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Vieques Island, 15 miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico. It is a part of Puerto Rico, a US territory, so no worry about any immigration or taxation issues. Anything you might need that is not available on Vieques, you can get on the main island of Puerto Rico just a short ferry boat ride away. If you need to get back to the US mainland, very easy from San Juan airport after the coronavirus pandemic is over.
Vieques Island, 15 miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico. It is a part of Puerto Rico, a US territory, so no worry about any immigration or taxation issues. Anything you might need that is not available on Vieques, you can get on the main island of Puerto Rico just a short ferry boat ride away. If you need to get back to the US mainland, very easy from San Juan airport after the coronavirus pandemic is over.
The economy on the island is dependent on tourism. It is not a "mass tourism" destination with all inclusive resorts on the order of Cancun. It is a quiet, low key, small scale type of tourism with some small hotels and private homes or condos for rent. The residents of the island know that crime will drive away tourists. The police know this too, and they seem to do a pretty good job, because if they don't, the economy of the island will suffer.
Of course, right now, tourism to Puerto Rico and Vieques is dead in the water. Some day, when this Covid pandemic is under control and we can safely travel again, they will welcome visitors again and will be glad when they arrive.
I am sure there is occasionally petty crime or theft, but security wise you can walk anywhere day or night with no fear of being bothered, robbed or assaulted. Children walk down their local street unaccompanied by adults or older children, and nobody gives it a second thought. The thing I like about Vieques is there is very little car traffic. The ferry boat can bring cars to the island, but it is small enough that you can get around on a bicycle or motor scooter. I rode a bicycle all over the island on narrow roads with almost no other cars on the roads. Some are paved and others are unpaved roads.
Thanks! I really enjoy hearing your experiences in Germany, and this is the same. I hadn't even considered Vieques (actually, I considered the island of Puerto Rico itself to be an option) This is definitely nice food for thought. Any experience with Culebra?
For the US, I believe some of the islands off of the Maine coast are pretty affordable. I also wouldn't be surprised if some of the islands of the Great Lakes were pretty affordable.
Interesting thoughts here-sticking with the US territory theme of PR, would Guam and American Samoa be somewhat affordable?
Might be more remote than you are looking for-or not cheap-but also not too far from Asia Pacific region (I believe in reading a Guam to Tokyo flight just under 4 hrs)
^Yeah, those are intriguing options. I'd gravitate toward Guam as American Samoa seems to only have nonstop flights to Honolulu (5.5 hours), so it feels far more isolated. And along with Guam, Saipan and the CNMI would be a similar option.
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