You have probably heard this a thousand times...but

Come to Santiago, Invest a few months learning who is who. Go to the beach, chat the local ex-pats, return to Santiago and meet real people.
Join the Centro Espa?ol or the Amaprosan and meet local, Join the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions, Rotary or the Odd Fellows or the Masons...get to know the people.
There are 40 y.o. divorcees, widows that would enjoy a relationship that is financially secure and long term. However, you have to establish your solidity and stability first within the society...otherwise you end up with disguised hookers....no way around it.

It take time...you can do this in Santo Domingo. La Vega, La Romana, San Francisco de Macoris. TIME is all it takes...

Ditch the Harley and bring the M-B E-class....

HB

With that kind of money, you can live very comfortably.
Really just up to you to pick an area you like.

$1500/month should get you a very nice furnished apartment or house. Stick to renting for a while as it allows you to make a quick escape... either to another city or another country should you not be happy where you are.

The balance of your monthly income should easily cover car, gas, entertainment, etc.

You've got the money part taken care of already... go for it.

There are thousands who would love to be in your shoes.
Spanish will come quickly when you interact.
Play your cards close to your chest.
Good luck to you.

Welcome - keep us posted.

Good luck...and yes keep us posted it would be interesting to see how you make out.

Keep your eyes open....welcome to the jungle

Hillbilly said:

Come to Santiago, Invest a few months learning who is who. Go to the beach, chat the local ex-pats, return to Santiago and meet real people.
Join the Centro Espa?ol or the Amaprosan and meet local, Join the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions, Rotary or the Odd Fellows or the Masons...get to know the people.
There are 40 y.o. divorcees, widows that would enjoy a relationship that is financially secure and long term. However, you have to establish your solidity and stability first within the society...otherwise you end up with disguised hookers....no way around it.

It take time...you can do this in Santo Domingo. La Vega, La Romana, San Francisco de Macoris. TIME is all it takes...

Ditch the Harley and bring the M-B E-class....

HB

Click to expand...

Santiago is definately the place to live a nice stable life but you will be forced to learn spanish,Santiago is not touristy it is a large metropolitan Dominican city,also not close to beaches. I believe you will be more comfortable starting out in Sosua, lots of expats so Spanish wont be a nessesity,beach is right there,scuba diving right there and lots of women just not the good ones your looking for but they will fill a roster spot until you learn a little more spanish and find yourself a good girl, Happy Hunting.

What you are trying to do is a project, and as such it does have a learning curve as Badpiece said, the first thing you have to do is learn Spanish, to first get a glance on how life is in the DR, or to at least have some interesting conversations with some of the young women you are interested into.

Sosua is a good place to start getting acclimated to the DR, but it doesn't have what you are looking for, non-working young woman, most of the girls there would approach you looking over your money, not bad if you intend to have fun, but really not advisable to settle down. Later when you find yourself more confortable in the DR, move down to Santiago or Santo Domingo and from there follow Hillbilly's advice (although I would recommend to sell the Harley and buy another one in the DR, join a Harley owner club, that would be a good way to start networking).

About the money, you are covered in all ends even in the most expensive city of the DR, don't worry about it.

It's funny, while you are planning to move from Vegas to the DR, I am a Dominican who came from the DR to Vegas not long ago. When I retire (in about 40 years) I may follow your path too hehe.

If you are looking for quality women stay far away from the coast. There are certainly respectable dominican Women there but they won't have anything to do with a gringo, as they have a very bad repution just like the Dominican women have a bad repution among gringos in that area.

Santiago or some other interior town is the ticket and once you have made contact and learned the ropes you can start getting introduced to people. Plus, the beach is an hour and a half at the most, and since we don't get in a hurry or worry about time here nobody cares. Better yet, you can stop in Maimon before you get to the beach for a nice seafood lunch, just like all the Santiagueros do

Your income will be more than enough to live comfortably too. And to boot, you don't even really need ac here in Santiago, whereas in the coast you will. Therefore you will only need to spend US60 on your power bill instead of US260.

Las Vegas Guy said:

I am considering retiring in the DR. My story:

I am 63 years old, look and act 50. Am a SCUBA diving instructor and ride a Harley. I have a Masters degree in Business and have been working on my Ph.D. on-line. I have a secure fixed income of $4,200 USD/month with no bills. I am divorced and have been for 5 years. The cost of living in the US is shrinking my fixed income, plus I am fed up with the gold digging American women.

I would want to try a 3-6 month trial stay and look to find a younger woman (not the only one I guess, but my ex-wife just turned 38 and I seem to be more attracted to someone younger...go figure! LOL). But...I would prefer someone a little more educated...it is not just about the sex. I am reading here that I would probably not be attractive to the educated younger woman or her family, and am not interested in a prostitute...I can buy sex legally in Nevada if that was all that I was looking for.

So, bottom line I am looking for an area that my income would allow me to live somewhat comfortably without working. Probably somewhat close to SCUBA diving opportunities and would like information on how to go about meeting someone on-line who might meet my qualifications without paying these money-grabbing dating sites!

Thanks in advance for any info!
Ric

P.S. I do not speak Spanish, but guess I could learn without much trouble.

Click to expand...

Where's Tamborista and The Captain when you really need them?

Las Vegas Guy said:

plus I am fed up with the gold digging American women.

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Good reasons for moving to the DR, except for that one. If you think American women are golddiggers, the Dominican women are way worse. Not talking about the prostitutes and/or women in the tourist places, but the 'average' Dominican woman. Not talking bad about DR women, you get a lot of stuff in return, but they are golddiggers, its they way they are raised even (or especially?) when they are from a wealthy family.
So if you wanna avoid golddiggers dont go to DR

At least you get something for your gold in the Dominican Republic.

