When we first decided to move to Costa Rica the reactions to the move came from two types of people. There didn’t seem to be any middle ground. Maybe not so surprisingly they were from two demographic groups: the retired rich the working It was hardly your Mensa challenge for the day to determine which …more

Sometimes, you just have to close your eyes and jump into the abyss bolstered by a belief in luck or fate or karma. And so it was when my employer asked me, and by extension my husband, to move to Bratislava, Slovakia nearly three years ago. Although neither of us had ever visited Slovakia – …more

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Starting the Process “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain Like too many boomers, I lived a …more

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I’ve said it before and I will say it again, if you had asked me a year ago what we would do when we retired, the reply would have been – travel. We have a history in this area. We’re Brits and have lived abroad in the USA, New Zealand, Australia, traveled throughout Europe, visited …more

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Pura Vida was his sign-off on his Match.com profile. Pura vida? What did this guy from Montana know about Pura Vida? If he hadn’t signed off that way, we never would have met … or should I say re-met? What, exactly, does Pura Vida mean? Literally translated it means pure life. Costa Ricans use it …more

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You do not hear much about the country of El Salvador in the United States, and if you do it is usually bad news – the violence, drugs or the gangs. Yes, El Salvador has these things but so does every other country in the world including the United States, just pick up today’s paper …more

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The U.S. news media has bombarded everyone for years with their oft-repeated tales of drug cartel violence and headless bodies littering the roadside. The corruption of law enforcement, the involvement of government officials. It makes their readers’ hair stand on end. I don’t know. I guess it sells newspapers during the day and antacids on …more

Shipping a car is best done as part of a container shipment, meaning you can bring other things along at the same time. A 20 foot container runs about $1400 from Longbeach to Puntarenas or $900 from Miami to Limon. You’ll still need to get the car or container contents from the port to you …more