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Louise, I cannot agree with you more.  We went down in 2010 and then again the next year when we bought our property.  We have five trips under our belt and we start building our house in October.  We have made a point of renting while there and doing our shopping in the local community.  We have taken Spanish classes here in Canada and continue to do so.  Each and every trip gets a little easier but we still have a long way to go.  Our efforts of learning Spanish have seemed to be very appreciated wherever we go.  I'd rather sound confused in my poor Spanish than arrogant in my native tongue,
Cheers to you!!!

I also wholeheartedly agree. 
After near 50 years of travel and working overseas I hear the same tired old laments " no one speaks English, I can't get any good food like I get at home, people are different here" 

I find I get rather short with some and ask them why they came in the first place.

louise71594 wrote:

For those of you who have successfully adjusted to a new way of life in Costa Rica, what do you like most about your new lifestyle, and how different is it for you? What was or is your biggest challenge?

Personally, the thing that I like most about living here is the simpler way of living life and the freedoms that I have.  Until you live here a while and begin to assimilate, you don't really know how to simply live. Growing up and working in the States your life revolves around work, around gaining more, having better.  It is not that way here.  That is assuming that you assimilate into this culture.  Life here really is what you make it.  As with your other comments, many Gringos move here and their favorite past time is to complain and create gossip.  Simple solution to that one for me - avoid most Gringos.

We don't see how few freedoms we have in the States until you move away.  There are rules and laws for every piddly little thing in the States, not so here.  Again, it's something you have to experience to really see and understand.  You also don't have to worry about being sued for anything and everything as you do in the States.

My biggest challenge is I suck at learning Espanol.  I try and am learning, but it's not easy for me as it is for some.  I have learned enough to go places and feel comfortable speaking, but I'd like to be able to carry on more complex conversations with Ticos.  My other challenge is living without a Home Depot ...deep sigh.

- Dave

I think you have a legitimate point.
People should adapt to the country they choose, not expect it to adapt to them.

I am not living in CR but have in the past for 5-6 months at a time.

I think it's just "human nature" to complain when things are different and not as you would like them to be. I think it's natural that one is going to complain about things that are better in one's country of origin. I'm not saying it's good to complain, just that it's a natural inclination. And yeah, it IS about "you" because "you" are the one going through the experience! ;-D

ExpatDave wrote:

louise71594 wrote:

For those of you who have successfully adjusted to a new way of life in Costa Rica, what do you like most about your new lifestyle, and how different is it for you? What was or is your biggest challenge?

Personally, the thing that I like most about living here is the simpler way of living life and the freedoms that I have.  Until you live here a while and begin to assimilate, you don't really know how to simply live. Growing up and working in the States your life revolves around work, around gaining more, having better.  It is not that way here.  That is assuming that you assimilate into this culture.  Life here really is what you make it.  As with your other comments, many Gringos move here and their favorite past time is to complain and create gossip.  Simple solution to that one for me - avoid most Gringos.

We don't see how few freedoms we have in the States until you move away.  There are rules and laws for every piddly little thing in the States, not so here.  Again, it's something you have to experience to really see and understand.  You also don't have to worry about being sued for anything and everything as you do in the States.

My biggest challenge is I suck at learning Espanol.  I try and am learning, but it's not easy for me as it is for some.  I have learned enough to go places and feel comfortable speaking, but I'd like to be able to carry on more complex conversations with Ticos.  My other challenge is living without a Home Depot ...deep sigh.

- Dave

I agree with you totally about the rules and regulations. In the USA we have rules and regulations now about every little thing and it's maddening and annoying! One of the things I like about  Costa Rica is the lack of those rules and regulations. BUT it's getting worse in  Costa Rica along these lines and that really concerns me. If they keep going how they are going with increased bureaucracy re banking for example, and residency, and taxes (luxury home tax now for example) and with huge fines for driving infractions that rival those in the USA... then  Costa Rica is going to lose a lot of its appeal.

At this point it's still much better in Costa Rica, in general, though.

What I like about Costa Rica most is the abundant nature and the friendly people! Even the expats seem friendlier in CR than Americans do where I live. It seems that in general people are happier and friendlier in CR and I have myself found that I too am happier when I'm there.

That said, the challenge for me, however, is not to get too upset over the sometimes maddening bureaucracies in Costa Rica like it taking 45 minutes in a bank to change travelers' cheques or it taking 5 hours to open a bank account, waiting for 30 min. to an hour to see a teller or official at a bank, that kind of thing... Waiting a long time to do many things that you can do much quicker in the USA... Another challenge - I've been told though haven't yet had to experience it - is getting service people to do things in a timely manner like repair a roof, get cable installed, internet, etc etc.

Hi there,

This thread is a bit old and short. 
However, here is a thread worth reading with regards to language barriers we expats erect for no reason.

The most important advice you'll get as a would be expat!
/forum/viewtopic.php?id=339795

I live in a small Eastern Caribbean island, and honestly speaking, I believe this little, independent country deserves expats of a better quality than those who keep flocking to these shores.

I always said it's not about what new expats find in a new country on another meridian than the one they got accustomed to, but it's more about what the new country gets.

IÂ’d happily introduce a US$50K mandatory investment for residency permits if I were the Prime Minister, something which already exists in many countries.

There are many places around the world where most people should be allowed to come only as tourists, not as job-hunters or retired expats.  Period.