David and I love to travel. It’s only been in the last few years that we’ve been economically able to live our dreams and travel to places…..on MY bucket list. It’s a good thing that with the exception of US cities that have football teams, the list is pretty much mine to make up 🙂 We have yet to hit up a football game…. when the time comes I’ll make sure to take a book and my iphone! haha…

Our travel style is to stay in the smaller more personal places like B&B’s, small boutique hotels, or renting a vacation home in the area. For me, the people that surround you can make all the difference on what kind of experience you have….When on holiday I love to see as much as possible and try the different foods out there….that’s a HUGE part of a holiday! After a day of touring around seeing the sights and meeting some locals, it’s nice to come back “home” and settle down for the evening with a glass of wine and talk about the wonderful day…..*sigh*

On one of our much anticipated vacations, we went to Jamaica with two other couples that we’d travel again with anytime 🙂 On this particular holiday we rented a home in the hills of Montego Bay. Falling in love with the home, the staff, the views; and had such a good time that it put the beginning thoughts of finding a piece of paradise in the Caribbean into mind. The Twinkle was born.

Mayfield Falls, Jamaica

After much research the Dominican Republic felt right for various reasons such as affordability, foreign ownership, stability, safety, and the people.

We’d only been to the DR once before, staying on a resort in Punta Cana for a friends’ wedding. This was going to be our 2nd trip to the island but this time to look at properties around the north coast area around Puerto Plata to see if this was a good fit.

LOVE! The greenery, the local people –the mix of nationalities, the restaurants, and that the North Coast doesn’t feel touristy with a lot of resorts.

We rented two different properties during this trip to the DR. One was a beachfront home in a rural area about 15-20 minutes from Cabarete where we stayed for 10 days. The other was in a development in the town of Sosua where we were to stay for 4 days at the tail end of our trip. This was to get an idea of both types of scenarios.

About 4 days into our trip we were wandering around the town of Cabarete and saw a satellite storefront for a realty office….it just happened to be the one that had the majority of “favourites”–intriguing looking properties picked from the internet.
We called the realty office and were put in touch with fellow Canadians Alex and Anabela who ended up being our realtors. We liked them right away and based on our wish list, went out to view homes a few days later.
The homes they showed us were amazing and fit with what we were looking for which was 3+ bedrooms, bright and open, views, beautifully landscaped yard, and a private pool. They decided to gamble and take us to Cabarete Beach Houses. We had no interest in a condo at all but thought “what the heck, it’s a nice day and we’re having fun”. Well, we walked away torn……We were very impressed with the location, how well it was maintained, the amenities offered, the unique character of the unit itself, and best of all-the asking price! But it was still a far cry from our wish list of 3+ bedroom home as it is a 2 bedroom/2bath townhouse…..but the rooftop terrace blew us away with the view of the ocean RIGHT THERE as well as the wonderful and short walk down the beach to all the restaurants and nightlife! There was a lot to think about.

We Stayed for the last 4 days in the gated community we had wanted to check out and were toured around by wonderful people and shown new areas being developed (some with ocean views) and an amazing beachfront modern condo elsewhere. But our hearts and minds were already on “Nanny” as we’d taken to calling it.

We returned home empty handed so to speak and it took a month of debating as it was so different from the original wish list. Then one day said “just do it”! (only in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent). And that is how owning a piece of paradise happened. I’ve come to call it”Our Little Place in the Sun“. Mia Casa es su Casa!