Planning to move to Peru

Hello Shoiree,

Welcome to Expat.com 

Please note that I have created a new thread from your post on the Peru forum for a better visibility and help you to obtain the answers you're looking for.

Good luck

Christopher
Expat.com

Hi, here you can find rental of various prices, depends a lot on the place where you want to stay as they vary greatly by areas. Something in favor is that the food you can find it very comfortable.
P.S. You can practice your Spanish with me and at the same time you help me practice my English.

Saludos

Hi there, do you live in Peru and are you from there? I am not dead set on Peru but def feel drawn to it. I'll probably never make it but I rest want out of my country and to South America. Single mom with 3 kids doesn't make it easy. Don't even speak Spanish yet. Going to get passports soon so at least if crazy stuff starts happening here we might have a chance to get past the border.

Hi Freegirl, I'm not from Peru and I'm not there yet. I'm still in New York, planning my move. I did some research, they said the best place to start a new life in Peru is in Lima as there are more job opportunities. Get your passport first and try to research for some jobs within your field and schools for your kids. You can also get certification to teach English while preparing for your move. Good luck to us.

One thing to consider is that you can not legally work on a tourist entry, this will likely limit not only the jobs available, but also the money you could make. That said, you may be able to come here as a tourist, find work and then switch to a work visa, which an employer should be able to help you with.

Shoiree, I just spent 2 1/2 months in Cusco and 5 days in Lima. These 2 places are worlds apart. My main bitch about Latin America and I just got here in S. AM. is the trash in the streets. Not so much in the San Isedro / Miras Flores districts in Lima which are clean and up-scale but the Trashy Latin attitude as a whole in this part of the world. Not quite Africa but: why is this attitude of "who cares about trash everywhere" in the 21st. century down here? So get use to that. You don't say where in Peru you think your going? If your from NYC I assume your going to Lima? The coast of Peru down to the first third of Chile is Desert and sand dunes. It never ever rains here. Ever. However Lima has nice city parks and Landscaped streets, from the fact that tank trucks (like gas trucks that deliver fuel to the gas station) cruse the streets of Lima twice a week with a man on top of the tank, at 1-2 miles an hour, Swinging a fire hose directly into the bushes and trees giving the plants the water they need. The President of Bolivia 6 weeks ago told his country they would soon run out of water and he fired the Water Minister. This may not happen to Peru but you never know about Latin America. I'm retired and just started checking out S.A. I had property in Costa Rica for 15 years and I sold it 10 months ago based on the trash everywhere. And C.R. was cleaner than Peru. I just arrived in Punta Arenas, (the most southern city in the world) Chile yesterday (for a month) and I think (gut feeling) that Chile may be more sophisticated than Peru. Santiago has a stock market, fertile valley for fruit and wine (during the winters in CA. all the fruit in the Super Markets is from Chile). Anyway, I'm not a veteran on S.A. but whatever "field of work your into" put out feelers with resumes to companies you could work for and knowing Spanish (conversationally) is probably going to be a must.  Good Luck,  Bob

Hi Bob, I'm from Asia and I'm used to seeing trash on the streets. It's almost the same as some of the areas in New York. Anyways regarding Chile, I did my research about it and I found out it's the one of the most expensive cities in S.A. so that will be out of the options. I also understand that I need to learn Spanish to move there but I'm thinking that learning it there will be easier.

I have a question about the housing though and anyone who can read this thread can answer. I found a room in Magdalena Del Mar in a 3 bedroom apartment, new building and the owner is charging me $400 for a month. Is that reasonable including the utilities and internet? I live in Manhattan, NYC and I pay a little bit more than that but this is NEW YORK!!  Is Lima that expensive???

@ Bob - It is too bad you did not make it out here to visit our little town, I think you would have been pleasantly surprised as it is almost always clean. They do a very good job here of keeping the streets clean, even following big festivals they have things tidied up early in the morning.

@ Shoiree - I do not live in Lima, but we have family there and visit fairly regularly, and from what I have seen, pricing in Lima can vary greatly, depending on where you are at. Some areas of Lima can be quite expensive and comparable to many big cities in the US, partially due to the number of ex-pats in the given area, the more ex-pats, the higher the cost. This is one area where you might find that learning Spanish before coming might help, anything listed in English is likely to be targeting ex-pats, and will be more costly.

We own our home so I am not familiar with rental pricing in any of the areas, but for a bit of reference, the house we purchased in a small town just 30 minutes outside of Cusco cost us $80,000 US, came fully furnished, and is a little over 5,000 square feet (500 square meters). The same size home anywhere near the historic center of Cusco would easily be 1,000,000.00 US, unfurnished and probably needing work.

Lima is a very large city, with a lot of options for housing, but it also has areas that are dangerous, so be cautious in your searches.

