Usto live in PR

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Why did you decide to return to the mainland? What didn't you like?

Hi!  Can you explain or expound further what you didn't like about PR?  We are wanting to eventually live there as we are now both retired.  What area did you live in?


Thank you, for any input!

Just to say you didn't like it isn't very helpful; please give reasoning and/or explanations; thanks.

On the light side I'll list things I don't like about living in PR! I live in Rincon (northwest coast) and like it there, but there are things I could do without:
1. So much noise. I don't hear the roosters anymore, that a plus. The dogs are just nuts and most people have more than one. People like to party into the night and that gets noisy. The vehicles that drive around with large speakers blaring can be annoying.
2. Probably the thing I like the least is the health care system. See this thread:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=359991
The dangerous helath care system in PR is the one and only one thing that makes me hesitate about spending my golden years there.
3. A paucity of vegan and vegetarian restaurants and food sources. Thai restaurants seems the best bet for getting food that is vegan or vegetarian. In town I can get a big helping of rice and beans for three bucks and it tastes swell.
4. No art movie theatres near me. Just theusual crap in the n-plex places. However what compensates for this is streaming movies over the internet, best place is VUDU, I use Netflix too but selection is not good.
5. The Summer is very hot and humid - we do not use air conditioning (by choice) but plan to install ceiling fans. Actually in Rincon the hotest and most humid months were Sep, Oct, and first part of Nov. But then again the ocean is 5 minutes away.

Anyway, these of a few things I don't like about PR but the positives outweigh the negatives at this time. I'm also a surfer and Rincon has good surf, however this past season was the worst in 10 years.

Oh, another thing I wouldn't like about PR if I wasn't retired: not many jobs here. If I was of working age I would never move to PR to work unless it was for a major corp like Hewlett Packard. If one was able to work remotely using the internet or fly to work locations that would work too. But if I was in my 20's I'd never go to PR to find a job, unless I was a surfer and my job supported my addiction.

Thank you, Victor, for your comments.  We are actually seriously considering the Rincon area.  We are vegetarian but don't eat out unless we are traveling and need to so we cook in mostly.  We love the outdoors and different water sports and biking, hiking, or just beach walking, lol.  My husband used to surf a lot and is looking forward to teaching me.  I'd definitely need to have internet service.  What service do you use and cost, if I may ask? 

We live in northern Illinois and it can be very humid here in the summer so I think we'll be OK with the heat.  My husband is from California and when he moved here he said the humidity is worse in Illinois.  The noise level may be different depending on where you are, I suppose.  We are coming to Rincon in February 2015 for 17 days to check out more of the area.

It's a small island. You won't escape the noise. In addition to what Victor mentioned there are the various car clubs that travel in groups with sirens and music blasting. Groups of loud ATVs at night. During the political season and Christmas (which lasts about a month) you have caravanas that wind through the streets every day. You can hear them coming for miles. Any holiday is loud with music and fireworks and gunshots depending on where you live  When picking a house, make sure you have plenty of breezes and good air circulation through the house. We rented a very nice 2,000 sq. ft. house and couldn't stand living there because there were no breezes. The sun would beat down on the cement house all day and at night the heat would radiate into the house all night long. BTW, if you are looking to get involved with a charity when you move, I would suggest ARF of Rincon. They help the strays in Rincon. They were also instrumental in helping me get almost 20 dogs off the island including the one in my house right now. She sure loves the central AC here, as opposed to sleeping under vehicles to escape the sun.

Hi, Gregg!  We've stayed for a couple of weeks at a time down in Guanica and never had the loud noises you are referring to.  There were some chickens next door but their crowing didn't bother us.  We've stayed in Rincon only 4 days on another occasion as we traveled around the island and didn't hear loud noises but it was such a short stay for us that time.  I understand we'll just have to come on extended visits to check it out.  We're coming next February for 17 days and can't wait!

