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We reached a milestone in our preparations for our own move to Costa Rica yesterday, with loose ends coming together one-by-one.
We’re shooting for Mid-June, with our biggest hurdle now, the transporting of the doggies.
Here’s to keeping our fingers crossed that the Presidential Decree works out and we get in the air with no big hang-ups!
Hope to meet a lot of you in person sometime soon!
Pura Vida!
VMC, Are you visiting Costa Rica for the first time or are you moving there for good? Just wondering how you accomplished getting all the regulations taken care of in Costa Rica and the USA so quickly.
Thanks,
DThomas[quote=”vmc”]We reached a milestone in our preparations for our own move to Costa Rica yesterday, with loose ends coming together one-by-one.
We’re shooting for Mid-June, with our biggest hurdle now, the transporting of the doggies.
Here’s to keeping our fingers crossed that the Presidential Decree works out and we get in the air with no big hang-ups!
Hope to meet a lot of you in person sometime soon!
Pura Vida![/quote]
Hello,
We will be bringing the dog in July. I will be interested in how the process goes for you. Please update after you arrive in CR. Thanks! Alexander[b]VMC[/b] seems to be doing what many of us already living here, advise folk [i]not to do.[/i]…[i]packing up his home and family [b]without[/b] checking out this country first.[/i]
You know, I’ve been thinking about the issue of moving here a lot lately. The common wisdom is that folks should rent before they buy or build, to be sure that they’re in the right place. I’m having my doubts . . .
My current thinking is that relocating without a concrete plan may actually be a mistake. Using Grecia as an example, there are five ridges that exist between the city and Poas. Each of those has two barrios and those barrios have meaningfully different characteristics — altitude, climate, attitude of the neighbors toward newcomers, real estate availability and costs, accessibility to amenities, etc. Just to decide among those options would require locating acceptable rental housing (not always easy) and experiencing life there in ten different locations. And then there are the barrios downhill from Grecia. And then there’s Sarchi, Naranjo, San Ramon, Zarcero, Puriscal . . . the list goes on and on.
A person or family could spend years deciding where to live and then find out that wherever they’d settled upon wasn’t what it was when they lived there, is no longer affordable, etc. Life savings could be exhausted paying rent and retirement time, which we’re supposed to be enjoying, could be spent in turmoil.
I’m thinking that a better approach is to research as best you can, looking for the “disqualifiers”, and then make a commitment. Who knows? It might not be the very best place for you, but will you ever really locate that ideal location anyway? And will settling there really be feasible.
The U.S., Canada, Europe, Costa Rica . . home is where you make it.
And, as I have said before, if you fail to plan you plan to fail.
Or I could be wrong.
Hi David….
We come with no plans of buying or building, we’ll rent and do so knowing that we may need to do this in several locations if need be, before planting roots. Yes there is a great diversity of locations and experiences, and to be forewarned…..
Like I’ve said before, we’ve been at this for about 4 years, we’ve eliminated as many disqualifiers as possible from afar, and come with open eyes and open minds…
…Odd thing to me is that so many have spent SO MUCH TIME extolling the virtues of their little slice of Costa Rica, with blogs, and even as much as to have written BOOKS on the subject and THEN once others who have read about this place get “The itch” they spend the REST of their time trying to DISCOURAGE would-be travelers…..Why is that?
Are they like one angry little fellow who is the self-appointed “Devils Advocate”, and virtual Sheriff of immigration, trying to weed out undesirables? What goes here?
Here’s the plan in a nutshell, many details omitted for the sake of time. However “Concrete” it is……We’re coming down to explore, to find the place we think we want to settle in first…..We’ll rent with the idea that we MAY want to move to another spot, all the while we have return tickets in case we just HATE the horrors of Costa Rica…… We’ll try to figure out what was so great about it that people devote a lot of their time writing about it to share their experiences with others around the world, and then devoting as much time trying to discourage them from coming.
I admit I’m a little confused, but it is in my nature to allay that confusion with first-hand reconnaissance….
YES, we know that we may hate it, we also know that we may LOVE the place and decide to take over or something……LOL (It’s not always the quiet ones.)
As for the areas we want to look at first, we like Atenas and have had friends who lived there, as well as San Ramon……. You see, we actually have KNOWN people on the ground, and don’t come blindly into this…..Then we have plan “B” just in case.
I kind of feel like this will be the last time I post anything on this subject for a while, as there seem to be too many who are unhappy enough about their own experiences, that they want to warn-off others, and I am skeptical when this starts, so until we’re on the ground, and can form our own opinion, we’ll just watch…
To many, with different Life Circumstances, what we are doing may not make sense, but everyone’s situation is different, I’m lucky enough to be free to go where I want without a lot of baggage or obligations to impede my progress, some have to have things done way more in advance than I need to, and each will do this thing in their own way and according to what their lives’ constraints are.
David, thank you for your insight….You and several others have been a great help, some others…..not so much.
Hope to see you soon!
Dan.
I guess you feel that [i]I am warning[/i] others to stay away, but that is not the case.
This isn’t about renting to find the best area before buying.
I am trying to advise folk to at least visit for a while. Even more so, when there are children involved. As adults we can adapt much easier, especially if we come with a ‘significant other’ who we can complain to time and time again, but young family members have left their major support system at home, with their peers.
They will more than likely attend school and have to adjust to both new kids and a new language.
