I hope you are having a wonderful day. I’m Pedro Martinez and this is my first Camborico.com blog post.
My wife, Rosemarry and I decided to start a blog to share how we live in Puerto Rico. We are blending the Cambodian and Puerto Rican cultures. We’ll blog about food, beer, traveling and living on the island.
Tired of the corporate grind, wanting to more time in tropical climates and looking for a better quality of life, we decided to move from the mainland to Puerto Rico. This was, in my opinion, one of the best decisions of our lives made as a family.
Check my “About Pedro” page for some more details.
Where in the world to move?
It took us roughly six months to do a decent amount of research of the next country to move to, from the moment we decided that it was happening. From a list of ten possible countries, we narrowed down to four locations that fit the bill based on our specific requirements.
Some of the requirements for the countries we were interested in, included the following:
- the local economy
- cost of living
- inexpensive traveling to and from the continental United States for visiting family and friends
- the average climate
- access to qualified doctors
- spoken language
- and local political climate among others
Puerto Rico, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Thailand were our top choices for countries to call home. But the beautiful island called “Island of the Enchantment” was by far the top spot.
Puerto Rico is truly a paradise in the Caribbean. Surrounded by beautiful white-sanded beaches, rain forests, tasty food, and friendly people. I’ll share pictures throughout this blog.
Picking the right town
Moving to Puerto Rico from the mainland was fairly easy from a logistics point of view. First of all, you have to find and decide where to live. I was born and raised on the island. Therefore, finding a place was slightly easier as I have visited a lot of places on the island before and Spanish is my native tongue.
We found a gorgeous piece of land in the town of Rio Grande, within the outskirts of El Yunque National Rain Forest. This is home!
There are three towns that I would recommend you must check out and consider before deciding to move to the island.
Luquillo
The first one is the town of Luquillo, named The Capital of the Sun (La Capital del Sol), which is located just 30 minutes from the main airport. With a growing population of expats, a great selection of restaurants and of course, some of the best beaches on the island, make it the #1 spot on my list.
Rincón
The second place on the island I would recommend you explore is the town of Rincón. This is another expat-magnet town that has a great vibe, awesome people and it is considered the surfing capital of the Caribbean.
Think of Rincón as the southern California of Puerto Rico, but with the coolest down-to-earth people living in it.
Río Grande
Río Grande is my favorite town and #1 spot in my heart, but I have to admit that I’m a bit bias as this is the town where I grew up. The town is only 20 minutes from the main airport, providing easy access to major retailers, hospitals and of course, the rain forest, which I really enjoy.
There are many other places that are very suitable for relocating, but I’ve chosen the above three towns for the cost of living, expat-friendly vibe and accessibility.
Check out my Travel Guide to Puerto Rico article to learn about other places and things you would like to do on the island.
The Move
Our decision was to move on a budget as my wife is big on getting bargains when possible. After researching moving companies, we calculated that it was cheaper to do it ourselves.
I’ve bought a brand new enclosed trailer, stored the things we thought that we were going to need in our new home and donated everything else. We kept the packing on the light side of things.
I then hauled the car and the trailer to the Jacksonville Port in Florida. Next, I flew to Puerto Rico and picked up both the car and the trailer the Port of San Juan a week later, after paying the transportation and import taxes.
I later sold the trailer to make up for most of the moving expenses.
Our Home
The land we purchased was raw with many trees and rough-looking in some areas, but we saw great potential, and the view to the Atlantic Ocean and the rain forest was simply breath-taking.
We decided to live off-the-grid in a house made out of shipping containers, mainly after learning about the length of the bureaucratic process of building a new home on the island.
We collect and store energy from the sun and we collect and filter rainwater. The stove, dryer machine, and water heater utilize liquid propane gas, which is very efficient and avoids overworking the batteries of the solar system.
I will share more details about our off-the-grid shipping container home on an upcoming blog post.
Other Projects
Besides working on this blog, organic agriculture is something we also enjoy. Gardening is a therapy, and the kids like to play with dirt. We try to grow any type of plant that would produce food or medicine.
Our mini-farm had enough space for most of our projects including our latest called “Cambodia,” a family-ran restaurant offering authentic Cambodian and “camborican-inspired” food made by my wife.
I’ll share updates about this project in upcoming blog posts.
Our Camborico Adventures
We spend a lot of time as a family working the land, fixing and upgrading our home, going to the beach and updating our blog.
Living off-the-grid in Puerto Rico with a 22-year-old in college and a pair of twin toddlers brings a new adventure every day. And we can’t wait to share those adventures with you.
My wife enjoys preparing authentic Cambodian food and her own creations. I will be sharing some of her recipes as well on this blog.
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Disclaimer
Occasionally, you will see links to affiliates’ recommendations associated with specific topics. Many of the links on this blog are affiliate links (to Amazon.com and other affiliates), meaning that if you decide to make a purchase, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a small commission.
I only share products and services that I have personally used and would recommend. This also helps me earn a living and continue to share more useful information with everyone.
Thank you!
This blog is the start of great and exciting things to come for our family.
Check out our latest adventures and updates on Facebook and Instagram.
If you have any recommendations or requests for information about living and eating in Puerto Rico or traveling to the island, I would love to know. Please leave a comment below!
