Have you heard the story about the gringo and the fisherman? I’ve seen several versions, now that I Googled it. But it’s an interesting story, that I heard back in the ’80s. It shows the mindset of the average gringo and the mindset of the average Tico. Understanding both, is a fantastic assistance to anyone…
When we returned from our due diligence trip to Costa Rica in February of 2012, the work really began. Now things started to get pretty interesting. So first, before we head home from our due diligence trip, let me pass along a few bits and pieces that I haven’t covered yet or require reinforcement. As…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutos Costa Rica retirement vacation properties and bird watching go together well, the reason so many have decided to retire or buy a vacation home in Costa Rica. When you retire to a country like Costa Rica, you must love nature and in particular birds. If you don’t, why even bother…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Today, I’d like to cover dining in Costa Rica, as well as the cost of it. While the country isn’t renowned for its own cuisine, you will find a multitude of international restaurants. Additionally, there are well-known restaurant chains. In case you yearn for a taste of home. Although, then…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Some might think otherwise but there is great music and entertainment in Costa Rica. A client told me he met a gringo in the hotel who was complaining there was nothing to do in San Jose and he was bored to death. In less than half an hour, I showed…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes I decided to create a blog page so you can easily find great blogs about moving to Costa Rica and retire in Costa Rica written by people who are going through the experience of becoming and being an expat in Costa Rica. Just last week, at a party, I heard…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Allow me to show you how we got to the point of looking at Costa Rica as our retirement destination. My story is an introduction to Costa Rica as seen through the eyes of a retiring expat. To briefly recap our decision criteria to find the right retirement destination, I…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes As real estate agents, we have housewarming parties all the time. A month ago, we received an invitation by email from Irina. The invitation said “Jim and I have moved into our house in El Cajón (the one we bought from Joan & Sally). We would like to invite you…
by Ivo Henfling If you have a Costarican driver’s license, no matter if you have legal residency or not, you should read the following information. In the past, when the Costarican transit police would write out a ticket, it would go to the tag of the car. In December, when you’d pay your road taxes,…
Allow me to introduce you to our new ex-pat and guest blogger “TicoNuevo”. Ticonuevo and his wife arrived in Costa Rica this week to start another leg of his journey. Therefore, they are now both an ex-pat in Costa Rica. TicoNuevo has exchanged probably a couple of hundred emails with the GoDutch real estate team.…
A lo Tico is a Spanish dictionary with words used in Costa Rica. A week or so ago, in another blog, I asked you to learn Spanish and told you how the Ticos will respect you if you make an effort to learn their language. Today, I’ll make it even more interesting for you. You…
Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes Our hobby photographer Peter Boyer shows off with his photos of birdlife and sunsets in Atenas. That’s because he can! Peter and Edie Boyer moved into their new home in Vista Mar Estates in Desmonte in October 2012 and are enjoying the marvelous wonders of living in Atenas. Desmonte…
Did I learn Spanish before moving here? No, I didn’t. And that was stupid. Before I moved to Costa Rica there was so much to do and there was no time to take Spanish classes nor did I realize how important it was to learn at least the basics. As soon as I started to…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes I am totally happy in Costa Rica, even after all these years. I was born again in February 1980, when I was 25 years old. It all started when I was coming down the steps of a KLM flight into Juan Santamaria International airport. I am not saying this…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Have you heard of fog protection for your home? Probably not! What if a burglar could not see anything, and could therefore not steal anything? Once in a while, like almost every day, we see on the news or read in the local papers that another burglary has happened. The…
How to keep your home in Costa Rica safe? As you all know, I never try to hide anything that would be negative about moving to Costa Rica. Security is an issue that might stop people from moving to Costa Rica. In other blogs, I have explained why we have security issues in Costa Rica…