Moving to a New Hometown: From an Island to One of the Most Popular States in the U.S.A.

I was born and raised in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico “La Isla del Encanto” where I lived for 24 years. Puerto Rico is a Caribbean Island that has majestic beaches, beautiful landscape of mountains, tropical forests, amazing waterfalls, rivers, exquisite food/drinks, interesting history and cultures and many more. I was born and raised in Humacao, where I studied until I finished my Accounting Bachelor’s Degree. While I was in the University in 2011, I discovered a new hobby: Photography. I loved photographing different nature scenery and animals. Because of that, I learned as well that I enjoyed being around nature and discovering new places to explore. While I was at the University, my husband and I (at that time boyfriend) started discovering our beautiful Puerto Rico and what it had to offer. We did a lot of domestic tourism or how we called it “turismo interno“. We went to caves, beaches, rivers, kayaking and snorkeling tours. These trips helped us learn more about the beautiful places our island has to offer and at the same time, escape from our daily Monday to Friday routines from school and/or work.

Unfortunately, after thinking about the islands outcome after Hurricane Maria and my own future, I left Puerto Rico and established myself in Florida in the beginning of 2018. In late 2017, I was offered a great job in Florida with an amazing company that I didn’t want to miss on the opportunity and I knew it was going to be difficult to get an offer like that in Puerto Rico. I decided to accept my job offer and move to Florida. Florida is known as the Sun Shine State and is one of the most popular states in the United States. I had previously visited Florida multiple times on vacations with my family and husband and had enjoyed the trips. Since I previously visited the area where I currently live, everything was not 100% new to me, and that gave me a little peace of mind. However, this move changed our way of life due to the new environment. Work related reasons kept both my husband and I within our cubicles for more than a year. This means, we pretty much work our Monday to Friday jobs and in the weekends just stayed at our apartment or just went out to eat. Don’t get us wrong, we are pretty simple and enjoy being in our apartment, but there was something still missing. That feeling left us with a deep sense of nostalgia, reminiscing constantly of the adventures we used to have in Puerto Rico.

A year passed and in 2019 my husband and I started going out to different outdoor and nature places that sparked up our inner adventurous souls again. Thanks to this, I feel so much happier and feel Florida is becoming my Home. That being said, Florida is definitely not just Theme Parks like many people think it is. It has to offer many beautiful nature places that little by little we are discovering, great attractions, nice nightlife, amazing restaurants and many more.

Kindly see below a list of things I have learned from moving:

Before Moving to your new Hometown:
- Have a Job Offer.
- Have a decent amount of money saved.
- Know where you will be living beforehand (Example: Living with a Family Member, Friend or Renting).
- Understand the Economic Situation of the State or Country you are moving to.
Once Established on your new Hometown:
- Organize your personal items.
- Take care the car registration/new driver’s license first.
- Find your Grocery Stores, Hospital and Doctors Office.
- Give your 100% at your new job.
- Ge up and discover. Don’t get “stuck” at home because you don’t know where to go.
- The GPS will be your new B.F.F.
- Know beforehand that you will miss your hometown and language, but do not let that unfocus you on to why you actually left.
Other Useful tips applicable in Florida:
- Florida is more than just Theme Parks.
- If you are in the Central Florida area, you will miss the unexpected weekend trips to the coast to go to “kioskos” and eat “frituras”.
- You will get happy when you meet people from Puerto Rico or speak your language.
- You will miss the short drives to go to a beach (if you’re not living in the coast).

Learn and discover the new place you are going to live in. Go out and explore. Because if you are physically in a place, but your mind is somewhere else, it is not going to work and you will not be happy.

Lastly, even though I miss Puerto Rico, I love living in Florida. It has offer us great jobs, beautiful outdoor and nature experiences, nice nightlife, fun attractions, and a great lifestyle. It’s been almost three years since I moved and I really don’t have anything to complain about. Something I always mention to my husband: “if it’s not in Puerto Rico where I end up living, I want to live in Florida“. I don’t see myself living in any other State. Florida brings me memories of Puerto Rico, it has a great vibe or “islandish” feels sometimes. I guess like they say: “You can take the girl out of the island, but never the island out of the girl“.