Apr
Living in Costa Rica: Why We’re Leaving
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For the past four years I’ve been spending my winters in Costa Rica. Each year, I’ve spent a minimum of four months and up to six months in what most people consider to be a tropical paradise.
That’s in addition to the several months I have spent traveling to this country before, and also visiting other beautiful tropical countries such as Panama, Thailand, Bali, Brazil and French Polynesia.
In just two weeks, my fiancée Veronica and I are also getting married in beautiful Costa Rica by some beautiful waterfalls near Dominical.
I’ve loved Costa Rica so much that I’ve thought several times of moving there permanently, making it my home base. Even this year, I looked seriously into completing the process of getting my residency there.
Yet, I’ve decided not to do this, and even more, when I leave in May I’m probably not going to come back to Costa Rica for many years.
Why this change of attitude?
Was I mugged in Costa Rica and in fear of my life?
Do I feel the country has become too expensive?
Do I think there’s some place in the world that’s more beautiful and more pristine?
Actually, it’s none of the above.
I feel that Costa Rica is pretty safe even though I’ve heard a lot about the rising crime situation in the Central Valley. I’ve personally never experienced any problem though.
As for the cost of living, I’ve always said that if your goal is to recreate the same exact lifestyle you had back home but for cheaper in a sunny third-world country — you better stay home because that’s just not going to happen.
And in all of my travels, I’ve actually never been to a place that’s as beautiful as Costa Rica in terms of pure, wild nature.
French Polynesia was the most stunning place I ever visited, but it lacks the amazing lushness and biodiversity that Costa Ricans enjoy.
So why am I crossing Costa Rica off my list of places where to live long-term?
To put it simply: I’ve realized that I love North America too much.
Not only do I miss North America when I’m in Costa Rica, but I also feel that North America is overall a much better place to live.
Don’t get me wrong: there are lots of things I love about Costa Rica, Panama and all these other beautiful developing countries. But I’m just not ready to make them my home base just yet.
In my course, How to Move to a Tropical Paradise, I emphasized what I called the “snowbird” solution, which is to keep your home base where you currently are, but use Costa Rica or another tropical country with a lower cost of living as a way to spend one or month or a few months every winter, while not increasing your overall living expenses.
I also warned people against making a decision too quick to move to a tropical paradise, because the reality of living there is far from their own dream and pre-conceived ideas.
Before I go into my reasons for not making any of these sunny, developing countries my home-base, let me first review what I like about Costa Rica:
* The climate can’t be beat, as long as you live in higher elevation. The weather by the beach is way too hot and sticky, with bugs and ants watching your every move. But in the Central Valley or the mountains, the climate is a dream, with year-round spring-like temperature.
* People are very friendly and welcoming to foreigners.
* The country is wonderful to visit and there are so many great things to do: visit volcanoes, parasailing, canopy tours, scuba diving, hiking, etc. If you’re on a vacation, you cannot be bored and the country offers so much more than just laying on the beach and doing nothing. Each part of the country is different with over 16 distinct micro-climates.
* It’s still very affordable compared to North America or Europe or even many tourist destinations, if you know where to look. Many things are cheaper including produce, rent, taxis, etc.
* Tropical fruits are incredible and you can go to many farmer’s market, talk to the growers and everyone is very friendly, offering your deals, giving you free produce with purchase.
* Animal sightings are almost guaranteed on a daily basis. We had beautiful Titi monkeys visit us regularly (The rare and smart squirrel monkeys), saw giant iguanas, tucans, sloths, etc.
* The country is very beautiful. Amazingly beautiful in fact.
I think Costa Rica, Panama and other countries such as Ecuador (where I’ve never been) have a lot to offer, and I could easily imagine myself spending one or two months a year in places like that during the winter.
Even up to three months, you can easily relax into the fact that your stay is temporary, and enjoy what the place has to offer that is different from your home country.
But as you move into longer stays (three months+), you start to realize how different the culture is and what the challenges are for living there long term.
