It has been a year and a half since we sold almost everything we had, packed up the rest, and moved to Costa Rica, a place we’d never been. People post online that they are thinking about leaving the U.S. and moving to Costa Rica, and expats respond, telling them about how happy they are here – or how miserable.
So what’s the truth? Is life in Costa Rica great or not? Well, I must say that for us, the honeymoon stage has ended, slapping us in the face with the challenging reality of day-to-day life in a country with a different language and culture. Clearly, it isn’t for everyone. Americans thinking about moving to Costa Rica should be aware of who they are and what they can live with and without.
First of all, we Americans have certain tendencies hard-wired into us. The first is the tendency toward workaholism. I know some expats who came here to relax and enjoy their retirement; instead, they have found ways to keep themselves miserably busy with all their volunteer work and/or part-time online jobs. I often find myself feeling guilty and tempted to take on more online work despite our doing fine financially. I have to keep reminding myself that workaholism isn’t a thing here.
Costa Ricans (Ticos) generally don’t work so hard, and for me as an American, it is flabbergasting and maddening at times. When I go to the bank, there is often a line of people out the door and down the street. Nevertheless, the tellers take their time setting up their work stations, dealing with each customer, and even taking frequent breaks. I’ve thought to myself, “Don’t these people value quick, efficient service?” We once spent an hour with a teller who took her time making sure our issue was resolved. Quick? Not-so-much. Efficient? Highly.
On the other hand, there are a couple of Walmart-owned megastores where the Ticos do a great job being both efficient and quick. Ticos are known to be among the happiest people in the world, but the ones who work in these stores look like the most miserable people in the world.
Costa Rica isn’t for you if you’re not willing to let go of toxic capitalist baggage and start treating yourself and others like human beings, not machines.
The second American tendency is unbridled consumerism. We want what we want when we want it whether we need it or not. Many expats complain about how expensive Costa Rica is. Sales tax is 13% on everything, and the high prices of imported goods reflect the cost to get them here. So if you want to live in Costa Rica and enjoy your favorite American brands, be prepared to spend a lot of money for them. That’s if you are lucky enough to find them. There are some grocery stores that offer many American products, but you might have to travel to these stores, costing you more in travel expenses as well as time.
If you want to live affordably in Costa Rica, you have to learn to live like the Ticos and do what they do. They buy Costa Rican products from Costa Rican shops and vendors. There are many products and suppliers from which to choose, and it takes time to find the ones you like. You have to be willing to try a lot of unfamiliar products and brands. You might be surprised that they are at least as good as American brands – and sometimes even better! We found a Costa Rican brand of potato chips that blows away Lay’s.
We were surprised to learn that while some Costa Rican farmers try to grow food organically, most use chemicals freely. Luckily, we recently found a vendor who runs an organic food delivery service, and we’ve already seen improvements in the appearance of our skin and in our energy levels. We strive to eat organic as much as possible, which adds a bit to our grocery bill, but it’s still quite affordable.
Unlike in America where you often have to drive miles to get to the nearest grocery store, there are no “food deserts” here. There is a huge variety of grocery stores, green grocers, and butchers within walking distance. Most parks have fruit trees, and people can freely pick the fruit and enjoy it.
Costa Rica isn’t far you if you’re not willing to live without American products and to embrace the grand adventure of trying things you’ve never tried before.
The third American tendency is our constant high-speed mode. Our obsession with productivity infects not only our work life but also every area of our lives. Here in Costa Rica, the water, electric, and Internet go out more often than in the U.S. I’ve found myself wanting to scream when I am forced to slow down by these outages. Since we live in an more urban area, these problems are usually resolved fairly quickly. Those who choose to live in more remote areas have to live without for much longer.
We’ve learned to keep a backup supply of water, allowing us to at least wash hands, do dishes, and flush toilets when the water is out. We also have our Internet plugged into a backup battery that keeps us connected for an hour or so if the power goes out. Finally, if the Internet goes down, we have a backup wifi hotspot that usually finds a working network unless the outage is more widespread.
We are usually informed of these outages before they happen. Costa Rica works hard to maintain their infrastructures in order to prevent major problems. Only once was there a major water outage lasting a few days due to a major water main break. This happened a few days after we arrived in Costa Rica, but it hasn’t happened since. Ticos are “chill” about these outages and roll with them.
Costa Rica isn’t for you if you’re not willing to slow down, chill out, and roll with inconveniences like outages (and long lines and traffic jams 😂).
Our fourth American tendency is our linguistic prejudice. Americans living in America often get frustrated with people who can’t speak English. Some Americans living in Costa Rica still get frustrated with people who can’t speak English despite the fact that they are living in a country where the national language is Spanish! They also have no interest in learning a single word of Spanish.
Part of the problem might be due to misleading information. Before we came to Costa Rica, we read many posts stating that most Costa Ricans can speak English. Well, if you come here as a tourist and visit tourist sites, you’re going to encounter many Ticos who speak English very well. If you come here to live, you’re not going to find many people who speak English very well unless you live in a tourist area or expat community. Even in these areas, you’re going to be confronted by Spanish signs, store product labels, instructions, cable TV, radio, etc. You won’t be able to escape Spanish. It will invade every area of your life.
Costa Rica isn’t for you is you’re not willing to at least learn a little Spanish. You must also be willing to accept and respect the fact that this a county where Spanish is the national language. Just as we expect people to speak English in America, people expect you to speak Spanish in Costa Rica. Luckily, Ticos are very patient, and they are delighted to hear gringos speaking their language even if we do it very badly.
You will always be an American; you can’t change that. But to really enjoy life in Costa Rica, you have to be willing to drop the American baggage and embrace the “Pura Vida” lifestyle.
That’s what we’ve chosen to do, and we are enjoying the best that Costa Rica has to offer: people who mind their own business and treat others with respect whether they like them or not, the absence of random violence, a working democratic government with a strong commitment to civil rights, and an affordable health care system that really takes care of people. Even our old dog Jackson is well cared for by our Costa Rican vet who makes house calls.
If you’d like to know more about living in Costa Rica, feel free to post your questions in the comments.
Rev. Joan M. Kistler 