My partner and I came to Sal 11 years ago to buy a holiday home but after staying in it once it was built we decided to move here permanently. We fell in love with the island and the people and certainly have no regrets. However, for anyone wishing to come and live here I would certainly think long and hard before you come as I have seen many people come and go and mostly it is because they hadn't really thought about what they were going to do once they got here.
Where are you going to live? Owned or rented, how are you going to pay for it?
If you don't get work, what length of time will your savings last?
Do you have skills that would be of benefit financially.
The majority of people who I came to meet who left were for mainly the following reasons:
Ran out of money
Couldn't get work
Alcohol abuse (usually through not working, got into drinking culture as this is a tourist destination so lots of people to drink with)
Criminal activities (small island so bad reputation means trust is gone and again, no work)
We have been very fortunate but this is due to my partner being a skilled electrician and setting up his own business and I have had 5 jobs in 8 years (made redundant in 2 of them during recession due to developments closing down) but have never been out of work. If you get a good reputation for being a hard worker and honest you should have no problem.