I am not your typical tourist.
I speak relatively fluent Spanish, I know the ins and outs of Costa Rican culture, I know my way around most of the country, I know the cultural faux-pas, I read many books about Costa Rican history and culture… and I’m very open-minded.
And in spite of this, I’ve abandoned any project of establishing a long-term residence in Costa Rica, or even in its more modern neighbor Panama.
Here’s what’s on my mind:
1- Cost of Living — First of all, I think that cost of living can be a very relative thing. A busy Internet Marketer like me does not need a lot of the same things as a retired English teacher (expat).
I wasn’t going to move somewhere just to save money, but what I found is that even though there are lots of things that are cheaper in Costa Rica (such as fruits and vegetables!), imported products are more expensive, in a way that probably offset any possible savings as far as I’m concerned.
For a few years, I did indeed save a lot of money anytime I was in Costa Rica. But that’s because I was single and living in a tiny apartment that I rented for almost nothing, and I didn’t drive a car and returned to Canada after four months so I didn’t need to buy many things for the long term.
Last year, my fiancée and I ended up importing a lot of products that we needed (such as a computer we needed to replace) and paid a lot of money in import fees.
People who live in the USA and complain about the prices have NO idea how much cheaper almost everything is there compared to any country in the world. Canada is more expensive than the US but it’s still nothing compared to Europe.
The only things that are truly more expensive in the USA compared to Costa Rica are things like fresh produce, maybe rent and housing, and any labor-oriented services such as house cleaning, taxis, etc.
But everything else, from electronics to gasoline is significantly cheaper in the US.
If you lived a simple life in Costa Rica, there’s no doubt you would save some money. But if you’re young and busy and you want some comfort, I don’t think those savings will show. Overall it will average out to about the same cost of living.
Panama is cheaper, there’s no doubt about it. But it still suffers from the same shortcomings as Costa Rica in other areas.
2- Latin Mentality — There’s no getting around the fact that people in Latin America are just not as efficient as in North America. You can call it “Island Time”, or “A Different Pace of Living,” but the fact of the matter is that a lot of things don’t really get done very well.
From getting a decent internet connection to regular errands such as banking, the bureaucracy and inefficiency can be frustrating.
A lot of Ticos (Costa Ricans) will be the first to point it out. I remember a taxi driver who kept ranting about Costa Rica being a “culture of mediocrity”.
You can criticize a lot of things about Western culture but I do think we know how to get things done in reasonable time frames, and with the least amount of headaches.
Personally, the inefficiency of the latin culture didn’t bother me that much. I actually got used to taking my time. But in some key areas it was annoying:
a) Internet Service. It’s hard to get fast Internet service in the first place, and when you manage to get it, it might mysteriously stop functioning at the most random times, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Just reset it and cross your fingers it will start working again shortly.
Power Outages. Again, the power could go out once a week or so at a random time, with no explanation. Usually for less than an hour, but still annoying when the timing is wrong. No power means no lights, no fan, no internet and in a hot climate this can be frustrating and you don’t really have anywhere else to go.
3- Food Selection and Shopping.
Again, a lot of people who have never left the US or Canada complain that the food selection sucks in their respective countries.
The reality is that North America (and other Western countries such as United Kingdom) have the best food selection in the world, period.
In Costa Rica, I must admit the local fruits are delicious. But you are usually limited to the basic varieties of pineapple, banana, papaya, watermelon and mangoes. Everything else is seasonal (including mangoes, but they are available half the year).
When it comes to vegetables, the selection is not that great outside of larger supermarket chains such as Auto-Mercado, which are more like a small high-end market in the US.
You can still get most of what you need, but the selection in North American stores is way better.
Also, you might think that organic food is widely popular in Costa Rica, but it’s not the case. Most of the beautiful fruits you see are grown with generous amounts of pesticides, and organic food is hard to come by, unless you have know some people or you grow it yourself. The heat and insects pose a number of problems for farmers and they’re not as informed about safe farming practices.
