An Expat Talks about Living in Nassau, Bahamas

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Nassau

Describe how you "dreamed" expat life would be before you moved overseas. Please provide as much detail as possible.

Everyone has an idea of paradise on sandy beaches with coconut tress in their mind when thinking of living in the Bahamas. I have lived in other Caribbean countries before moving to the Bahamas so I thought I had a more accurate picture in my mind of what it would be like. Yet I still expected sandy beaches everywhere, lush green scenery and a laid back lifestyle that was calm and less stressful then in North America. I also expected it to be more difficult to work, have limited access to many luxuries we enjoyed freely and for the cost of living to be much higher.

How has your expat experience met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

I do enjoy the beach during my time off work and on weekends. I do find myself outdoors much more then I did in North America. The people are laid back and relaxed but this is also counter productive to you have less stress as this means they will not likely show up on time or at all when you have a plumbing issue or other need. The cost of living was as expected, very high. We do have limited access to many things that are easy to access in North America but the Bahamas being so close to Florida its not as limited as it was in other islands I have lived on. It's also easy to order anything online and have it delivered to you, the only issues is import duties, freight and VAT increase the cost.

VRBO
Learn More

With over 2 million bookable vacation rentals, Vrbo connects homeowners with families and vacationers looking for something more than a hotel for their trip. The Vrbo community offers families an array of rental property types such as condos, cabins, lake rentals, beach houses, and more. Discover properties in destinations that everyone dreams of visiting.

VRBO

With over 2 million bookable vacation rentals, Vrbo connects homeowners with families and vacationers looking for something more than a hotel for their trip. The Vrbo community offers families an array of rental property types such as condos, cabins, lake rentals, beach houses, and more. Discover properties in destinations that everyone dreams of visiting.
Learn More

How has your expat experience NOT met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

After moving to the Bahamas I was surprised that the island of New Providence had much fewer vast sandy beaches then its family islands did. We still have sandy beaches but they are smaller and fewer then in the outer islands. The lush greenery I was use to in places like Barbados and Jamaica also was not present here. Bahamas is very flat and has very little green spaces with lush vegetation. Also now with the COVID19 situation the beaches are now closed to the public. This has been quite disappointing and we hope that it will reopen again soon once it is safe to do so.

Traveling Mailbox
Connect

Traveling Mailbox serves thousands of travelers, expats, digital nomads, businesses, individuals and others in over 47 Countries by scanning their postal mail so they can view it online anywhere in the world. They provide customer service 7 days a week so if you need assistance, it is just a phone call away. Traveling Mailbox works with Evernote, Bill.com and Dropbox. And, there are Traveling Mailbox apps available for iOS and Android devices.

Click connect to have our partner contact you via e-mail and/or phone.

Traveling Mailbox

Traveling Mailbox serves thousands of travelers, expats, digital nomads, businesses, individuals and others in over 47 Countries by scanning their postal mail so they can view it online anywhere in the world. They provide customer service 7 days a week so if you need assistance, it is just a phone call away. Traveling Mailbox works with Evernote, Bill.com and Dropbox. And, there are Traveling Mailbox apps available for iOS and Android devices.
Connect

Click connect to have our partner contact you via e-mail and/or phone.