You?ll know if the DR is for you in 3 months not 6

zak023

Done and dusted!
Feb 8, 2006
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I have read time and time again that people are advised to come here and rent for 6 months and you will know if you and the DR are perfect together..I beg to differ.!!!! I guarantee it will take only 3 months...I won?t get into detail but trust me with the 3 month rule...
 

The Virginian

Bronze
Mar 16, 2007
929
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Sorry I disagree. You need more time. Time to understand and to get to know Dominican people. Also, you need to go through the process of getting your residency, your id, your drivers license, your health insurance, your car and your car insurance. You need to go to the hospital, you need to go grocery shopping, you need to eat out, you need to buy clothes and the list goes on...... You need a lot of time. We have been here 10 months and we still have ALOT to learn. Oh, most important you need to learn Spanish!!!!!!! and even more in important you need to learn the culture. Good luck. I learn every day I leave our home.
 

jruane44

Bronze
Jul 2, 2004
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A, A
How can you say that you wont get into the details? I guess your expierience was not so good after 3 months? Please tell.
 

Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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www.caribbetech.com
I have read time and time again that people are advised to come here and rent for 6 months and you will know if you and the DR are perfect together..I beg to differ.!!!! I guarantee it will take only 3 months...I won?t get into detail but trust me with the 3 month rule...

No, the advice usually is to stay for 6 months without making any decisions on house buying or staying or going or whatever. The advice usually is to get some experience first. Perfection does not enter into the picture ;) And why should we trust you with the 3 month rule?
 

AK74

On Vacation!
Jun 18, 2007
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I disagree with OP. Three months may be sufficient only if you were unlucky enough to run into a con artist (DR is full of them!!) or into a dishonest RE person (ditto) and suffered a reality check right away.
Otherwise - first three-four months you are still in a vacation mood. With pink glasses.
Everything and everybody is still so nice and beautiful!

Beautiful beach!!
Beautiful available young women!!
Beautiful house cleaners who are happy with just a $2 tip!


Nothing to worry about!
Nothing boring to do!


Just swim in the ocean, have lot of sex and dance all night!

For a typical NAer all this is so exotic and normally forbidden, that they feel like in Paradise on Earth.

In five-six months after satisfying their sexual and other hunger they begin seeing beyond a holiday picture and more into a real life. And often are shocked emotionally or broke financially.

So, I strongly join those who are in favor of six months or more!!
 

Sharlene

New member
Mar 4, 2006
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I think you need to 'stick it out' for a year myself!

Sorry, but I think you need to 'stick it out' for at least a year myself! I've been here nearly a year and I've been through so many 'mutations' during that time. I could easily have left after 3 months, and after 6 months.....but it takes a lot of time, effort, humility and patience to assimilate into a new culture. It's been a real 'rollercoaster' ride for me, but nothing worthwhile happens overnight. I don't envisage staying here for the rest of my life as I'd like to explore the 'expat' world a little bit further, but I certainly have no regrets and feel very differently now than I did even just 3 months ago......

I have to say 'thanks' to a lot of posters on this board and people I've met along the way who've offered me tremendous support when I've 'waivered' and talked about leaving....

Obviously, it's all down to your preconceptions of what you think your life will be like here and the reality of your personal experience. But if I'd left after 3 months, I'd feel like I'd failed.....and I don't 'do' failure! ;)
 

Sharlene

New member
Mar 4, 2006
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What's normally forbidden?

I disagree with OP.
Just swim in the ocean, have lot of sex and dance all night!

For a typical NAer all this is so exotic and normally forbidden, that they feel like in Paradise on Earth.

I'm confused! What's forbidden? Swimming in the ocean, having lots of sex or dancing all night? I must say, I did all these things long before visiting the DR, so that certainly wasn't my reason for moving here! ;)
 

DAKRA

Bronze
Feb 21, 2007
715
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Can we please here more....

To the OP, I hope that you would share your experiences with the forum for us all to hear (not judge). I have a dream of retiring soon and moving to the DR. I have read many posts and taken much advice from people who tell me to do the 6 month thing and go from there. You are saying 3 months should do it. If this is true, I hope that you would please share the details your situation so that people like myself can weigh my options better.

Again, we learn from others and their experiences. I only hope that you choose to share you experiences with this group.

TTFN
:surprised
 

Bronxboy

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2007
14,107
595
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I second that!!!!

To the OP, I hope that you would share your experiences with the forum for us all to hear (not judge). I have a dream of retiring soon and moving to the DR. I have read many posts and taken much advice from people who tell me to do the 6 month thing and go from there. You are saying 3 months should do it. If this is true, I hope that you would please share the details your situation so that people like myself can weigh my options better.

Again, we learn from others and their experiences. I only hope that you choose to share you experiences with this group.

TTFN
:surprised


Please do tell:bunny:
 

Spicedwine

New member
Apr 25, 2006
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At least a year!!

I agree, 3 months had only given me enough time to stop gasping at the ocean and the palm trees....lol.... but the rollercoaster ride of everyday life would have sent me back screaming had I not decided that this is a new country to me and still developing in many ways, My first farmacia visit was an experience by and in itself..... like so many say and I keep resisting learn spanish, guess I have a stubborn streak... going grocery shopping is a learning experience and have things done around the house, while I think maybe I could write a book on that... but do I feel like jumping on a plane or crying in the middle of the floor every other day.... not anymore.... about once a month.... so I guess I am adapting learning, asking for help, not being so rigid... and learning to laugh at my expectations.... for they are the ones that frustrate me... the world is going along at the rate it is supposed to I am the one attempting to change what is..... so stay at least 6 months or try to give yourself a year and you will see how much "the country" has changed.....
Lots of Luck.....
 

