Of All The Towns In All The World: How to Ruin Your Life

Published March 5th, 2022

Rebecca Eichler and Paul Carlino do not fit any mold. They are unique unto themselves, unique as a couple, unique as a family. Rebecca was born in Torrance, California to a German father and a mother from Hong Kong. She did her undergraduate studies at Boston University and her law degree at William and Mary Law School in Virginia. She then added a master’s in International Human Rights Law in London.

Paul Carlino is from New Jersey and spent most of his life there. He studied journalism at Trenton College but then made the decision to go into law. At William and Mary Law School he met a fellow law student, Rebecca, and they began dating. A few years later, in 2000, they were married.

They settled in Virginia, with Paul working for the IRS and Rebecca in private law practice. They had two children, a daughter, and a son, and were living comfortably. But in 2015 they decided that they needed a change, so they took a year off from their jobs, packed a van, took their children along, and began a journey south that would take them through Mexico and Central America, all the way to Panama. The first time they saw San Miguel de Allende was on their way when someone they knew invited them to visit his home here. Their first impression was not good. On their drive into the city, they spotted the Burger King which was an immediate turn-off—what is this, this isn’t Mexico! They continued their trip visiting many different towns and cities in Mexico, wound their way south, and eventually, on their return trip stopped in San Miguel once again. Their initial impression did not improve. After having been to so many places throughout Central America, this seemed still much too “Americanized,” and inauthentic. Their feeling was that it was not a place where they would want to live.

They returned to their home in Virginia, back to the jobs they had left, but things were no longer right. The long journey and their many experiences had transformed them. They felt out of place. It was, as Rebecca said, “Like getting into old clothes that no longer fit you.” Their year-long journey had created a feeling of freedom, it had made them different people that could not be molded back into their old lives. It was time to move elsewhere. But where would they go? First of all, they knew that they really liked Mexico, but were not sure where. Their decision was guided by their children—they wanted them to have the best education possible while abroad, and after investigating the different possibilities realized that it was San Miguel, after all, that fit that bill. In January of 2018, they moved here and put both children in the Victoria Robbins International School.

Now, after living here for four years, they have a different impression of San Miguel. They were fortunate in immediately meeting the other parents of children at Victoria Robbins with whom they had much to share. It was like stepping into a ready-made, welcoming community. Both of them have come to terms that it is alright to live in a place that offers comforts, there is nothing wrong Rebecca says, in “being in the one place in Mexico that has both good bread and good cheese!” But there is a lot more to Rebecca and Paul, their lives go far beyond bread and cheese.

Soon after moving here, they both became involved in Caminemos Juntos, the organization formed after the US election of 2016 when so many Mexicans were being deported. Paul is on the board of the organization. Rebecca provided legal aid when the caravans were coming through and is involved in Latin American Relief Fund, raising money to support the children of migrants. She is also part of Las Abogadas: women attorneys on the front lines of the migrant crisis.

Paul is an avid pickleball player and gives lessons. He also prepares tax returns for US citizens. His journalistic and legal backgrounds combine in the writing of articles for “International Living Magazine,” addressing international tax issues. His new book has just been published on Amazon, “The Year We Ruined Our Lives: A Family Road Trip through Mexico and Central America.” It chronicles the family’s journey that made them so different they no longer fit in with their former lives; which eventually led them to settle in San Miguel.

Natalie Taylor: BA in English Lit and Journalism, Loyola University, Chicago, 1995. MFA in Creative Writing, Vermont College, Montpelier, VT, 1999. Published writer, editor, journalist. Spanish teacher in the US, English teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Translator. www.natalietaylor.org Contact: tangonata@gmail.com