Anyone been? Anyone thought about going? Or maybe even moving out there for a while? Please share your experiences
If you’re wondering what a blue zone is…
Blue Zones are regions of the world where a higher than usual number of people live much longer than average. The term first appeared in Dan Buettner’s November 2005 National Geographic magazine cover story, “The Secrets of a Long Life”
I’ve been twice, Azz. Both times for about a month. Costa Rica is a place to visit or live if you are growing tired of the places that everyone has discovered, developed, and have become saturated with tourism.
5% and something like half a million of all the named species in the world reside in Costa Rica. You could live your whole life there and never seen anything. The climate is heavenly - though it can get chilly when the papagayo winds blow off the lake of Nicaragua.
With a low cost of living and laid-back lifestyle it is a draw for surfers, young adventurers, NGO types, retirees and expats.
It sounds like you had a great time to want to go back again Surfermom! When did you visit? Which areas?
You’ve probably heard of the place I was interested in as it’s popular with surfers - Santa Teresa:
I watched a YouTuber who said last time he was there Anthony Joshua (British Boxer) Dip Lo (pop artist) and a few other famous people were there and he said that spoiled it a little bit for him. Property prices have shot up too apparently with so many people moving out there. It’s a shame when places like that become so touristy.
I think this might be the video I’m thinking of:
Did you see many creepy crawlies when you were out there? I think I would die if I woke up to a huge spider crawling on my bed
What are your goals, Azz (working remotely, surfing, writing a blog)? Where you might want to go depends a lot of these. How long are you thinking about being there? Are you taking family, partner, or friends? Are you up to sharing a house, getting a private rental, or staying in a hotel or cabana? Can you live in a small village with few businesses and comforts, or do you need a bigger town? Are you planning on having your own transportation? How demanding are you when it comes to food? Are you planning on eating out most meals?
As a cautionary tale, I am going to tell you what the narrator means by being “stuck”.
I see guys all the time go down there with a plan to live simply and surf every day. They don’t get transportation because they don’t need it (gas and rentals too costly) and they rent a room in a house with other like-minded surfers or expats. They start out getting fruit and veggies from a market truck and watch their pennies, but over time, they find themselves eating out more and more. They also find themselves sleeping in more and skipping surf sessions waiting for perfection (tide going out in head-high conditions), find excuses to stay in during the rainy season, drink more beer and wine, and pretty soon they are spending all their time at some bar - griping about the surf, the incessant rain in the rainy season, that they can’t go anywhere, the infrastructure is intolerable, the gringos (of which they are one) are taking over, the girls hanging around teaching yoga aren’t interested in them, they are sick of gallo pinto (beans and rice), they have run out of money, they have “island fever,” and they are tired of generally being - stuck. One of the best articles I ever read about the popular notion of moving to CR that says it all was in a popular surf magazine and titled, “You will lose your girlfriend and just how much do you like rice?” Haha, so true!
Now if you can psychologically prepare yourself for NOT falling into this trap, then it’s a fantastic place. Santa Teresa is but an example of many possible locations that are great little towns. Most still have dirt roads and many have a small hotel or two, a restaurant and bar with internet, and are an hour from a decent-sized town with a market, dentist, mechanic, etc.
got a friend in US who comes from there and wants to take me - she made it sound great but she speaks fluent Spanish and still has family there so maybe that makes it easier as long as we can get along together - never met her yet?
I’ve read quite a bit about CR and what you’ve said echoes a lot of that.
I am lucky that I can work from anywhere so long as I have a decent internet connection, so for me it would be just about the experience and wanting to live somewhere warmer
I am very fussy with food and that does worry me - although that never started out of choice, I am just so sensitive to non-species appropriate foods and so I couldn’t eat rice and beans other that a very rare treat or emergency food. The infrastructure is a bit worrying too, but I guess the people there get by and that’s something that we could probably get used to - it’s all about swings and roundabouts. I do think I would struggle with huge spiders and the like tho, especially if it’s not uncommon for you to wake up and find one on your bed or bedroom
I am going to have to go for a visit one day when the pandemic is over - I will definitely report back in this thread tho!
Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts
