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Welcome to the Grubernation Weekly Newsletter!
I share information, tactics and tips for moving abroad, living your dream and EVERYTHING in between.
In today’s edition:
7 BIG Choices We Made When Moving Abroad
Marco Rubio Prepares to Visit Dominican Republic
What Would You Call It?
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7 BIG Choices We Made When Moving Abroad (And How They Turned Out)
We’re coming up on 3 full years living in Dominican Republic - crazy how time flies.
There were lots of decisions to make then and today, with the benefit of hindsight, I’ll share those choices but more importantly for you, how they turned out on a 5-star scale.
Consider this your personal primer for your eventual move abroad and learn from our brilliance or stupidity to save yourself time, money and pain!
CHOICE #1: We Kept a US Health Insurance Policy
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We kept a US based policy in place just in case of something terrible happening that we felt was better served in a US hospital or doctors office.
Thankfully, we haven’t had to use it. Quite the contrary.
Our doctors from allergist to gastro to pediatrician to dermatologist have been good to us here in Dominican Republic.
But there are stories of others I know or in the news that would give me pause entrusting my family’s major medical issues to the local system.
If heaven forbid we had a major medical issue, we’d be much more comfortable heading back to the US for those treatements even to this day.
The way we chose to keep a policy is a bit unique.
We don’t have a health insurance policy, we have something called a ‘health share’ with a company called Zion Health.
It looks and feels like health insurance, and acts like it for the most part but it’s not technically insurance.
That means it’s not subject to the same laws that govern insurance companies which can be a good or bad thing depending on your situation.
If you have a pre-existing condition, for instance, do your research if you opt to go this route.
Our cost is $300/month for a family of 4 with the oldest being in their 40’s (me) and we have a $5000 initial amount owed in the event of an incident.
It’s the perfect coverage for what we want and is budget friendly. Great move on the Gruber’s part!
CHOICE #2: We Got a Virtual Mailbox for our US Mail
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Our initial plan was to come for a year so this move was intended to be temporary.
With that in mind, we set up a virtual mailbox with My Traveling Mailbox for around $14/month to intake all of our mail, scan it and send to us in PDF form.
It’s worked great!
They dispose of junk mail at our request for no additional charge and if a package comes, we can easily forward and pay for shipping through the app.
We’ll send to a friend or family member who is visiting us soon or that’s somewhere I’ll be heading to in the states to retreive.
We do e-billing for all of our regular bills, so the mail that comes thru is often useless but on occasion, that one letter or tax statement or whatever that we get is well worth the $14/month!!
CHOICE #3: We Rented an Airbnb for 2 Months
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Yes - that’s 6 stars. Your eyes did not decieve you!
There are going to be some that own a property here already and are moving to it. Consider yourself set.
But for the rest of us who want to move but aren’t quite sure where, or what type of place you want, or which school your kids will go to long term, this is easily the BEST decision we made!
Even now, following me, you may be really comfortable with the layout and location of the places you’ve been thinking about living anyway.
But you don’t know traffic patterns, noise, wind direction until you’re here!
Renting a place for 2 months in advance was pricier than just finding a place right out of the gate, but it gave us time to explore, test, figure out our patterns and then settle on the spot that makes the most sense for us.
Airbnb is the best resource for this - don’t overthink or try to cut a deal. Just grab a spot for 30-60 days and let it be your temporary launchpad!
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CHOICE #4: We Kept Our US Home And Rent it Furnished
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall, I’m glad to have our house in the US.
There’s a good amount of equity, we certainly don’t lose any money thanks to the rent covering all the expenses and our mortgage is sub-3%.
Additionally, we were able to use the house between tenants in August to get a month back ‘home’ before returning for school in Punta Cana in September.
That said, the prices in this particular area have only gone up and if we had committed up front and sold the house when we moved and placed that equity here, we could have our dream home for likely no mortgage AND it would be 30-50% more valuable then when we moved here.
I gave this 4 stars because it worked for us, and if the intent is to try out the move for a year or two then it’s the right move.
But I’m envious of some friends who ‘burned their boats’ and sold all and now have the capital to snag land and build their perfect future home.
CHOICE #5: We Added an International Plan to Our US Cell Phone
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I sound like a broken record, but it’s worth repeating - we were planning to be here for one year.
We called Verizon and enrolled in international calling which cost us $100/line/month extra and we called it good!
Even for that one year though, there are a few things we’ve learned:
T-Mobile and AT&T had international calling included
Verizon has since included it (and we didn’t ask, so kept paying 🤦♂️)
GoogleFi and other services can be cobbled together to keep your US number
Claro has cheap plans that work well in country
Perhaps more scary was the day I was in the middle of Santo Domingo relying on GPS to get me out and when I went to use it, the cell network for all international plans for Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T went down worldwide!!!