As for health food stores, they are non-existent in Costa Rica. The closest thing they have to a health food store are these mini-stores called “Macrobiotic” stores (which have nothing to do with the macrobiotic diet) selling all kinds of medicinal herbs and more natural body-care products with no food whatsoever.
Some supermarkets carry imported organic products such as almond butter (not raw of course), but the selection is pretty random and the products generally cost 20 to 30% more than in the US.
As for shopping in general, you can certainly find what you need but you’ll need to look hard for certain items.
For example, we couldn’t find a salad spinner anywhere, so we had to import one from Amazon. The Costa Ricans had ZERO idea what we were talking about when we asked everywhere.
Clothes you’ll find in stores are either one of two categories:
Name brand American clothes (mostly surf and skater designer brands) that will be way more expensive than if you bought them in North America.
Ultra-cheap clothes and fabric (think sub-Walmart quality)
As for electronics, a brand-new 13-inch Mac-Book Pro of the top of the line configuration can be purchased for about $1450 or Amazon.com in the US, but will sell for almost $2100 in Costa Rica!
Cars are also more expensive, by about 50% or more.
4- Driving in Costa Rica
Costa Rican drivers have a reputation for being some of the worst and most aggressive drivers in the world, and it’s not far from the truth.
The truth is that driving in Costa Rica is an adventure. Streets have no names and you have to rely on stone-age types of directions such as “100 meters south west of the Santa Elena church in the city of Curridabat” — it’s up to you to figure out where that is!
I must say I’m impressed to see how Costa Rican taxis know their town so well, for getting around everywhere without ever relying on a street sign anywhere!
Driving and getting around in North America is at least 1000% easier. Equipped with a GPS and an address, you can get around anywhere stress-free. But there’s no way you could use a GPS in Costa Rica the same way you can anywhere else! You can’t even use google maps for directions to ANYWHERE in Costa Rica.
Also, Costa Rica is just not safe for pedestrians. Driver’s don’t respect anyone’s safety and the streets are just not designed for walking. There are almost no sidewalks or shoulders on roads and no pedestrian crossings or lights. Therefore, taking a leisure walk is just not fun in most places, unless you go to a park.
Driving at night is also not safe because of the poorly lit roads and drunk drivers, and almost every road is a two-way lane.
5- Other Factors
I could go down the list of other minor factors, such as the fact that the sun sets at almost exactly 6 p.m. every night (which is not as fun as a later sunset! ), but the main factor for me are the ones that I have discussed and also isolation.
I love big cities and I also love nature and the country.
The best situation is when you can take advantage of both.
The dream of relocating full-time to a tropical paradise is most often a pipe dream for most people.
Hopefully, that’s never what I’ve promoted. My course and my approach has always been about generating passive income from your online business so you can live anywhere you want, and travel to the place you want, when you want it.
Some people might say, why not Panama? Why not Thailand?
I love all these places… but only to visit for 1 to 3 months at a time.
After our trip around the world next year, Veronica and I will probably relocate to British Columbia where there’s the most fruit and organic food in all of Canada, and where the climate is pretty mild compared to my home town of Montreal.
From there, we’ll continue to travel many months during the winter to tropical countries… but for now I’ve abandoned any idea of relocating to any of these places permanently.
How do we manage this lifestyle? If you want to find out about my method for building an online business that gives you complete freedom to travel and do what you love, go to www.dowhatyouloveuniversity.com/new.html and sign of for a trial membership of my Success Group program. You’ll get over $1700 in products immediately that you can put to use to make your dreams a reality!
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thanks for this frederic.. i value your opinion, as you seem to be a logical thinker and just all around sharp dude
i agree that i wouldn’t want to live in one of these locations long-term, but visiting for a few months of each year is pretty close to optimal.. tho, i kinda like breaking it up into 2-4 trips each year to different tropical locations
Thanks for your honesty. I’ve considered moving south many times during our rainy, dark and cold BC winters. The summer can’t be beat though. Virtually no humidity or bugs. Just noisy people who live in their own bubble unaware that they are being obnoxious so it’s important that your home suits your needs.
