General Info

[quote=Ayyyypapi]Don't mean to [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord140][CodeWord140][/url] you off but despite bond rating Cuenca Ecuador was rated as best place to retire by MSN money.[/quote]
[QUOTE=Helpmann]If you're going to start encouraging mongers to buy homes (illiquid asset) in a country which devalued its currency by over 50% just 12-years ago then be my guest.[/QUOTE]
And since 2000, Ecuador has replaced the sucre with the Yankee Dollar ... another endangered currency, I fear... :(

Wuzzn't we talkin'bout the Dom Rep?

HOTEL15 promotion code, good until August 12, 2010, for travel through September, 30, 2010. Will take 15% off the cost of a one night or more hotel stay, booked on Orbitz.

[QUOTE=Westy]I'd like to second Boricua's proposal in favor of a "Living In The D.R." thread.

I would appreciate a thread about Living In The Dominican Republic, and I would be eager to participate in such a thread.[/QUOTE]

Please include me in the list of those with an interest in the thread.

[QUOTE=Mr Gogo]I own a home in Costambar and have never had a problem. Also as you say prices are dropping and will probaly drop further. But I follow strict rules that I apply, being this is my safe zone. [B][U]I never take guests to my home[/U].[/B] And I remain low key with the locals there.[/QUOTE]

My very knowledgeable uncle gave me this advice while helping me move into my first apartment after graduate school. I remember it like yesterday. He was adamant about not bringing visitors to my apartment, and not visiting apartments of visitors that I did not know on a non-playing basis. Likewise, he stressed the importance of not being too chatty with the neighbors.

[QUOTE=Mr Gogo]With that said [Costambar] is also a very boring place. Sometimes I feel funny having an apt across the street from Costambar beach, but never wanting to go there.[/QUOTE]

This is funny. I do not hang-out in my neighborhood in the states, even though it is a trendy one. It is too close, so to speak. I saw some of the places across from the beach, and liked them. However, I would not care to be seen by the workers as a long-term resident.

I may need to retain Mr. Gogo for advice on relocating. :)

[QUOTE=Mr Gogo]. But I follow strict rules that I apply, being this is my safe zone. I never take guests to my home. .[/QUOTE]

Lets suppose that I move to Santo Domingo. I have some friends I have met over the internet on recent years, we hang on restaurants and bars every time I travel. You recommend me never to allow the girls to visit me? Why?


Let’s suppose that I arrive home from work and I find that my laptop was stolen, who will probably be responsible for the robbery: a neighbor? a contractor or some home service provider? my friends? my friend’s friends? a professional thief? my landlord?

Thanks for your response.

[QUOTE=Professor 1]Please include me in the list of those with an interest in the thread.[/QUOTE]Please include me on that list. Starting to get close to retirement and long for a place with warm winters and lower cost of living.

[QUOTE=BoricuaOnline]Lets suppose that I move to Santo Domingo. I have some friends I have met over the internet on recent years, we hang on restaurants and bars every time I travel. You recommend me never to allow the girls to visit me? Why?


Let’s suppose that I arrive home from work and I find that my laptop was stolen, who will probably be responsible for the robbery: a neighbor? a contractor or some home service provider? my friends? my friend’s friends? a professional thief? my landlord?

Thanks for your response.[/QUOTE]You didn't state if your renting or buying? Renting gives you more flexibility. But if you buy.

The last thing you need is girls stopping by unexpectedly laying claims. As we travel its easy for us to disconnect but when you live in one location the game changes. I've had girls in Sosua stake out my hotels and make scenes, do you want this where you live?

Robbers need vital intel usually. Do you live alone? Your schedule? Do you have an alarm? Do you have valuables? Your openness will provide the needed intel to assist the robbers. Just my opinion. Plus where do you go to have peace if you have the party house?

The DR1 website has a lot of useful info on living in the Dominican Republic

[url]http://www.dr1/living/index.shtml[/url]

[QUOTE=Professor 1]My very knowledgeable uncle gave me this advice while helping me move into my first apartment after graduate school. I remember it like yesterday. He was adamant about not bringing visitors to my apartment, and not visiting apartments of visitors that I did not know on a non-playing basis. Likewise, he stressed the importance of not being too chatty with the neighbors.

This is funny. I do not hang-out in my neighborhood in the states, even though it is a trendy one. It is too close, so to speak. I saw some of the places across from the beach, and liked them. However, I would not care to be seen by the workers as a long-term resident.

I may need to retain Mr. Gogo for advice on relocating.[/QUOTE]I love poker because its like life. You have community cards that are shared, then you have hole cards that are hidden. But as in life you want to create outs. You never want to leave yourself without options. Never play yourself out too soon. As in poker you want to figure out what the other guy is up to, but also deceive to protect your hand while appearing genuine. Some guys hope for the best(pre flop) and hope everything will be okay. Other guys know how to deal with whats dealt(after flop).

I'm not an expert on relocation, Sir Charles and Manizales 911 are more active for this. I'm still searching and learning.

