Living in Costa Rica – “I feel fortunate (maybe even a bit smart!) to have chosen Costa Rica as my family’s future home back in 1995.

Not everyone is really suffering in this global recession. With the whole world as our oyster, I feel fortunate (maybe even a bit smart!) to have chosen Costa Rica as my family’s future home back in 1995.

Sure Costa Rica has always had its problems, cultural differences from where I was raised (southern Ontario), precious few Ticos understand the importance of conducting business with integrity, finishing completely and properly what they promise, being punctual, being honest and admitting mistakes when they occur, and accepting constructive criticism.

As far as driving, I don’t think there is any hope making things much better, it is up to us Gringos (even though I am Canadian) to drive defensively and expect the unexpected.

But consider the positive attributes of Costa Rica. With present low fuel costs, Costa Rica is a cheap two or three hour flight from Miami and Houston. Costa Rica has a relatively educated population at low wages (I don’t know how they survive on the wages they receive).

I think most have basic ambitions to get ahead, though they may lack both the direction and the ‘get up and go’, but their heart is in the right place. Their love of family seems to negate everything else.

And the physical Costa Rica, it’s a Kodak moment around every bend, two warm welcoming oceans to choose from, intrepid peaks caused by the four inch a year collision of two continental plates, seas of dense sweltering jungles out of sight, but not out of mind, and the flat northern plains with an angry conical volcano so big it creates its own weather system.

And the soil, powdered for longer than any of us could imagine with volcanic dust that nourishes and aerates the it for never ending harvests of virtually anything. OK, apples, pears, grapes, and blueberries need to be imported if you grow bored with the other thirty varieties of fruit.

All vegetables I have ever seen (most I haven’t), legumes, meats, coffee, sugar, rice, seafood, nuts, spices, even medicinal rain forest products are produced somewhere in Costa Rica without a lot of effort. Plants love half the year wet, half a year dry. Altitude-controlled temperatures determine what crops are grown where.

Costa Rica’s climate is enjoyed by people as well. Along both coasts and the northern plains, temperatures hover around 80F or 27C. In San Jose and the Central Valley expect a more comfortable and sustainable 70F and 21C, and this is year-round!

While the estimated global growth in tourism slowed to 2% in 2008, Costa Rica has noticed only a slight slowing down in the growth of tourist arrivals since September (revised down from an 11% annual increase to a 9% increase, four times the planet average). In fact, in early December 2008, Costa Rica received for the first time ever its two millionth visitor in the same calendar year.

True, Costa Rica offers visitors physical hedonistic pleasures able to compete with any world destination; sand, sun and sex, but I believe this steady increase in tourism can be mostly attributed to the fact that Costa Rica attracts quality visitors to a quality country.

Tourists arriving are well-educated, and probably less affected by the global economic meltdown than hand to mouth partyers. Visitors search the internet for places beyond getting drunk on a beach and look for the ideal vacation location that will give them learning and adventure experiences, a change being even better than a rest.

Costa Rica has always been at arms-length from the world’s problems, not rich, not poor, not flashy. Its mountainous interior and jungle swamps halted expansion. Being the southern extent of the Aztec. Mayan and Olmec civilizations and the northern extent of the Mesoamerican and Inca civilizations, it was a no-mans land, with small chiefdoms evolving their own rules and customs, making their own decisions.

After the Spanish arrived, they got the same treatment from Spain, a backwater, an after-thought hinterland of Spain’s colonial expansion plans. Ticos learned to survive on their own, no indentured slaves, even the first governor tended his own garden.

They grew to respect family values and depend on and help neighbors, and the land and climate were kind. When it rained, they just looked for a roof, if they grew hungry, they’d pick an orange or banana or kill that chicken on the front porch.

Presidents were altruistic and caring, and controlled everything from a weak power-base using coffee taxes to build schools, roads, hospitals and other public facilities. Little coffee farmers worked hand in hand with big processing and distributing companies. There was a belief that upward mobilty was attainable.

They had little need to be aggressive, they had everything. In fact, in 1948, Ticos even voted to abolished the standing military. Of course, it wasn’t such a bold step as they knew good ol’ Uncle Sam had a vested interest in Costa Rica’s democratic well-being.

Today, in December 2008, with the recession and the global economic melt-down, I am happy to know that no matter how bad it gets, we’ll always have food to feed us, a comfortable climate to live in, beaches and mountains and rain forests to enjoy, and because the peace-loving Ticos always stay out of harm’s way, nobody is grinding an axe for us!

And though all gringos get a little frustrated with them and their cultural peculiarities, I can guarantee when the chips are down and Ticos have their backs against a wall, this intelligent population will pull together to survive anything the planet throws at them.

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Written by Eric Robinson. Eric and his son Mike are the owners of the Adventure Inn located between San Jose and the International Airport (SJO) in Costa Rica

The Adventure Inn is a convenient value-priced hotel between San Jose and airport, huge, smoke-free rooms with A/C, cable, Wi-Fi, free full American breakfast, 4 guest computers, sports bar, gym, Mayan waterfall Jacuzzi, tour rain forests, volcanoes, car rentals, outstanding guest comments.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.