I have Christmas Tree Brain (!!!) anticipating moving to Costa Rica.

 

I’ve researched the place for years, have specific areas I’m interested in (Lake Arenal and Central Highlands), and have a wonderful advisor living in the Lake Arenal area who writes for International Living occasionally.

 

When I texted the advisor and gave her my monthly income from SS and a small pension, and what little I have in savings in my retirement fund, she said I will be fine in Costa Rica, money-wise. She has lived there permanently since 2021 and loves the place. She has wild monkeys in her back yard.

 

I’ve been sold on CR for years, have just been nervous that I wouldn’t be able to live there comfortably on my monthly income.  When Jackie sells this property, I will get half of the revenue (something northward of $200K each, probably more two to three years from now if the T-Rex administration doesn’t crash the economy by then) and then I will be set for the rest of my life should I ever need assisted living in CR.  I’m hale and hearty, feel 45, look maybe 60, so I think I will live another 20 years, and I don’t want it to be here in the US anymore.

 

As soon as I got the good news from the advisor, I started feeling giddy and happy again.  It has been a long week of mourning for the America I thought I lived in, but since I don’t have to for much longer, my mind is focusing on the to-do list before me: getting rid of all extraneous stuff , finding a home for my goats and the hundreds of journals I’ve written since 1966, holding garage sales all spring and summer, and packing up what little I plan to take with me to the land of pura vida.

 

I’ll be taking a trip to CR sometime next year to decide where to rent when I move there, start the process of becoming a citizen as a pensionado (retired person), and drop Part B of my Medicare (which costs me over $200/month) and pick up the CR health insurance (far less costly), etc., etc., etc.

 

I will have an event where friends and family will be invited to peruse what I have first so my miscellaneous stuff (furniture, knickknacks, etc.) goes to people I love who will treasure whatever they choose.

 

It’s a lot to think about, and to do, but I need the activity to keep me from thinking of what just happened to the USA last week so that when I leave I will be able to say goodbye/so long/fare well/good luck! with a nostalgic but very relieved and happy backward wave.

 

It’s going to be quite the adventure, and I will keep you in the loop every step of the way.

 

Onward and upward!

 

capuchin money

hornbill

one of CR’s several volcanoes

(I live near Mr. Rainier, so CR’s smaller volcanoes don’t intimidate me!)

a serene scene somewhere in Costa Rica

Leapin’ lizards, Batman! 

 

I am SOOOOOOO ready (emotionally and mentally) to do this!

 

I know enough Spanish to get by in the hinterlands where English isn’t spoken or understood, but a great many CR citizens are at least semi-fluent in English, too, so we can flail along together and finesse what we do know with frequent practice!

 

I’m even feeling gregarious, just thinking about this move and meeting new people. Wheee!!