IL Magazine: Discover the World's Best Retirement Haven for 2021 + 24 more
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Shortly after moving to southern Costa Rica in 2015, a new priority topped my "to do" list: make friends. I knew that cultivating friendships would be essential for me to adjust to my new life.
After 45 years of marriage and home-ownership in Colorado, my husband Wes and I found ourselves as renters in Costa Rica. As retirees, we decided not to buy and maintain a house because we are more interested in adventures and exploring the country.
Minimalism was a concept I never thought would fit me. But retiring and moving to Costa Rica has changed me for the better. I no longer buy “things” to be happy. Through our move from Colorado to Costa Rica in November 2015, my husband, Wes, and I exchanged our 2,700 square-foot home and three-car garage for a home with under 1,000 square feet.
“How can two people who have lived their entire lives in Colorado, move so far away?” That was the reaction from family and friends when my husband, Wes, and I announced our decision to retire overseas. We felt it was a good time for us to have a new adventure. I’d been working for over 30 years as a library employee and Wes had been retired for over a year and was growing weary of the cold Colorado weather. We were in good health and we had worked hard and raised our family when our peers were out exploring (we married young).