Don and Janie Orsino had a good life in Southern California. They were retired and had a nice house with friends and family around. It was all very nice, “but we wanted to have more of an adventure while we still can,” said Don Orsino. “Our health is good and so we thought ‘why not?'”

The couple made a short list of international places they might like to retire, including Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Uruguay. “We did one of those retirement tours in Costa Rica, and we were so convinced after that tour that we didn’t go to those other places,” said Orsino.

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Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Mexico are all top five best places in the world to retire, according to the 2015 International Living Retirement Index.

“Everywhere your eye falls it is so beautiful,” Orsino explained as to why they set their sights on Costa Rica. “The weather is great. The people are the friendliest of anywhere in the world. It has a good stable economy for us to buy a house.”

The Orsinos first looked around the country and then found their new retirement home in Atenas, Costa Rica in November 2014. “We found this home here in Atenas through Dennis Easters (of Pure Life Development of Atenas) and bought it,” commented

Orsino. “Atenas is a neat little town with a lot of nice shops. It is close to the beach. We also chose Atenas because if in the future we decide we want to use our home as a vacation rental, or even if we decide to sell, we know we can get much better prices in Atenas than in many other areas nearby.”

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For John and Gay Boggs, of Virginia, when they chose Atenas, Costa Rica as their retirement destination, they opted to build their dream custom home.

“We learned quickly that real estate in Costa Rica is not like the United States with its regulations, but we found a few realtors in Costa Rica who were the most professional, in our opinion, and who worked with a code of ethics,” commented Gay Boggs.

Dennis Easters and Gerardo Gonzalez of Pure Life Development of Atenas “found us exactly what we were specifically looking for. They listened to what we wanted and didn’t waste our time, which is rare. Within 24 hours of seeing properties, we knew we wanted to build our home. We were very impressed with Dennis’ builder and the high quality of construction.”

The couple, who had both visited Costa Rica before, cited the country’s family-based culture as to what appealed to them most, and great location for why they chose Atenas.

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“We love the people here. It is a very respectful country and the people are so kind. It reminds us of how the United States was when we were growing up, very family based,” explained Boggs. “In Atenas, we love that we are so close to great health care and close to the airport. It is a small town atmosphere but is very close to everything that we need.”

Less than an hour’s drive from the capital city of San Jose, 30 minutes from the Juan Santamaria International Airport, and 45 minutes from Pacific Coast beaches, Atenas is well positioned for convenience. Come see for yourself what it would be like to live in Atenas, Costa Rica.

Written By Shannon Farley: Shannon Farley is a travel blog writer for Enchanting Costa Rica and Profimercadeo in Costa Rica. Originally from Southern California , Shannon has lived, worked and traveled all over the world for 20 years; she has been living and working in Costa Rica since 1999. She lives in Atenas, Costa Rica with her husband, 5 dogs and 2 cats.

Retiring in Costa Rica: Check out the good life in Atenas, Costa Rica.
Article ID Number 5276

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