First and foremost, we strongly recommends that you first live in Costa Rica for at least six months before deciding to live here permanently. There is a big difference, after all, between staying somewhere for two weeks as a tourist and actually living there. It’s also important to note that expatriates who simply live in Costa Rica often report a significantly different set of experiences and opinions from expatriates who live and work in the country. (Many expatriates find that the best way to ensure that they continue to enjoy life in Costa Rica is to not live here year round. They find that spending two or three months each year in their home country gives them a chance to stay in touch with family and friends, to shop for products that they can’t find in Costa Rica, and to avail themselves of other amenities; and, being back on one’s home turf is usually a quick reminder of the irksome features of the country you left behind—it puts things in perspective.) 

Over the years, we have noted several misguided notions that motivate a good number of people who move to Costa Rica. After having decided to move here, many people try to convince themselves they’ve made the right choice by demonizing their own country and romanticizing Costa Rica. They come here wanting to find paradise and, rose-colored glasses in place, that’s exactly what they find—for the first six months at least. When reality begins to set in and they come to better understand that Costa Rica has its share of problems, these very same people are wont to swing the other direction, becoming hypercritical of the country and unfairly blaming it and its people for not conforming to their skewed, naïvely construed expectations. Others come to Costa Rica with the wish that living here will somehow transform them. They hope for a kind of rebirth, and are fervently keen to discover—for the first time in their lives—true happiness. Enough said? Finally, you can spot any number of later day Romeos in nearly every customs line at the international airport. They have come here to find Julieta—and they are in a great hurry. The idea goes something like this: When you move from one country to another, the mere act of crossing international borders gives you free license to ignore age-old warnings from the poets about the improbability of establishing eternal harmony between a man and a woman. Cultural differences? Language barriers? Romeo heeds them not; he is hell bent on marriage and a wife he shall find. May the Gods smile upon you, Romeo.

Expatriates express a number of complaints about life in Costa Rica (and on most points, Costa Ricans are in agreement). The roads are bad. Many stores carry a rather narrow range of products. The major cities in the Central Valley—San José, Heredia, Alajuela, and, to a lesser extent, Cartago—are congested with traffic, diesel fumes, and noise; they afford scant public space for casual strolls; you need to be wary of pickpockets and muggers and you are best advised not to walk alone through city centers at night, especially if you are a woman. Getting things done at banks, government offices, and other institutions takes a lot of time. Ask anyone and likely as not they will add another two or three items to the list. The question you have to ask yourself, then, is quite simple: do Costa Rica’s many attractive features—its friendly people, temperate weather, beautiful scenery, relaxed pace of life, and lower cost of living—outweigh its negative features?

Depending on your country of origin, your arrival in Costa Rica will put you in immediate contact with a new culture and a new language. Lamentably, some people aren’t interested in learning about either the local culture or the Spanish language (they decide to learn just enough Spanish to allow them to shop). Even those who are excited at the prospect of learning a new culture and a new language, however, will find that either challenge is, at turns, both stimulating and exceedingly frustrating. Many expatriates end up socializing almost exclusively with other expatriates; for them, day to day events in the country are really nothing more than a colorful backdrop to expatriate existence. Eventually, some people decide that their expatriate circle of friends is a poor substitute for the family and friends they left behind.  However you choose to live your life in Costa Rica, the question that you will soon have to answer is, on balance, do you enjoy expatriate existence or would you be happier living in your home country? The only way you’ll find out is to move here for a year or two.