People, People, People...come on. get your heads on straight. The DR is not bad. Boring? Yes! Violent? No.
This is an island with 11 millions people just on the DR side!! For an island with 11 million people, but more then 20 million if you include Haiti, this is not bad at all. In fact, for me, i find it incredibly safe. Let me explain.
I travel around the island on a motorcycle. I go everywhere. there is not a corner or town, or village that i will not travel through at night, in the afternoon, during presidential elections. I go to brothels, i go to gambling houses, i go to remote beaches. i go up in the mountains, Everything that is expensive, i carry on me. he only thing i leave behind is my motorcycle...locked.
The only thing to fear is fear itself. I walk the Colonial ZOne at night. I can't do it during the daytime because its hotter then hell. I walk everywhere. I don't have a gun. don't want one!
Yes, the DR can be boring as hell sometimes, but that's why you need a good hobby or two. Start kite sutfing, motorcyling, gambling, surfing, paddle boarding, help a charity, sponsor some school children, write a book of your experiences etc. there is a million things you can do to kill the boredom. If none of those work, do what i do, leave the island for 4 months each year, and then return refreshed. you'll love it, and you'll have a whole new perspective of everything. I know. I've been doing it for over 30 years now.
But, please, do not think if you go to panama or columbia or thailand or wherever, that you are going to find paradise. paradise does not exist, and every place is what you make of it. Boredom will follow you everywhere you go unless you got some good hobbies in life. Venereal diseases will follow you everywhere unless you get some new friends. Life is what you make of it. So don't lye down with dogs, and you won't wake up with fleas!
Now get out there and buy a motorcycle and start exploring the island...it's big, its huge, its wonderful, it's beautiful, and the people are more than kind for the amount of deep seated poverty and sh!t of a government that they have. You're as close to paradise that you're going to find on an island with 20 million people (11 million on the DR side).
Love Frank