[QUOTE=Westy]I'd like to second Boricua's proposal in favor of a "Living In The D.R." thread.

The notion of living in a "Caribbean paradise" does tempt me ... and it would help if the price were reasonably cheap. The Puerto Plata area looks nice, and real-estate there certainly isn't expensive. The "endless summer" tempts, too. BUT - no bed of roses is entirely free from thorns.

A source I've gotten used to using is the [i]International Living[/i] website and magazine. They haven't given a lot of attention to the DomRep lately, but their "e-letters" from 2007 and 2008 included several that dealt with the coast between Cabarete and Sosua ... aye, me buckos, Monger Central!

The [i]IL[/i] Quality-of-Life rankings for 2010, though, brought the DomRep in at #73 - way below countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Panama, Costa Rica ... Oddly, they rated "Climate" rather poorly; maybe their air conditioners weren't working. Other items that got low marks include Infrastructure, Risk & Safety, the Economy, and Leisure & Culture. "Cost of Living" was just barely ahead of the USA, which surprised me; but it's "indexed" to a lifestyle equivalent to the USA, and based on the US State Department's Index of Overseas Living Costs. (And US-Embassy-personnel "home security" standards boost the price of rentals pretty strongly.)

But the articles I read point out that beach-access real estate in the DomRep is a great bargain, and they do praise the beaches and the beautiful scenery. (I don't [i]think[/i] they were talking about the type of "scenery" we enjoy around Blackbeard's pool & patio, though.) And it appears that the Dom Rep exempts retired expats from paying income tax on their foreign-sourced pensions ... if Sir Charles is reading, can you confirm this?

I can see "minuses" to the DomRep - the roads, the driving, the crazy motoconchistas - and there are always risks to being "rich" in a relatively-poor country. (The 2010 CIA Factbook gives a GDP-per-capita figure of $8300 per annum - that's about two months of my pension, after taxes - and a Gini index of just under 50.) But as I said about "beds of roses"....

How does the expat resident get along with life in the DomRep? What kind of prices, or rental costs, could you expect for desirable real estate? What about shopping, transportation, and the multitude of things you might go out doing when you're not in bed? Any particular "must see" items; conversely, any places you "must avoid"...?

I would appreciate a thread about Living In The Dominican Republic, and I would be eager to participate in such a thread.[/QUOTE]
IL's purposed is to sell properties in certain countries.

[QUOTE=Westy]And since 2000, Ecuador has replaced the sucre with the Yankee Dollar ... another endangered currency, I fear... :(

Wuzzn't we talkin'bout the Dom Rep?[/QUOTE]
Always kissin Chavez's butt!

[QUOTE=Sidney]IL's purposed is to sell properties in certain countries.[/QUOTE]
I'm afraid you have a point there; they do have a lot of "infomercial" content, and the proportion has increased over the years. But I believe they still have a decent proportion of useful content beyond those "Buy Here" articles.

Of course, they don't have the punter's perspective ....

[QUOTE=BoricuaOnline]Lets suppose that I move to Santo Domingo. I have some friends I have met over the internet on recent years, we hang on restaurants and bars every time I travel. You recommend me never to allow the girls to visit me? Why?


Let’s suppose that I arrive home from work and I find that my laptop was stolen, who will probably be responsible for the robbery: a neighbor? a contractor or some home service provider? my friends? my friend’s friends? a professional thief? my landlord?

Thanks for your response.[/QUOTE]I cannot speak for Mr. Gogo, but you do not want the hassle of having girls that you meet "on the street" making unannounced visits to your place at any time for any reason. Moreover, it opens you up to potential, and avoidable, danger. I violated this rule once. I has horrified when a former date knocked upon my door one night-after "promising" never to come to my place-and announcing that she needed to make some $$ for food, etc., and etc. I did not need my neighbors to see this side of my social life. Moreover, you set yourself up for a potential false claim. It is one thing to take a girl to a hotel and have LE, her brother, her father, or her husband go there looking for you, even if you did nothing. It is quite another to have one of these folks come to your residence looking for you. You must always avoid unnecessary risks.

Hello,

I have been wondering this kind of thing for some time now so I wanted to ask a more traveled monger.

One of my friends that has traveled alot to the Dominican Republic and other places has said that he found it really difficult to find girls that will swallow let alone the ones that do CIM (both Pros and Non-pros). I found this kind of disappointing since I always thought that DR was one of the places where the women are prepared to do the nastiest stuff to their punter or boyfriend.

So the question is, did any of you guys traveling to DR have problems with pros doing really kinky swallowing and CIM?

What about your those of you that have regular girlfriends or shall I say non-pro? Did you find that a girl from a nice area like Moca or la vega or santiago acting real kinky or did you get a girl that was down right boring and not experimental or cooperative.

[QUOTE=Sidney]Always kissin Chavez's butt![/QUOTE]Hi Sidney - I sure hope that the DR doesn't turn into Jamaica. Maybe it's too late?

[url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704532204575397882614635158.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories]Jamaica's Growing Violence Threatens Retiree Economy[/url]

-Helpmann :)