I’ve been writing about living overseas online for the past 15 years; most of my writing has been about living in Asia – an obvious location as I live in Indonesia. But, expats and potential expats these days have the world to choose from. South and Central America is one of the popular locations for both Europeans and North Americans. Today’s site is about Margarita Island, Venezuela.
Margarita Island is a Venezuelan island in the Carribean Sea. The island is known for its white sand beaches and laid-back lifestyle. The website that I’m highlighting is written by an expat who has lived on Margarita Island for over 20 years. While the layout of the website is basic at best, the information therein is first rate. The site creator is a Canadian, Dan O’Brien, and he covers all the basics that a potential expat needs to know when making a plan for a move to paradise. Dan has a little villa, bed and breakfast, and is married to a Venezuelan lady so you would expect that he has a good grasp on the local realities. One of the pluses of this site is that Dan updates it regularly. This is an important part of a site that offers information on moving overseas.
Dan has information on weather, property ownership, foreign exchange matters, starting a business or looking for work, costs of living, language, banking, hiring household help, the political situation (something that you want to keep track of these days), medical issues, and transportation. I found the information here very helpful, and it answered most of the questions that I would have before moving to a foreign country.
One of the comments that I particularly liked was Dan’s advice: “I strongly recommend that anyone considering a permanent move to Margarita Island first rent from 6 months to a year to see if living here is to your liking.” As I’ve mentioned before when discussing Bali, I’m amazed at the number of people who just move to an island location without ever having visited. It might seem like a cool, impulsive thing to do, but island living is not for everyone, and it really is advisable to try it before you move lock, stock and barrel.
So if you’re interested in moving to an island in South America, check out Dan’s site.
2 comments:
Thanks for the nice comments about my site & it's "Living in Margarita" section. I try to keep it as up to date as possible.
Our little bed & breakfast has gotten considerably larger now with 10 rooms, pool, A/C, Internet, Wi-Fi, sat TV, etc., etc.
Just do a search for Margarita Tropical Villa :-)
I am always happy to answer any questions about life here in Margarita although most things are covered in the 4 pages of info that I wrote.
Thanks again...Dan O'Brien
No problem Dan. I enjoyed finding your site. It's always interesting to see what other expats are doing.
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