The Life of Your Dreams
By George Lundquist
The fact is; you could
not have dreamed of the
new and exciting life
possible here. The
cultural generosity of
the people, the
excitement of doing all
of the things you never
had time for, the health
benefits of unprocessed
food, clean air, and
exercise, the lack of
mosquitoes, 12 month
outdoor living, the
access to low cost and
QUALITY health care, the
lack of traffic in the
rural areas etc, can
open your life here way
beyond your wildest
dreams. Many, MANY of us
quit working to live and
here we begin living to
work at the most fun and
interesting activities
we can dream up.
Whether you choose the
gated communities or
become a Pioneer and
move to some remote area
or something in between,
you can discover why so
many of us rave on about
the life we now enjoy.
Most people, who have
the open mindedness to
investigate life away
from the one they know,
hear about this
“Paradise”. They start
reading, doing Internet
investigations, and even
take a vacation to
“check it out” The most
common mistake that I
have seen over the last
5 years is when they are
overwhelmed by the
beauty of the country,
the incredible weather,
and the low cost of
living and buy something
without living in an
area for at least 6
months.
All of the obvious (most
written about)
advantages of Costa Rica
are overwhelming and
cause many to buy a
place to live after very
little research and not
learning about the many
options of lifestyle
available here. Some are
totally content to buy
or rent a modern
Condominium in a gated
area and associate
mostly with people of
similar backgrounds.
They live here very much
as they did where they
came from and usually
are annoyed by the
Tico’s lack of sharing
their urgency to hurry
through the day. They
spend a lot of attention
trying to guard their
material possessions. If
they have chosen to live
by one of the highly
advertised beach areas,
they soon learn to
adjust to the heat or
stay in the air
conditioning.
The good news is you can
shed the attitudes and
concepts of what is
required to live that
are not fun and spend
your time in activities
that you really consider
rewarding to you. One of
the greatest rewards to
me of showing people how
life here can be, is
watching them open up
and look into themselves
to discover how this can
be the beginning of the
best part of their
lives. If you are single
or married with an
income over $600 per
month, you can
concentrate on
activities that do not
produce an income. If
you do not have this
luxury, you can find
ways to do things you
like and earn these
modest incomes or add to
them.
I give myself as an
example. I came here
because we could live
here on our Social
Security income of
$2,200. We knew of the
quality of food,
fantastic weather, and a
bit of the niceness of
the Ticos. We had to
discover how the Tico
culture is one of giving
for the shear enjoyment
of seeing you like what
they give you. We could
not eat all of the food
brought to us when we
were sick or attend all
of the dinners to which
we were invited. We were
able to plant all of the
plants and trees
neighbors brought for
us.
We easily and happily
gave back. English is
required study in all of
the schools. The
neighborhood children
were excited to have us
help them improve their
skills. My wife loves to
bake and cook so we
treated neighbors and
even the garbage
collectors to her
cookies, Texas Chile,
and Lasagna. I had
brought some hand tools,
which I quickly found
got a lot more use when
I gave them to
neighbors. They soon
were using these and
more that I bought and
gave to them to remodel
our first home.
I now have 3 full time
Gardeners and 7 full
time home Constructors.
We have just completed
building our 3rd home. I
gave them all of the
equipment to build first
class homes. They now
have 2 cement mixers,
scaffolding, 2 air
compressors, welding
equipment, 2 pneumatic
nail guns, 2 Chop saws,
a power earth Compactor,
the tool for connecting
Pex water tubing, 6
Aluminum ladders, safety
equipment, and all of
the hand tools they
need.
We have now moved into
our FINAL, FINAL, FINAL
HOUSE. It is WAY BEYOND
anything we could have
ever dreamed of. It has
spectacular views of the
Central Valley AND the
Gulf of Nicoya AND is
within 45 minutes of La
Cima Hospital,
Multiplaza Shopping
center, Valle del Sol
Golf course, and less
than 1 ½ hours to some
of the best
beach/fishing areas on
the Pacific.
We have many friends now
who are into this
fulfilling and wonderful
life. They keep us up to
date on their
activities. Jim (still
in his 40’s) in San
Ramon has a 2 acre green
house where he is living
his love of exotic
plants. He has tens of
thousands of orchids and
very exotic plants from
the South Pacific that
he breeds and sells. The
love for plants by Ticos
is HUGE. He makes a nice
profit from this
business.
We have several male
friends who have found
the love of their life
and are now married to
Ticas. This culture
emphasizes respect of
age. We even have a
special line at public
offices and banks once
we are over 65. Ticas
are very loving and
really appreciate the
respect and love of the
“Gringos”. Of course the
financial security plays
a roll but it is
secondary to the joy
they share. One of the
few negatives of the
culture is the Machoness
of many of the males.
That is not so good for
single females coming
here but really
heightens the Ticas
interests in Gringo
males. A good male
friend here in Santiago
de Puriscal started a
Singles party on
Thursday nights. He had
to discontinue it
because there were TOO
MANY SINGLE LADIES.
We have several friends
who operate B & Bs. They
enjoy the fun of meeting
very interesting people
from all over the world
and make enough to
pursue things like
gardening, reading, art
etc.
There are many Art
schools, Language
schools, clubs,
Churches, Museums,
Theaters, and Volunteer
projects from cleaning
beaches to teaching
English as a 2nd
language. Don’t forget,
the temperature here in
the mountains is 70F
plus or minus 10F 365
days per year to enjoy
all of these activities.
How did we ever have
time to have a job?
WHAT A COUNTRY!!!!!!!!
George Lundquist ia
Relocation/Retirement
Guide and Columnist on
living in Costa Rica.
www.costaricaretireonss.com
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