On that trip in 2000, the couple bought a lot for $30,000 in a gated community just outside the small village of Ojochal, which sits just off the two-lane coastal highway. Their aim was to build a home for their retirement and use it as a vacation property themselves and also for rental income. They visited often during the building process. In 2007, they moved down permanently.
People often tell us how brave they think we are, and that they admire us for venturing out and doing this crazy thing—quitting our jobs in our early 40s, giving up all stable income, and moving to and living in a foreign country. Of course, some people have also told us that we're crazy. And, it's true: it is crazy...but it works for us!
When they left the States in the spring of 2012, Chuck and Anna were determined not to settle for mediocre. They wanted their dream. "We were looking for a mild climate, better health care opportunities, and lower costs," says Anna. "We were looking for an adventure, amazing views, and lots of things to do," says Chuck.
The most common thing I hear from friends who live in the States about my move to Costa Rica is: "I hear it's getting very expensive there." While it's true that Costa Rica may not be as inexpensive as it was a decade ago, it's still very affordable, and much less expensive than say Austin, Texas and Honolulu, Hawaii—two places I lived before moving to Costa Rica.
My husband, Paul, and I were happy with our lives in the United States. I was 45 and Paul was 55 when we met. We lived in the Baltimore area and had stable jobs making a decent income. Sometime in 2007 we started to talk about retiring early and moving somewhere cheaper to live.
For many prospective expats, the quality of medical care in the country they plan to move to is a very important factor. Of course, most hope to never find out how good the health care system is. But things happen.
I visited the Lake Arenal region a few weeks back with family from out of town. When people visit us here in Costa Rica, we usually end up there at some point. Just three hours by car from our home in the Central Valley (and the international airport), it's an easy drive—very picturesque as you pass through the rain forest, farmland, and small villages of the countryside.
Head out of San Jose, crest the cloud forest-covered mountains to the west of Costa Rica's capital, and in about two hours you're on the Caribbean coast. Another two hours or so south and you're in the heart of the region. A pretty short ride...but it's like a different world. The tourist development of the Pacific coast never made it out here. So no big resorts, no golf courses, no high-rise condos...
When I'm back visiting the U.S. and tell people I live in Costa Rica...I already know the picture they have in their mind. It's a shoreline. First, the brilliant blue water...a strip of sand unmarred by footprints...a fringe of palm trees...then a rain forest with towering trees and lush vegetation alive with toucans and capuchin monkeys...and finally jagged green-covered mountains looming behind it all.
Of all the places I've visited in Costa Rica, the Nicoya Peninsula is the one that feels most like the frontier. It's a somewhat isolated region, with mile after mile of untouched coastline along the blue Pacific, craggy hills, vast cattle farms in the interior, and mazes of what are often dirt roads running through forests and fields. It's also one of the world's Blue Zones, where researchers have found that locals live longer on average due to a combination of diet, climate, and lifestyle.