New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here — 2nd quarter of 2015

Sugarbird, there are quite a few people in Newcomers that are from Fajardo area... you should join us for a lunch or coffee when they start back up in August! Most get togethers are in greater SJ, but there are others as well.

I love the idea of a family oriented get together. We've been here since January and with 3 teenage daughters, I am not meeting people through them as I did when they were younger. I've met quite a few people through Newcomers but we are always up for meeting people from different parts of the island as well. My kids have found that there are very few people from the mainland at their school in SJ and sometimes just want to talk so someone who understands their Spanish struggles

Thanks to all who welcomed and responded to my post. I am finishing up a term in school and have been rather busy due to putting off so much until the last minute. Will be more attentive after this week.

Ha...thanks Suzanne. I'll take you up on that "meet for lunch of coffee" even if it is in SanJuan. I totally sympathize with your girls and their Spanish struggles. I study on line every day.

If you're an RN, and wish to work in that field, the private/public salaries are a great deal lower than your mainland salaries. If, however, you look in USAJOBS.GOV you may find employment with either the Veterans Admin. Military (on one of the few bases), or in the Federal Prison system.  Just thought I'd put this out for you.  What part of PR are you hoping to move to?

Hello future friends & fellow adventurers!
My fiancé and I just returned home (San Jose, CA) after a two week exploratory visit to PR.  We rented a car, started out with two days in La Paguera, and worked our way around the island trying to get a feel for each town's unique vibe, so to speak.   We even managed to squeeze in a couple of days in Culebra for scuba diving.  On the return flight, we settled on moving to Cabo Rojo, most likely Boqueron in December 2015, our wedding.

I found this site in between flights. The exploritory trip helped in a number of ways.  It provided us with a taste of the humidity, I now know I NEED to have an ocean breeze and/or A/C.  He is happy with the Internet service as well as our current cellular service provider's coverage in PR. We also know that I most likely will not be earning any income while in PR even though I can transfer my Real Estate Mortgage Brokers license from CA to PR, the real estate market in PR is a buyer's market.  The financing takes much longer 60-90 days,  in comparison to California's 15-30 days to close a purchase as well as much smaller loans, which will result in much smaller commissions.  I guess I will have to suffer at the beach instead of slaving at a desk.  As the kids say, "Sorry, not sorry".  My other half is retiring from the tech industry.  Although neither one of us is of traditional retirement age,  we are both more than ready to escape from the rat race.

We've sold our home, and are deciding if we should sell off our remaining items or ship some of my kitchen items and other essentials.  Hopefully I'll find info on this site about shipping household items.   We've already determined that we will purchase a newer used car once we move to PR.  We are coming because of Tax Act 22 so will be looking for a good CPA familiar with these rules.  As well as a real estate agent in the Cabo Rojo area.  In the meantime, I'll be scanning classificadosonline.com for furnished rental properties.  We are both looking forward to the group meeting in the first quarter of 2016.

Sherry & Eric
The Grand Adventure

Hi, my husband and I are considering a move to PR for the obvious tax advantages as he is in commodities.  We have two kids, rising 6th and 10th graders.  Need advice on schools and where to live.  We all enjoy golf, scuba diving and hiking.  Thoughts for safety, health insurance and quality healthcare?
Thanks,
Ann

Hi, Dutchbuff. I and others have posted a lot of info on private schools, especially in the SJ metro area and the east. Review my post history and you should see a good deal of detail. Best of luck on the move.

Thank you NomadLawyer... I will go back " in time" to review posts.  We are arriving July 9-15 for a look-see as they say.. Looking at TASIS and Dorado Academy first off...

Hello!  New to Palmas del Mar/Humacao/Puerto Rico and enjoying it thus far!  We have been here for a month (ish) and plan to stay until the end of the year.  We moved for Act 20/22.\

Details here:  anestforallseasons.com/search/label/Puerto%20Rico

I am not so far away, in Palmas del Mar. Put me on you 'will call list'  I am a single retired woman who is looking to develop a social network.

Hello all,would like to introduce ourselves...we are Mike and Sara with our two pups (Miles and Matilda) fresh of the plane from IL.  We moved this week to a temporary place in Bayamon as Sara will be studying here for the next few years.  Like many, we have just a couple of suitcases in hand and are hoping to get settled into a nice community with access to basic needs.  Other than 1 week in March spent mostly on the beach.... we are complete newbies to PR, moving here for Sara's educational opportunity.  She will be immersed in course work, I will be walking the dogs and hopfully staying out of trouble.  We really could use loads of advice and am so appreciative the Expat.com exists.  Before bombarding the forum with loads of questions, I will read as much as possible in the past posts.  Right now we are renting from AirBNB with an expiration of stay July 1 and are trying to find a decent dog friendly place to rent.  Also we are paying dearly for a rental car, but need an address before purchasing a nice used car. Again, we look forward to being a part of the community.  Enjoy your day!

Welcome!!  We are newbies as well -- living in Humacao

Welcome, Mike and Sara!  There is a lot of great information on this forum and many helpful people.  Best of luck!

Welcome Mike and Sara!  Where in Bayamón are you?  We live off of CARR 177 near the Costco.  Best of luck!!

