 |
COSTA RICA |
| |
Christopher Howard’s Golden Rules for
Finding Happiness and Success in Costa Rica
By Christopher Howard M.A.
During the last 28 years that I have lived
in Costa Rica I have had the opportunity to
observe 1000s of foreigners who have moved
here. Some have been very successful while
others have not. Those who found happiness
and saw their dreams come true followed most
of the time-tested rules below.
Hopefully if
you choose to live or retire here you will
keep these simple principles in mind so you
can take full advantage of what Costa Rica
has to offer and enjoy a new exciting
lifestyle or the pura vida (pure life/good
life) which abounds everywhere.
(1) Don’t have false expectations.
(2) Don’t assume that what worked at home
works here. You have to adapt to the reality
of the country.
(3) Don’t go into business unless you want
to complicate your life. (4) Most people
come here to simplify their lives.
(5) The happiest people are those with
pensions or other fixed sources of income
who don’t have to work. If you do work,
don’t expect to get rich.
(6) Stay busy and or find an interesting
hobby. Almost everyone has a hobby. If you
don’t have one, find a new one here. Costa
Rica offers 100s of stimulating activities
from which to choose.
(7) Don’t hang out in bars. I have seen
scores of people come down here and because
they were bored they went off the deep end
by drinking themselves to death.
(8) Stay active and have a good exercise
program.
(9) Have a good doctor or teams of doctors
to meet your specific health needs. Costa
Rica has an excellent and affordable health
care system which draws retirees from all
over the world.
(10) Single men shouldn’t get involved with
low-life women or prostitutes (the easiest
women to meet). Single women should watch
out for younger men who are gold diggers.
Take time to develop healthy relationships.
(10) Don’t leave your brain on the plane by
forgetting to use your common sense.
(11) Don’t try to cut corners by thinking
you can outsmart the locals by paying
bribes, etc. It will all catch up to you
sooner or later.
(12) Don’t make bad investments. If it seems
too good to be true, it usually is.
(13) Try not to live in isolated areas with
no home security. Burglary can be a problem
in some parts of Costa Rica. There is safety
in numbers.
(14) Don’t walk around alone at night. If
you have to, be sure to know the
neighborhood where you are and take a
friend.
(15)
Do your homework! Read all of the books and
newspapers about Costa Rica, talk to
other who have lived here for a long time,
go to the ARCR’s monthly seminar and in
general stay informed by reading the local
Spanish newspapers.
(16) Learn as much as you can about the
Costa Rican culture.
(17) Try to always check your sources of
information especially what you see on the
on-line Costa Rica news groups. Something
happens to people who move here. They think
they are overnight experts just because they
have made the move. It takes years of living
here to really be considered an expert.
Funny things happen to JCL’s (Johnny Come
Lately) minds when they come to the tropics.
(18) It is VERY important to have a good
BILINGUAL lawyer. Most Americans brag they
have the “best lawyer”. Make sure this is
true by doing your homework and getting good
references from other expatriates. Having a
competent/honest lawyer can make the
difference between success and failure.
(19) LEARN Spanish! You need at least a
survival level Spanish to get by here. Find
a school that fits your learning style. Also
read my best selling Spanish book,
Christopher Howard’s Guide to Costa Rican
Spanish (amazon.com). It is designed to give
you what you need to survive linguistically
in Costa Rica.
(20) Mix with the locals. Part of living in
a foreign country is enjoying the people and
culture. Don’t isolate yourself in a Gringo
enclave like Escazú. That’s exactly why you
need to learn some Spanish.
(21) Form a network of friends so you can
lean on them in hard times. Making friends
is easy here since foreigners tend to
gravitate toward each other when living
abroad.
(22) Don’t be the Ugly America, Ugly
Canadian, Ugly Englishman of ugly foreigner.
This is the Costa Rica people’s country, you
have to live in it and you can’t change it.
So, DON’T wear out your welcome.
(23) Obey the law here and above all traffic
laws.
(24) Travel around the country. Costa Rica
is small yet very big at the same time and
there are lot of incredibly beautiful places
to see.
(25) Get Skype (www.skype.com) or Vonage (www.vonage.com)
to stay in contact with friends back home so
as to avoid homesickness.
(26) Get cable or satellite TV to get a
slice of home and stay up with
events there when you need it.
(27) Try to leave your hang ups and serious
problems at home. If you had serious issues
there, you will probably have them here too.
(28)Give back to the community. Try to help but
don’t impose the Gringo way of doing things.
(29) Just because a person speaks English
doesn’t mean he or she is trustworthy.
(30) The single most important thing you
need to survive is good sense of humor. Go
with the flow and don’t take things too
seriously.
FOLLOW THIS TIME-TESTED ADVICE AND YOU WILL
ALMOST NEVER GO WRONG.
Christopher Howard is the author of 16
editions of the perennial best-selling “New
Golden Door to Retirement and Living in
Costa Rica” and “Guide to Spanish in Costa
Rica.” His newest creation is “Christopher
Howard’s Guide to real Estate in Costa
Rica.” All of these books are available
through
Amazon.com. Mr. Howard Also conducts
monthly relocation/retirement tours for
those thinking of moving here. Please see
www.liveincostarica.com
The New
Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica (12th Edition)
-
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