Make sure you pick your location well. White Rock might be best for you if you like ocean and sun. It’s close to the US border and is far sunnier than any other spot. There’s a dividing line in South Surrey where you can see it raining or snowing while you are in full sunshine.
I live on Vancouver Island and there are beautiful areas here too but it’s a bit dull. Hiking with cougars and bears is not that appealing and your cat may wind up in an eagle’s nest for dinner if you’re not careful. Organic food is quite expensive. The people are quite different than in Montreal. If you travel across Canada by car you can see the changes in people, clothing, etc as you go west. It’s kind of bizarre really. There’s zero culture here. Except for all the modern and speeding trucks and SUV’s it’s a bit of time warp. There’s a bit of improved signage since the Olympics but not much. Victoria can be pleasant enough and quite sunny with a large raw vegan population but anything northward is only good for a short vacation. Quite expensive though. The housing crisis has not hit here. Rents are high and houses average at about 400000. Of course that takes into account the multi-million dollar homes as well as the low end miniature moldy houses in the $180000 price range. Houses don’t last long here. They get moldy. Beware of what builders are doing. I’ve rarely seen such shoddy workmanship for such high prices. Of course you can build a cob house which is environmentally friendly and attractive. Take a course in Shawnigan Lake at Our Eco Village. This could make a great reality show for you–building a house! This would be a wonderful project. Check out their website for some cool house photos.
I couldn’t agree more! I have at times wondered what it would be like for reality to sink in for people, after making a drastic move like that to a third world country. I love the tropics and my husband and I will hop a charter flight to Jamaica (and other places too but mostly JA) when the urge rises, sometimes 3 times a year, but we’re always ready to get back. For us, it’s sooner than most. One week, too short. Two weeks, too long. Ten days, perfect. But like the old saying….it’s a nice place to visit….
–Just another “Ja-Merican”
This is refreshing! And thank you for the honesty. Priorities always change in life and sometimes, what was working at one time is no longer working quite so well now. Having said that… I’d still rather ditch the winters!
Interesting assessment! I have a friend who also tried to move to Costa Rica with her two young teens and she is now back in Canada after a year. She did not know Spanish and could not find any work other than rather poorly paid waitressing on the coast. She moved back to Kelowna in BC where she ran into more poor work opportunities. And having lived in the Okanagan for a few years I know the weather is great in the summer but it gets quite dreary in the winter. She is now moving back to Calgary where I am with my family. But actually I have the best of both worlds as I live one week in Calgary and one week in Rocky Mountain House where we have an acreage. I agree the produce situation around here is not great. I supplement with Monavie to make sure I am getting my antioxidants. The Farmer’s Markets are growing and there is a resurgence in local gardening, etc. If I was independently wealthy like you I would live on Galiano Island in the BC Gulf Islands. It is in a rain shadow so it gets the nice weather without so much rain. My parents and brother are in Nanaimo and they get alot of rain. My next favourite place in BC is Vernon on Kalamalka Lake. I am expanding my writing business so I hope someday to be able to live at least a few months out of the year there! Best of luck and congratulations on your upcoming nuptials! Cheers!!
I agree…British Columbia is a great place to live! Thanks for the all the great info!
Hi Frederic,
We are living in the lovely Comox Valley on Vancouver Island where we have the best of many worlds… Urban/rural mix that delights me.
Arts, culture, and beautiful countryside, mountains, ocean, forests.
Best of all is to breathe the air…
Coming from Winnipeg, i love the mild moderate climate. Rarely varies much, going up and down in little bits, always pretty close to ‘normal’ temps.
Houses are affordable here.
And, there are active raw, vegan, and organic communities happening.
If you’re interested in coming up this way, we’d be happy to put you up
Just fixing up the main floor of our new home for guests. Nice separate area with own washroom.
