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I have a good friend who lives in David, Panama and I asked him about getting in and out via car, as I would like to visit him next February or on my second homecoming sometime in May or June of 2013. He said with the proper incoming paperwork getting in isn’t the problem, but he has been hassled frequently on the way out, as apparently the Panamanian border agents like to search with some diligence for cash and stuff going out of the country.
His advice, which I will heed, is take the bus. You know, “and leave the driving to us.” He said that’s a hassle free way of getting in AND out and he simply won’t drive over the border anymore.
Good luck with whatever mode of transport you choose and enjoy your stay~!
Camby:
I noted in your addendum that there was some positive feedback from your wife. Let that be your focus but don’t be the one to bring it up. Sometimes it just takes time for information to filter in. You will know soon enough which way the wind is blowing and as I suggested before, if you know folks that have been to CR before, make them a part of your group. You will have something in common and that makes for easy conversation. Some people don’t embrace change easily but as I noted before, first person endorsements go a long way to opening up one’s horizons. You may have to face the reality that your dream is not running on the same track as your mates and if not, there is probably a reason for that as well. Good luck, be well in North Carolina and be glad you dodged Sandy. Boy did we have a mess here in Maryland and we got off easy!
Waggoner:
Great reason to leave-being a product of Minnesota in my earlier life led me to a great appreciation of warmer climes. I have to laugh when my customers in Annapolis grouse about the weather. Typical comment is, “Man it’s cold today.” My response is “how cold is it?” Customer says “25 degrees.” I respond with ” but that’s on the plus side of the zero.”:D
Had a wonderful lunch yesterday at our house with another responding member of the welovecostarica.com web family. We figured out we were geographcially close, so got together prior to their absconding for good and had an informative afternoon. One can only hope other members connect in this manner from time to time. So very helpful to my wife and I as we are still in our baby steps and drinking in all we can!
Good point on voting. Case in point would be the 2010 mid term elections when the Tea Party raised some eyebrows with the vote they got out to support their chosen candidates.I take no stand on whether they are good, bad, or indifferent, but they did create some attention. It will be interesting to see how many of them retain their seats this time around, & I speak as a lay observer of the political processes that got them into office the first time around the horn, so to speak. Not quite sure what way the wind will be blowing in November.
An interesting side note: for the last 12 years I have owned and run a coffee shop and bookstore and a straight coffee shop. I could see the handwriting on the wall for the book business before Kindle/Amazon (too much real estate devoted to books with a diminishing reader market, basically anyone under 40, due to technology) but it really hit home in 2007 when book sales began to slide. At that point I could buy new from Amazon for less than through a distributor. Ouch and the book customers figured this out pretty quickly. 2009 was the watershed year for those of us that love to hold books in our hands-sales nosedived, Borders began their death throes and the e-readers began their march on the castle walls, which were breached, easily. Bookstores you say? Anyone look at a B&N store lately? Looks more like Toys R Us than a bookstore. Sadly, but due to technological advances, our books are now in our hands in a much different format. I may have been one of the last holdouts, but for Christmas 3 years ago my kids bought me a nook, and me…….one of the diehard holdouts, who NEVER asked for this toy, knowing it was the death of my own business (I changed my business model, by the way) turned out loving it. Guess I was not as old as I thought I was and with some reservations, I became a fan. So sorry about the Tico Times, but, it is a sign of “The Times.”
Sprite:
I would not volunteer anything-it would have to be done in a blind trust that was not accessible under any circumstances by any government agency except a one person department set up to monitor and periodically retire portions of our outstanding debt. I would make the bill so onerous to politicians that any tweaking would be grounds for immediate dismissal and imprisonment and I would include the President in the codicil. Only by a majority of the popular vote in a country wide referendum could the funds be used for anything else.
I don’t see any of the above happening and as I noted prior, there are not enough stones in our government to take the severe actions necessary to retire our debt, which, I would imagine as of this writing, is 18 trillion dollars or more.
In business, where I have spent almost all of my career, including the last 12 in business for myself, one has to from time to time take unpopular actions and/or make the tough decisions to keep the ship floating and under steerage.
We have too many Captains and nobody in the engine compartment.
So many interesting, well thought out comments. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy this forum so much. As for me and mine, I saw the financial cliff coming some time ago and reasoned that there had to be a better place to ride it out, which led me (us) to planning our escape to Costa Rica.
So interesting that in the US we have only paralyzed politicians that know, in the end, the only way out of the mess, or at least to make a dent in it, is to have the public kick in and contribute. No one has the stones to say it as it would cost them their seat in whatever body the are in. If I was asked to kick in $500 a year, or whatever, and if the rest of the country was particpating to whatever extent they could, I would not like it, but would do it to save what’s left. Never going to happen, though. Another novel thought would be to sell debt bonds (ala WWI and WWII bonds) but nobody is smart enough to do that, either.
