I made my escape to Costa Rica in May 2010, to teach English in San Jose. I recently discovered a beautiful little mountain town (where a friend lives) that’s an easy day trip from the capital. Urasca is a small town in the province of Cartago, at about 3,000 feet above sea level. It has a climate quite different to San Jose—Costa Rica is marked by its micro-climates.
It’s easy to find yourself surrounded by lush green jungle, a kaleidoscope of flowers, and a menagerie of animals. You can have this in your backyard if you wish. For me, this is a huge part of the magic of Costa Rica and the main reason I chose to live and work here.
Healthier and happier. We hear that over and over from IL readers who move to Costa Rica. Ben Hill says “I was a junk food junkie…stopping at every 7-11 and buying a bag of chips and a coke, a candy bar…but now I eat healthy food, I feel better, I’m more flexible and I weigh a lot less than I did back in California.”
If you followed the scouting trip to Costa Rica I made with my wife Suzan earlier this year, you’ll know that this is the best time to buy. Here are some of the highlights:
In California, Jill Hill used to work in the “eye fashion” business…and her husband Ben built swimming pools. But when they moved to Costa Rica, they changed careers. From the hills of Nosara, they now run a successful yoga spa business that looks out over the Pacific Ocean. Ben and Jill were guests on IL Radio recently.
“Costa Rica offers true freedom,” Todd says. “They say that about the U.S., but Costa Rica really does offer true freedom.” No one bothers you here, the government is non-invasive and stable, there aren’t people protesting in the streets…people are happy. Sociologists have actually proven that Costa Ricans are the happiest people on the planet.
We just learned about the top places in Costa Rica that make the most sense for expats to live, to rent, buy real estate, become part of a community and have access to all the amenities that make life comfortable and enjoyable.
Although the country is known for its beaches, the majority of foreigners who move to Costa Rica tend to settle in the Central Valley…near, but definitely not in…the chaotic capital city of San Jose.
Every week, many IL readers make the crucial decision to “just do it,” and get moving on a new life overseas. Often we’re lucky enough that they send in their stories. Here, briefly, are four of my recent favorites…
Winner of the 2011 Global Retirement Index, Ecuador offers sophisticated historical cities…miles of unspoiled, sun-kissed beaches…fertile farmland…and temperate mountain hideaways…and all of it for pennies on the dollar.
Pristine waterfalls, myriad geysers, natural swimming holes, bubbling mud pots, fumaroles, rejuvenating thermal hot springs, hiking, horseback riding, orchids, bird-watching, a canopy zipline, white-water rafting and a quarter-mile waterslide…a visit to Hacienda Guachipelin in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, is anything but boring.
Costa Rica has it all. And even in a country this stunning, Arenal stands out. Easily accessible from Costa Rica’s international airports of San Jose and Liberia, this gem boasts rich, green pastoral hills that roll down to the lakeshore while soaring, dramatic volcanoes form an awesome backdrop.
The knife-edge mountain ridges in Costa Rica’s Southern Zone curve like a dragon’s spine, twisting and turning their way to the horizon and dropping sharply to the long sandy beaches that run along the coastline.
Lee and Sharon moved to Costa Rica because they wanted to stretch their small social security income and knew that retirement in the U.S. was out of the question.
We had traveled extensively in Mexico and Central America, but had missed out on Costa Rica. We decided this would be our opportunity to explore the country as well as take care of my husband Alan’s dental needs.
Andy and Fran Brown had a predicament. It was 2008, and both had suddenly found themselves out of work. The couple had a nest egg but after doing their sums, they discovered that their funds would only last nine years… if they stayed in the U.S.
We first visited Costa Rica when our cruise ship docked in the country’s Pacific port of Caldera in 1994. From then on we visited as often as we could, taking relocation tours and thoroughly exploring the country. We wanted to stretch our small Social Security income and knew that retirement in the U.S. was out of the question.
As we drove around last month on our latest reconnaissance trip, we were happy to find that Costa Rica still offers great value as an affordable retirement and second-home destination…along with some of the most beautiful scenery and forward-looking ecological policies anywhere on earth.
I worked for 15 years as a marine biologist from Martha’s Vineyard to Florida and in 2000 relocated to Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula. For me, this is the most desirable part of Costa Rica. There’s a nice mix of low lands and higher land, so you have a choice of climate and views.
This unspoilt stretch of beautiful coastline is Ecuador’s finest and until recently, it was difficult to get to. But last year the new coastal road from Quito to Pedernales was finished. (Pedernales is just thirty minutes from this community.) This cuts the drive time from Quito to Pedernales in half, to three-and-a-half hours.
When I lived in Hawaii, I was always near the ocean…but never a “stone’s throw” away. Then I moved to Costa Rica—my goal was to live close enough to the beach that I could walk out my door and be in the ocean in under three minutes.
Less than four years ago, for instance, Dave Merritt bought a 2.5-acre farm near Lake Arenal, Costa Rica, for $36,500, or $3.65 per square meter ($14,600 per acre). Today, he says, similar properties are selling for twice as much.
Fair waring: What you’re about to read may change your overseas plans to focus on Costa Rica…and if you haven’t yet considered a move overseas…you’re about to be “Costa Rica’d.”
Cigarette smoke and the rich aroma of coffee drifts out from the wooden roadside cafe. My coffee is prepared and served like the French serve cafe au lait. The surroundings look like the Swiss alps as the fog rolls in. Rich and full bodied, my coffee is one of the finest I’ve had in Central America.
“My wife Suzan and I breathed a sigh of relief and toasted our good fortune. The lights here were just as low, the ocean breeze just as gentle, and the spaghetti carbonara just as peppery and fresh in the little restaurant on Playa Samara as they were during our honeymoon 14 years ago.”
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