Sooo....... All I have to do is marry a Jamaican ????
Sooo....... All I have to do is marry a Jamaican ????
I totally relate to this post. When I was spending 6 months at a time in Jamaica I was (for the most part) either living on or near a beach or on otherwise flat land. I am a few years younger but I can't imagine spending more than 100 days a year on Hilltop Road in Accompong Town.Originally Posted by captaind & Linston
The physical rigors of the up and down the hills takes it's toll and sometimes 100 days feels like a year.
Living a mere 1hr and 40 min from Jamaica in Florida gives me the best of both worlds.
There are just some things that need to be done that become too much of a problem in Jamaica.
I will continue to travel once or twice a year to Jamaica for 90 days each time until I am no longer able to do so.
Living full time in Jamaica; 365 days a year no longer interests me.
Peace and Guidance
Free Opinions Offered. No tipping required. Hours: Open when I feel like it.
johng,
What I wrote was not a personal attack and it wasn't meant as a challenge for you to defend. Whenever anyone makes sweeping statements that I consider counter to my experiences or those of others I know personally, I simply voice my opinion. Nothing more.
I didn't comment on other parts of your statement because I don't have enough personal experience enough to know if they are generally accurate or not. I only pointed out that living in remote, rural areas even for Jamaicans relocating from affaren or corporate areas can be quite dangerous. Not necessarily from loss of life but praedial larceny, theft and intimidation. A foreigner living his dream in those areas can even present more challenges. Access to markets for the things you grow can be difficult and higglers who come to you to buy often "extort" (my word) bratta from the seller. An example: If you want to sell 100 pounds of yams, the buyers want 12 pounds take away to make the deal. In other words, you have to give 112 pounds to sell 100. This is very common in rural areas.
I don't know much about living in areas like Negril so I didn't comment on that other than say it is expensive. Perhaps there you can fit in more easily if you have enough money to throw at the problems you most probably will encounter.
Marrying a Jamaican for residency is, of course, against the law but hard to prove if that was the reason for the marriage. My advice to anyone considering this would be not to do it but, if you did, make sure you get your Jamaican residency before bringing that significant other to your home country. "Opportunity is a scarce, scarce commodity" and once someone gets that opportunity their need to reciprocate diminishes.
Furthermore, it is hard to comment on your post because I don't know of your actual experiences in Jamaica. I know you have gone many times (I think) over many years as have I but I don't know if you have extensive experience in living rural for longer than a few weeks at a time.
I have a neighbor here in Accompong Town which will go unnamed. He fell in love with Accompong Town and in lust with a local woman. A marriage ensued and soon she went to the US and he subsequently came on trips to build his dream cottages on family land. The cottages are here, he is not. Her dream has come true and his dream has turned into a nightmare surrounded by tall weeds and macca. Many a dream has ended up this way.
Of course, I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do with a move to Jamaica. The first six months are the hardest and the next six months a little better. If you have the resources to last that first year without any income or return on your investment or crops, you have a good chance to make it.
Best of luck in whatever you decide.
Peace and Guidance
Free Opinions Offered. No tipping required. Hours: Open when I feel like it.
I dream about this all the time - being able to grow/raise/spear everything I need to eat, no 2kg boots, no snowblower, wearing out work machetes. I figure I could learn to live without an endless supply of Costco paper towels - then I wonder what I would do about healthcare and I am snapped back to reality. But real mangoes, almonds and goat meat! back into the dream....
Thanks Rob and everybody else. Does marrying a Jamaican lead to automatic Green Card / Residency in JA or are there still lots of roadblocks in the way??
Odinson, The question is quantity or quality??? Do you want to live a long long time with a less than great quality of life or do you want to enjoy the years you have left having fun and being in a place you really want to be. Off the beaten path in JA you can buy land much less expensive than most everywhere in the US. Depending on who you live with (Family or alone) you can build a really nice place for way less than NA. That is the tough choice. All this is based on getting your paperwork.
I have a friend in the states who I have traveled to JA many times and we often have this conversation. I think being without a lot of money would be easier to deal with in JA then the same situation here. Out in the country you can grow your own food and herbs, fruits, vegetables, etc.. Even the downtrodden in JA are often happy despite their plight. We're not talking downtown in a city but in the country or mountains or even Negril if you can figure out how to do it.
I think that it is a kind of a natural mystic kind of feeling ...........to dream .........>>about living in paradise
It all sounds so nice.... in a Polyanna sort of way but the realities of living in Jamaica are not as easy as one thinks. We all have a little knowledge about Negril and the high cost of living there.Odinson, The question is quantity or quality??? Do you want to live a long long time with a less than great quality of life or do you want to enjoy the years you have left having fun and being in a place you really want to be. Off the beaten path in JA you can buy land much less expensive than most everywhere in the US. Depending on who you live with (Family or alone) you can build a really nice place for way less than NA. That is the tough choice. All this is based on getting your paperwork.
I have a friend in the states who I have traveled to JA many times and we often have this conversation. I think being without a lot of money would be easier to deal with in JA then the same situation here. Out in the country you can grow your own food and herbs, fruits, vegetables, etc.. Even the downtrodden in JA are often happy despite their plight. We're not talking downtown in a city but in the country or mountains or even Negril if you can figure out how to do it.
From your post I don't know if you are talking about Negril or somewhere out on the island. You talk about land being cheaper so I assume you mean in rural Jamaica so I will limit this comment to "off the beaten path" as you put it.
The fact is that as a foreigner buying a piece of property and building a house in those areas can be quite dangerous. Even returning Jamaican residents become targets when they bring their foreign-earned money home and build a house even in their own original community.
Being without a lot of money in Jamaica is not (in my opinion) easier that being at home without lots of money. You ask Odinson if it is Quantity or Quality?? That begs the assumption that living in Jamaica might not bring you "Quantity" of life but rather "Quality".
In my community a lot of people are poor as a church mouse but live into their 90's. I think a good number would trade some years to live a better Quality of life like having more money etc. Not everyone considers living a long time "Quality" by scratching out an existence; growing their own food, herbs etc.
For the life of me, I can't understand that statement. "downtrodden"? "plight"? You say you are not talking about the cities so can you explain what you mean by those two terms? Are you saying "poor Jamaicans are happy"? I would guess that they are not happy being poor but rather happy to be alive rather than the alternative.Even the downtrodden in JA are often happy despite their plight.
I think that marrying a Jamaican for residency is probably the easiest way to get the residence but I also think, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!"
Just my opinion.
Free Opinions Offered. No tipping required. Hours: Open when I feel like it.
Can you actually build for less? Everything I've seen (which admittedly isn't a great deal) would make me think that construction costs would be higher due to costlier materials and finishings. Labor is cheaper, of course, but with most materials being imported I've always understood costs to be higher by the time the project is completed. (Of course that assumes construction of a house roughly on NA standards.)
everything is relative>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...you can build anything for" less" ......................how much work are you willing to do
i might even come help you >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...i will>>>if you buy the beer
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