Introduce yourself HERE!

I guess I will go next. I am Bob and my wife and I "retired" here just over 7 years ago on the north coast. We have a fair amount of experience here and some knowledge on how things work here.  We failed at retirement and for 5.5 years sold real estate here and re-retired last summer.  We also built our villa located between Sosua and Cabarete.

Besides the villa we own a rental condo on the beach in Cabarete which we lived in while building the villa.

We are still enjoying the dream and have not looked beck for a second.

Feel free to ask away....

Bob K

Hi folks. I'm next. Here goes.

I am 53 years old, a bit of a neurotic perfectionist, and have few responsibilities, if any. My hobbies are aquaponics, gardening, tennis, arts and crafts, and technical innovation.

I've been going to the DR for many years and I really like the people, the food, the music, the beaches, and the climate. The women are beautiful and with no attitude, which is rare and compelling. And the fellas don't want to fight me, thank God.

The DR is a place where the natives often mistake me for one of their own. You don't know how therapeutic that is! My mother would consider me tall, lite, and handsome but I know better. I am tall, mixed, and average, just like most guys in the DR.

I immigrated from the Caribbean to New York and eventually got a job as a Techie when I grew up. I lost my job and ran into some medical issues that required surgeries and am now recovering and rehabbing from them.

I am looking for a low cost place to live which is less stressful than NY because I can't.... and don't want to live in NY (which is fast becoming a police state) for much longer without a high paying job, which just might do me in.

Perhaps I can get a job teaching tennis in one of the international hotels in the DR or in electronics with an American co. in the DR...... or rent an arts and crafts store there ...... or maybe all three?

I dunno if I'll even recover enuff to go back to work but my plan is to rent an apt in the Samana area for a few weeks to a few months to really gauge the costs and quality of life there. I am encouraged that a new international airport and a new highway to Santo Domingo was recently put in. IL magazine also listed the Samana area as an excellent low cost place to retire to.

My surgeries gave me time to reflect on what was important to me. One of them is that I want to do work that I love and not be compelled to be a wage slave anymore. I was blown away by the generosity and kindness of the people who helped me. New Yorkers? Who knew? I swore then that my main goal in life would be to help others. Surely, this is a better way to live than to try and make as much money as you can and have no time left for anything else.

Right now I need some dental implants and I'm wondering whether I can have a quality job done in the DR for pennies on the dollar?

Implants - yes you can hon,  thanks for introducing yourself.

Maybe not pennies but at least 50% cheaper then the US and just as good a job.

Bob K

Really, Where do I find some of these dentists who do dental implants?

Hey Everyone! My wife and I will be visiting a resort in Punta Cana from Sept 29 through Oct 4th. Would love to meet up with some of you for a drink one afternoon or evening just to get aquainted. Looking move within a couple of years, just trying to make some new friends while I am down there to start building that relationship. please let me know if interested. Maybe a cigar tour together? Thanks so much to those of you that have already anaswere so many of my questions already, I can not wait to get there.

Milara,
Sorry but I am out of the country right now on vacation and we live on the north coast. You are going to a almost exclusive tourist area and most of us that live do not live in Punta Cana. There are a few and hopefully they can meet up with you.
If you ever find yourself here on the north coast I would be happy to share a beer and cigar with you

Bob K

Welcome to the forums! IF I am in the area at that time, I will take you up on the offer.  Closer to your trip,start a thread so we  all get reminded!!!

Hey, this is fun!
I am Raine and just moved here 3 weeks ago with my husband and our two cats. We are in Cap Cana, where his job is located. We are still figuring out the systems here and getting used to grocery shopping just once a week! (there are no shops near by and Chris' co-workers car pool over the weekend to get stuff). The beaches in the area are wonderful and we are gradually exploring the region. I understand more spanish than I thought I would but unfortunately that's not happening the other way around - my "spanish" doesn't pass the test

Hope one day I get to meet with some of you in person

In case you come to Bayahibe for a boat excursion - that's where all the tourists from Punta Cana / Bavaro area resorts come for the island trips, let me know.

welcome to the forums!

Hello I missed this link when I first found this blog.
I've lived here for the last 12 years. I own a farm in the Imbert, Puerto Plata area on the north coast. I moved here from the USVI and I love it here. I've had  little businesses here when I first arrived but only do yacht deliveries, if they come up, for extra income these days.
A few days ago a friend of mine from Costa Rica emailed me a link to this blog site. I think this is great.