Just like when a person runs up a credit card and the balance gets big, the only way to knock it down is chip away at it as best you can. I think a few of us may have been there before and it hurts a bit, but when the balance goes down or hits Zip, life is better.
Too little, too late and I fear the worst, by far, is yet to come. Give us a President and a congress with stones and we may have a ghost of a chance of not being financially trampled.
A rather aggressive real estate strategy, to be sure. My wife and I have purchased and built many homes in our 31 blessed years together, and we have probably never looked at more than 15 homes in a GEOGRAPHIC area before making the buying decision.
I capped “geographic” as that will probably be the determinant factor in Costa Rica, i.e., climate, proximity to whatever is most important to you, etc.
Even at 15 you wind up losing track of what, as an example, the bedroom layout in house #3 vs. the bedroom layout of #7, etc. I can only imagine how gelatinous and oozy my brain would be after doing the 100th home.
Honestly, at that point I would probably ask the realtor to stop the car and shoot me, so I would not have to overheat my brain trying to unscramble the real estate eggs.
More power to you if you can do it, I just don’t have it in me to even attempt such a daunting task.
At this stage in my life I have a hard time remembering my favorite beer, so I try to keep my major purchase options limited to a tighter circle after I have (oh no….here it comes……) exposed myself as much as I can to an area that interests me.
Out of curiosity, did the author ever buy anything??
Hope it all works out for you, no matter which route you take in your search.
Taking a different tack for a moment, the various writers are correct in that this cannot be a one way decision. I invested time with and for my wife in regard to CR and from the first “jaundiced eyes” look I got, now she is mentally invested in taking CR for a test ride. May I suggest you involve friends or finding some other folks you know who have been to CR. I am just amazed at how many of my friends and customers have been to CR and I get little negative feedback. First person/second person feedback is so important as then you have someone to backstop your idea that isn’t vested in YOUR plan(s.) It is amazing to me how many folks have endorsed our test ride idea and I find through this site people close to me (like within 30 miles) who have been there, are going back and are more than willing to visit us and give us their impressions. Outside feedback is so critical; I value it highly and being as it’s on the net, my wife and I read the same things, thus taking away any emotion from the decision to take a shot at it. Good luck, open up to those you know and you will find feedback available to you.
David the “happy wife happy life” comment just cracked me up. Thanks for making my day brighter and for “espousing” (get it??)a truism that should be printed on every married man’s drivers license. Still laughing, thanks again!!
While I speak from afar at this point, I think it’s safe to say that you can fumble through without knowing any Spanish, but you would be far better off knowing at least some conversational Spanish. I am going back to school (now) to learn the basics (what little I remember of my 5 years of Spanish in school so long, long ago is but a distant memory) and from all I have read and heard, you should be at least able to have a halting conversation. This really isn’t too scary and what the heck, learning is always fun, right?
If you juxtapose your situation, I am sure you have encountered, as have I, Hispanic folks who know no English and having a conversation with them is, well, difficult.
And…….I think being a “guest” in a country implies that you will try to assimilate some of the language and culture, if for no other reason than to show the local folks you care enough to take a shot at it.
The phrase I will print on my cheat card until I get better at it will be “My Spanish is not very good, please be patient.” And I will seek to retire that card as fast as I can.
The first three responses are dead on. You may choose to do as I am doing (not there yet) and spend a considerable amount of time archiving on this site, establishing contacts and examining, from afar, all the optionis CR has to offer. Then if you visit and love it, do what almost EVERYONE that has expatted to CR says to do, which is live somewhere for 6 months and let CR speak to you. Keep in mind (as I remind myself) that you stand no chance of changing the country any more than you would in the USA, or any other country. Dig deep, googlemap, establish contact with realtors, do a lot of due diligence ahead of time. Know what, this is fun! I have learned much and cannot wait to get boots on the ground so I can unlearn, unload any preconceived notions and relearn.
Then for a real kick, tell your friends what you are thinking about doing. I put a sign up in my business about my retiring and of course everyone wants to know what I am going to do. I tell them I am taking Costa Rica out for a test drive and if we like the ride, we may choose to stay. Two things have happened: (1) I never knew how many people I know have been to Costa Rica and (2) I have yet to get any negative feedback. Mostly they urge me on and ask, “why are you still here??
Anyway, have fun, make it a quest, due a lot of due diligence and set up your test ride. It becomes a lot more interesting after you have paid for your airline tickets!!
Enjoy.
