Nicaragua is not the first place many people think of when planning a vacation…but things are looking up. There were 1.2 million visitors in 2012, a 14% bump over the previous year, according to tourism officials. And the country has garnered glowing mentions in The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, and other publications.
Despite his many years working as a car-insurance salesman in Portland, Oregon—and making good money— Caelan Huntress always considered it a temporary gig. Today he has thrown out the cubicle, tie, and daily commute…and taken his sales skills online. He lives and works from his home in Costa Rica’s Southern Zone—a region on the southern Pacific coast, near the border with Panama. The beach is 45 minutes away. Shopping and quality medical care is just 15 minutes down the hill. And the verdant green mountains of the interior are an even bigger draw.
It’s a line you hear a lot on Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast. “We thought about Panama—we almost bought in El Valle. Then we came down to Costa Rica’s Southern Zone and fell in love.
Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. With just 0.03% of the world’s landmass, it has an incredible 5% of the world’s species. And you don’t have to visit a national park or a remote area to view this plentiful wildlife.
I'm a city boy through and through. When I moved recently to Escazú, a suburb of Costa Rica's capital San José, I figured I'd be enmeshed in urban culture. This is, after all, the biggest city in the country, and the surrounding area is home to three-quarters of the country's citizens.
It’s the friendly and welcoming people, the natural beauty, and the tropical lifestyle that will really steal your heart. “Costa Ricans are a gracious people,” says Rene Aoki, who has lived in the Arenal region for 19 years. “It’s an easy place to live where you can make close friends.” New expats find well-trodden ground and benefit from the experience of those who came before them.
Bruce and Karen Huss’s move to Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast evolved over time. Their first visit was five years ago, when they spent time in the exclusive Los Sueños resort community in Playa Herradura
When Valerie and Gaylord Townley first visited Tamarindo, it was a simple fishing village. The only visitors were pioneering surfers (Gaylord was one of them) and sport fishermen
About an hour north of Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose, lies a little-known national park: Braulio Carrillo.
I checked out of the traditional career path—the “rat race”—about 10 years ago at the age of 35. On the surface, life in Texas was great for me. I’d graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in journalism and worked in the advertising business as an account executive (a “suit”) for about 10 years.