Many people dream of moving to a tropical island and embracing a slower-paced lifestyle. One of the primary concerns for many, however, is how they will continue to earn an income abroad. While there are many commercial and investment opportunities available on Roatan, buying a brick-and-mortar business isn’t the only possibility for making your expat dreams come true.
Recently, I sat down with a friend and client of Roatan Life, Michelle Bruer who moved to Honduras from Canada several years ago and hasn’t looked back. She has run several businesses since moving here and is currently involved in affiliate marketing with her daughter.
Learn more about Michelle’s life in Roatan below!
Tropical Dream Homes & Discovering Honduras
B- Hi Michelle, congratulations on your house going under contract with Roatan Life in less than 30 days! That’s so amazing and now you’ve bought a lot and are going to build your dream home! Tell us about it.
M-Yes, something simple, but perfect for me and my daughter. Two masters on either end of the house with a large central living area. Approximately 1300 interior space, but much larger exterior space. We are planning a lower lever pool with about 700 square feet of deck then an upper deck with another 1,000 feet. We are outside all the time so we needed a large outdoor space where we can capture the ocean views and breezes. We needed room for the animals and of course a pool!
B-Sounds awesome. Having lived in the Tropics for a while, I’m sure you got lots of great ideas seeing other homes. Tell me what first brought you to Honduras.
M-Well, several years ago back in British Columbia, we ran into our neighbors at the grocery store and they told us about Trujillo in mainland Honduras. On our way to visit them, we stayed at a B&B in Sambo Creek, two doors down from where we stayed another B&B had just been drastically reduced in price, so we ended up buying the Diving Pelican Inn. We ran it for about 5 years, then we came to Roatan on vacation and that was it for us!
On Becoming Your Own Boss in Roatan
B-Was it scary to give up all sources of income and make the leap? Did you have a plan?
M-Well, we sort of did!! I started an Amazon store where we drop-shipped for 5 years. We consolidated orders from multiple stores on Amazon as kind of a middle man for products. It became quite large and was quite labor-intensive on the customer service side.
B-So you sold your store and then what?
M-I got into Affiliate Marketing which is really just promoting other people’s products. We drive traffic to these websites touting the benefits of using the products and get paid for it. Online marketing has gotten huge as you have probably seen yourself on Facebook!
B-So it is possible to check out of the corporate world, be your own boss AND move to a tropical island?
M-Oh yes!!
Advice for Those Considering Moving to Roatan
B-What advice would you give to someone looking to make the leap and control their own destiny?
M-Well it takes a special kind of person. You must be open-minded and realize you are in a 3rd world country and not expect 1st world rules. You definitely need an initial plan, but be flexible and realize one thing might lead to another. But the trade-offs are huge. You get to enjoy the beautiful Caribbean weather, a much slower-paced lifestyle, and be your own boss!
B-And now you are building your dream home in Paradise! Thanks, Michelle, for chatting with me, my entrepreneur friend extraordinaire!!
Have any questions about making your move to Roatan? Contact me today!
