retire to Puerto Rico

Welcome to Expat.com Lester!

Your thread has been moved to Puerto Rico forum for better visibility.

Hope that other members will soon share their experience with you.

In the meantime, I suggest you to take a look at the articles in our participative guide.

Harmonie.

Best of luck to you Lester. Yours is a tall order. Go back aways through some of the comments on this forum to shed some enlightenment on your dreams. I've always admired dreamers. I've been one all my life. Some have worked out and some have not. Please, please learn a bit more about the island. Go visit. Find out first hand how your dreams may or may not fit. Educate yourself about the current state of the island and the culture. Knowledge is power. Just keep in mind when you read past comments, it's not all wonderful and it's not all bad. One thing I can tell you for sure without getting any repercussions from anyone else, you will definitely find more dogs than roosters, no matter where you go, they are all over wherever you go. The island is full of street dogs and they are called "Satos". But they aren't anything like most dogs in the states. Most of them live very pathetic lives and they will seldom if ever bother you. In fact if you do end up living there I'd highly recommend you adopt one or two. There is something special about a Sato. I own one myself and am quite familiar with them.  Again Lester, I wish you well in your quest.

Gregg

One thing I forgot- viscous bugs. Centipedes are pretty nasty. They live everywhere on the island. Look them up on the internet. They also have a few scorpions here and there but I never saw any of those. There may be others. Some people who have lived there longer than I have could tell you more. But you'll love the coqui at night. The coqui was my favorite part about living in PR.

Hello guys.

Just to note that some off topic posts have been moved.

Thank you,
Aurélie

have you been to puerto rico?...if not, i strongly urge you visit before making plans to retire there...i'm a retiree, too...i just spent seven weeks in p.r. and, altho i found it beautiful and the culture fascinating i also found it disturbing in some ways, not the least of which is the volume of traffic everywhere and the manner in which people drive there...it was a great experience to spend that much time on the island but i also was glad to get back to my home in illinois...by all means visit the place first...your take may be completely different.

Timjoe, after your trip are you still planning to retire to the island?

i'm a retiree but i never planned to retire in p.r...i've just wanted for years to spend a big chunk of time there to get a feel for the place...now i do.

Much luck to you timjoe48.

Thank you for the information. I understand about car traffic. I haven't owned an auto for the last twenty years. I was acquiring sociopathic traits from being behind the wheel. Perfectly normal for a driver to survive the mean streets but that an contributing to the children of John D. rockerfeller turned me sour on the whole automobile miracle.I hope to go scooter in P.R.

Hello Lester,
Please do NOT ride a scooter in the San Juan Metro Area!!  it's the most dangerous thing you can do!!    I completely agree with Gary: if that's the kind of life you want go to Guayama or  Isabella in the south of PR or one of the smaller islands.  The metro area is way too hectic... are there scooters here? yes, but it's really taking your life in your hands.

other than that, you'll probably love the place.

Unless you have visited and fallen in love with Puerto Rico, i.e. latin culture, be cautious.

You either love it or you don't. We are a spanish speaking country (I moved here, gringo from Boston) or you don't.

Typically, folks move here and live for a few months and move back.

Latin, latin, latin. Everthing that entails. I love my island (i've become boricua), but have seen many a disappointed brethren leaving in disillusion. Grass ain't no greener on the other side of the hill.

You simply must love latin culture or you will be quite unhappy. If you see a long line at DTOP (our transportation department) and grit your teeth,  you won't fit in. If you see a line at DTOP and think how wonderful it will be to spend a few hours meeting new folks, you will be happy.

Like Gary said, a scooter would work well on Culebra or Vieques but on PR proper it would be suicide. And if you get hit, there's a good chance the perpetrator will flee the scene. If I had a dollar for every time that happens in PR, I'd be rich.

Also, although you could survive on $1,100 p.m. depending on where in PR you live, why put yourself in a situation where you are just surviving? $1,100 can go really far in other tropical places in this world. PR can be more expensive than a lot of US cities.

Thank you for your message. I could probably go to New Orleans and rent out Fats Domino's flood trashed out house but then I would only get sea breezes and the sound of surf on the strand when hell blew in for a visit.

Thank you for the message. It is good to love something.To love a whole commonwealth is awesome.I love my Yamaha nylon string guitar. I have loved the tropic sea breezes,sunsets,sunrises and beach sounds in Mexico where I have spent many months. I was enchanted with the Indios culture which is the bedrock beneath the Latin veneer.Hope to hear more from you. I am hoping to find a small apartment with a balcony or portico where the sea breezes can find me.I do not want to live in a town over 60k persons. I do dirt roads.I prefer dirt roads and roosters crowing.