Loved your book which i read at Cascada Verde in CR. Very common sensical.
We are late 40′s and 50′s in age, so some of our situation is different from yours, but it would be lovely to meet you and host you for a bit.
frances & david
I too moved to BC, Surrey to be exact. DO NOT move to Surrey. I left BC only after 7 months. I found that the pollution is not dealt with, the politics of the BC government is not at all for the people, the police are not there to help and if you live in the city Surrey you will be mugged, and you will hate it dearly. How do I know this, My home was broke into 2 times in 6 months, like the first time did not wipe all I had out the second one sure did. My daughter was bullied so badly that we had removed her from school for her own safety, the racism toward the white is very very horrible and out in the open.
As far as in Vancouver and area it is pretty but again the pollution is horrid. And the main reason I moved there was for the organic fresh fruit. I was highly disappointed. There is only 4 organic places that prices things at reasonable, and there are no I repeat no health food stores that are decent selection. I found far more items in Calgary AB then in BC. Western BC I should say. Kelowna area was great. So my advice to anyone moving to the Western BC area, be prepared, have enough money set aside you can leave if you feel you are not happy within 6 months. Work is very little and the fruit is not what is advertised. People are closed off and just not a good place to be. That is my experience and many others that I have interacted with. That is the reason there are soooo many people leaving Western BC. Again Kelowna area was great. Absolutely great.
Thank you for the honest assessment. Alas, the grass is not always greener on the other side. Maybe we should just try to appreciate what we have and try to make it better! My husband and I may be going to visit Costa Rica at Christmas, which will be really cool, as i’ve never been before. And then I can escape the Calgary winter for a bit (although I was raised in Saskatchewan which is far colder in winter, but wonderful in the summer).
Hmmm, quite the opposite of what we paid to hear you say about moving to a tropical paradise. Yes, circumstances change, and perhaps your fiancee isn’t quite as taken with CR as you seemed to be, or you’ve totally changed your mind. Are you going to revamp your course now to include these comments?
Wow – big decision and I think you made a good one.
After living in the UK for 11 years, we moved back to Canada in 2008. It was an agonizing decision and we were lucky, in that we had lots of options. My wife has a New Zealand passport and British passport. So our choices were the UK, Ireland, continental Europe, New Zealand and Canada.
The UK wasn’t right for us and we didn’t want to raise our daughter there. Lots of reasons: high crime, weather (rainy and gray every day), high cost of living… Europe was a lot better fit for us and we investigated northern Spain (Bilbao), Berlin and Amsterdam. But the cost of living is extremely high in Europe. Same for New Zealand – it’s a beautiful country, people are fantastic, but very isolated and again, very expensive.
So Canada it was. You can’t beat the amazing quality of life and low cost of living. We spent a year deciding on Vancouver and Victoria, but unfortunately neither were quite right for us. They offer a lot – laid back, a very health conscious bunch generally (quite a few vegans), mild climate. But, the deal breaker were the winters – 6 months of coolish, grey, and VERY wet weather. It was like being in the UK again. Also, I didn’t feel as safe in either city as I used too. Checking out the crime statistics for both cities was a little scary.
So to make a long story a little longer… we moved to Montreal last August and I think it’s the best decision we could have made. Our big reservation was the winter. Neither of us had ever experienced snow before. But after one winter here I’ll take a Quebec winter over a BC winter any day. Sure it’s cold and lots of snow, but I found the snow a lot less limiting than the constant rain. We were way more active this winter here than the previous winter on the west coast. Plus it’s sunny here almost every day in the winter. We found those 6 months where we didn’t see the sun very difficult. Also, cost of living is ridiculously low. It’s the safest city I’ve EVER lived in. People are extremely friendly. Plus I’ve never seen a better market than marche Jean Talon (among lots of other great markets) and there is a burgeoning vegan (even a raw food vegan) movement here too.
Great to hear you’re coming back to Canada. I wish you all the best in picking your spot. Check out the Okanagan too and definitely check out Nelson.