I presently live near Grand Rapids Michigan.  It is very well maintained and no trash ANYWHERE. I'd probably  be picking it up everywhere I went LOL
Personally I would rather live in a more rural area than in a big city. If money were no object Is probably buy a small plot of land with a small simple house somewhere in the southern hemisphere where we had access to fresh tropical fruit and  A more humane climate.  I am not opposed to the hard work of surviving and living, just the hard work of a corporate slave as in this American system. The pollution is significantly less in the southern hemisphere and much of the pollution and/or radiation that is or may be released in the northern hemisphere will remain there due to jet streams and tradewinds, according to a couple documentaries I saw.  Trying to avoid  Chemical, electromagnetic and GMO pollution as well.
I work in healthcare and have a nursing education but I don't actually have a license, that's a long story...  I have a great job right now but due to my lack of licensure it would be hard to pick up a job in my field out of the country unless it was working for a private employer like I do now.  I'm also hoping to get an entrepreneurial project off the ground this summer. If I can drum up  A decent amount of business online, I could take that with me anywhere I go. That is the ultimate goal. It would really help if I had a husband who shared my goals and dreams, but unfortunately I got married  to a soul-less narcissistic abuser (I mean that literally,  not as an insult) who  sabotaged every area of my life and left me to raise 3 children on my own without a professional license. It's a bit of a bummer because I excelled academically, acquired quite a few college credits, and have nothing to show for it  except the knowledge I carry in my noggin.
If you have any suggestions or tips about South America, good places to go, finding property, or anything that might be helpful to someone considering going there, it would be much appreciated.  Doesn't sound like you are constrained by finances. What a blessing.

Freegirl13, You gotta get that license. Sounds like your 90% there. To get a job in your field here you're going to have to learn Spanish fluently. I don't think it's that easy myself. Your kids may not like learning it.
As far as being a corporate slave goes, it looks to me that most people down here work 6 days a week. You mentioned pollution. All large vehicles and a lot of cars and pickup trucks are diesel in Peru. When you see that bus coming down the street at you, you better turn away so you don't get a face full of black smoke.
A few times I found myself washing the grime off my face after a few hours being downtown. What does a nurse down here get paid? That could be a shocker. The food in a mom & pop restaurants is cheap but it's mostly chicken and fries. They do chicken good but I think I had it almost every day. Their Meat is awful.  Look up URUGUAY on WIKIPEDIA. That may be the best country down here. I'm going there next (I think). You may be better off checking out a small town in Nevada, New Mexico, West Texas or Arizona if you want that small town atmosphere and a fresh start with better weather.   Bob

If you prefer small towns, Lima is definitely out, but there are some nice places if you take the time to look, Our town is great, but you would have to deal with some clod nights in the winter, generally no snow and the daytime average is in the low to mid 70's all year, and no pollution. Based on what you have said, I would consider Oxapampa, which is a town in central Peru, high jungle or cloud forest, with a fairly mild climate from what I hear (we have friends with property there). The town was originally settled by Germen immigrants and if like a little slice of Germany within Peru.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. A couple clarifications.
When I was referring to pollution, I meant a larger scope- like how most polluting industry is in the northern hemisphere, whereas in the southern,  in addition to less pollution, the greater amount of vegetation creates a more oxygen rich environment. So overall the air is cleaner.
Other forms of pollution are electromagnetic, like the wI-FI and cell towers EVERYWHERE.
I live in a town of approx 4,000. It's well maintained and there are lots of nice parks. But there's smart meters,  cell towers and wifi everywhere. I'm close to Grand Rapids.
I think overall some of the things you mentioned are valid but on a different scale than I was thinking.  weather wise, there are warmer climates in the US but I was thinking in terms of less shelter requirements due to year-round warmer weather as well as access to fresh tropical fruit because it can grow there muchbkf the year. Healthy diet is a consideration and I'd love to get off meat altogether. And less GMO food!
There is a lot more to it than just environment but political issues as well... and I'm not referring to this election but the entire direction things are going and FAST.
But there are drawbacks too., maybe Peru isn't exactly the best place, I just liked South America because it's South and less developed  but not across the ocean.
I seek a slower paced lifestyle- not necessarily one of ease, maybe what I mean is one less forced. I don't mind hard work but I hate running a hamster wheel and then boom kids are grown and  life is over. A life where I'm working for the benefit of my family and other PEOPLE (not a greedy govt) and where you keep the rewards of your labors.  This system here is like a leech sucking the life out of you and everything you manage to build, or earn in it.
Big values clash between me and the USA lately.
But I digress.. I could achieve a similar idea going off grid here in the US but there's still the issue of pollution, GMO, expense, & out of control govt, etc... it's very expensive to get to that point unless you live somewhere warm with a good source of food and water.. and you own some land..
I just think I was born into the wrong era sometimes! lol I woulda been right at home on a wagon going west for adventure and prospects of having a piece of land.

Funny you say that, my grandma was from Germany! She fled at the end of the war during the Russian invasion.
I have often felt called to carry on the courage she displayed by not being afraid to leave my own country when it started taking the same course..

Freegirl13,   Good luck in your quest.   Bob