Family
- When do you go? October 10, 2022, then I come back for a month’s work around Australia Nov-Dec and then I’m back in Mexico before Christmas.
- Where will you go? I’ll let you know when we get there. We’re going to float around and do some housesitting gigs and try to find our place in the country. Honestly, it might not even be Mexico in the end. The goal isn’t to go to Mexico, the goal is to leave our normal routines and life, and Mexico seemed like as good as any place to get a residency visa. But of course, we are going to Mexico and I always think of the people that move to Australia and go to Sydney, I reckon those internationals miss out. I don’t want to end up in the Sydney of Mexico, or the Surfers Paradise. I’d love to end up in the Tugun of Mexico, somewhere small and beautiful and unique.
- When will you come back? We’ll let you know when we’re back.
- How will you afford it? Please book our house, The Tugun Pause, on Airbnb … plus I’d love for my photography to mean something financially - you can buy prints at art.josh.withers.co. Also, we’re still running the Elopement Collective and also mentoring celebrants at The Celebrant Institute.
- What about the cartels? What about the snakes, spiders, crocodiles, and dropbears in Australia? Mexico is a really big nation, the whole place isn’t Narcos. I would encourage you to develop a wider view and taste of the world if you think that Mexico is all drug cartels and people smuggling.
- Why Mexico? Why not?
- What will happen to our existing businesses? We’ll still lead and operate The Elopement Collective remotely and I’m still in partnership with Sarah at The Celebrant Institute so my celebrant training and mentoring efforts will continue. Being a celebrant, that’s on ice for a season. Consider it a sabbatical.
- Why? The last two years have destroyed us. This is an effort to take back who we are, who we want to be, and what kind of childhood we want our kids to have. We’ve lost more than our accountant could count through this pandemic, and we’re still on the same hamster wheel. I tried changing the hamster wheel to real estate, but the truth is I needed to actually get off all hamster wheels.
- Will you do weddings in Mexico? I’m currently without a work visa in Mexico, so no, but I’m exploring options. Nothing will really matter until I reach my goal anyhow.
- What’s your goal, seeing as though you just mentioned it? My goal is to not know what to do tomorrow. When I don’t know what to do tomorrow, I’ll allow myself to start planning for the next season with Britt and the girls as a team.
- it has the word ‘shack’ in its name
- there are lobster pots hanging for styling
- it’s near the ocean
- it’s located at a wharf
- Chico Rolls aren’t on the menu
- there’s a grumpy fisherman on premises
Muppets magic.
“I’d save every day like a treasure and then again I would spend them with you”
Cover of Jim Croce’s ‘Time In A Bottle’ as found on The Muppets in 1977. Also, weirdly, featured alongside another Muppet in an iPhone ad for the iPhone 6S and Siri.
Finally, how I feel about Britt. Love you xx
Answers to the 10 most common questions people ask about us moving to Mexico
Answering the most common questions I’ve been asked about Britt and I moving to Mexico with our two kids:
Finally, if you’ve gotten this far you probably care about us as a family and are interested in our story. I’m fairly whelmed with the state of social media’s business models, algorithms, data abuse, and advertising these days so I’m publishing and sharing everything here on the blog first. If you’d like a weekly digest of everything shared here, throw your email into the subscribe form here. One day if enough of my community is subscribed here I might even just delete all the social media accounts.
Ekka 2022
The Withers kids hit Brisbane’s Royal Queensland Show for 2022.
All Luna wanted was a “Skye Puppy” from Paw Patrol.
Luna’s birthday week comes to a close. Now we have 51 weeks of mourning until her fourth birthday celebrations can begin.
Vale Alan James Snow
Today, Britt and I attended - remotely via live stream - the memorial service of her grandfather, Alan James Snow.
Alan’s life story is wide ranging and interesting, from his time in the NSW Police through to his large and international legacy in his family.
On the 1st of November 2013, while Alan was visiting his son in Queensland, I took the opportunity to record a podcast episode with him. I’ve always wanted to record the stories of people around us, but as often happens, time and priorities get in the way. So today, I’m proud to share this hour-long recording today with our family, and anyone else wanting to.
Goldie Grace Withers' birth
Britt and I are very pleased to introduce Goldie Grace Withers to the world. Just before 11am we were standing around the birthing centre cracking jokes, measuring and weighing everything, because Goldie was two weeks overdue, even talking about the possibility of inducing Britt. At 11am contractions started and by 12:28pm on the 2nd of March, 2021, Goldie was earthside weighing 4 kilograms and healthy as we’d hope for.
We walked into the hospital at 9:18am after dropping Luna at kindy for the day, and walked back out at 5:45pm. It was the perfect birth day.
We’re so glad that our friend Bec Zacher was there to capture it for us.
Let me introduce you to Goldie Grace Withers
No-one’s betting on a 2% chance of winning anything. If there’s a 2% chance of anything happening, that basically means the thing isn’t happening. Our doctor said there would be a 2% chance of us ever falling pregnant, and an even lower chance of us having two children.
But by God’s grace we’ve won that lottery twice now, so I’d love to introduce you to our little girl born yesterday, 4kg and healthy as you could ever hope for, please say hello to Goldie Grace Withers.
Thank you so much to our friend Bec Zacher for these amazing photos.
👩🚀 I always wanted you to go into space, mannnn (photo not by Babylon Zoo, only the caption)
We can dance if we want to. We can leave your friends behind. Cause your friends don’t dance, and if they don’t dance, well, they’re no friends of mine.
Don’t even talk to her before her morning oat milk froth.
There’s a mum sitting in the conductor’s seat of the playground train Luna wants to drive. Do I have jurisdiction here or do I have to just sit here and let her ruin my kids day?
Luna. Takes no bull.
Turns out the TARDIS gets it’s time travelling power from books. Important lesson for us all to learn, ya know?
Luna vs Kangaroo
How to spot a good fish and chip shop.
Bonus points for the shack being a seafood type of shack, for example this one is called ‘The Lobster Shack’
All I want for all of you is to enjoy life as much as Luna enjoys ice cream
Proud to be racing in the Salamanca Place to Hobart pram race today. Photographed is my First Mate taking us over the starting line.
Spending Christmas in the Switzerland of Australia’s south
Our li’l traveller
Whatever your wedding photographer is charging you, Luna will beat their packages by 10%.
Wedding has to start after her midday nap and she’ll need a never ending supply of Smarties.
