Introduce yourself HERE!

I see many job offers on other sites, with allways writen ''staying at home job" whant do you think of that?

Most of those are scams.  If there were real much more of us would be living the dream! 

That's what I thunk, anyway
Thanks for your answers

You are very welcome!

ok thanks a lot!

Yes Cabarete for water sports and some good surfing there as well.  Diving is average.  As Planner said tourism is the biggest industry and with a new Carnival cruise port going in here on the north coast that will only get bigger.

As to working from home there are many here on the north coast that are working remotely for their old companies or have their own company that the work on the internet.

Hope this helps

Bob K

Hi
Diane here, English expat now living in Las Galeras on the Samana Pensinsula. I answer a lot of queries about my new home town on Trip Advisor and someone suggested I might like to get involved in helping out with enquiries here so -Here I am!!
Thanks Darlene and Bob

Darlene and Bob,
Welcome to the forum. There are some very nice folks here with lots of information.  Personally we relocated (from the USA) 7.5 years ago to the Sosua/Cabarete area.  Please feel free to ask any questions and we look forward to your contributions on your area.

Bob K

Thanks Diane,  you rock!!!!

It would be great if I could easily identify queries about Samana Peninsula,,,,, maybe put something in the subject line....

and you were very helpful and informative when we decided to move here Bob, Thanks

I  will  try to ping you whenever we get them. There is a section but questions tend to be anywhere!

tda, You are welcome.  Glad the move is working for you and again good to see you on this board as well as the TA one

Bob K

My name is Joshua and I am from Jackson, MS. I was born in Greenville, MS but raised for the most part of my life in Jackson, MS. I am currently a senior in college majoring in Software Engineering and Networking. Since my first year of high school in 2007, there has always been this urge to venture out from my homeland into a place completely different. After searching online over the years of various places, I found that the Dominican Republic sounded like a perfect fit for me. A place where people are hard-working yet humble-minded. Most of the things that make up that society are simple, and not as complex as where I live currently. Since middle school, I have been learning the spanish language and I'm pretty confident in my speaking, reading, and writing skills. It seems listening and comprehending is my only weak point as of now. I started practicing listening using a language learning site called livemocha in an effort to improve my listening comprehension with people. Many people normally spoke in their regular everyday rate of speed, and others were not consistent with me but I pressed on in my efforts to try to learn to understand. After two years of talking with various spanish speakers, I came across someone who taught differently and willingly started practicing regularly with me on a weekly basis. She was very patient, speaking slowly and relaying information in a way that I could understand. Naturally as we practiced, we started to learn more things about each other, our interests, life experiences, decisions we would make based on various situations, and life goals. After 5-6 months, we gradually became attracted to each other, and decided to start talking more outside of just learning the language. It got the point where we were writing to each other daily and speaking occasionally. As we mentioned about what we wanted in a relationship and long-term goals for having one, we noticed that much of what we were looking for matched up. With that, we decided to start a serious long-distance relationship, though it sounded very crazy at the time and it still does lol. It is my very first relationship, and both our first relationship by only phone and internet lol. Since February 3, 2011 we have become a part of each others daily life, consistently speaking to each other on a daily basis. We have kept our relationship secret from family and friends to prevent unwanted attention, and because we are both still in the process of trying to stabilize ourselves financially. All that has past so far we have credited to God, because he has blessed us both with the patience to be enduring our unique situation day by day. We eventually spent some time together for the first time in New York at church in January 2013. Since that great experience, she has mentioned to her mother about our mutual interest and her mother invited me to come stay with them so I can get to know the family. I will be traveling there after my graduation this May of 2014. The relationship looks bright right now as it does has its own unique problems, but we are continuing to take everything very slowly day by day. I hope to get to really know her more on my stay in their house as that is the only sure way to get an idea of how she is around me and around her family. So for now, I have two reasons to look to the country, a new home and a possible future spouse. Which brings me here to the forum, I hope to meet some great friends, build some lasting bonds, and hope they will offer me various advice that will help me adapt to my future home. I am very intelligent, outgoing, interesting, funny, and enjoy doing lots of things. Some of my favorite hobbies include tinkering with computer hardware, playing sports, enjoying nature, learning new things, and meeting new people. Though at times I am stubborn, overall I have a excellent personality, shaped from having a mindset of reading and applying things I have read from the bible that partain to my life. Oh yeah and I really hate writing, but yet I always manage to write novels when I am inspired and feel strongly about something lol.



Tell us a little bit about you,  where you live or where you want to live,  how you came to this  forum and how we can help you.

I can't wait to hear various experiences of those who currently live in the country!

Welcome to the forums. Wow that was quite the background.  Congratulations for taking things slow!  I don't know you or her so I will advise to keep going slow.  You need to come here and meet her,  spend some time here BEFORE you decide to completely commit to this country.  What area does she live in? Life is different in each area.

AND I will ask you to cut and paste most of this,  start a new thread,  use that to follow up on all your questions!  Thanks.

Please read other  topics of discussion, that will help you know what you want to ask!   BTW great start!

Welcome to the forum from me as well. And yes take very S-L-O-W.  Many a guy has fallen and "can't get up"
There is lots of information for you on this and other forums.
Again Welcome.