(It seems to have turned me into an sexist pig however.)

Not sure what you mean by "gold-digging" but you should be aware of cultural differences here that involve relationships and money. Men here are expected to "take care" of their women. This is usually translated into money. I know many educated, upper-class women here who expect their husbands, boyfriends, etc to pay for their bills, even though they can well pay for it themselves. Men tend to like it and take showing off as a sign of how macho they are- the flashier the better. So if you want to complete, expect to shell out a lot of money.

Yes, there are exceptions. But you must invest a lot of time and effort in finding them.

pedrochemical said:

At least you get something for your gold in the Dominican Republic.

(It seems to have turned me into an sexist pig however.)

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And I'm sure the women outside the DR are crying over their loss every day.

Princesa777 said:

Good reasons for moving to the DR, except for that one. If you think American women are golddiggers, the Dominican women are way worse. Not talking about the prostitutes and/or women in the tourist places, but the 'average' Dominican woman. Not talking bad about DR women, you get a lot of stuff in return, but they are golddiggers, its they way they are raised even (or especially?) when they are from a wealthy family.
So if you wanna avoid golddiggers dont go to DR

Click to expand...

This is a complicated topic to say the least. In the coastal areas mno doubt most are gold diggers. However, in the interior a foreigner will have a better chance, especially if he can manage in the language.

I say the issue is complicated because, even in the case with women in the interior, there are certain very strong misconceptions that by far most Dominicans have that all foreigners have money to burn and therefore dropping RD10k here in there for porqueria is no big deal. Throw in the cultural custom of spending big and being flashy is the required norm when somebody has money and you have a recipe for some pretty strong misconceptions. In other words, if the op meets a nice professional chica here in Santiago, just because she wants to have namebrand clothes and ride around in a yipete del a?o doesn't mean she's a leach, as she would be expecting this from her well to do Dominican beau as well.

las2137 said:

Not sure what you mean by "gold-digging" but you should be aware of cultural differences here that involve relationships and money. Men here are expected to "take care" of their women. This is usually translated into money. I know many educated, upper-class women here who expect their husbands, boyfriends, etc to pay for their bills, even though they can well pay for it themselves. Men tend to like it and take showing off as a sign of how macho they are- the flashier the better. So if you want to complete, expect to shell out a lot of money.

Yes, there are exceptions. But you must invest a lot of time and effort in finding them.



And I'm sure the women outside the DR are crying over their loss every day.

Click to expand...

Yup,
honest, decent, sober, educated, wealthy men are hard to find in D.R. or anywhere.
I guess my wife got lucky.

:smoke:

Las Vegas Guy said:

I guess I could have defined the gold digger part a little better. I am not a miser, and do not mind spending on a women, but my experience in Las Vegas is that they expect it...and you have to beg for anything in return! Oh yes, it starts off all hot and heavy, but then seems to go downhill! Guess I have just been hooking up with the wrong women. I have heard that Latin women take care of their men better.

I am a Master Mason so hooking up with that group sounds like a good idea. In my research I too have been gravitating to Sousa...seems to fit my needs, and then maybe to Santiago.

Thanks for the advice...I am looking forward to the adventure.

Another quick question...I know it only makes sense to bring 2 suitcases of stuff, but can you ship some boxes over by UPS or FEDEX to get more personal stuff to the DR?

Thanks,
Ric

Click to expand...

Looks like a classified ad:

"Sanky gringo apensionado de Las Vegas buscando Dominicana eduacada." SGA seeking DENC (non-cuero).

Talk about throwing the mierda at the wall and seeing what sticks...

Just my opinion

Although a town like Sosua, can help you get acclimated into the D.R., it is not for you if what you say in your original post is accurate, it is true Spanish is not a prerequisite there, so that makes it easier. But other than that I don't think it actually acclimates you to the D.R., simply because what happens or what you find in Sosua is very different from other parts of the country. I lived in Sosua for over a year when I first migrated to the country and had a great time and still have many people I consider as great friends up there, but based on what you have stated thus far; I don't believe it is what you are looking for.

I would say Santiago is a great city but wouldn't meet your requirement as far as a beach or many English speakers. My guess the easiest transition for you considering all your stated requirements would very well be Santo Domingo, I am prejudice I admit because I live in Santo Domingo, although you don't have a beach there; there are a few beaches within a few minutes of the city (with opps for scuba, instructing or just personal enjoyment). It is a big city with all the big city accouterments. You have all types of restaurants and therefore, your digestive system won't go into shock because you are forced to all of a sudden eat native cuisine. There are areas where you can find English speakers, which can help with your transition. There is very affordable housing in very good and safe neighborhoods. There is many things to do as for as entertainment, clubs, etc. You also have the opportunity to meet, hard working young women who are looking for a stable relationship, although as many have said you may originally have to get over that "gringo" tag with some of the females, it is not true with all of them, all it takes is a little patience and allowing your true personality to come out, of course that is difficult if you don't know the language, if you knew the language you would have no problem at all, meeting the type of female you are looking for.

HB (although he doesn't know me) is right on about Santiago as I know he is from there. Badpiece knows me well as he has a place in Puerto Plata. I just moved back to the Puerto Plata area from Sabaneta.

However, they are both on as Santiago being a great place to live. Furthermore, as HB and BP have posted, Santiago is a almost all Spanish speaking city so perhaps being near the ex pats a while until you get yourself blended in would perhaps be the best idea.

I'm surprised that no one suggested studying spanish BEFORE landing in DR.

A guy working on a Ph.D. online ought to have little trouble with say, Rosetta - and the learning curve flattens a little with at least rudimentary spanish...