Puriscal is only about one hour west of San Jose so we drove down to interview one of America’s greatest exports to Costa Rica – my good friend George Lundquist.

We sat at the top of the hill on George’s property which has spectacular views reaching all the way to the Pacific coast.

It was a normal day in Costa Rica, a day full of stunning scenery, sunshine and smiles and with George’s natural enthusiasm about his adopted home and his new life in Costa Rica, there are always plenty of big smiles to go around.

Retirement in Costa Rica with George Lundquist
Free online video interview.

To watch this short Costa Rica video interview with George Lundquist, please click on the small black triangular Play button below.

George Lundquist was born in Minnesota, USA but “escaped as quickly as I could” to Texas and lived there for 25 years. He has lived in Costa Rica now with his wife Aija for five years.

George believes that “you measure a man’s wealth by the number of things he does NOT need.”

“I don’t want to ever go back to the Unites States” says George, “I will die here.”

George chose Puriscal after many years of research saying that; “I am very picky about weather.” He and his wife prefer the temperatures to be between 72-80 degrees and not lower than 60. In Puriscal “the most extreme cold we’ve ever had was 60 and the most extreme heat we’ve had was 82.”

George came to retire in Costa Rica but ended up having so much fun showing guests around this beautiful little country, he developed a program of ‘Costa Rica retirement tours for the NON-rich’ which has turned out to be very popular.

George and his wife have built their own home in Puriscal. It’s “1,500 square feet walled in but 3,000 square feet including outdoor patios” because you can “live outdoors 12 months a year.”

“To build my first house cost $95,000” for everything including all materials and GE stainless steel ‘Profile’ appliances but not the land.

George’s Three Secrets To A Happy Retirement in Costa Rica

To be happy living in Costa Rica you need three things:

1. A sense humor
2. A sense of adventure and a
3. A heck of a load of patience

“With those three things one can have probably the best life in the whole world, without those things you oughta’ stay where you are.”

“More importantly than the weather and the cost of living and quality of the food and the quality of the beer and the ice cream is the attitude, the people.”

The people here have a spirit here, “a spirit of togetherness and community” that he kind of remembers from Minnesota in the 1950’s.

“The joy of life, they have no grumpy attitude, they’re not looking for all they can get. “They’re happy with what they’ve got.”

“Look at the friendships you can have when you’re not trying to get something, we don’t need more ‘stuff’, everybody needs ‘stuff’ in the United States, bigger ‘stuff’, more ‘stuff.'”

“Here the weather the climate, the people, the food is healthful. I have less weight and I’m healthier than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”

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Are you thinking of retiring in Costa Rica? George Lundquist offers a 4 day 3 night all inclusive “Expose me to life for the Non-Rich in the Costa Rica Tour which you can see here.” Or, you can email George here.

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.