Thanks for all the comments. My course on moving to a tropical paradise doesn’t actually go against anything that I’ve said here in any way. So I don’t actually need to change it at all. I think moving to Costa Rica full-time can be great for some people, just not everybody.
I personally love Quebec and Montreal in the summer but I’m also willing to try something new like BC and Veronica doesn’t yet speak French so she feels more at ease in other parts of Canada.
I agree though about Jean-Talon being the best market ever. I’m seriously going to miss my fruit stores there because I’ve never found anything like that anywhere else I’ve been.
We still plan to spend the winter somewhere else so we’re not too afraid of BC winters for now… we still have time to decide and see what we like best. There’s no definitive move.
How do you manage with the language Steve? I know that lots of English-only speaking people live in Montreal and the area but Veronica doesn’t fully believe me…
Leaving Costa Rica is quite a shift in your project. Moving to BC I did that 6 years ago for the climate mainly. I moved to Kelowna. I found the price of house insanely high as well as the car insurance. BC is the place of highest cost living in Canada. I do love Kelowna for its mountain, sunshine in summer and a beautiful lake. Okanagan valley is semi dersertic with little rain. Winter is mild and cloudy with little snow. It is an awesome climate for a northern country like Canada.
Vancouver has a lot of rain and wouldn’t like to live there. Vancouver island sounds better and there’s a lot of raw foodists.
Durian in BC is cheap, $1.28 a pound at the moment.
You still have time to think about it. Your tour of the world will open horizons for you.
Thanks for posting info on Costa Rica.
Language is no problem. We’ve been here since August last year and my French is improving every day. We live in Westmount and rarely even hear French being spoken. That being said we are learning the language and I know we’ll have a much “richer” experience overall for doing so. Even when we were living in Outremont, a much more French area, whenever we tried to speak French, we were always answered in English. So she shouldn’t worry about the language issue, it’s really not a big deal.
Forgot to say, another reason we chose Montreal, is we wanted to try living without a car. Between the excellent public transport and the 660 kms of bike paths in the city, a car is more of an inconvenience here. With car share schemes, we can easily and very cheaply do weekly errands, or head to the Eastern Townships or the Laurentians for the weekend. The amount of money we save not owning (and paying for) two cars is huge. If we put that money in a travel account, think of the trips we could take…
If you can get some sun in the winter you guys will be fine in Vancouver. Our ultimate plan, once the kids are in University, will be to spend 6 months here, then spend 6 months in New Zealand. Best of both worlds really.
Thanks for your candor, amigo. As one who’s been living here in Costa Rica mostly for the last 4 years, I’d have to say the fruit and veggies here are SOOOOO much tastier, richer in nutrients, and way more variety than I’ll EVER get in several lifetimes in North America, that I’m willing to endure a change in language and culture just so I can eat well, off my own land, with pure water, air, sunshine, and NO chemtrails or city noises. I found organic sources for fresh jackfruit, durian, caimito, and all sorts of other exotic fruits you can’t get elsewhere. N. America has the best berries, though, must admit, but there’s a ton of beautiful fruits here that make up for it.
I also hated the long winters in Minnesota which cut short my growing season, and was forced to buy non-fresh food shipped in from long distances. Now I just go out and pick a pineapple or banana from my own yard. There is NO COMPARISON to the rich taste and variety of fruit here. Just ask and it is given. Living in the cooler mountains is definitely better than the beach. So we visit the beach an hour away only when we need our sand and surf fix. Beats having to spend thousands to fly the family to some warm tropical coast.
Good luck in the north land, and you’re welcome to stay at my raw food farm and community La Joya del Sol (Jewel of the Sun) any time. When you need that tropical paradise again.