This is a great place to live, but it [i]isn’t[/i] ‘Shangri-La’.
People can read everything there is about Costa Rica…and there will still be surprises, good, bad….and there definitely is an ugly.[quote=”costaricafinca”]I guess you feel that [i]I am warning[/i] others to stay away, but that is not the case.
This isn’t about renting to find the best area before buying.
I am trying to advise folk to at least visit for a while. Even more so, when there are children involved. As adults we can adapt much easier, especially if we come with a ‘significant other’ who we can complain to time and time again, but young family members have left their major support system at home, with their peers.
They will more than likely attend school and have to adjust to both new kids and a new language.
This is a great place to live, but it [i]isn’t[/i] ‘Shangri-La’.
People can read everything there is about Costa Rica…and there will still be surprises, good, bad….and there definitely is an ugly.[/quote]I wasn’t directing that at you, hope you didn’t take it so…..And thank you for your insight as well..
i think david has some good points. i bought land on my first trip here, in fact, on day FIVE!!! i loved the view, and that was enough for me. I figured after i built the house and had a starting point (since i’m not good at renting or moving around a lot), i would have the luxury and time to see if i found something better. it’s five years later, and i wouldn’t live anywhere else. is it perfect? not by a longshot. but it has most of what i could consider ideal and that’s about all one can hope for these days. the weather can be trying because of the wind and fog, but when it hits 90 in San Ramon, i am happy to trot back to the mountains where it’s ten degrees cooler. and for now, i still have that killer view and that counts for a lot. everyone i know thought i had lost my marbles, including my husband, but i never looked back and just started building. i hadn’t even seen much of Costa Rica either — just the pacific, SJO and that was about it. i’m one of those people who follows gut instinct rather than rational thought because if i had been rational i never would’ve done it, so go for it Dan. What have you got to lose?
[quote=”costaricafinca”]I guess you feel that [i]I am warning[/i] others to stay away, but that is not the case.
This isn’t about renting to find the best area before buying.
I am trying to advise folk to at least visit for a while. Even more so, when there are children involved. As adults we can adapt much easier, especially if we come with a ‘significant other’ who we can complain to time and time again, but young family members have left their major support system at home, with their peers.
They will more than likely attend school and have to adjust to both new kids and a new language.
This is a great place to live, but it [i]isn’t[/i] ‘Shangri-La’.
People can read everything there is about Costa Rica…and there will still be surprises, good, bad….and there definitely is an ugly.[/quote]
What did you mean by ugly? That doesn’t sound good for those of us who are considering moving to Costa Rica. I would appreciate you letting us know.
Thanks,
DThomastwo of the uglies are crime (although stat wise, it’s less than some cities in the US, although 5 houses where i live were robbed last year including mine) and racism. No, the ticos don’t just love you because you are waving dollars; a lot of them flat out dislike gringos; even i don’t like some of them. also the bureaucrazy is enough to drive some people away. and, if there is a language barrier be prepared for a lot of problems, i don’t care what anyone says. you cannot understand this culture, which is pretty unique, if you cannot communicate. Finca might have a whole other list of uglies, but those are mine. surely you didn’t think you were moving to the Garden of Eden where all is perfect, did you?
[b]maravilla [/b]said it [i]’exactly right’.[/i]
Robberies are common place. We too, have been robbed and by no means are we either ‘flashy or rich’.[quote=”maravilla”]two of the uglies are crime (although stat wise, it’s less than some cities in the US, although 5 houses where i live were robbed last year including mine) and racism. No, the ticos don’t just love you because you are waving dollars; a lot of them flat out dislike gringos; even i don’t like some of them. also the bureaucrazy is enough to drive some people away. and, if there is a language barrier be prepared for a lot of problems, i don’t care what anyone says. you cannot understand this culture, which is pretty unique, if you cannot communicate. Finca might have a whole other list of uglies, but those are mine. surely you didn’t think you were moving to the Garden of Eden where all is perfect, did you?[/quote]
No way, I live where 95% of the population are Mormons and the state is governed by very very conservative WHITE men and a few women! If they have the money to run for office.
It has a huge problem with Meth. The schools are over crowded and they have now cut funding. I could go on and on. Nothing is perfect! What do you enjoy about living in Costa Rica and why did you move there?
Thanks,
DThomasi won’t go into the political reasons why i moved here, but not having an Army was way up on the list. basically, i also got sick of colorado winters and only being able to garden for 80 days a year. i love everything about costa rica — the inefficiency of it all, and despite that things still get done, i love that it’s a spanish speaking country, and being able to get raw milk without the gov’t telling me i will die, getting fresh eggs from my neighbor, being able to take a bus and not have to have a car, cheap taxis, an abundance of fabulous fruits and vegetables, friendly people, nice weather most of the time, and a laid back attitude. i even like standing in line at the bank and chatting up the people in front or behind me, having the gerente at the bank kiss me hello, or the guard with the gun call me “mi reina” or “mi amor” — it’s the little things that make up the whole place. i also love the central markets with stall after stall of stuff to eat and buy, like a casbah. i like being able to go into the farmacia and buy ONE bandage for the golpe i got on my toe along with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and have it only cost me $.45 for both. i like going to the clinic and having all the people tell me what line to stand in, where to sit, how to get things done. you get the idea. i love the essence of the place. the good, the bad, and the ugly.
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