This week we are celebrating 10 years of living in Costa Rica. Wow, how the time has flown! Back in 2013 when we first arrived, we thought we’d be able to spend maybe three to five years here. Now, Costa Rica feels like home and we don’t see ourselves going anywhere. In this post, we’ll fill you in on what has changed since our last update.
Another Move
In our 7 Year Update, we talked a lot about finding our ideal location, especially now that we had become a family of four.
To recap, we had spent about five years in the Dominical area, then moved north to Playa Bejuco and after Esterillos Oeste in 2019/2020. The reason was that we wanted to be closer to San Jose and have other amenities nearby (in Jaco and Manuel Antonio). Schools were also a factor.
We enjoyed the area a lot, aside from the bad water supply. However, shortly after Covid in 2020, our neighbor’s house was getting rented a lot to noisy groups from Airbnb. Both tourists and also locals from San Jose.
The beach towns of the Pacific coast are a weekend getaway for people from the city. And after everyone was stuck in their homes during Covid, they had a lot of catching up (i.e., partying) to do.
We prefer a more peaceful place to live so soon decided we needed to move again and find a spot with more space.
The Search for a House
After many years living in Costa Rica, first as house sitters then renters, we decided we should buy a house of our own. We started looking for homes with larger properties either north or south of Jaco.
It gets rural quickly outside the bustling beach town of Jaco so we thought we could have the best of both worlds if we were close yet in the countryside.
We were seriously looking at one place but found out through a neighbor that there was a big party house nearby that often hosted bachelor parties late into the night. Her windows shook because the music was so loud. That was a deal-breaker! The internet was also unstable.
We kept looking and eventually found what we consider a hidden gem, a little north of Jaco.
Our New Home
In late 2021, we purchased our first home in Costa Rica. A fixer-upper on almost one acre of land, backed by rainforest.
The house had been more of a camp in the past and didn’t have any glass or even screens on the windows. There were four bedrooms and lots of beds with very old mattresses. The entire property was brimming with hundreds of banana plants.
When we visited the house as a family, we all thought it was amazing. The older gentleman who owned it shook our hands as we left. He told us in Spanish to make an offer and it would be ours. We made the offer soon and he accepted.
Making It Our Own
After the closing, we hired a contractor to do some renovations and remodeling. We needed to make it a bit more habitable, especially adding glass windows to keep any critters out. The kitchen and bathrooms also needed a big overhaul.
During the month or two of construction, we drove over to the house to check on things often. We also had family picnics there every weekend to get the kids excited about moving.
Since moving in, we have continued to make more improvements. We added a swimming pool and have bought lots of decor and home furnishings to make it our own.
We also have thinned out some of the bananas to add gardens with flowers, shrubs, and some other fruit trees. Don’t worry, we still have way too many bananas!
Costa Rica Life
Much like with any family around the world, life is busy. We both work from home full-time on our website, writing articles, booking tours and shuttle transfers, and doing video consulting for people traveling/moving here. The kids both go to a private school about 15 minutes away. There are always birthday parties, events, and of course, many errands to run.
On school vacations (a few times per year), we usually do what we call a work trip. During these trips, we revisit areas around Costa Rica and do new experiences with the kids. We take lots of notes, pictures, and videos. Then we write our articles.
While it is a pretty awesome job, sometimes it can be challenging. Our two boys don’t always want to check out every trail or see every waterfall. Sometimes they are tired or have had enough.
For example, we have probably done way too many coffee tours with them! They complain beforehand but then they love it, because each one is a little different. They are both getting to be very good coffee pickers.
We always take the time to explain that this is our job, and we have to do as much as we can so we can share all the details with the people traveling here.
Mostly, we have a lot of fun and have made some awesome memories. The kids, especially Sam who is the oldest, are slowly starting to see how lucky they are.
As they get older, we’ll have new and different experiences. We’ll get to see how they each express their own interests and what types of things they want to do. Of course, we’ll write about it all.
What’s Next?
Now that we’ve settled into our home, we don’t plan on relocating any time soon. We really like the area we are in now and having our own home and property is rewarding.
Work since the pandemic has continued to be very steady and Costa Rica remains a popular destination for travelers and people moving here. In fact, there were so many people moving here during and after Covid that it became a bit much.
Many beautiful tracts of rainforest have been cut down by developers to make attractive lots for new homes. Concrete and construction trucks have flooded roads and neighborhoods in places like Uvita, Nosara, Santa Teresa, and other destinations.
Seeing that has been hard. We know that growth and development is normal, but it’s out of balance right now. That’s why in the last few years we have really tried to step up our efforts to give back to the environment. We have partnered with some amazing organizations like Community Carbon Trees and MareBlu.
We also added a Sustainability section to our website so that we can share information about hotels and activities that are more sustainable. We hope that these efforts will make some type of positive impact on Costa Rica and the world.
Conclusion
So that’s what we’ve been up to in the last few years. Costa Rica has been good to us, and we still love it. The people, the environment, and the experiences. Ten years have gone by in the blink of an eye and writing these posts reminds us that it is an ever-changing adventure.
Until our next check in, pura vida!
Thinking more about moving to Costa Rica? Check out these posts:
First Impressions on Living in Costa Rica
Living in Costa Rica: One Month Update
Fun Facts from Our First Six Months in Costa Rica
House Sitting: How to Live in Costa Rica for $2,000 a Year
Two Years in Costa Rica: How Life Has Changed
Applying for Residency in Costa Rica Without a Lawyer
Living in Costa Rica: Three-Year Update
4 Years in Costa Rica: Settling Into the Every Day
Living in Costa Rica: 5 Years Strong
Starting a Business in Costa Rica
Moving to Costa Rica with Kids
