Expat Community > Costa Rica

Junebug
Joined 2011
Posts: 40

Our research thus far regarding moving to CR

11 years ago

Seems as though there are a lot of us "newbies" on the forum who are looking to pick the brains of those of you who are seasoned and experienced when it comes to living in CR. I for one appreciate the negative and the positive feedback, though I do think this forum veers a bit to the negative side of things. That said, it's up to me to glean the info and put it together, and then check in with myself and my partner as to what it is we are looking for. With that said, my experience is as follows (and I hope this is helpful to other newcomers or soon-to-be newcomers). Keep in mind, I do not yet live in CR, but will move there in 3 years time unless something unfortunate happens to me or my partner.

1. CR is not paradise. I doubt paradise actually exists. We are not looking for paradise though so that expectation is not there for us to begin with.
2. CR is not cheap. We fully understand this and know that we will pay less for some things and much more for others. Our plan is to curb our own consumerism habits and live more simply. We currently live in San Francisco and compared to most people here, we already live simply. We understand that it will behoove us to start to live even more simply. We currently live in a 700 square foot old apartment with little in the way of amenities. We plan on living in the same amount of space when we move to CR. It works for us. No mini mansions in our future.
3. There is crime in CR. There is crime in San Francisco (um, lots of it actually! In my immediate family 3 of us women have been violently attacked by strangers, I have been robbed multiple times, and I no longer feel safe to go out after dark.) We live in a good neighborhood of SF, but those are the facts so we exercise caution. Yeah, it sucks, but that's how it is.
4. We are not looking to escape our life here. We love our life. We know we will love life wherever we go as long as we take our positive attitudes with us and keep a check on our expectations, goals, and perceptions.
5. CR has its share of problems. It will not be like living here in the US. I have lived abroad before, in a tropical country, at the edge of the jungle. I have a clue as to what to expect in that regard. CR is a developing country so we don't expect the infrastructure we have here in the states, and we are ok with that....
6. Which brings me to #6. We may say we're ok with less infrastructure, but that doesn't mean we won't be frustrated. We will! We expect it. We will probably even complain now and again...just like here in SF, though we know the complaints will be different. We have done plenty of research and have an idea as to what will frustrate us the most.
7. Moving to another country means moving into another culture. We expect we will experience culture shock. That said, we are trying to learn as much about the culture as possible and are in the process of learning Spanish as well. We should have a decent command of the language by the time we move there.
8. We think it's very important to test the waters. My partner and I have made 3 trips in the last year and will be making another trip next week. Sure, we're doing some fun vacation things here and there, but mostly we make the trips to network, make friends, and learn.
9. I personally think the most important thing for us to get a handle on is our own motivations, needs, and desires. Rather than asking people on places such as this forum questions like, "where is the best place to live in CR?" it is more important for us to ask ourselves what we want, what drives us, and then go from there. We know we can't expect anyone to be able to answer that question for us because everyone's different and has different needs. We feel we found the area where we want to live but only after spending time there, and deeply examining our needs and desires. For us, nature is the number one driver.

So in short, for those of us looking to make such a life changing move; examine your perceptions, expectations, motivations, do your research, spend time in CR, network, don't let anyone tell you "yes" or "no" because only you can determine what is right for you. At least that is what we have figured out this far in our adventure. We would love to connect with others who are either contemplating this leap or who are in the process. Feel free to PM us.
June and Andrew

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Our research thus far regarding moving to CR

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