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Yet another U.S. Couple considering CR for retirement!

9 years ago
Hello all,

I have been reading with interest a lot of the posts here on this forum and was hoping that I could ask a few questions ahead of our exploratory trip to Costa Rica this summer.

We are a youngish, mid 50's married couple looking to retire from the rat race of our lives here in the suburbs of Atlanta Georgia. Our kids are grown and we have grandchildren so we don't want to be too far from family. We originally went to Portugal on an exploratory trip and fell in love with the country, people and of course, the food and wine. We found it affordable and even found a few homes to rent upon our return. The only reason we haven't left yet and relocated there is the distance from our kids/grandkids.

My husband started researching closer alternatives and we came across CR. I've found in my research that I like the area of Nosaro, with its proximity to the water and healthy food and exercise. But my husband seems to favor the Central Valley area, with its cooler temps and proximity to shopping, and more modern conveniences. He also likes Dominical and Uvita as potential places to live. He says that I will tire quickly of washed out dirt roads and the 'off the grid' feeling. I don't want traffic and lots of neighbors though. I'm not trying to recreate where we live here, there. At any rate, we won't know how we'll feel until we actually hit the ground and begin exploring.

My questions to any of you are..
Is infrastructure really that horrible in the area that I like? Is it inaccessible to shops, restaurants etc?

Do you recommend we hire a tour guide if we only have a short window (a week) to explore the majority of the country?

We plan on renting when we do relocate, so we will have the time to see areas over a longer period of time once we're there. Also, we have three dogs (all German shepherds or size equivalent) so we definitely want land and privacy, but I guess we also want some access to modern conveniences.

I know I gave a lot of potentially irrelevant information, but my hope was that it would help to give me a better response from you if you reply.

Thank you for your help with us, and I look forward to your replies!

Cigna Global Health
Cigna Global Health

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