It is soooo easy to get sucked into endless, chronic doom scrolling…
Remember this meme from the first T-Rex administration?
2025-2029 is on the cusp of being the same, if not even worse.
But since I’m focused on leaving the U.S. for good next year, I’m far less prone to doom scrolling every day than I have been recently.
It feels good to be in the process of getting outta Dodge while the getting is good (affordable, welcoming).
“Not my circus, not my monkeys” any more. Onward and upward!!!
Instead of spending hours sitting at my desk feeling paralyzed by every new appointment the Orange Menace makes, I spend it working on getting all my ducks in a row during the day and coloring in my mandalas or critter coloring books after 5 or so until bedtime.I sleep eight or nine hours every night without waking up to fret over the national news, because it won’t be news that can impact me personally for much longer. If I wake up, I practice Spanish phrases, imagine sitting in my yard in CR watching monkeys, macaws and sloths; walking to the local farmer’s market or la tienda for what I need; wading, swimming, or boating in Lake Arenal…
Change your location, change your life!
It costs less to live in Costa Rica . Environmentally, it’s more natural and better protected by the government. Its socialized medicine is wonderfully affordable. Its people (who call themselves ticos) are warm and welcoming, especially to those who decide to learn Spanish and embrace their customs and traditions, all of which I am looking forward to doing.
Costa Rica is a democratic republic. (We only pretend to be one here in the U.S. We’re on the verge of becoming an authoritarian oligarchy, no longer a “pure” oligarchy.)
Moving along will be moving ahead in all the right ways. I no longer want hills to climb economically and emotionally. I want to enjoy the rest of my life in peace, surrounded (occasionally) by new friends who want to get to know me better. Or not! I have no expectations other than to escape what is on the horizon here in the U.S.
What surprises me…
It does surprise me that I believed (up until Nov 5th, 2024) I would be leaving the U.S. eventually simply because I could no longer afford to survive here economically. Instead, I’m leaving sooner because I have come to despise what is unfolding because people I considered friends, relatives, and loved ones chose a convicted felon and sexual assaulter over a dedicated, well-qualified public servant of the people in this last election.
Turns out I never really knew these people. They certainly don’t share my sense of justice, fairness, and equity!
Home is where the heart is.
My heart is now in Costa Rica.
Within a year, I expect the rest of me to be there, too.
And THAT will feel soooo much better!
