I'm getting closer to retirement and am planning on taking a few trips to Costa Rica to determine if it might be a good fit for me to retire to. Has anyone been there? Any tips or advice?
Hi Duncan! I think that's a fantastic idea. Here is what the state department says about traveling to Costa Rica: Costa Rica Travel Advisory.
If money factors into your location decision at all, Panama is much more affordable and I have enjoyed my time there just as much as in Costa Rica. I'm a city boy, and as far as the capital cities go, I prefer Panama City to San Jose. If you are not fluent in Spanish, have little facility for acquiring languages, and want to live a mostly-English-speaking life among other English-speaking retirees, Costa Rica is the better choice, but I don't recommend it. If you already speak Spanish, plan to live among locals. You'll still bump into plenty of American retirees in Costa Rica whether you want to or not. During your exploratory trips to Costa Rica, you must make at least one trip during the rainy season. If you have not lived somewhere where it rains a lot and every day for months straight, you need to experience it to see if it is for you.
This holds true for many countries. I read something similar when I travelled in Italy (and I walked the streets after midnight in Rome). Much of the advice is common sense.
Check out this site Expat-Files. Some of the podcasts are pretty funny. # 5 in his list: Stop with the COSTA RICA questions already!!! FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME! Go into my Expat Files archives and see all the many examples why Costa Rica is a BAD “Plan B” destination. Yes, it’s a great place to visit. I should know. I lived there 3 years myself.
I'm very excited about my upcoming trip to Costa Rica. I've looked at sites from white people who are from English speaking countries and they necessarily address my interests or concerns. I don't get information from podcasts... especially ones that are funny. I'm curious about spending time in San Jose. There doesn't seem to be a lot of love for the nation's capital. It seems somewhat surprising to me since I have been to numerous capitals and am generally fascinated by what i have found there.
Still haven't found too much of curious interest in San Jose. That's disappointing since I have generally enjoyed visiting national capitals. I'm not interested in looking at ex-pat write-ups on Costa Rica or knowing where the Caucasians are staying. I'm curious to see the indigenous life.
If you want to make a proper assessment, you need to look at both what the proponents say and those who have had issues. As you should expect, there are pros and cons, so for success you have to find the pros worth the cons. A trip will be awesome. To help make it productive you should inquire about people's experiences of moving there.
