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Wow, some really great answers and comments! Especially noted are the diligent attention to detail, research and preparation, and adjusted attitude of those who have come to CR and been successful at transitioning.
I had a detailed heartfelt comment prepared last time I logged on that explained my motivations for wanting to become an expat, but when I clicked the ‘save’ button, I was directed to the log on page and it went ‘poof’ …
Thankfully there have been many posters on this thread that have put many of my own motivations into words probably better than I could have and saved me the trouble of doing it again. Thanks everyone, for your really great input and opinions.
I first came to Costa Rica in the late 90’s to check it out after a friend had vacationed there and told me about it.
I loved it and after that I made many more trips with friends and by myself. A few years after my first trip I came for a long term stay and ended up living in Costa Rica for nearly a year with a short return to the U.S. in between.
My decision to eventually move to Costa Rica permanently was simple: I liked it there better than the USA.
As the years rolled on and I was not able to move there for various reasons (mostly not having the $ nor being able to work there), I wanted to move there more and more for political reasons. For me it’s not “Bush” or “Obama” but rather the entire system which has become “corporatism”, and is becoming close to fascism at this point. But this forum is not the place to debate politics, I’m just answering the question that was posed.
Finally I was able to buy property but still could not afford to build. I then lost my job in the great recession of 2007 or whenever it started, and was unemployed for almost 3 years. Being an older American I couldn’t find a job in the recessed economy and had to spend most of our savings to just pay rent and survive in the U.S.. Just being a great worker with a ton of great experience is not enough, anymore.
As a result I had to sub-divide our Costa Rica property and put lots up for sale and now am waiting to sell a couple before we can afford to build our retirement home. But with the real estate market slow in the U.S. this isn’t going so well either.
As for it taking gumption to move to a foreign country, I guess that is true but I never felt that way. To me it seems “no big deal” and in fact I always recommend people who complain about their lives in USA or who can’t afford to live well in the USA on their social security to move to Costa Rica (or some other country of their choice) and I am always surprised when people are often immediately resistant to the idea as if it is beyond their imagination to do something like that. I don’t get it because to me it seems like a very good and logical thing to do. I know people who bitch about their jobs to no end, yet COULD sell all their assets and have half a million dollars or so to set up their lives in Costa Rica, and live like kings without having to work at all, and then get a good social security in a few years as well. But they won’t do it and I just shake my head and wonder why. I WISH I had half a million dollars in assets! I’d have moved years ago!
What finally prompted me to come to CR and look around was when a certain governor from the state of Alaska became the running mate of yet another geriatric war mongering presidential candidate and had a real chance of becoming the POTUS if he kicked the bucket. That was the proverbial ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ for me.
I remember being a small child watching my parents B&W ‘home entertainment system’ as the tragic events of the JFK assassination unfolded, and how even a child’s intuition somehow knew that nothing would ever be the same for America after that day. I instinctively knew that whatever forces of darkness that could so savagely and openly destroy this charasmatic symbol of freedom and democracy had not only won the day, but odiously cemented their place in our culture and would spread like a malignant disease, destroying as much good as it could until this place became more a reflection of the disease itself than it’s former aspirations of hope and freedom.
Of course, 9/11 was even more significant as a symbol of what would follow. Killing JFK was taking one man out that got in the way. 9/11 effectively took us ALL out, confirming that ALL OF OUR FREEDOMS were ‘in the way’ of whatever plans this disease had for the future of America.
Now you’re seeing stories and hearing official narratives that will shape public policy that have common earmarks among them, all involving grotesque violence, evidence that doesn’t come close to making sense, official complicity in covering the truth and lying to the public to cover loose ends, and a system that doesn’t hesitate to kill ANYTHING that gets in it’s way.
If the story of America were a movie, it would be “It’s A Wonderful Life”, only with George Baily’s unthinkable vision of the quaint Bedford Falls turning into the corrupt and venal “Pottersville” unfortunately having become the prevailing reality.
So here I am on a Taca airline flight, landing in Juan Santamaría International Airport, my rental car (arranged thru a private party on Craigslist, thought I’d make that part of the adventure too I guess) ready to embark on a vagabond journey of discovery in CR. My Spanish is rusty, my suitcase mostly containing clothes I will never wear here, and my eyes never been more full of wonder.
