Articles by Jason Holland
Costa Rica is relatively small, about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire put together.But although much of the country is crisscrossed by a modern highway system, travel from one end to another can be time-consuming, especially to certain out-of-the-way areas, because of windy mountain roadways and unpaved secondary roads.
The Manuel Antonio area on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast has been a long-time favorite of visitors. Just two hours from the capital San Jose on a well-maintained modern highway, Manuel Antonio is the site of the country’s most popular national park. In 2011, Forbes magazine named it one of the world’s best.At 4,000 acres, it’s a relatively small refuge and one of the smallest national parks
Those looking for a beautiful, unspoiled beachfront setting, as well as a sizeable community of expats, should find living in Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica to be a good match.Playa Flamingo is located on the northern Pacific Coast, in the heart of what is known as the Gold Coast.
Costa Rica is a relatively small country–about the size of New Hampshire and Vermont put together. And that means getting around is easy and inexpensive, and you have a variety of options. For trips to nearby towns and from outlying areas into town, there are regular bus routes, as many Costa Ricans don’t have cars.
I’m kind of a thrifty guy. I don’t buy the latest smartphone that comes on the market. In fact, I have the most basic model money can buy in Costa Rica—just $30, plus $15 a month for minutes. I don’t splurge on fashion—why bother? I’m in board shorts and a tank top pretty much 24/7 at my home in the Costa Rican beach town of Tamarindo. But when I travel to Nicaragua, I go a bit hog wild and feel free to indulge in many of the “luxuries” I normally deny myself.
Sunlight filters through swaying palm fronds. My feet are in the sand, I have an ice-cold Pilsen beer in hand, and I’m savoring my lunch: a heaped plate of rice, beans, plantains, and chicken that cost just $6. Coconut milk and a secret blend of spices are commonly used in Caribbean cooking and it’s delicious.
When you move overseas it’s the perfect opportunity to reinvent yourself. You can adopt a new lifestyle and totally change what you do for a living,” says Virginia native Lee Greenberg. The 39-year-old embraced this philosophy wholeheartedly when he moved to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, six years ago.
Founded in 1524, Granada, Nicaragua is a historic city with homes and other buildings hundreds of years old. Colonial homes are known for their red tile roofs and interior courtyards with gardens, fountains, and sometimes even swimming pools.
Mark and Amélie had seen many people save a lifetime to spend their retirement sailing the world, only to have illness or some other unexpected setback stop them before they even left port. “We made a decision to leave with an excess of time—not money,” says Mark. Heading south, they sailed the west coast of Mexico for three years, including a year-and-a-half in Mazatlán.
Eating like a local is one of the best ways to keep your cost of living low in Costa Rica. And for dining out that means frequenting your local soda, the equivalent of a diner or neighborhood restaurant in the U.S. They serve simple, nutritious food, including the casado, the unofficial national dish, which runs $4 to $6.
Scott Dinsmore, 47, and David Russell, 52, keep busy running their Spanish colonial-style boutique hotel, El Castillo, on Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast. It sits 600 feet above the beach in the jungle-clad mountains that rise sharply from the deep blue waters.
Here in our home on Costa Rica’s northern Pacific coast, we’ve taken back the weekends. We sleep in a bit. A small breakfast of fresh fruit and rich Costa Rican coffee follows—just something to hold us over. We pack up and drive from our condo in Tamarindo north along the coast about a half-hour to Brasilito, a tiny fishing village.
You wake up early for work. But you’re not slapping at the alarm clock in disgust, then rushing out the door for a long commute. You want to get up…you’re looking forward to the day. You get to enjoy that first cup of coffee as the rising sun makes the Pacific glitter…watch wildlife—toucans, parrots, even monkeys—make their morning rounds in the trees…and bask in praise from departing guests…
After a lifetime of cold weather in Alberta, Canada, retired couple Rick and Peggy Stewart were ready for a change. And they found a perfect climate—and many more benefits—in the rural community of Santa Eulalia about 20 minutes outside of the small town of Atenas, in Costa Rica’s Central Valley. From their new home in the tropics, they can’t help but rub it in with friends and family back home.
Nicaragua is on the cusp. It’s being gussied up. Yet it remains—for the moment—a place for in-the-know travelers and adventuresome expats. They’re drawn to the elegant colonial towns and the natural beauty of the Pacific. Then there’s the super-low cost of living, real estate for a fraction of what you’d pay in the U.S. for similar locations, and the opportunity for a new way of life.
Nicaragua is going mainstream. A country that war and conspiracy made infamous in the Reagan years is today home to eco-lodges, spas, and restored colonials. It’s at the top of the New York Times’ list of places to see in 2013. Food and Wine has pronounced it “affordable, safe and undiscovered.” Outside magazine declares, “it feels like Nicaragua’s moment is now.”
Take a typical New York City studio apartment, then halve it. That gives you an idea of the living space of 44-year-old Mark and 36-year-old Amélie Meadows and their son, 18-month-old Zephyr. They call The Blue Goose, a 38-foot sailboat, home. Far from feeling constrained by this living or work arrangement, the couple feels it’s helped them strip down to the essentials.
Here in our home on Costa Rica’s northern Pacific coast, we’ve taken back the weekends. We sleep in a bit. A small breakfast of fresh fruit and rich Costa Rican coffee follows—just something to hold us over. We pack up and drive from our condo in Tamarindo north along the coast about a half-hour to Brasilito, a tiny fishing village.
When he was 35, Colin Brownlee had an epiphany—a life-changing moment. He was staying at a small hotel on the beach, on Hawaii’s Big Island. The landscaping was lush and tropical, there were hammocks slung between palm trees. It was a homey place that guests raved about when they got home and came back to year after year.
The only things Jeremy needed to make his living were a reliable high-speed Internet connection and a comfortable home for his family. Plus, he already had plenty of overseas experience. He had lived briefly in Peru, Argentina, and Costa Rica and had traveled throughout Central America. But he’d never been to Nicaragua—and that’s where he set his sights.
When he was 35, Colin Brownlee had an epiphany—a life-changing moment. He was staying at a small hotel on the beach, on Hawaii’s Big Island. The landscaping was lush and tropical, there were hammocks slung between palm trees. It was a homey place that guests raved about when they got home and came back to year after year. Colin knew that one day he had to open his own hotel just like it. At home in Vancouver and back in his advertising job he dreamt about the hotel he would open. “It haunted me that I might not do it because of fear of failure,” says Colin.
Granada is where Nicaragua puts on its best face for visitors. It sits on the shore of the vast Lake Nicaragua, just an hour’s drive from the country’s capital, Managua. Centuries-old colonial architecture fills the historic city center surrounding the neoclassical-style Cathedral of Granada and the Parque Central.
When Willy and Monika Krauskopf visited Costa Rica’s Lake Arenal 20 years ago, it was a life-changing event. The couple spent 10 days driving around the country. But they found themselves especially drawn to Lake Arenal because of the natural beauty and unhurried pace of the area.
When Brian and Stephanie Gough went on vacation in Tamarindo, a stunning stretch of palm-fringed shoreline on Costa Rica’s northern Pacific coast, their lives changed forever. They had such an incredible time that they couldn’t bear the thought of going back to their old lives. So they bought a local restaurant. “We fell in love with Tamarindo,” says Brian.
Here in Tamarindo, on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, everybody knows everybody. Long-term expats number in the hundreds. It’s a walkable little ‘burg—we can’t stroll through town without stopping several times to talk with friends—and the “Main Street” is lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants run by Costa Ricans, Israelis, Argentinians, Italians, Americans, Canadians…
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