Welcome to part 4 of our amazing journey of making a total life change. Going from a computer software engineer at the top of my career to living on a sailboat in the Caribbean to this chapter living on a farm in Puerto Rico.
For my previous chapters see:
- How I went from creating QuickPay for Quicken to selling almost everything to go live on a sailboat in the Caribbean
- Sint Maarten to Virgin Gorda and almost crashing on the rocks
- Downsizing and living in Paradise off the grid
(Me bringing home my banana harvest)
Buying a farm in Puerto Rico
In June 1995, just a few months before the hurricane hit while living on the sailboat I saw a classified ad in the local paper that read: "12 acre farm with house in Puerto Rico $60,000".
After living in the Virgin Islands and seeing that a small home was going for 1/4 million with really no land or resources we thought we would take a trip to Puerto Rico to check it out.
We called the agent and she gave us directions and said the fastest way to the farm was to take the government ferry on Lago Dos Bocus. Since Highway 10 wasn't built yet it would cut 90 minutes off the journey to the farm.
So we fly into San Juan and rent a car and were off to Arecibo. Just being on a freeway was certainly a nice change.
Once we get to Arecibo we head off into the interior of the island to the Embarcadero del Lago Dos Bocas which is an adventure in itself being the road is so narrow and winding.
At the boat launch we find that they have free government run boats that takes locals and tourist to a number of spots on the lake. Going down the lake on this small boat was like we were going through the Amazon rain forest. Just seeing all the natural resources and plant life sold me already.
We meet up with the agent at the end and she drives us up a winding one lane road to the farm.
Wow! What a view!
(This is the view from the deck of the house)
Now the 600 sq ft house needed a little work for sure but the beauty of the area took our breath away.
Come to find out the farm gets fresh drinking water from an underground source. And there is a water fall on the property! Wow!!!
Ok, with so many resources, with this view and for this price we decide to buy it just as an investment not knowing that in 4 months we would be moving here.
Fixing her up
The first thing we did was strip the place of everything but the walls. We patched, we painted, we put in new outlets, a whole new bathroom, put up shelves, a couple glass windows, new kitchen cabinets, fridge, gas stove, washing machine and other furnishings.
Since we were at 1200 ft elevation and in the mountains we didn't need air conditioning but we did need a dehumidifier. Before we got it, it would get so wet inside the house the walls and ceiling would drip and things would start to mold.
The end results
The end result of many months of hard work paid off. I called this Paradise Farms. We grew coffee, bananas, plantains, oranges, tangerines, avocados, tomatoes and we had over 50 chickens and a few ducks.
And of course we had to get a farm dog and cat. The dog we actually rescued off an abandoned farm and later found the original owner that said we can have her. She lived to be 19 years old.
Lessons learned in Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rico is an amazing place with wonderful people. Everyone made us part of their family and we really learned what was important in life. As they say "Mi casa is su casa" where they might not have anything but every time you would go over they would feed you and make sure you are comfortable. Such hospitality.
- People with nothing living in a tin roof house can be happier than those living in a mansion.
- Don't be afraid of change and moving to a foreign land.
We ended up living in Puerto Rico for 4 years and it was so hard coming back to the States in 1999 to start making money again. The infrastructure wasn't the best for trying to run an Internet business at the time. Every time it would rain which was almost every day the phone lines would stop working. Plus there would be days were the power would go out. We were without power for 2 months after Hurricane George.
So if you have a chance to go to Puerto Rico be sure to stay a few years so you can tour the island. It truly is the Enchanted Island.
