Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Culture shock or culture bumps? That depends on the experts you hire for your move to Costa Rica. Recently, we have been publishing blogs by ex-pats TicoNuevo and FloridaTico that our readers seem to like. Why do readers like them? Because they tell you the truth! Because they don’t only…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Assisted living is now available in Costa Rica. Florida became famous for its retirement communities and Costa Rica will be the next. The first REAL retirement community in Costa Rica is Verdeza is under construction and located in Escazu. This beautiful community will be fully operational on the 11th of…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes We have lots of bugs in Costa Rica, so for those who have a bug phobia… My first meeting with a monster spider, made me ask myself what I was doing on a coffee farm in Costa Rica. Gradually I adjusted to my new life in the tropics and learned…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Carole and her husband Don live in Atenas and met a toucan for the first time in their life. They are baby boomers and retired in Atenas, Roca Verde to be exact. It’s a pity that Carole’s blog doesn’t exist anymore. But you can order her book “Flying High with…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Do you know what a MacGyver in Costa Rica means? TicoNuevo wrote a blog about hardware stores in Costa Rica this week. I would like to go a bit deeper into the matter. He said: “be prepared to substitute or make do with something other than the perfect solution”. If…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes I found yoga when I turned 51 and I’d like to tell you a bit about it. I am a fan of Ivo’s blog and especially enjoyed the recent submission, some suggestions on what to do with your free time in Costa Rica by guest blogger, TicoNuevo. Humbly, I would…
by Ivo Henfling City planning and public works departments in Costa Rica are not as well organized as you are used to. Actually I don’t think the locals have ever heard of city planning and therefore planning their public works. The not planning of a city is part of the Latin mindset: live the…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes When buying a property, you will want to know how much the closing cost is, right? You just found this absolutely gorgeous property in Costa Rica and you want to purchase it. Before you start negotiating the purchase price, you would like to know what the final cost of that…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes It’s time to eat in a Costa Rican restaurant or soda, and learn to read the menu. Once you move to Costa Rica, you will want to eat out once in a while. Depending on where you are going to live, you will be able to read the menu or…
Speaking bad Spanish is better than no Spanish. If you want to live in Costa Rica and you want to communicate with the locals, do not be afraid of speaking bad Spanish. Most people, when they are learning a new language, they are afraid of making mistakes. When I started learning Spanish, I used to…
Just like in many other countries, it is customary for people to have short names in Costa Rica, just like in other languages. You will find it interesting to know why the city of San Jose is called Chepe (look up the name Jose below) and why your gardener is called Juancho or Chuz (pronounced…
Do you know it’s important to do a final walk-through before closing? Today’s the day, you have almost made it! Today is the closing date on this beautiful Costa Rican home you are buying. Now you are only hours away from “home sweet home”. Your home inspector came up with a perfect home inspection report.…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Imagine visiting all these beautiful places in Costa Rica! and on top of that, the sun shines! Yes, for many people on the planet, to imagine that you wake up in the morning and the sun shines, is just that: an imagination. For us, the ones who are lucky enough…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes You could end up on a leash if you sign an exclusive listing agreement without having read this blog first. Property sellers should be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of signing an exclusive listing contract with a realtor. You should be aware of what this contract obliges you to.…
When you grow up with burgers, you cannot live without them. Moving to Costa Rica doesn’t change your eating habits. If you have grown up eating hamburgers and hotdogs, you cannot just start eating Gallo Pinto the next day. The advantage is that if you move to Costa Rica, thousands of US citizens have done…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes I am often asked, with a lot of skepticism, why yoga and horses? Where is the connection? My standard answer is; I have experienced the similarities between riding and yoga practice. The same stillness and union I find in my yoga practice I feel when I ride. Last week I…