want to talk to anybody here from costa rica

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I don't know where else to post this, so apologies in advance if i have committed a faux pas. i'm researching a move down there, and I REALLY want to talk to a costa rican resident, I need to learn more about it from somebody that lives there, is there anybody here who has spent time in costa rica? thank you in advance.

Sounds like a good choice! The country is very environmentally aware, very beautiful, and they haven't had a national army since the 1940's.

There are no fierce little reptiles waiting to pounce on little girls as shown in the second Jurassic Park movie...

You certainly haven't committed a faux pas, but I'm not certain whether we have any Costa Rican members.

But there should be plenty of online info available.

But remember it's not easy to emigrate to a country where you don't know anyone or have a support system, and where there may be a language barrier. (Granted, Spanish isn't too difficult...) If you feel you can manage such an adventure go for it but stay with us on WP...

thank you for your input the only scary thing I've found, is that they 1] don't especially like yanks, and 2] food is VERY EXPENSIVE down there. granted, that would make me lose weight.

It seems Costa Rica is great for celebrities wanting an environmentally exemplary lifestyle for themselves at great financial cost, with no benefit to the remaining 7.4 billion of us.

If you want to move South, then you should really consider Mexico. This might be a realistic option. Within the last couple of years, House Hunters International on HGTV did a segment about an American family that moved to Morelia. Morelia is somewhat off the beaten path for tourists, AFAIK and probably cheaper than a place such as San Miguel de Allende. The story was that this guy was on disability after a motorcycle accident. It seems they were able to live in Mexico just fine on his disability payments. They seemed happy, friendly neighbors, etc. You should seriously check it out.

You could probably get by in Cuba on your savings, if you have any (Cuba is supposed to be safer than Mexico but YMMV), but I would first look at Mexico.

thank you very much for that info. my dad usedta winter in a mexico place called "guaymas." I wonder if there are as many expats in mexico as there are in CR [about 70k]? my main worries are the gangs and the payola.

If you Google the topic, the number of US expats in Mexico seems to come up as one million, although that includes Mexican-Americans who've always had family there as well as people who winter in Mexico but haven't permanently emigrated.

As for gangs, my impression is that it's largely like in the US, which is if you don't live in the sort of slum the gangs control and don't meddle in their business, you needn't worry about them. I have a close family member who has lived in the middle of Baltimore for several years and doesn't worry about gangs although gangs are what most people think of when they think about Baltimore. Of course, there's always the odd crossfire incident but then you could also get t-boned by a drunk driver running a red light in California - dead is dead as they say.

As for the "payola", to my understanding it's just how business is done there - a way to avoid taxes, etc. Best way is to educate yourself about the system so you know what's expected in a given situation. I don't think it should be seen as some sort of "threat".

The other security issue an American might worry about is kidnapping. But I don't think that's a problem either if they've no reason to suspect you have any money.

Probably the best course of action is to contact expats and ask them directly. I believe you can find ways to do so online.

^^^thank you once again, I guess I shall have to let my fingers do the walking online to find expat communities.