Thank you so much for your honesty about your move to CR. I loved traveling in India & Nepal too but having spent only a month traveling there I can begin to appreciate how difficult it would probably be to move there. I dearly love those countries but you can’t eat prepared raw food anywhere, electricity is inconsistent, Internet & cell signal often non-existent, water isn’t a good idea unless it’s been boiled, and though many Westerners live there full time working is technically illegal. Add in the fact that westerners are often viewed as rich and an inexaustable source of money by less well off Indians. Different country and culture, same principle: India is vastly cheaper than the US provided that I would be willing to live like an Indian. Ultimately, I missed familiar foods, I craved raw produce, I wanted to be able to drink water without boiling it for 30 minutes, and I missed, the instant (and constant) connectivity of the Internet.
Hola Frederic, I too have considered Costa Rica as a retirement place, but now reside in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico!!! While many of the same difficulties exist here, onne BIG differnce…..you can drive to the US and “get stuff”. The Lake is not ht eocean, but a beautiful water presence, you can obtain almost every kind of fresh foods, and there is a greater infrastructure here..the roads..hmmm…some good…some not…a wider variety of living choices…no hurricanes and fabulous year round weather..check it out !! Thanks for continuing your newsletter, best ALoha, Marti heismann
Wow, this couldn’t be a better example a the typical rant of a spoiled North American brad. I have lived in the US for many years and now live full time in Ecuador and still wonder why I bothered with North America in the first place.
Bureaucracy is much slower and probably because I am used to European red tape I take it with a grain of salt and plan accordingly. In matter of fact everything is slower which requires to slow down in certain areas of your live period.
It is exactly the opposite I hate with a passion about the US. Everything is super efficient and fast but when it comes time for people nobody seems to have too much.
Something which has frustrated me about the US to no end is the supposedly right way of doing things. If you don’t drive uptight and anally as is expected you have some overzealous cop waiting to ticket you because you weren’t didn’t come to a complete rolling stop in the middle of nowhere with no traffic in sight. In spite of the corruption here I find myself feeling a lot more “Free” than in the land of “the brave, free and misguided”.
Holy shit, only local food available in season? Now if that was practiced more in the developing world a little more than all the preaching we would be practicing sustainability on a new level. The idea we should have access to any food we want whether it is shipped from a thousand kilometers away is simply ludicrous.
I love when I hear people talk about “when reality finally sets in”. What reality? That you don’t have somebody kiss your behind every step on the way? For the most part Americans seem to have a relatively low tolerance for anything out of their little comfort bubble which actually is perfectly fine with me either way.
Last but far from least is how people are with each other. In the US a friend is somebody to have good times with but is nowhere to be found in a time of challenges expect for heartfelt advice and the oh so sincere “how are you” calls. I remember from back in Holland (or Israel where I lived) getting people to help you, say moving, is a complete non-issue. I am married to a Colombian and I can tell you that in that respect Ecuador and Colombia feel a lot more like home than the States ever did.
All in all there are a lot of potential real and imagined frustrations and idiosyncrasies when moving to any new country (try dealing with the red tape in Holland). The choice between efficient, boring and disconnected on the other and all of the issues you listed in your post on the other hand, the choice is hands down the latter.
You really caught me off guard with this one Fred, but I guess for everybody their own. Congratulations with your marriage and wishing you all the best.
Thanks for this interesting and sincerely thought-through article, Frederic. We live in the Comox Valley (I imagine many of your followers live here?) and enjoy its natural beauty and mild climate (not as much rain as Vancouver or Victoria either). However, it is primarily becoming a home to retirees from other parts of Canada (like us– and all of our neighbors in our community) and I know that as much as our 30-something kids like it here, they can’t find sustaining jobs here. Our one son lived in the Eastern Townships for a couple of years — he is also non-French-speaking, but didn’t find a language problem. It was handy to live rural in the beautiful ski country but only an hour from Canada’s largest, most exciting city, and not much further from Ottawa, etc., and even closer to the beautiful Northern New England states. I was really taken with the large health food store Avril in a nearby small town, really was almost like living in an Eastern Canadian version of Nelson. lol The beautiful homes, etc. were certainly reasonably-priced than similar BC homes, and the opportunity to grow all kinds of fruits and foods was impressive, if you practice sustainable agriculture. He grew ground cherries that were truly delicious, among many other things.
