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Well, you know the beauty of airlines is that IF we find the place as you say “it might suck” we can go some other places. How can you be so sure that Costa RIca is NOT calling to us? We don’t know anything for sure as life is not for sure. As I said in my first post, there are so many fears that we put upon ourselves, so let life come and see where it takes you. We are some of the most stable people, according to our family and friends who seem to think this is a great adventure for us. As for our disposable income, wouldn’t that be nice to have it. And how can you comment without even knowing us!
Bradycarl: I am of two minds on your plans. Over six years, we have been to Costa Rica several times and visited many, many places. We are moving in August after three years of pretty directed planning.
That said, I met someone there a couple of years ago that said “You don’t select Costa Rica, Costa Rica selects you”. All of my life I have believed that it is important to take significant risks – even scare the heck out of yourself occasionally. I think this becomes more important as we get older. I personally don’t believe that “adventuring” should be reserved for the first third – or half – of one’s life. Did we plan….yep! But we are still going to “jump off the planet” and I think we will be the better for it. Find a good combination of both and good luck!
What is holding me back is fear.
It seems most people that make the move are well to do retiree with a home to sell or adventerous types who travel the world or surf. I am 43 and my wife is 32 and we have a 20 month old daughter. My wife is Costa Rican and has much family there and we currently live in NY with no house and modest income.
We have bought a great piece of land I Grecia. Normally I would wait 10 years to save money but to be fair to my daughter I am planning on moving in 3 years.
What is holding back is I am worried about how we can make money and what I will do all day. I guess just the normal worries but I would like to know if a lot of younger couples have advice.
bradycarl,
I would strongly agree with Sue in “You do not select CR, CR selects you.” My first trip to CR was in 1985. I had never heard of CR prior to that. A friend invited me to CR, I stayed a month, and knew from then on, that is where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I can also relate to your decision to move to CR without a prior visit. I myself have traveled and lived throughout the world. I would caution however, that one must determine whether they can acclimate to a particular country. Many years ago, my friends and family also thought I had totally lost my mind, when I informed them I was moving to Thailand. Like yourselves, I have always had the irresistable urge for traveling adventure. Follow your heart, but, keep your feet solidly on the ground!
[quote=”Jeanne”]What is holding me back is the fact that I do not speak the language. and because I think all those who come to the States should speak the local language, I will not be moving to Costa Rica full time but enjoying the country as a warm weather get-away from cold, damp, Maryland winters.[/quote]
Ah, but the sense of adventure.
My wife and I came for a ten day visit in 2006 to see what Costa Rica was like and what was possible. By the time we left we had contracted for our home near Ciudad Colon.
We spoke no Spanish that would be helpful but the beauty of the country and the friendliness and helpfulness of the people took me back to my youth in a rural setting where everyone helped everyone.
Fear is why others do not move to Costa Rica. Fear of change, fear of being unable to communicate, fear of anything and everything.
My wife talked me into this and I find that I am enjoying Costa Rica thoroughly. The longer you wait the more of your life passes you by without the wonder that is COSTA RICA[quote=”MDesabrais”]The things attracting us to CR are the low profile government, low taxes, great climate, healthy unprocessed food, friendly natives (we can learn from their stress free lifestyle), great scenery and seemingly affordable housing for such a paradise. Oh did I mention low cost and quality healthcare?Mike[/quote]
There is one thing you need to bring along above anything else…PATIENCE. Everything here is done in “Tico Time”. The average Tico, although friendly and helpful, has no concept of customer service. Everything takes time.
I am (was) a [b]type A Leo[/b] but I have learned the concept of patience here.
We spoke no Spanish when we arrived permanently in December 2007. Another thing is trying to find anything here. Directions are given by landmark and the landmark may have disappeared 50 years ago but every Tico knows where it was. There are very few street signs to guide you.
We have a Tico family living with us and they have provided our education in getting around in Costa Rica.[quote=”vonder”]What’s holding me back is that moving to Costa Rica was a dream for my husband and I. I lost him last March. Raising two young children alone in a foreign country is what is now really holding me back.[/quote]
Nothing stays the same for very long. I am sorry for your loss and empathize with the difficulty of the task you have at hand. I wish you good luck.
In my 59 years I have never seriously made any plans which reached more than a few months into the future…until I fell in love with Costa Rica. When I was younger, I moved far away from what had been my home on a whim and it turned out for the best. But that was within the US. Moving to Costa Rica at this stage of my life requires the guaranteed income for which I must wait.
Now I have watched the economy thoroughly slash and burn my plans to move to CR on my schedule with financial security and comfort. I am left with a nicely sized and beautiful piece of property in CR on which I no longer have the funds with which to construct a dwelling. I am now hanging onto what is left of those plans and considering how much less comfort I am willing to accept as a trade off for the benefits I see in living in Costa Rica. I am determined to pull this off but, as I said, nothing stays the same for very long.
oh, sprite, that is so sad. i’ve been following your dream for three years, and it’s very disappointing to think it won’t play out as you had planned. i’m sure you will figure something out. good luck.
[quote=”maravilla”]oh, sprite, that is so sad. i’ve been following your dream for three years, and it’s very disappointing to think it won’t play out as you had planned. i’m sure you will figure something out. good luck.[/quote]
I appreciate the sentiment, Maravilla, but I don’t see this as a sad situation. It is just a dream delayed a bit longer, a plan that has had to be revised, another accommodation to life’s surprises. And I still have this forum to visit. Every once in a while, I read something here in which I can participate and that makes me feel a sense of being tied to Costa Rica in some small way.
I hate to pose this question but to me it’s like the elephant in the room. Is anyone on social security worried about the possiblity ahead of Obama or whoever in office, devalueing the dollar and giving us nothing in exchange of new currency. and there being no social security. We have all heard of the US. being broke but the paper money keeps flowing. Would Costa Rica cast you out of their country if you have no more social security comeing or alot less?
Jonavon, for political reasons alone I cannot fathom how the U.S. government will cease to pay Social Security. The Congressperson who cast the deciding vote would never live ’til dinnertime. The trees would be full of aging snipers with large calibre rifles and scopes.
I can see the dollar devaluing dramatically, and I can see the U.S. taxing the hell out of Social Security benefits. And for the affluent maybe the latter wouldn’t be an all bad thing. But for Costa Rica to respond to those possibilities in a negative way would require an act of the Legislature. And who among them would turn away the inflow of a currency that’s still probably more stable than the colon?
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