Moving to Margarita

[DawnM]

My husband and I are planning to move to Margarita from the UK in a couple of years. We have already bought a house there and have now started to plan the move. There is so much to think about and to do and I wonder if there is anyone out there who has done the same (or is planning to) that can help us or give us some helpful tips.

A couple of things we are looking at is buying a car and a dog - both of which will need to be shipped.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated in all aspects of picking up your life and moving it thousands of miles away!!

[Dave]

Hi, and welcome to these boards! I've created a new Venezuela board now and will shift your post there, so that it has more chance of being seen and replied to.

Can't really help with the practicalities of life on Margarita, I'm afraid - Kay and I visited for about ten hours back in September 1994 while steaming round the Windward Isles on the MV Windward, and that's the full extent of our country-specific knowledge. About all we can say is that the people were very friendly, the buses were dirt-cheap, and everything in Porlamar shut down for lunch - including the restaurants.

But there's plenty of general advice for people about to become expats, both on the "General" British Expat Forum (especially the "Becoming an Expat" board) and on the main website (the "Expat Resources" section above all, although there's plenty of stuff elsewhere on the site which you may also find useful if you browse around a bit). You'll find links to both in the page header.

If you've got any more questions after that - and you're bound to have; you're about to transform your way of life, after all! - then feel free to ask them. Generally, the more specific you can make your questions, the better - people often find it more difficult to reply to broad ones! There's plenty of advice on how to get the most out of the forum in the FAQ and the posting guidelines (both on the General forum) too.

Good luck!