See full version: 15 Things You Learn When Moving to the Caribbean
When you ask yourself this question, you are most likely tired of bad weather or you want a change in lifestyle. There is a lot of variety between the Caribbean islands in terms of size, nature, languages, people, reachability, but also the economy. However, the one thing that connects them all is the joy of life. The Caribbean is paradise, but of course, with its own quirks and routines.
The world’s deadliest animal spreads all kinds of diseases. Especially in the Caribbean: dengue, chikungunya, and who knows what variation pops up every year. And then there is all the itching and the buzzing keeping you up all night. Don’t leave puddles of water anywhere in your garden as within 3 days they will be swarming. One big winner in all this is the insect repellent company called ‘Off’ with its recognizable orange and green bottles. Wherever you go in the Caribbean, this is the #1 selling brand. Luckily, over time, you develop a natural ‘Off’. The best is when people come to visit, as they love fresh, new, non-Caribbean blood and leave you alone! [links]
I have seen the sun go down hundreds of times and every time it happens, I take a moment to enjoy it. It’s a game to predict if the sun will hit the water or gets blocked by clouds or haze. I add the occasional ‘tsssss’ when the sun does hit the water. The best ones occur when the clouds are just right and there is moist in the air. The colors can be amazing with different hues of blue, purple, orange, and red. A sight for delighted eyes!
Living on an island in the Caribbean, surrounded by jungle-covered hills and picture-perfect beaches sounds like a dream. Wake up, enjoy a cup of coffee and fresh fruit picked from the trees around your house, walk along the beach and maybe go for a swim to cool off from the sun's warmth. This is paradise. This is a dream come true.
8. Storms happen, and they can be gravely serious.
Hurricane season is no joke in the Caribbean, with many home-owners and business-owners holding their breath for months each summer. If you move to an island prone to being hit by hurricanes and tropical storms, don't try to pretend you're smarter than the local construction workers who are building your home to withstand those storms. [links]
Come for a week, take your sunset photos, and head on home.
F. Hirschhorn: There is no reason why children of all ages can't live on a yacht. There are many families living on boats on the water and they are usually very confident, intelligent and worldly kids who thrive in this lifestyle. In the Caribbean especially, there are hundreds of "kid boats" [boats with families living on them].
Sophie Darsy and Ryan Ellison are in the Azores on Polar Seal, a 2007 Beneteau Oceanis 40 outfitted for ocean sailing. Several years ago, the couple learned to sail, quit their corporate jobs and now chronicle their life at sea.
N. Hirschhorn: Think about what it costs to live on land — what kind of lifestyle do you live? Do you like to eat out at fancy restaurants and buy nice things? Chances are you will do the same when living on a boat, which means that your lifestyle will often cost the same. Will you anchor — which is free — or stay in marinas? Will you be on a sabbatical living off savings or do you work along the way? Are you a family or a couple? more
Darsy: The pandemic has made sailing between countries a little more difficult, but while our options were extremely limited in 2020, we have had much better luck in 2021.
We have friends who lived aboard a 1984 47-foot monohull for two years with three kids. The boat cost $90,000 and they lived off $50,000 a year cruising the Caribbean and anchoring the entire time. here
CNBC spoke with several yacht owners who agreed to answer all questions — with no topics off limits — about the yachting lifestyle and perhaps more importantly, how much it costs.
But the going was far from easy. "We had difficulty getting health insurance, said Laurie. "We came back after two years with our bank accounts depleted, got our jobs back, and have had employer-based insurance since then."
Those are just two items on a long list of boat care responsibilities, including caring for your sails, preventing corrosion of metal equipment and more.
"You'll have your boat goal and your provisions goal," said Ryan Dignum, a financial planner with Dignum Financial Partners in Fort Worth. "You always have to build in cushions in case it's a little more expensive." [links]
They enjoyed marine life enough that they decided to set a date, save aggressively and part ways with their jobs so that they could sail Saturnalia to Bermuda in 1993. The couple kicked off a two-year jaunt that eventually brought them up and down the East Coast and into the Caribbean.