At Home in Puerto Rico

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!

White family - At home in puerto rico
finally feeling at home in puerto rico!

6 comments

  • It has finally arrived, November 13th 2018, our move to PR. Will definitely keep you posted about what we miss the most about California.

    • Hi Gatica, so happy to hear the day of your move has finally arrived! Look forward to hearing your impressions..

  • We have been here full time for 5 years and I don’t know if I will ever feel fully at home in Puerto Rico. I definitely feel much more comfortable but not fully “at home.” There are so many hidden cultural and linguistic cues that I often miss. Not to mention that family is key to life here and we have none. I try really hard to incorporate into the culture, but I find a lot of stateside “gringos” tend to isolate ourselves in order to become more comfortable. This is understandable but can eventually lead to not feeling fully accepted or integrated. Although now it is hard to think about going back to Colorado, so something has definitely changed within me. And con mas tiempo I think it will continue to feel more and more “homey.”

    • Hi Cassie,

      Thank you for the thoughtful and introspective comment. Definitely gives me some things to ponder. Yes, it certainly would be awesome if the grandparents (or other family) would want to move here, but alas…

  • Looking forward to your next post! I have really enjoyed learning from your journey.

    • Hi AJ, glad you are enjoying the posts. Your comment prompted me to stop procrastinating and write something which I just published. Thanks for the kick in the seat of the pants! 🙂

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