AZB

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
12,290
519
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I say you need a good 6 yrs here to know if this place is for you or not. Then after 6 yrs, you will be so broke that you won't have ,money to go back, so then you will have no choice but to stay here and make ends meet. Hehehehe, hahahahaha.
AZB
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,370
3,150
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I say you need a good 6 yrs here to know if this place is for you or not. Then after 6 yrs, you will be so broke that you won't have ,money to go back, so then you will have no choice but to stay here and make ends meet. Hehehehe, hahahahaha.
AZB
LOL! Yes, that tends to help... :cheeky:

"Men, we have arrived to this island and I instruct you to burn your ships. In this battle we will either win or we will perish!" :paranoid:

-NALs
 

Janin

On Vacation....
Jul 31, 2007
548
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It All Depends

There's no rule.

- It depends how much you can take.
- It depends on former Thirld-World-experience.
- It depends on your spouse/boyfriend/sankie.
- It depends how much you're exposed to the 'culture'.
- It depends on the number of times your house was broken into, on the number of accidents you had, etc.
- It depends how much money you have.
- It depends.

Janin

P.S.:
IMHO, one year is the minimum period...
 

Rocky

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Apr 4, 2002
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Misunderstood advice

It would seem that some folks have misinterpreted the 6 month rule.
This is the minimum time period we suggest you live in the DR for, before purchasing a home or opening a biz.
There is not set time frame when a genie pops out of a bottle and reveals all.
It's just a good average, that most of us agree on.
 

AK74

On Vacation!
Jun 18, 2007
842
36
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I'm confused! What's forbidden? Swimming in the ocean, having lots of sex or dancing all night? I must say, I did all these things long before visiting the DR, so that certainly wasn't my reason for moving here! ;)


I was talking about NA folks.
But if you are from NA and still had all this in your home country I`d say you a very lucky exception.

Dancing all night after the longest work week in the World and two hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic jam?- Well, well...

Swimming in the ocean having first to spend three hours in heavy traffic going to Jones Beach?
Well, well...

Having alot of sex and never being hit with a sting operation and sexual harrasment suit ?
Well, well...

You must go and buy a lottery ticket without further delay!!
 

Lambada

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Mar 4, 2004
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There are some 'global' citizens who will feel happy anywhere in the world, but they are few.............there are some for whom the word 'failure' does not exist, so they will get on & survive........there are some who actively embrace challenges & adventures. Any of these people might know if they feel happy here within one month, three months, six months but they won't 'know' this country for a lot longer, as AZB says. And I also think there is a difference between people who arrived here 40/50 years ago and those who followed more recently when there was an already established expat population & easy means of communication with them. The 40/50 year people might have had more challenges but probably also more fun in meeting them. :)
 

PlantaFULL

New member
Oct 21, 2004
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Sometimes it goes much much quicker. Like friends I took on trips out of the resorts. Took them 5 minutes to realize they could never live here... Not that they were really considering it anyway.
 

Sharlene

New member
Mar 4, 2006
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I was talking about NA folks.
But if you are from NA and still had all this in your home country I`d say you a very lucky exception.

Dancing all night after the longest work week in the World and two hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic jam?- Well, well...

Swimming in the ocean having first to spend three hours in heavy traffic going to Jones Beach?
Well, well...

Having alot of sex and never being hit with a sting operation and sexual harrasment suit ?
Well, well...

You must go and buy a lottery ticket without further delay!!

Aaaaaahhhhh.....North Africa......now it all makes sense.....;)

I am a woman from the UK and I, before I had children, I regularly danced all night at at all sorts of places (including the beach) which were a 'stone's throw from where I used to work.

Swimming in the ocean.....does the 'sea' off the east coast of England count!

A lot of sex.....well most women I know of my age have had a lot of sex either with just one partner or more and I don't know of any that have had strange operations or sexual harrassment suits in relation to it!

Perhaps you should think about relocating to the UK! ;)
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
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dr1.com
We came to an AI for a week......and saw an apartment we liked, shown to us by a couple we had just met- that we liked! Sent our kids for a week to look the place over, then came back ourselves with friends for two weeks to see the north coast as well as the south, have a second look at the apartment and make a deal with the seller.
The rest is history.......
HOWEVER - and it's a BIG HOWEVER- we have travelled (a lot) and 'roughed it' in the wilds of Northern Ontario camping, spent time in absolute luxury in Italy and Eqypt, did the average "American" vacation thing etc. We've travelled by car, bus, train, plane , ferry, boat, horse and foot (and finally this year we'll travel by ship) so NOTHING 'fazes' us.
We've slept on ground sheets in sleeping bags, cots, pullmans, cars,planes, tent trailers, travel trailers, pull out couches(sofa's), blankets on wood floors/ceramics, feather beds, water beds, foam beds,etc.etc.
The six month suggestion of not buying anything-call it a trial run- is a good one for most.
Some know very quickly if they'll 'adapt' while others won't, for even longer than the six month trial but at least the trial allows time to adjust to a new land, new culture, new language before any 'fixed' decisions are made.
 

Rocky

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Apr 4, 2002
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The six month suggestion of not buying anything-call it a trial run- is a good one for most.
Some know very quickly if they'll 'adapt' while others won't, for even longer than the six month trial but at least the trial allows time to adjust to a new land, new culture, new language before any 'fixed' decisions are made.
That summarizes it well.
The 6 month rule is an arbitrary number that most agree upon.
It is no different than the 18 year old law about voting, drinking, having sex, whatever.
Just like MommC did not observe the rule, nor did I.
Special circumstances play a big roles as well.

The 6 month rule is suggested to newbies who would like to move here, to help them avoid making huge mistakes, but it's not carved in stone.