What is life really like when we are not in New Brunswick?
I know many of you envision an all inclusive, resort and beach vacation, where beautiful drinks are served at your beck and call. Buffets of food, dressed up dinners in a-la-cart restaurants and of course, not a chore to be seen for miles........ not the case.
The reality of being away for the winter is very different than being on vacation. Do we have beautiful weather? - most of the time. Dominican seems to be a different heat than Roatan, drier I would say, making the heat feel hottttttt.
Do we spend time lounging on the beach or at the pool with cocktails, everyday? - No. We do go to the beach or pool for a bit regularly (although I have been too busy to actually lounge on the beach yet). We don't drink so that is an easy one. Also the Coke Zero and diet sprite hit different here, I don't know why but it does not taste the same.
Do we have hobbies that consume our time and give us responsibilities? - Certainly. Steph dives regularly and has been fortunate to find a group of like minded individuals to spend his time with, both in Roatan and Dominican. I work on my photography, read and of course use this blog to connect with all of you!
Are we in a resort where everyone else does everything? - Hard no.... I mean I wish, but if that were the case we would not be able to afford trading the cold climate for the warm, in the winters. Laundry gets done and hung out every morning. Dishes, cleaning and floor sweeping, you guessed it, on us. We have a small, 2 bedroom Condo (more on that in the New Year), so it is not that labour intensive. We cook at home most of the time. Although, I will say that with the prices in DR, we have been eating at restaurants a couple of times per week. When 2 people can have a complete meal, with drinks and tip included for $15, who would not?
Are groceries expensive? - No, our cost of living is much less here. We will tally the end of the month our total but right now, it appears to cost us around $120 CAD per week.
Do we love what we are doing? - For the most part. Like anything in life, there are positives and negatives. Our physical and mental health are improved here compared to cold winters in Canada. We are much more active, because who really wants to sit inside when the weather is beautiful? Our nutrition is better here due to the abundance of fresh foods readily available on each street corner. We miss our family, particularly the kids and grand babies. We are grateful for FaceTime and the babies interact better than you can imagine when we call, however, we are accustomed to visiting them regularly. I enjoyed being able to give the mamas a break whenever they asked all summer and fall. It is rather taboo to do that via FaceTime. Despite the fact our things are well managed at home and the neighbours/kids monitor everything, there is always a little worry when the security cameras ding. Then there is the adjustment factor of learning the culture and lifestyle of a new place. My Spanish is much rustier than I thought having been without practice for 7 months. It is essential to take the time to learn some Spanish if you plan to be in a Caribbean country for any length of time. The culture here is very forgiving if you at least make the effort. No effort....you struggle, that is the bottom line.
All in all, we enjoy this nomadic lifestyle. We do spend our days learning about the country, sightseeing, tasting food that we normally would not have at home and of course, revelling in the delicious coffee that this part of the world offers! Seriously, if you just order a double double at Tim's every morning or pop a k-cup from Sobeys in your Keurig...get yourself a bag of coffee from any Central/South American country ( Floyd's Coffee in Jemseg does a great job with their coffee) and taste the difference.
Until Later,
Gigi
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