'Moving to Costa Rica without a clue' Expat  

Moving to Costa Rica without a clue

Talk for and about Expats. Living in this Costa_Rica? Let others know about it. Want to live here? Ask questions! Expat Interviews

Lime (196.40.43.170) -

You know, it boggles my mind. I see it in my neighborhood and I see it on this forum: people moving to Costa Rica with no idea of what they're getting into. People with no experience of living anywhere other than the U.S. or Canada. People who have spent a month, a week, or, believe it or not, absolutely no time here!

They rarely make it. They usually last about a year. They spent thousands of dollars and God knows how much time and energy on packing their worldly possesions into a container, getting it through customs, replacing the things that got stolen out of the container... only to discover that the roads are tearing apart the Mercedes, the banks close down for football matches, the wine is from Chile, and the Ticos don't do what they said they would do when they said they would do it.

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Read the full discussion on discovery press. Learn how the blind lead the blind.

Reply #1 Ed (152.163.36.252) -

Maybe it is not Costa Rica that is the problem but where they are coming from?

Is Costa Rica enticing them or their old "home" scaring them away?

Was their life better back home?

Reply #2 Amy (200.2.14.217) -

Why is it to important to you to hold such a strong opinion on why someome moves to Costa Rica? Or, even how long they stay, their satisfaction level or motivations?

Maybe the problem is you made those mistakes and wish to blames others for it. Everyone needs to learn their own lessons.

Reply #3 Mauricio57 from Santa Ana (Contact Member) -

Hi Lime

Ive got to tell you your description of all who come to Costa Rica almost sounds like a good western story .. ....You know when the pioneers set out to discover the west. ie: The California gold rush .......lol. They had no Idea either .

I guess the moral of the story is that alot of them made it work with great effort..... not unlike what is required today. It is a very diverse place and basically "you either love it or you hate it " its that simple.

A lot of people that come here fail because of attitude and and self imposed segregation ....... ie: not wanting to learn Spanish . or live in a non Americanized community .

I love it, even if the colors dont match or this is crooked or that wont fit .......lol That is just how it is.

Cost Rica is a place for living in the moment and each and everyone of us has to ask ourselves why we came here . Im sure that if we are honest about it all the answers are quite similar.

Reply #4 tom levija (72.186.178.80) -

this is a zackly what i am looking for.

ver good site thanks...tomy

Reply #5 Steve (65.182.16.151) -

Damn that sounds like us. We sold everything and moved to Costa Rica about 2 1/2 years ago without a clue. A friend of ours was doing some type of business here and said how nice it was. The first year went through 10's of thousands of dollars looking for somewhere to live and a business to start. How exilerating it has been. We must have been out of our minds. My wife and kids put their faith in what we could do. Please don't anyone else attempt it.

Unless you are willing to be adaptable and patient and try different things. Now I speak spanish enough to where I can run a successful business in Escazu. What I did was throw caution to the wind and went for it. Now our business, Time Out Tavern, has become a gringo hot spot in Escazu. We serve the best gringo food in Costa Rica and love it here. If we decided to leave it would have still been a heck of experience. Remember you can't steal second with your foot still on first.

Reply #6 Amy (192.100.104.17) - 03/18/09 21:10

My family and I are doing research on moving to Costa Rica. We have been thinking about it for a few years now. I have two sons, my second child is just tuning one on Saturday. I wanted to have my children in the states so I could be close to family.

I wanted to know if any of you have small children and what sort of options there are for schooling.

In addition, how do you handle heath care for you and your family?

Any information would be greatly appreciated,

Have a good night,

Amy

Reply #7 Hector Soto (201.196.247.18) - 06/05/09 12:14

Hi,

Please visit our new Spanish Program: Christian Immersion Spanish Academy in Escazu, San Jose, at:www.cisacostarica.com

• Spanish in Costa Rica

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