What are the downsides to living in the carribean?

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Reg Tedious

Very poor ski-ing conditions

Barbados Chick

As we come the end of of our second year living in Barbados I can tell you there are certainly downsides. Some have already been covered,
- Weather: hurricanes, humidity, rain and mosquitoes.
We actually get summer twice as the suns passes over us heading north for the northern hemisphere and then back again as it heads for the southern. That mean TWO separate very hot months.
- Fresh produce is like gold and priced as such. $17.00 Bds for a head of lettuce... about $8.00 US
- forget about beef
- cost of living IS high
- Telecommunications is iffy at best.
- The service industry does not understand :"service" and thus provide very little.
- Attitudes are 30 years behind
- Everything is done in triplicate and copies made and kept for ever
- Recycling is non existant and the garbage / littering is unreal.
- Air fare and travel distance to anywhere
I could go on.....

On a positive note tho, the health care is good - lots of Drs and mostly the locals are very friendly, the ocean is always warm and you can usually plan an outdoor event woth out worrying about rain. You are not likely to get unexpected guests as air fare is high and they really do need to tell you they are coming so they have a bed to sleep in.

So as with anything or anywhere else, there are the good and bad features.

Ralfcoder

-hurricanes

-probably expensive, if you try to maintain the same standard of living you have now.

- getting consumer goods may take time if you have to order them from the mainland or another island

- you may have to learn a new language.

- I'd look carefully to see what the level of health care is like in the area where you would like to live, especially if you have any serious health issues (diabetes, heart trouble, etc).

- travel to and from the island you pick may be intermittent, depending on where you settle.

D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F

hurricane season and missing family and friends

Myke

the only downside for me after living in Puerto Rico for two years was leaving and missing my family and friends like hell.

Look me over, I'm the Capm

Hurricanes

SANDRA Q

hurricanes and the heat.

Timothy B

Depending on where U live, U might be affected by huricanes. Some islands are outside of the huricane belt so far, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao being three of them.
If you are used to life in like the US, it will be different living in the caribbean, because places like Wal Mart and Target and such are still not available there, and everything feels closer, and more 'home like'.
For the rest it's much better living.

â™¥gigiâ™¥

are there any? lol

the only downside for me would be family still living here and not seeing them

zanydumplings

if you live in north london at the moment , no downsides.

yahooisawastofspaceremoveme

nobody has mentioned those pirates yet

Sanmigsean

In all honesty - the biggest downside is running the risk of "going bush" and/or becoming an alcoholic. Certain countries will have certain downsides such as non-availability of certain goods, or high cost of living.

I toyed with doing it a few years back, but the reason I decided against it was (after one 6 week stay) the boredom factor. If you get bored and are idle at too young of an age, you start getting into stupid trouble.

lulu

absolutely none.

Jamaican Girl_19_Go Asafa&Bolt

hmmm... none! lol...the good FAR outweighs the bad!

Luvfactory

too bloody hot there!

RACQUEL

The mosquitoes!

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