Retired in Costa Rica – British couple abandon the ‘rat race’ and start small B&B

On reflection, the steep learning curve can wait – let’s finish our introduction.

First, more on San Isidro – often mentioned in guide books as a nice town en-route down the InterAmericana to the south and Osa peninsula, but it’s a lot more than that. San Isidro is the centre of a thriving agricultural community, the fastest growing community outside the central valley, the gateway to Chirripo — the highest peak in the country, a town with good resources, and its less than an hour to the beach.

At 800 meters, the climate is perfect – one blanket country, never too hot and never too cold (by Costa Rican rather than European standards!)

Though many immigrants are happy with the extremes of ‘tranquilo’ isolated up a mountainside, we didn’t want a two hour hike on lousy roads to get the daily essentials, and we wanted somewhere we could age with relative ease rather than adversity.

Softies maybe, but as an occupational therapist at one time working in the Scottish highlands, I had met many people who escaped the rat-race to live out their days in an idyllic highland retreat; life was good while they were healthy and able to participate, but a different matter when ill or disabled, and dependent on a community to which they didn’t belong.

With that practical perspective, San Isidro fitted our bill and when we visited what is now our home, it ‘clicked’. On the main road to Rivas, the property has 3 acres of wonderful garden and 4 of native woodland, undisturbed and there for nature.

The home of American builder, Michael Holm (you can enjoy a free video interview with this talented builder here) the house is extremely well designed and built.

Walk through the upper floor living area onto the landing and there’s the ‘Wow!’ factor – we look up to the Chirripo peaks and over the Rio General valley to the Talamanca range. The mountains are stunning, in all their moods.

Michael and his wife lived in the house and cared for the gardens until we arrived – what a bonus, leave a property empty here for six months and the house will be infested and the garden a jungle!

We grabbed basic necessities on arrival and returned to San Jose a week later to start the serious retail pain. Our taste is for modern simple design rather than the Spanish ornate, so we headed for Artistica, a large furniture store on this side of the city.

In just one visit, we ordered all our main furniture – mainly of Italian and Danish design – and had it all delivered five days later. Amazing! In the UK, stores rarely sell from stock and we would have waited weeks for delivery. We were impressed, and with the homeware available in smart shopping malls and giant US supermarkets. So – good quality, variety and service can be had.

A sweaty paint job and within a month we were up and running – all very painless really. But we also had our first taste of Tico obfuscation… and where do we find sink plugs? … more on that next time!

[custom_script adID=97]

You can see more about John and Sheelagh’s very affordable B&B outside San Isidro here and photographs and prices here.

Please contact our Recommended Costa Rica Realtors working in the area: James Drews, Daveed Hollander and John Wieland, by using the simple form below:

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.