at home in puerto rico

This summer I was speaking with a family that said they had relocated to the Rincón area largely based on information from our blog.  Recalling some of the crazy days of our move to Puerto Rico, I told them that finally, after 3 years, we can say that we feel at home here.

Later on, I thought about this a bit more.  When did the switch flip for us?  In our case, the lead domino that got the ball rolling was pretty clear; income.  When you are burning through your savings to pay your bills each month, it’s pretty difficult to relax and fully immerse yourself in your surroundings.  Once we addressed that concern (by building out an Act 20 consultancy), we were able to turn our attention to other, more interesting things like:

• Getting our boys plugged into a local school and meeting other parents in the area.
• Educating ourselves on the best places to get the goods and services we need
• Integrating regular health and wellness activities into our lives which includes yoga, CrossFit, and chiropractic care.
• Learning to bodyboard, paddleboard, and now surf, which the boys are really excelling at.
• Exploring the many spectacular hiking trails on the island

Together these seemingly small things go a long way towards building that feeling of belonging within a community.  Further, the impact of going through Hurricane Maria and its aftermath with our fellow island dwellers cannot be overstated.  We definitely feel more like Puerto Ricans and less like Texans in the wake of that harrowing experience.

On the flip side, there are quite a few little inconveniences and aggravations that can wear on you after a while if you let them.  Over time, addressing these little irritants has become the primary focus of our blog.  We are constantly on the lookout for tips and tools that can help us live as comfortably here as we did in the states.  Whether it’s mail, internet, water, or even dealing with mosquitos, finding workarounds to overcome these challenges only serves to make living in this beautiful and quirky place even more awesome than it already is.  And more importantly, allow it to feel EVEN MORE like home.

Our new name

So to help make our mission clear to new readers, we decided to rename our site to At Home in Puerto Rico and will be migrating to athomeinpuertorico.com over the next few weeks.  When the time comes, don’t forget to update your bookmarks.  Also, if you have recently moved to Puerto Rico, please share with us the biggest things you miss from where you moved from.  If we put our collective heads together, I think we’ll be surprised at what we can come up with!