Anyhow, just throwing this into the mix. All the best!
One more thing about BC. The Okanagan has a high rate of illness due to pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc. Because it’s a valley toxins settle there and don’t blow away. I don’t know about other areas but here on the island we see a lot of chemtrails and any health care practitioner will vouch for the increased levels of aluminum in their patients/clients bodies, not to mention mold. Many people get sick from the different mold here.
Regarding food prices: A nice Aussie mango goes for about $6 in the winter, Ataulfo mangoes at least $2, regular mangoes $1-4 depending on season. Last year I threw out every mango I bought. They were all diseased as they ripened. The food cannot be fresh except for a month or two if lucky in the late summer/fall. Bananas are cheap at about $1 a piece.
Honestly, I don’t think you’ll really like it here much. I hate winter but after being here for 5 years I’m wondering why we didn’t just move to Montreal which actually has good food and French isn’t that important really. It’s not that hard to learn some basic French. We lived in Germany for ten years and the food was fantastic. Fresh, plenty of organic and not nearly as expensive as here. Bureaucracy is horrible but everyone understands how to drive vehicles. Here they do whatever they please and I doubt more than 1% of the population have ever been to driving school. I’d take Europe over Canada ANY DAY. We’re going south this winter, Mexico or Panama. I’ve always thought Costa Rica looks nice for a visit but not to live. Price-wise, I’d rather pay more for a computer than the daily expenses of eating well. Be prepared that you may need to supplement your diet here and you will NEED Vitamin D for sure.
It is lovely in the second half of summer and early fall (forget colored leaves but it’s sunny) though quite consistently. The rest of the year you never know what you might get. Not to rain on your parade but I know I’d sure have appreciated knowing this stuff before I moved here!
Wow, Frederic, thank you SO MUCH for this very informative article.
I hope you are enjoying your honeymoon.
Best wishes.
OMG Frederic..your reasons fro leaving CR are exacly the same as mine except forthe fruity/organic..i’m not into that although i love fruits and went often to Automercado and bought from street vendors..to me it was way better tasting than in the USA. Thanks for all the info and honesty. I lived in CR for about a year and returned to Miami last year June and couldn’t wait to leave..pura vida became pure nightmare..for me high CRIME is BIG on the list of reasons to leave..run as fast as u can!!even in beautiful neighborhoods like where i have my home you don’t feel secure after 6pm..education is getting worse and quality american style education is inaccessible unless you are rich…This last time was my 4th time living there..i’ve always been in love with the country as my mom is tica and would take us since we were kids….I will always love and visit CR but ray to God to never again dream of livingthere…ticos that live abroad tease with CR all the time and although we love it we say “not even the shadow remains of what once was CR’…to remain a tourist..Oh what a blessing!!!when i worked at Colegio Lincoln (horrible experience) an Austrian teacher told me “one you know you don’t have a ticket to go home..you freak out:..yes this happens..maybe i’m north american spoiled maybe i want to survive but between poverty, high crime, extreme modernization(the wrong way)individualistic people(more than in the US)pura vida fades quickly!!!
You don’t know what u got til it’s gone,
Many blessings upon ur wedding and life..i’m glad i’ve finally found someone that feels the same way i do about CR
Sweet dreams!!!
estela….
PS. i even missed Ghetto Miami while in CR the last months were cruel.
OMG, I’m trapped in Costa Rica, I love the country, but I miss the USA. Now I’m trying to sell my house in C.R so I can go back to the US, I made my mind that I will leave even If I don’t sell the house.
I have lived in Southeast Asia for 10 years and I really want to leave now. I do feel lucky that most fruits and vegetables are cheap, but everything else you said applies to my situation as well. Add that to the fact that as a foreigner (I am fluent in the language by now) I have to pay higher prices for things like rent, water bills, goods in the market, just because I am white.