Hi Carolyn,
Sounds like you’re in that spot between maxing out your luggage allowance on the plane and a full container.
You do have options though, which you choose depends on how many boxes you’ll have. One thing to keep in mind is how much do you really need all that stuff? We’ve found that we don’t miss a lot of things we left behind.
First, I recommend you totally max out the bag you take on the plane, even if you have to pay extra. It’ll probably be cheaper than any sort of shipping.
Second, I wouldn’t mail yourself anything until you get there and establish your mailing address. For a package of personal belongings, I would get a post office box at the local Correo actually. In that case, you would pick up your package there. It will go to you in Arenal unless it is flagged by customs for further inspection, in which case you would need to go to San Jose to pick it up. You could leave boxes with friends until you get settled and have them send them down.
Third, you could use a service like UPS or FedEx, but that’ll probably be pretty expensive.
Fourth, check out air cargo through American Airlines or another carrier or even a cargo shipping service. They can transport boxes, even crates if you consolidate your stuff. http://www.aa.com/i18n/businessPrograms/cargo.jsp
Fifth, this what we’ve done. We brought as much stuff down as we could in our luggage. Then we have visitors bring things in their luggage when they come down.
One thing to keep in mind is customs duties. But those shouldn’t be too bad on used items.
.