It's Vic again. Can't help adding Pica Pica as a big negative where I am. Pica Pica is a plant that sheds tiny hairs into the air that are like polyester "stickers" that you can't see but if they get on you they itch like crazy - many people say after a half hour it goes away but I've experienced longer periods. It can be horrible (for me). I found that closing the window louvers helped a lot. We live on a hill where it is breezy (a big positive normally) but the breezes blow this stuff in. The first time I experienced this I didn't know about Pica Pica and couldn't figure out what the heck was going on.

Even worse, people incorrectly believe that burning the Pica Pica bushes is the only way to combat it. There can be a lot of burning during the Winter (think February) that goes beyond Pica Pica, just buring fields and even mountain sides down. The smoke (read pollution) is unpleasant and can be strong; sometimes I wake up to it (ugh!).

Dengue Fever is another problem (I've never had it). It is carried by mosquitoes. People who've had it can get pretty ill. Even worse if you to the emergency room for treatment they might kill you while they are at it. Again I feel the benefits of living in PR outweigh the negatives but I am scared of the health care system here. I think that if one had a heart attack or stroke one might be dead meat. I am working at getting my ducks in a row about medical treatment so if something happens I'll have a plan in advance.

Never had a run in with pica pica where I lived. But I'm a professional knife sharpener and I used to sharpen machetes for my friend that owns Villa Orleans in Rincon so he could cut down the vines. My wife has asthma and the Sahara winds would wreak havoc on her. I guess one of the things that scared me the most (besides the centipedes) was leptospirosis. I knew someone when I first got there that had a good friend that contracted it and the guy died in just a matter of days. One of my favorite street dogs in our neighborhood died from it about 2 weeks before she was due to be rescued with the others. If anybody moves there with pets, I suggest you get them inoculated for it right away. We had a few banana trees in our back yard and if I didn't cut the bunch off the tree soon enough the rats would get into it and chew them up. Then I had to wear heavy duty gloves to handle everything. But that's the nature of living in the tropics. The heat and humidity harbor more disease and parasites and other dangerous things. Heck, even here in Florida there are numerous poisonous snakes, scorpions, centipedes,diseases, alligators, pythons, etc.

And Shuttzie, don't despair. You'll get your share of noise. The same thing happened to me with the noise when I first arrived. Didn't hear much of anything until after I moved in. Boy did that change. Wait until one night when you are quietly relaxing on a beautiful evening,even in the campo (countryside) and all of a sudden in the hills behind you the Pentacostals get on their PA system and scream religious stuff for hours. Or the kid next door comes home at 4am with Reggaeton at full blast as he pulls in his driveway. Hopefully you won't get an ATV club that lives anywhere near you. One thing about me that might help you understand is that I'm from a small town in Pennsylvania in the middle of Amish country. I never have had to experience much of neighbors or locals in general being loud, rude, uncaring or discourteous. People who have lived on the island will tell you it has changed drastically over the years.

And Victor, you are so right about the medical system there. I couldn't afford insurance here in the states. I knew I could probably afford insurance in PR. I knew ahead of time that maybe my care wouldn't be as good, but I had no idea how bad it really is until I got there. I'm 62 and in reasonably good shape. But I have type2 diabetes and risk for stroke. The stress there was not good for me. And like you, the last place I wanted to end up was in one of their hospitals.

My wife and two kids had dengue. It was awful for them and terrifying for me. Bring back DDT, I say.

When I was a kid we had a ball following the DDT trucks as they sent clouds of the stuff into the air - seemed really neet then. Those were the days. My mother-in-law's father owned a plumbing supply business and they filled the "sand" box with asbestos and the kids would play in it. Pretty crazy.

Victor, I'm not prepared to say, "Bring back asbestos." Haha.

My husband got dengue when we were in Jamaica one year.  It was awful!  I've never heard of Pica Pica, hmmm, learn something everyday.

It is crazy what they used to allow years ago and is considered so dangerous now.