Just two and half years ago my husband of almost 25 years surprised me, no, make that shocked me by asking me one day what I thought about retiring and moving to Costa Rica. As I shifted the eight or so bags of groceries in my arms to dump them on the nearest counter in the kitchen, I replied "what, are you kidding?"
No, he was dead serious! We had visited Costa Rica about two weeks several years ago and fell in love with the scenery and just general vibe of the country. During that trip we drove over several pot riddled roads, and one in particular that required my maximum support "over the boulder shoulder holder" for the one and half hour journey to drive 15 miles over a very rocky road to Monte erde. Even back then we ranked the trip as one of our top vacations ever. Now here we were a decade or so later contemplating uprooting our comfortable lives in Texas to move to a country where we did not know a soul. Fortunately, he had already done tons of research so he had rapid fire, convincing responses when I probed further to determine how he had arrived at Costa Rica as our prime choice of retirement location.
We spent two months scouring the Internet looking at real estate listings...and of course, we broke the cardinal rule of renting for a year first. We decided on Atenas as our new hometown after extensive reading about the location due to the weather, access to amenities, and size of the town.
A couple of months later, we flew down to Atenas and after seeing numerous homes, opted for a wonderful lot overlooking the town. Yes, we were completely nuts and took the risk of having a home built in Atenas while we would still be living in Texas. We ere blessed to meet a couple from Michigan who had made the same leap to Costa Rica a few years ago and had begun building spec homes and then selling each one. The builder sold us the lot and helped oversee every aspect of construction. We are sure that God blessed our madcap plan since our beautiful home was completed within five months of breaking ground.
A year and a half later we are in Costa Rica itching to move into our home, which has thus far been a blessing in rental income since it was completed in May 2011. The rent income over the 18 months allowed us to furnish it and provide a cushion for us until we move into it within about eight weeks from now.
I read a great book in the last couple of days by Nadine Hays Pisani entitled, "Happier than a Billionaire," in which she chronicles her and her husband's journey to their new lives in Costa Rica. I only wish I could write as humorously as she does. Her move parallels so many things in our lives although we are not quite as adventurous as she and Rob. For one thing, I speak and can write fluently in Spanish, which I can see is a great advantage if moving here. I have also been reading many blogs of expats with keen interest. Initially, reading all the blogs made me contemplate ditching my blogging efforts until I realized that each person brings a completely different perspective to share....like reporters out in the field. Some folks have rose colored glasses on when they arrive and then lose them quickly, while others successfully learn to appreciate the differences between their past homeland and the newly adopted one.
Of course, I might should mention that my sister and brother-in-law, who live in Calgary, Canada, are probably the biggest gamblers of all....they had never been to Costa Rica, but trusted our opinion enough to invest with us in building what we always dreamed of doing over the last few years......constructing a family compound in a tropical location! So, the family compound of two adjoining homes on one lot with an indoor and outdoor kitchen aptly named "window to heaven" has become reality for us.
I am hoping that having lived in Mexico, Canada, the US, and now here will provide me with a good foundation to appreciate and respect cultural differences. I have always felt very blessed to have been born in Canada, able to become a naturalized US citizen, and have a mother who was born dirt poor in Mexico. She truly helped my siblings and I appreciate the value of opportunities that exist in the US. I have many wonderful family members who live in Acapulco, Mexico, who have seen their peaceful world be decimated by the drug trade over the last few years. Unlike my compatriots in the USA or Canada, they cannot just "move to a more peaceful and safe area" due to economic reasons and frankly, safe places to live in Mexico have become pretty much non-existent.
Before I digress too much, I should get back to the inventory! I retired from my state government job with the Texas prison system in February. Even though working for a bureaucratic agency posed quite challenging for the 18 years, I actually truly loved my job and met some hard working individuals in the midst of a sea of lazy, useless employees who would not have made it in the "free world" (term used to define for profit companies). Initiative was not a word many employees cared to employ in their jobs.
The next few months were spent divesting ourselves of pretty much everything, selling our home, moving into a rent house, getting all of our papers ready to apply for residency upon arrival in Costa Rica, and then hopping on the plane to begin the next chapter in the lives of this 50 something baby boomer DINKS (double income no kids) couple, with an 88 year old suffering from a bit of dementia, a 10 year old Chihuahua, and an 82 year old gypsy in tow. The gypsy is my very unique father who loves to travel and get into all kinds of misadventures. I could write a whole telenovela on his love life since my beloved mother, and his wife of 49 years at the time of her death, passed away. Who knew perceived old men could be such a hot commodity!
The year 2013 is just hours away now! I look forward to each day and hope that I will always be grateful for the many blessings and opportunities that God has afforded me, including this big one to live amongst so many incredibly beautiful critters, birds, flowers, butterflies, and of course, the weather! I am not going to miss the hellacious summer months in South Texas.
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