Trekridder520, we have temp housing in Flamingo Hills off of Ave Los Dominicos.  Sara will be attending Med school at UCC, off of Ave  Laurel at Bayamon Regional Hospital.  Any thoughts on daily commuting in and out of this area, say to Doral, OSJ, Condado or open to ideas.  We kinda would like all in city living or quiet country living, which is what we are used to in IL.

Thanks in advance...

My wife commutes each morning into OSJ and as long as she leaves before 7:00, it's not bad (about 20-25 min).  Between 7 and 9ish can be a nightmare, especially with some road construction that is going on.
Afternoon commutes are around 45 minutes to one hour.
A couple of people take their bikes on the train and ride into OSJ from Sagrado Corazón. Hope this helps!!!

What part of Illinois are you from?  I'm from Rockford area.

Hi Amy,
Read your post. Very informative.  A tip for you, my husband is VERY susceptible to any type of bug bites. I bought him AVON Skin so Soft (spray) and he has not been troubled since.  It was so bad, I would literally sit next to him, watch them swarm him, attack, and they'd never as much as look at me. (perhaps being a two time C-survivor helps - not as tasty lol)  We live in South Florida so bugs are very common annoyance...:-)

What do you know of Dorado? We are looking at this from a 183 days a year living situation and was hoping to rent or sublet an apt for 6 months (April - Oct) and then be back to Fl from Nov-March.  Thoughts on how we could do that? Have you heard of folks that are doing that? Perhaps using the apt on opposite times?

Best regards,
Ann

For about many years I lived in Ft Lauderdale and around 15 years ago I bought a house and a farm in Puerto Rico so I traveled back and forth all year long. I now live 6 months in PR and 6 months near Asheville, North Carolina. I think Puerto Rico is cooler in the summer than Florida as Florida can be very humid. I am on the South side of PR so we do have the heat with less humidity but the heat index also seemed lower than Florida for the hot summer months. When the African dust storms make an appearance the heat is more uncomfortable but  it also reaches Florida. When it does rain it can be very hot but it does dissipate quickly. I may make the move to Puerto Rico full time and in this case a house will be built on the farm at 1200 feet above the house in town and that brings the temp down 7 to 10 degrees on an average. We do not live with air conditioning but our home was designed for heat with 13' ceilings and cross ventilation, thick brick walls and thick stucco.

Hi My Name is Steve
So I have a small home in Rincon and am in the process of building another small home (on the same property). The home we are constructing is being built with as many energy and water efficient processes as possible. Obviously I have concerns for the island relating to crime,energy costs and the economy, but me feeling is that over the next decade there will either be major change in these areas OR the millions of "ex Puertoricans" will watch their island parents and heritage crumble into an abyss like Haiti.

I am able to rent the one house with no problem. Some of  posts discuss farming and self sufficiency. I wanted to know if you had and any business ideas that I could look into as an ex-pat.

I am selling my home in New York and want to become homesteaded in PR to take advantage of Act 22 and 20.

Is there any internet or simple ways to make extra income? Are there any services that we (my wife and I) may want to start researching prior to our permanent move in 2 years??

I want to really just subsidize our pension with something extra. I would love if it its was environment related or holistic or even agricultural.

My computer skills are fair but I learn quickly. My wife and I are just burnt out of the NY rat race, we have no children and life is too short.

Do you see anything on the horizon that may be a wise area to look into?

Sorry for the broad question.

Steve M

Hello Steve...Agriculture and the natural landscape of Puerto Rico is the area that I am putting time and interest into. The South Coast of the Island has some advantages in growing certain trees and plants as more wet areas have their advantages. I am planting and experimenting with specialty crops that could be beneficial to restaurants and cook at home folks. For example some of the crops I am experimenting with are Asian /Thai ingredients, Lemon grass,.it does very well and  grows about 8-9 feet tall and it helps prevent erosion. Kafir lime. Fresh Kafir lime leaves are hard to come by. Thai Basil. Ginger and Turmeric. Curry leaf plants. All these plants are perennial and once established are continual producers. These products could be harvested on a regular basis and packaged and shipped fresh via USPS to retail markets Via Amazon and I think Etsy may be possible too. These are all organically grown and just one sampling of a variety of crops that I am experimenting with. I am putting together an Amazon (the jungle) garden with certain fruits and berries that I collect from online vendors. too. When I am back on the Island in the fall I will be open to invite Expats to check out what I am involved with for fun and/or profit. Mark

Thanks Mark.

I like Ponce and the south as well. I feel there are interesting aspects of each part of the island.
Thank you for the tip on perennials. I am very interested in gardening, just never had the time to really grow much more than tomatoes and basil. I am from Long island actually which is more or less the size of PR , My gripe here is the COLD weather and high taxes.

You seem very up to speed on many cool crops. I was wondering if Cacao trees (which the DNR will deliver to us for a small fee) would be cool to plant. I do not expect to be a major chocolate exporter but the trees seem interesting?? I am trying to plant some different things on a portion of land. I am grateful for the internet!   It is really a great tool to get ideas and information so quickly. What a combination Island living and the internet!

Thanks Mark

Hi! We are R&L, we are currently living in Rhome Texas but we will be moving back to the Island in the near future (within a yr). We are original from PR, but moved to mainland to raise our kids. Now that the kids are gone we are planning to go back home since we can afford an early retirement. I am looking forward to hear for other members and contribute to the forum.

Welcome, R&L!

Hi,

I invite you to follow this topic on this new thread:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=495043

Thanks!