People ask me all the time, What is it like to live in Costa Rica?

I tell them AWESOME! I live in paradise. “But don’t you miss things about the USA?” I always chuckle at that question. Miss what? Traffic, Smog, noise, snow? Bad attitudes, insane taxes, high cost of living? Daily bombardment of Politics, $20 to park my car and $9 for a Heineken? Nope I don’t miss any of that.

I can always tell where my clients come from by their “sticker shock”.

A client from Oklahoma once said “$1 Million dollars ???!!!  Do you know what I can buy for $1M dollars???!!! I can buy half of Oklahoma.”  My clients from Malibu California or Hilton Head Island say “$1 Million dollars? What a bargain. I’ll take 3.”  If you are going to judge the value of something you have to compare Apples to Apples.  

In my opinion Costa Rica is still very inexpensive compared to other warm weather resort destinations. Now, it’s not cheap, but you still get a tremendous amount for your money.  If you want cheap, you have to go to third world countries like Nicaragua.  But remember you get what you pay for.  Costa Rica has the charm of a third world Latin country, but we have first world infrastructure, from state of the art hospitals and telecommunications to upgraded roads and electricity.  Our grocery stores are as nice as any in the USA and Canada and the modern conveniences of home, like Cable and Satellite TV and high speed Internet is available everywhere.