I managed to get in almost 9K steps yesterday, most of it during the Dune Peninsula Walk with Laurel. I didn’t take any pictures because Laurel didn’t want to be seen in any of them. There were no orcas yesterday, but we saw some seals.
It was a beautiful day (still cold in the shadows), great walking weather. I had on two layers of clothing but no jacket and I was fine.
During lunch Laurel cross examined me about my move to Costa Rica, probably to be sure I had it well thought out and won’t be making any crucial mistakes. (She’s a lawyer, you know. Professionally skeptical and wary.) But I’ve studied CR so thoroughly over the course of ten years that I believe I largely mitigated her concerns. My instincts are pretty rock solid. And whenever I do step out of my comfort zone, I research the pros and cons thoroughly. And because I do, I usually end up having a helluva good time.
ABOUT COMFORT ZONES … AND DOING THINGS WHILE SCARED
If I hadn’t stepped out of my comfort zone and moved to Hollywood from 1989 to 2004, I wouldn’t have the Social Security and puny pension and annuity income I now have that make it possible for me to relocate to live in Costa Rica (where the cost of living is 48-51% less costly than living in Washington State). I made the most money I’ve ever made while living and working in Hollywood.
If I hadn’t stepped out of my comfort zone and hung my shingle as a copywriter in 2008 following a successful year as copywriter for an on-hold company, I wouldn’t have had the writing career I had since 2008, during which I made more than I made working for other people (other than WB/Time Warner).
If I hadn’t stepped out of my comfort zone and written and published WOMB MAN (my transgender journey memoir), I’d still be harboring a “secret” that kept me feeling ashamed and alien. Instead, my doctors and the counselor who confirmed my gender dysphoria wouldn’t have copies of my book to share with the loved ones of other transgender individuals who are feeling gob smacked by the revelation, and I wouldn’t have been consulted by the parents of transgender youth and adults who didn’t know what to do about their “scary” situations.
Almost all of the good stuff is usually outside my comfort zone. The good news is that not long after I arrive outside my comfort zone, I find myself getting comfortable there. So far, it has always worked out, and I expect it to continue to.
As the receptionist at the coumadn clinic told me (when I told her I was moving to CR in the fall), “I can tell you’re the kind of person who makes everything work.” Yeah, I feel like that kind of person.
OTHER OPTIONS
It isn’t like I have no other options. On the off chance that I don’t like Costa Rica (HA HA HA HA HA!! The 14th happiest place on earth), I have three or four other countries in mind that are even less expensive to live in than Costa Rica: Ecuador and Vietnam among them (outside the European continent, which may no longer be safe, given Trump’s and Putin’s bromance and desire to colonize and enslave the entire world), in that order, since I speak okay Spanish but don’t speak a word of Vietnamese.
I am anticipating LOVING Costa Rica. I’ll be moving to a microclimate there that is moderate (65 degrees to 80 degrees), most likely the San Ramon area, or a little town 30 minutes outside it. There is a hospital in San Ramon and medical clinics, too, so I can get the occasional bloodwork I need without having to be driven very far.
The biggest culture shock for me will be no longer having a personal vehicle. But I’m at an age where driving should be curtailed or ended, anyway. And not having to pay for vehicle maintenance, gas and insurance will leave more of my income for other things, like low-cost taxis and buses (which are ubiquitous in CR).
Heck, to be 100% transparent, it sounds downright lovely to have a driver on speed dial (er, WhatsApp) to take me to appointments, to ferias, and grocery shopping. (A feria is a social, cultural, and industrial event that takes place in the open air. It usually has a previously determined date. It can be a festival, a carnival, but also a “farmer’s market-like” event, but with music, drinks and food.) And if I want to tour CR, there are tour buses that can take me hither to yon for very little money. I’ll probably wait to do much of that until I have confirmed pensionado residency status so I can save money. It takes six months to a year to get pensionado status and to start paying into the caja (health care) system.
So I’m not scared to move. I’m very much looking forward to it. Then I can start getting my ducks in order for life there: taking my docs to immigration, finding a driver I can count on, going to a medical clinic to set up doing my INR and kidney check bloodwork, finding a farmacia where I can get my prescriptions filled (if the two drugs I’m taking even require a prescription in CR, many don’t), etc. I can’t do any of that from here. GRRR!
