Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Expats and visiting tourists should know about the behavior of trucks and buses on the Costa Rican roads. Most Costa Rican roads originated as oxcart paths in the valleys and on the winding hillsides. When these roads got converted to asphalt, they weren’t widened much. Buses in Costa Rica are…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes How difficult is driving in Costa Rica? I am now assuming for a minute that you have a valid drivers’ license. The kickback style of Costa Rica’s citizens is reflected in the posted speed limits throughout the country. Remember, I said “posted” speed limits. Sometimes, even I find it hard…
After moving here, you will need a bank account in Costa Rica. Without it, you’ll be in trouble. How are you going to pay your bills? I certainly hope you paid attention to my previous blogs and prepared for gaining easy and ongoing access to your funds back home. At the moment, it’s difficult to…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Our arrival was exciting, just like our decision of moving to Costa Rica. Now that we are here living in Costa Rica, I’m throwing my chronological approach out the window. I’m trying to cover topics that may have value for you. Hopefully, they’re interesting subjects and observations that perhaps will…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes What to bring when moving to Costa Rica? I bet you don’t know! There is stuff you love and there is stuff you think is important. When you’re asking what to bring when relocating, you should probably make a list. Well, The house is sold, Also, the cars are sold,…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes There have been several changes in the temporary Costa Rican residency policy and law that affect the financial wellbeing of long-term visitors. This includes those visitors applying for one of the three immigrant resident categories. Just before our arrival, Immigration made changes in the temporary Costa Rican residency. We received…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes When you move to another country, it’s important to create a timeline for your plan. If you are changing countries, there’s a pot full of planning, changes, and notifications that need to be implemented. This is necessary to achieve a successful and less stressful transition. In my last blog, I…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes I recommend everyone to create a moving plan. Everything you read online might be inaccurate. That is why it is vital for you to stay on top of your moving plan; because I can tell you from recent first-hand experience about requirements, policies and laws nonetheless their enforcement is all…
Now that we are in the country, we are scrambling to learn Costa Rican Spanish. Try to find the time before you leave North America or wherever your home country is, to learn some Latin American Spanish. Latin American Spanish, and more specifically Costa Rican Spanish, is not the King’s Castilian Spanish as spoken in…
Before you pick where to live in Costa Rica, you need to have some weather considerations. If you decide on the wrong location, it’s possible you end up hating it, which might oblige you to move elsewhere. Or return where you came from! November-April is the high season—or the dry season or tourist season. Ticos…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes How important is the spousal compromise when moving to Costa Rica? My purpose in this blog is to show that there will be surprises and unknowns harbored by all parties when making the decision to move. The success of your move to Costa Rica will be measured by how well…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Here’s something to think about: a significant number of all of the expats fail. This mostly happens within their first year in Costa Rica, then they return home. I have some ideas about why this happens, and how to avoid becoming a statistic. I’ll discuss the most prominent reasons that…
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: 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: 4 Minutes To make important retirement decisions, we needed to be specific about our criteria. In my introduction, you know that we have decided to make Costa Rica our permanent retirement residence. So, I’d like to show you how made retirement decisions based on a step by step process. Our criteria and…
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.…