Officially welcome!

Bob K

For some reason my first post didn't show here, so here I am again
We've been in Dominican Republic for almost 8 years now. For the first couple years we lived in Cabarete and then we moved to the south side of the island, Bayahibe and have been here since. I love the calm Caribbean sea, just miss the long beach walks I had in Cabarete with our dogs. But cannot have it all

Welcome to forums!!!

e

elcalvito You are welcome and officially welcome to the forum

Bob K

You are very very welcome.  Speaking for myself, Bob and a few others, we get a lot of satisfaction  helping others on this board!

I think I introduced myself somewhere sometime here, but lets go again!

I'm a Swedish-Argentine married to a Swedish-DominicN. We have a 1 year old son and have been in the DR for about two months. First month was awful, now we're loving it - most of the time! My husband is a journalist and I'm an artist (acrylic paintings and pencil drawings), but right now I'm home with our son.

Hopefully there will be a (day-time) get together soon so I can get to know some of you But as Planner said, let's wait out this heat first! I never thought I'd enjoy the idea of an
AC until I moved here

Officially welcome to the forum though you have been posting for a while.  Were in the DR are you?

Touring Sweden and picking up our new Volvo many years ago was a great trip.  It certainly is different for you here.

Bob K

Hi,
My name is Huong Nguyen. I'm from Vietnam. I'm in Vietnam now but next week we (me and my boyfriend) will move to Santo Domingo. I'm glad join you guys here. Thank you for all the sharing.
Cheers

Welcome to both of the ladies.  Jennifer is in Santo Domingo!  we will set up a  time for coffee soon for the SD crowd and a meeting on the north coast sometime soon as well. 

Jennifer I know that as the months go you will get more and more accustomed to things here.  If you need anything please contact me.

Huong Nguyen T
Welcome and let us know if we can be of any help to you here.

Bob K

Planner, thank you

Thanks Bob! Yes, we're in Sto Dgo after a short visit in Cabrera Can't wait to see more of the North Coast though

Huong Nguyen, I hope your move will go as smoothly as possible!

Hi all , I have been lurking for awhile now and decided to join. We will set sail in december landing in Luperon where we bought land last year.  Living on the boat as we build our house.  Thanks for the great information which has helped in many ways.   Have a great day.

Welcome to the forums!!!!! Wow, you are in for an adventure.  Please ask any questions you want and keep us posted on your progress once you get started!

Janlindy Welcome to the forum.  We built our villa here on the north coast.  Let me know if you need any info. We are in the Sosua area

Bob K

Welcome all. If you have any techie questions, I'm your man.
I saw a guy in Santo Domingo using an air pump and a small blow torch to blow and shape simple glass figurines and then he'd fill the figurines with colored liquids. He made an impression. What an Artist. I sure would like to learn how to do that. Any info anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks an adventure for sure.

Bob K wrote:

Janlindy Welcome to the forum.  We built our villa here on the north coast.  Let me know if you need any info. We are in the Sosua area

Bob K

Thanks Bob might just take you up. Would like to meet some time in the future.

Let me know. We will be back home in the DR from our trip mid October.

Bob K

Hi all,
Well after 3 days of Jet lag I'm happy to be back here. Now I'm in Santo Domingo, the neighborhood name Naco. It's difficult for me to communicate since my Spanish is almost zero
I will go to visit some language schools tomorrow. Anyone knows about EDASE, MABRASKA or UNAPEC please help me some comments.
Btw, do we have Internations here? And how it works?
Thank you all in advance.

Welcome to the forums!  we are here to help in any way we can. It can be very intimidating when you don't speak any Spanish.  Naco is  a very nice area with everything close you may need.

Read the forums for information,  ask questions and we can help you . For a new topic open a new thread!  That way it stays on topic.

Thank you very much. I will pay more attention for next posts.
Cheers

Hola, soy Jose Manuel y viajo esta semana a la República Dominicana para trabajar por una temporada. Me gustaría estar en contacto con otros expatriados.

Un saludo.

JM

Bienvenido Jose.  Welcome to paradise. I am in Santo Domingo,  where will you be?  And we run this thread in English,  if you need help just ask!

Thank you

I will be living and working here;

bahiaprinciperesidences.com/

In Bahia Príncipe, Playa Nueva Romana