Bob K

HI!
I am a new yorker, looking to relocate to Dominican Republic and open a business with my 2 sisters. We speak spanish and english, and have been to cabarete and Puerto Plata for leisure. We have ventured to some not so touristy areas as well as commercialized areas and we truly LOVE the people here. Looking to open a boutique hotel, wellness retreat in northern part of the country. Currently looking in the Cabarete, Gaspar Hernandez, Sosua regions. I am so excited to be registered and to gain new knowledge and meet new people !!

Welcome to the forum Belu. I'm also from N.Y. But spend lots of time in Cabarete.  I was just there last year for 2 months. As you can tell by my nickname, I'm a massage therapist with 15 years experience here in N.Y. Looking to give Cabarete a trial long run stay later this year provided the job prospects look positive.  Bob and Planner are 2 of the best informed posters on this blog.  I would suggest reading the various topics in the forum first and the feel free to ask away on any subject which was not answered :-) welcome to the forum.

Hi massagewiz! That is awesome! It is good to Know others have spent time and love the area as well i love the feel of Cabarete with the sports and the people. I have recognized that Planner and Bob are a wealth of knowledge, and I cant wait to learn more!

Belu0244 ,
Welcome to the forum. Your plans sound interesting and it sounds like you are doing your home work.  Being prepared with knowledge is so important if you are going to succeed here.  There is a wealth of information here on this forum and please feel free to ask any questions you have.

We have been living here on the north coast between Sosua and Cabarete for 7.5 years on a full time basis.

Again WELCOME

Bob K

Welcome to the forums!  You and your sisters sound like you are doing your homework!  Good for you!  That by itself puts you ahead of the game.

You are likely to have a lot of questions. Please go read the other threads (if you haven't already) and then open a new thread for your questions. That way we can keep it in one place for you! 

Again, we are here to help you!

Hi everyone,

I'm Karine, a 33 year old mother and teacher from Croydon, England. I have plans to move to the Dominican Republic this year and thought I might be able to get some job and lifestyle advice from others who have taken the plunge.

Karine,
Welcome to the forum.  There are lots of nice folks here with lots of information for you. My wife and I moved here full time 7.5 years ago and have settled on the north coast between Sosua and Cabarete.

What part of the country are you moving to?   Have you been here before?  Do you have a job lined up or will you be needing to find work?  Do you realize that wages here are VERY low compared to what you are used to?

Ok so instead of you asking questions I have asked you a bunch. Actually this will help us give you some information that may be helpful to you

Again welcome

Bob K

Welcome Marine! We are here to help. Read the other threads and let us know how we can help!

Hi Bob!

Thank you for the welcome. To answer your questions, I have been to the DR many times. I got married there in 2008 and was last there in December last year. I do not have a job lined up but have been actively looking for a couple of years. We have decided to do the move this year but as I have a 2 year old, would ideally like to secure a job before I arrive. I am aware that wages are a lot less there which is also why I am trying to get a job from this side as I may get a little more, but ultimately the pros for us outweigh the cons.

My husband is from Yasica so anywhere in the North would be an option. We are considering long-term rentals.

Karine

Sounds like you have done your homework.  Let us know how we can help

Bob K

Hi Bob,

I guess it is really finding a job I am having difficulty with. It seems as if the international schools recruit sporadically and so I wondered if there were any other options with a decent pay?

I assume you have contacted the international school in Sosua?

Bob K

Yes I have Bob and a few others.

It is almost impossible to get work here without actually being here!  I understand the not wanting to move without work, but its a catch 22!!!!  I will PM you some suggestions and have you send me your resume!  I do both recruiting and placement work here in the DR.

That sounds great, thank you

hola, soy Francesa y llegue en santo domingo la semana pasada para hacer un pratico en empresa. Quiero encontrar expatriados entre 25-30 anos !!

Dedeisland.  Welcome to the forum. This is an English speaking forum so you will do better if you post in English. I am not aware that this is a dating site so not sure what kind or response  you will get.
There are lots of good folks here who have lots of good information to share.  Again welcome.

Bob K

I second the welcome. This is an English forum and it is NOT a dating site.  You are more then welcome here though, if you have any questions, please ask.  Where are you from?

Greetings everyone, I am jumping in without any preservation. I went and visited the DR in Dec and stayed a month. I stayed one week at the Colonial Hotel in downtown Santiago. From there I went and stayed with friends down at Rafey, real close to the prison. In spite of the poverty and other less then comfortable enviroment, I fell in love with the culture and the people and the weather. I understand it does get warmer in the summer, yet I have worked outside most of my life on roofs. My number one concern is the avalability of health insurance and the cost. I have contacted Planner and do hope they will provide some good and positive guidance for myself. I am 56 and from the state of Oregon. I am one of the fortunate ones that does speak spanish and had no problems during my 28 day stay with communicating. Funny thing is I saw only one white hombre the whole time I was there. It was at 6 am every morning when i washed my face with cold water. I look forward to meeting some of you next time I am down there. Hopefully it will be this April 2014.

Welcome to the forums! I love your sense of humor! There are other expats in Santiago and I am sure you will find them.

I did answer your message, and you have answered some of my questions here. I hope paradise works out as well for you as it has for me.

As you have questions feel free to start a thread!

Groby welcome to the forum.  Glad you had a good time on your first of what sounds like will be many visits/living here.
You will find lots of good folks on this forum with lots of good information.  So feel free to ask away.

Again Welcome

Bob k

Planner hope you are feeling better.

Bob K