Hello, my name is Antonella Mercurio and I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up in a well-off family, as my father is a successful engineer.

I studied economics at Federico II in Napoli, which was not at all gratifying, and before moving to Mexico, I worked as a representative of GIG (a distributor of Nintendo products). I certainly couldn’t complain about earning 8 million Lire per month.

But everything changed when I got to know Mexico and its people. I fell in love with the nature and the sea and with the people, who are easy to become tied to.

It’s important to keep in mind that in Mexico the cost of living is not quite as low as in other countries Italians tend to emigrate to, but it is rich with opportunities and for me, who dreamed of owning my own business , but was tired of the bureaucracy, the high costs, the excessive taxes and the Italian style of life, this was the ideal place to start a business.

My wife, who is Mexican, comes from Torreon, a city near the U.S. border. It was in Torreon, in 1998 at the age of 26, that my adventure in Mexico started.

I assure you that I did not come to Mexico with a lot of capital. I only had 20,000 dollars and my wife was pregnant. After my daughter Veronica was born, I was unemployed and determined to set up a pizzeria. The total investment cost me 5,000 dollars and the restaurant was an immediate success.

Three months later I opened another restaurant, larger and better organized.

For the next five years we were able to live well and make a more than satisfactory living. Then some problems arose from the more influential people in the city who looked down on our success as foreigners and so, given that I wasn’t even that fond of the city, I decided to sell the business and move to Puerto Vallarta, a place which feels like heaven on earth, rich with entrepreneurial opportunities. (One recommendation: it is best to start off with a capital of at least 200 thousand Euros, a figure which, in my view, will be more than sufficient for setting up a solid business.)

Now I own a pest control business, for homes, hotels and hospitals, and I’ve just begun building luxury homes for retired Americans on some newly acquired land.

To conclude, I’d like to say that there are very few things I miss about Italy (I’d do it all again from beginning to end) but one of the things I miss, even if Mexican cooking is terrific, is Italian cooking.

For further information, or if there is any way I can be of help to someone who would like to live in this wonderful country, contact me via email at:

antonello_mercurio@yahoo.com.mx