Good thread, Dave! I call it the "Squeaky wheel gets the grease" phenomenon. That is, the squeaky wheel is a pain in the ass so you have to give it some attention. That's why we gringos do complain about the things we DON'T like about Ticos and Costa Rica, I think. It's natural for gringos to complain, as well, I think; it's our culture. Not necessarily a good aspect of our culture but nevertheless it's a true stereotype I think.
Along that same line, one must remember that as an expat from the USA I have many MORE complaints about the USA and Americans than I do about Costa Rica and Ticos!
I live on Social Security and I could not live anywhere in the USA on what I get. But here I get by good enough because I don't have to pay rent.
And part of that is what you were saying about the property and construction being cheaper here. I paid a guy to build our little house and no way I could have afforded a property like this in the states, nor have a house built for this price! In the USA I'd have to keep working so I could maybe retire in a lousy apartment in a lousy neighborhood at 70!
Now:
Your property sounds a lot like mine. NO visible houses, we have about 9 acres here though we're selling some of it off as lots so as to not be poor! LOL. Forest on one side, coffee farm on the other, below us a lot of open land and then those GORGEOUS views of the sunsets over the Gulf of Nicoya beyond the hills also in our view!
My friend in the USA was feeling down yesterday about her life. in between responding to her email I walked outside and heard a toucan then looked at the tree about 30 yards away and saw 2 of them, one very large, the other smaller. I always smile when I see them here! Like seeing the monkeys, which we also see around here occasionally, I never get tired of it and it always puts a smile on my face and makes me glad I live here with nature all around me! I came back inside and told her about the toucans and how, if she saw them and heard them outside, they would certainly cheer her up! They do me!
We bought this place particularly because of the natural environment, as well as the cooler weather because it's at 2850 feet altitude. No A.C. required. It does get cool at night which makes sleeping easy, with a blanket, sometimes more than one.
I love seeing the amazing visitors here. One day a walking stick 10" long on the porch, another day a walking LEAF which I'd never seen before. (I almost swept it off the porch!) We see a lot of toucans, and parrots as well. TONS of parrots! It's always some weird animal or insect around here that makes me smile in amazement.
So for me, the Nature is the main attraction of Costa Rica.
We have thousands of trees on our property and I enjoy seeing them, and watching the young ones grow. Some of my friends don't "get" this at all, but for me trees are beautiful and I love to see them change with the seasons and grow taller and taller each year. We planted some only 1 year ago and they were twigs about 15" tall, and now some of those are nearly 5 feet tall! In a little over ONE year!
Another big plus is my best friend who lives up the road a ways. He loves the same English and American classic rock music I do even though he's a Tico and we have so much in common. I call him my brother from a different mother. He's helped me out so often with things I didn't know how to handle, and introduced me to his dad's mechanic, helped me find good workers and so on, and I've never met anyone I love more. I consider him a true friend, better than most of my gringo friends, here or in the US. He'd help me out of any jam if he had the ability, and I would do the same for him.
I like the freedom here in Costa Rica too. A lot of times they have rules but no one follows them. It's a double edged sword but I'd rather have more freedom than less! if you wanna have a beer on a hot day on the dirt road back to your property, you don't have to worry about being put in jail and paying thousands of dollars in fines for drinking ONE dang beer in the car! I don't recommend driving and drinking and almost never do it, but if I want to I can. Or if I want to stop on the side of the road and pee I don't have to worry about illegally parking nor illegally peeing! LOL.
The police are nice here. I always wave to them and they "know" me. They know where I live and I feel they are here to truly help not to hurt. In the USA I hated the cops because they seemed to only want to extract money from my wallet for busting me for some minor crime like not coming to a COMPLETE stop at a stop sign. That kind of stuff is abusive.
People at the stores in San Ramon know me. Even though it's not a real small town, and maybe I don't go in the hardware store for a month or two, but when I do they shake my hand and smile and ask me how it's going and act glad to see me. I do the same and I love that! In the US I went to the same supermarket every week, and often had the same checker and she wouldn't even acknowledge she'd ever seen me before! Weird..
My Tico attorney's husband was asking me about life in the USA and I told him that and he couldn't believe it! He said, "WHY?!" I had trouble explaining it. LOL.
Mostly what I like - and this depends on what area you live in for sure! - is that I can be outside most of the time and I do things outdoors like plant and water and fertilize and supervise my helper and just generally improve the property. So as a result I have lost over 30 lb in one year and am back to the weight I had 16 years ago before I got kinda fat from just sitting all the time. Now, if it's rainy and I have to sit inside I get antsy. I want to get outside and DO something! So much better than living on a tiny property in the USA and sitting all the time.
I could go on but generally speaking this is a healthier, happier place to live!
I'm willing to write about what I do not like about Ticos and Costa Rica as well, I'm not one of those guys who sees everything here through rose colored glasses like some people on some forums do. Costa Rica has its downsides as well.
But I wouldn't have moved here if I hadn't lived here for months before moving, and decided I liked it better than the USA. I am not looking to move back to the USA ever!
