Close Mind vs Open Mind: Moving to Costa Rica
We’re finding there are two types of people that we are dealing with when it comes to our move to Costa Rica. Doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
Maybe not so surprisingly they are fitting into two demographic groups:
- the rich retired
- the working
Guess which is more close minded? Yeah, hardly your Mensa challenge for the day, right? The more close minded are the rich retired. They have theirs and just can’t understand why we want ours.
These are the people who were self-employed and sold the business, paid off their credit cards and mortgage and are living where they choose: close to where they were raised. Their idea of a vacation home is to move to The Villages and live next to the same people they live next to now. Or… they retired with a big pension plan because their union negotiated it – or they lived the corporate life and were banking the big bucks and are living in some gated community.
They just can’t understand why we would want to move to Costa Rica, land of eternal spring-time, low crime, low housing costs, mountains, rivers, oceans, affordable and good medical care, with a government that is stable, an economy that is strong and diversified, and live around people that are educated and actually like people from the United States.
Their comments are usually really ignorant and never said to our face… “they will be back in six months”… or …” do they know anything about where they are moving?”… or … “I sure hope they don’t believe everything they are told.” In other words, because they cannot fathom making such a life change, they close their minds to the possibility that will be plenty more people like us loving, but leaving, the United States.
Dopes.
The other group is the working-group (not to be confused with this breed of working group:
The people that are still working usually say something like: “well it’s not for me“… or… “we could never to it” … or… “I hope you are really happy” They acknowledge that even if what we are doing isn’t for them, they are open-minded enough to realize it may work for us.
This guy doesn’t offer a purely objective opinion, he is a real estate agent and tour guide… but that doesn’t mean he isn’t writing the truth.
The country enjoys a stellar international reputation. You never hear anything negative about it in the U.S. news. Costa Rica is also famous for having the longest enduring democracy in Latin America and for abolishing its army over 50 years ago. The country has other achievements like a literacy rate of 95% and universal medical care for its citizens and residents. The year-round spring-like weather in the Central Valley is a strong attraction. Low utility bills and domestic help are another plus. It really all comes down to lifestyle. It’s reflected in the national motto, pura vida, which means pure life or pure living. As an American friend of mine often says, “If you get hooked on the lifestyle here, you won’t ever want to return to the U.S. to live. Heck, they’d have to drag me back.”
Pura vida, if you are open-minded.
STFU if you fall into the other category.
@runny bunny: “lingo” to me means slang… we are trying to learn the language. Maybe the “lingo” will come someday. We are certainly open!
Speaking the language includes all aspects of a language, you can learn to speak the language, along with the “lingo” just as easily as you can learn text book interpretations of words..it is all about immersion and actually speaking with the locals, listening to how they speak to each other. I suppose it is part of the process.
However, you are correct..many people never learn the lingo…and actually miss out on real communication, as oppposed to getting by. There are many experiences that benefit from the approach you take to things, because this isn’t eastern Kentucky…no matter what issues you had with the folks there.
I love your posts. Really make me laugh. I remember moving here and heard all the same things. Why is it such a big deal to take a chance and have some fun? Is it we just get old and can’t remember what is was like to be a kid again.
Living in the same town your whole life is like playing a video game and staying on the same screen. Don’t you want to see what’s on the next level? The world is such a beautiful place worthy of exploring. And living abroad is about the coolest thing one can do in their lifetime.
I love it here. I am proud I had the guts to reinvent my life. I am grateful I met so many awesome people, whether in person, or through the internet, chronicling their own unique adventures.
Keep up the posts, they make my laugh!!!
Your video game is a great analogy! Perfect. We are moving to the next screen. I’m glad you laff.
I ponder the question of “do you really know where you are moving to?”, because in retrospect I miscalculated who I would be living among when I moved to Bowling Green. I did my research and still missed how absolutely sure people of BG are of themselves when the highlight of their lives is a trip to Orlando.
Mark you are a pioneer. In the past, people generally relocated within the country. Now we will be relocating worldwide. Identify the trend, because the trend is your friend.
-Mike
We never had a choice on where we lived. I was just another itinerant worker: I went where the job too me. MI to MI to IL to IN (No. and So.) The cultural differences are amazing in the midwest. We weren’t always thrilled, but you take what life gives you and make the best.
I’m not a pioneer, of course, there are tons of people from the U.S. choosing to live globally. But to the Orlando-as-foreign people, we’re just nuts.
You should seriously consider one of the remarks your rich retired friends, promote and that is “do you really know where you are moving to?” It may appear to be the land of milk and honey..but, you are for sure in for a major culture shock and attitude adjustment that no one can tell you about or explain, because they are all unique to the individual. Just be real careful about the people ticos who speak English and want to be your friend…
Land of milk and honey? bwahahahahaha, good one! Because that is exactly what we are expecting!
Well, that is part of it for sure..but, not the important part. You are in for a wild ride and I don’t mean on the road to your new home. You picked a challenging place to live, guess you are up for it. Learn the lingo
“wild ride” … hard to quantify. “challenging?” you ever been to Eastern Kentucky? Yes, we will try to learn the language, but one never learns the lingo.
What do you mean “one never learns the lingo” that is just wrong..why not?
I’ve been away for awhile. I had no idea you were doing this.
Good for you! I’m totally impressed. I’ve wanted to move to Panama for awhile but Doug won’t entertain the idea at all.
remember who’s making these comments………Kentucky rednecks who have never probably even been out of the state of Kentucky. People are stupid and mean when they don’t understand something……I think the majority of the comments are by old biddies who have nothing else to do but talk about you.
I’m not in category one, but I think I did say you might come back to the USA – only because you didn’t seem too confident about this move. I thought you were second-guessing your decision. You know what you want, so go for it.
The people in my area who are retiring are moving close to their children so they can be active in their grandchildren’s lives (i.e. babysitting). Now that’s something I really don’t understand.
I’ll probably stay put when I retire. I like the change of seasons, I’m less than 2 hours to several major cities, and less than 20 minutes to good restaurants and entertainment. You can still buy a very nice home in this town for less than $100,000, if you want to exchange three months of snow shoveling for palm trees.
re: Returning… The only way this could work is for me (and probably Nancy) to back into the workforce. It’s the only way we could afford to live in the U.S. and then I think our lifestyle would suck. Hardly a “retirement.” There are tons of homes available all across the US for $150,000 or less, agreed. This is not a good sign.
It’s healthy to question your move and your sanity. Shoot, it’s healthy to question your move/sanity after the fact. Trying something new and having it not work out is not the end of the world. At least you will have tried. And you get to see cool sh*t while your trying it.