This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jarrell Chalmers, a 31-year-old marketing consultant in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m from Jersey City, and my partner, Jose Diaz, is from Hartford, Connecticut. We lived in Jersey City before moving to San Juan, Puerto Rico, last April.
We’re both of Puerto Rican origin — my mom and Jose’s father were both born in San Juan — and we always knew that we wanted to experience it by living here.
Although our Spanish is a little shaky, it’s improving, and integrating on the island has been pretty easy for us. We make it a habit to order our food, greet new people, and talk to our neighbors in Spanish.
We both work remotely as independent marketing contractors. None of our clients mind us living in Puerto Rico.
During the pandemic, rents skyrocketed in Jersey City
Jersey City became super expensive when the pandemic hit, and the quality of life wasn’t the same as it used to be. We were working every single day just to make ends meet.
The cost of living is one of the main reasons we wanted to move to Puerto Rico. Here, our rent is about $700 cheaper a month. We stayed in an Airbnb for one month before moving and finding our apartment online.
We loved it when we visited, especially as Puerto Ricans who really love our culture. Not having to deal with seasonal depression in New Jersey has also been a bonus.
Before we moved, we gave away a lot of our furniture. We bought some from Amazon and everything else we sourced locally to support businesses on the island.
Rent is cheaper, but groceries are more expensive
Oscar Gutierrez/Getty Images
Groceries are pricier due to laws like the Jones Act, which raises the price of many imports into the island. Farmers’ markets can be good value, and Costco tends to be a bit cheaper than in New Jersey, but many places to buy groceries here are quite expensive.
We can still get about 90% of the things we need on Amazon. If we can’t get it shipped here, we use a website called Myus.com which ships things over from Florida.
The ugly side of relocating is the displacement of locals, but many have welcomed us with open arms
In January, I was down with COVID-19, and one of my neighbors dropped off a care package with a ton of medicine, tests, and home remedies. How people have treated us in this city is a big part of why we moved here.
But when many people move to a place, the rents rise, and locals can no longer afford to live there. Rents and house prices have risen considerably in recent years in Puerto Rico.
To help combat this, we’ve been giving back to people on the island in practical ways. We help locals with their résumés and cover letters for free.
We’ve grown a following on TikTok and Instagram, and we share where we eat, how we save money, grocery hacks, remote working tips, and recipes. We end many of our videos by asking our followers to comment if they need help.
They then email us their résumés and we tailor them to the jobs that they want. We’ve also been posting content on how to get remote jobs in Puerto Rico for Puerto Ricans.
We started our own coffee brand to promote local farms
We decided to start a company doing something that we actually enjoyed and could help us give back to the local area, so we created a coffee brand called Planeta De Cafe.
The objective is to amplify local farms on the island. For every sale we get, we donate $1 to a nonprofit called Puerto Rico Rise Up that’s teaching students how to get more competitive jobs.
We post about our coffee company on our TikTok, too. Our dream is to take our coffee business and content creation full-time.
We share some of the negative parts of living here with our audience
People grew accustomed to us sharing the beautiful side of the island, so when we finally spoke on the dark side of it, I think some people were thrown off. We discussed the split between native and American-raised Puerto Ricans, the crowded hospitals, and the frequent power outages.
In some cases, tourists come and don’t treat the island with care and respect. Since there are those who mistreat the island when they visit, tensions can be high.
We think it’s important to shed light on real issues so more people are encouraged to work on and fix them.
Adjusting to the pace of life here has been hard at times, but ultimately rewarding
Back in New Jersey, everything’s very fast-paced. Over here, everything’s very slow. If you go to a restaurant, it will take 30-40 minutes to get food. You might have to wait a long time for a package or for your WiFi to get installed.
Things move slowly because people in Puerto Rico live in the moment, and that’s what we love about it.
We miss our family and friends, but they visit often and stay in our spare room. For now, we plan on staying long term.
We’ve decided to build a life here. Our families left the island decades ago to find opportunities in the States. They found that opportunity and raised us to be self-sufficient. We’re happy to return to our family’s roots now that we are.
