SweetSue, you can achieve your dream. I (and many others on this board) have. For the past ten years I've been renting a house in a private yard on the West End and as of recently have been staying there for three months. I have a community of neighbors and friends that I love - I "live" there. I'm into the simplicity as well...I'm away from the computer as much as I can be, I love to shop and prepare meals for my family and friends - I even get a kick out of cleaning my own house. I guess for me its about being in the moment. I never go with any plans, no hard "dates" - its a very go with the flow existence and even still I manage to get out and about, check out some stuff out of town, out of the yard and even catch some live music once and a while. I've just booked my ticket for this year's trip and I'm stoked.

After traveling to Negril for a long period of time you do make friends and those friends can turn you on to some wonderful stuff. That's how I got into my yard in the first place (my first extended stay of 1 month was actually at SamSara, the following year we sublet our friends house while he went to the states to care for his aging Dad.) As a result of becoming a part of this community I was afforded a great living opportunity and the benefit of their knowledge - where to shop, where to get the "good" fish - little things like that. I started at one month ten years ago, and now am up to three. For right now, because I do work and run a business, that's where I'll stay. I used to play around with the idea of living there full time...now I'm not so sure about that...but I do know I go from one soft spot to another. Where I live most of the year in California is also one of the garden spots of the world.

Live your dream!!!!