contract role at TikTok. That October, TikTok ordered me back to the office, and I went back to California to regroup.
I didn’t want to leave Mexico, but I needed the money from my work at TikTok. I stayed on TikTok until February 2023.
Currently, I work in two remote roles focused on content review and AI content from California.
I want to go abroad again
I plan to go back to Mexico or explore other countries like Colombia, Japan or the Philippines.
My salary averages around $40,000 per six month contract. I plan to create a side hustle in addition to my contract positions to earn more money and have more flexibility.
I want to leave USA again for a better life. Universal and less expensive health care and opportunities to explore other cultures are important to me.
