Best Place To Escape The World
When we say that the Dominican Republic is the world’s next top “do-everything haven,” we don’t just mean that it’s one of the best places to live, retire, run a business, make a real estate investment, and qualify—relatively quickly and easily—for residency and a second passport…
Yes, you can do any and all of those things. But you get to do them in the Caribbean… without the usual Caribbean price tag.
And, quintessentially Caribbean as the DR is, it offers one of the best lifestyles possible. Here, you’re not locked into a lazy beach existence… but have options for year-round entertainment—from upscale restaurants and international theaters to jungle trails begging to be explored and the chance to watch hundreds of humpback whales perform their tricks just offshore.
Most of the expats we know living full-time in the DR discovered it first on vacation. While they started out at the resorts of Punta Cana or Puerto Plata, something about this place appealed to them that made them move beyond these tourist hot spots and explore the real Dominican Republic.
After a number of vacations in Punta Cana, Charles and Katherine Fritz started to think about a longer stay. At our Live and Invest in the Dominican Republic Conference in May 2016, Charles spoke about the couple’s experience based in the capital city, Santo Domingo, as they explored their retirement options around the country:
“For only US$660 per month, we have a huge, three-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath, seventh-floor apartment with beautiful marble floors, crown molding, and wonderful woodwork, as well as a balcony view of the Caribbean. We enjoy the sea breezes from our comfortable Dominican rocking chairs every day.
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| Santo Domingo boasts the oldest cathedral in the Americas Photo credit: LifeAsIPictured via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND |
“These breezes are not only a great pleasure but also have allowed us to use air conditioning only at night in our bedroom. This helps to keep our electricity cost down; our bill is between US$40 and US$60 a month.
“And we have no need for a car, as public transportation and taxi services are readily available and quite affordable.
“If your dream is a quiet, relaxing Caribbean lifestyle, Santo Domingo is probably not the best option, but the DR does offer many great beach and mountain locations where you could escape the world.”
Of all our expat contacts on the ground, Todd Schlosser’s story is my favorite. Todd arrived in the Dominican Republic 12 years ago. At the time, he was looking for a place to invest and had traveled down to meet a friend who had a beach house on the island. When the van he was traveling in broke down, Todd made his way down a mountain pass and found himself in a bar. He had no idea where he was but he instantly loved the small and friendly beach community he found himself in. His friend picked him up the next morning. Turned out he was in Las Terrenas.
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| Escape to the world-class beach at Las Terrenas Photo credit: Šarunas Burdulis via Foter.com / CC BY-SA |
From there, Todd and his friend decided to import dune buggies from the States and rent them out to visitors. They set up their new business in Puerto Plata… but Todd soon realized it wasn’t where he wanted to be. He was always thinking about the little beach town he’d discovered by accident.
Todd told our attendees in Santo Domingo last May:
“Las Terrenas just felt right to me.
“So that’s where I moved, and that’s where I’m living still. Life is calm in Las Terrenas. The whole town feels like a neighborhood. It’s grown considerably since I first arrived, but it hasn’t lost its charm. We have authentic French and Italian restaurants with better food than I ever had in Ohio.
“Fast forward to today, and I’m married to a beautiful Dominican woman. We have a 7-year-old daughter who was born here and who speaks fluent English and Spanish…
“This is a great place to raise kids. My daughter is growing up the way I grew up. Kids here go out and play until dark. They don’t all have cell phones. They play with sticks and collect shells. Life is simple… sweet… ”
Plus, alongside our expats, we’ll have our DR-focused team of legal and tax specialists, real estate and rental agents, developers, and more, who can help advise you through whatever move you’d like to make here.
We knew this event was going to be popular… but seats are disappearing faster than we’d anticipated. Our conference rooms in Santo Domingo have limited capacity, so if you’d like to join us in this top Caribbean haven, I urge you to not delay…
I hope to see you in the warm and wonderful Caribbean this May.
Valentine Fouché
Editor, Live and Invest Overseas Confidential