We didn’t research much - we went for ease to check it off our list and move on - but I would’ve looked into all of the above alternatives first knowing what we know now.
CHOICE #6: We Got a Credit Card with No International Fees
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The decision to align around a US based credit card for our purchases in DR is a 5+ star move.
The reason I’m giving us 4 stars on this is we only did ONE card.
When that card gets damaged or compromised, now you have to order a new one, have it forwarded to a friend or relative and hope your wife’s card keeps working until you have a chance to get the one sitting at your sister-in-laws house!
Can you tell that happened?
I have other cards, but the international fees rack up pretty quick.
So having 2-3 cards you can use without fees is more advisable and we’ve corrected that since!
CHOICE #7: We Leased a Car Instead of Buying
Rating: ⭐️
Remember - one year was the plan!
My wife’s half-brother has a little dealership and, because leases aren’t a big thing here, we taught him the concept and he ‘leased’ us a car for a year for $6000.
First lesson learned is don’t do business with local family. Just .. don’t.
I could tell more stories about more family members but you just need to trust me.
Second lesson learned is just buy a car!
The resale market is really strong, so getting rid of the car a year later could be done with little to no loss - but much less than $6000 just going ‘poof’.
And having your own car and insurance is much more effective.
We ended up buying a car in our second year from a neighbor who was moving back to the US after their one year adventure (they stuck to their timeline).
And we’re now in the process of shipping our other car from the US.
But no doubt this was our biggest regret.
You’ve been warned.
Marco Rubio Prepares to Visit Dominican Republic
After recently being confirmed as US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is doing a tour of Latin America with a stop planned in Dominican Republic February 5.
Here’s what I’m listening for when he visits:
#1: Support for the Haitian Border Crisis
One of the biggest agenda items is already anticipated to be how the US plans to lead, follow or get out of the way in terms of Haiti.
There is still chaos there and the UN support has fallen short of what was initially promised.
Rubio has been supportive with his rhetoric of the Dominican Republic as a key ally in the region. I’ll be curious to see what he commits to regarding Haiti and support for Abinader’s efforts militarily, fiscally or otherwise.
#2: Microchip Development in DR
The Biden administration already laid the groundwork for DR to become a major semiconductor manufacturing hub in the western hemisphere.
As I’ve covered, I’m really curious to see where the Trump administration takes this.
The rhetoric suggests definitely moving development closer to US borders and not so close to China for obvious reasons,
Costa Rica and Mexico have already emerged as players in the industry as well.
Trump, if taken literally, wants to bring manufacturing back to US soil but I think the reality and costs associated mean he aligns with strategic allies and I’d love to hear if anything comes up related to this when Rubio visits.
Abinader has issued a national decree emphasizing the importance of semiconductors to DR, so I’d be shocked if this isn’t brought up.
#3: US Deportation of Dominican and Other Citizens
Despite some rumors, there is ZERO evidence that the US will send non-Dominican deportees to DR if the country of origin is refusing to take them.
There was some talk that Venezuelans will be ‘dropped’ in DR if their government isn’t allowing migrants back.
As the British say .. that’s ‘poppycock’.
To do so, there needs to be a 2-way agreement between nations.
El Salvador has actually entered into talks with the US to take Venezuelan deportees. I’m not familiar with why or the specifics, but you can find articles on this.
To date, I’ve heard of 135 repatriated Dominicans deported from the United States.
Those people, if criminal, are being processed here and will face whatever penaltiy is warranted.
But still - that’s not a ton of people even though I know it’s only a first wave.
Either way, we’ll see if there’s any discussion points related to this between Rubio and Abinader when this visit takes place.
Stay tuned to this newsletter AND my YouTube Channel for reaction and information.
I’ll keep on it 😉
What Would You Call It?
I had a BLAST with Kathleen Pagan of Endlessy Elated (give her a follow please) on this unique episode of Grub with Gruber.
She is of Puerto Rican descent from NYC and decided to move to the Dominican Republic last year with her husband.
We go over why, how and what lessons she learned.
But she also taught me how to do some cooking!!
Check out the video above and you tell me after ..
✅ Sofrito or Sazon?
✅ Guandules or Gandules?
✅ Arroz con Gandules or Moro?
I also started a movement called #StartWithDessert.
Give it a try next time you’re out and share a story, tag me and use the hashtag above.
Life’s too short .. GOTTA start with dessert!
Would appreciate if you would subscribe on YouTube if you’re not already for more top shelf content on living abroad, visiting DR and much much more. Appreciate you being along for this journey!
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