Each day that passed inspired such feelings of appreciation for this beautiful country. It’s wide open spaces, simpler life and panoramic vistas freeing my thoughts and fueling my imagination. I felt welcomed by almost everyone I met, and never took an occasional distrustful look personally, knowing what feelings the reputation of America and assuredly many rude Gringos before me have probably created in many Tico minds. What the hell….I can’t argue with that, can I? All I can do is try to be respectful, treat people fairly, and hopefully be a positive example not of America, but of the American people.
Costa Rica, you have become my muse.
[quote=”ticobelle”]As a self-employed person most of my life, I knew very early on that I would be an ex-pat some day, somewhere. SS in the US just would not be enough. So my partner and I researched (before computers) for a couple of years and decided on Belize. He died and I moved back to be near my mother. Ten years later, after I had a major heart attack (Type A personality), and my mother died, I realized I could retire in a foreign country alone.
Started computer research and also realized that Belize was no longer an option financially. More research and I realized that Costa Rica fit all my requirements at the time. Climate, affordability, different value and tropical flowers as well as politically stable. I had planned to visit before moving, and when that fell through, I moved here in 2004 with 11 plastic boxes, and against all my family’s wishes, and with their dire predictions.
At first, people here would ask how long I would be staying here and my answer was always the same. For today for sure. And my mantra was “tranquillo”. Type A’s need that mantra here.
Now, 9 years later, I am still here. However, when people ask “would you go back?” my answer is “Not Today”.[/quote]
You are truly an adventurer! What a great story! And great advice for a Type A…take it one day at a time!
I moved here when I was 51… some 13 years ago… hoping I could get settled in and have a style of living I could afford when SS time came around. Now, I am getting by on that. Something that would have been a problem had I stayed Stateside and tried to survive on SS pension. I am debt free and living a style that would never have been affordable “back in the world”.
[quote=”jerry”]I moved here when I was 51… some 13 years ago… hoping I could get settled in and have a style of living I could afford when SS time came around. Now, I am getting by on that. Something that would have been a problem had I stayed Stateside and tried to survive on SS pension. I am debt free and living a style that would never have been affordable “back in the world”.[/quote]
You dropped out of the workforce at age 51 and you are now making enough on SS to be able to live? I can’t imagine benefits are very high when you had nearly 15 years remaining before you were eligible for full retirement considering you had so many years being unemployed beforehand. Possibly, you either started a business in CR or you had additional resources.
How did I do it??? I sold everything I had, kept an African Grey and an Aussie Shepherd. Packed up my ’64 Chevy truck with all it would hold, boxed up the rest, and came on down. Never had been here before. Didn’t even speak Spanglish. I had about $15000 once I landed here. The first 5 years or so I ventured North to work a few months and save enough to come back for as long as the money lasted, then went North another few months. I came back with about $12,000 each time, stayed another 8 or 10 months on that. I tried working in call centers here a couple of times…. BUMMER. Not recommended. Got married to a Tica 10 years ago, the boy came along 7 yrs ago, the early SS came along 2 years ago. We all get along pretty well. SS pays me about $1400 a month (incl dependent boost for the son). I live Tico style (ducha shower… old car… minimal driving… little or no dining out). A very minimal odd job opportunity at chopping with a weed eater or carpenter work rounds it all out. I even get ice cream once a week or so. LOL. Look, I live in the rural mountains near Turrialba. I see my neighbors with NO car, NO ducha, kids, a scroungy dog… They pick coffee or cut cane, or SOMETHING, and they seem to manage, and do it happily. A LOT of the gringos I see here are comparatively quite rich and all they do is piss and moan. Look around, get a little more basic, a little more down to earth, and they’d be amazed at the benefits of simplicity. Simply said.
[quote=”jerry”]I live in the rural mountains near Turrialba. I see my neighbors with NO car, NO ducha, kids, a scroungy dog… They pick coffee or cut cane, or SOMETHING, and they seem to manage, and do it happily. A LOT of the gringos I see here are comparatively quite rich and all they do is piss and moan. Look around, get a little more basic, a little more down to earth, and they’d be amazed at the benefits of simplicity. Simply said.[/quote]
….now that’s what I call determination. Probably the best written example I’ve seen so far of the mindset it takes to transition from one way of living to another. Could the average gringo get by being as resourceful at patching together these various skills, odd jobs and limited income, or be as intrepid as to head down there with next to nothing and make it work? I doubt it. Most of us are too spoiled from being 6% of the world’s population that consumes more than 25% of the world’s resources for the life Jerry has adapted to. Great post!
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