#6: Tales from Central America - Relocating from NYC to Central Valley, Costa Rica
A young family from Manhattan embrace the serenity of Central America's slower pace
We’ve gathered tales from some of the people who casually said ‘no gracias’ to only living the good life on vacation. Get inspired as you hear how they made Costa Rica their full time home.
‘Magic Habitat’ is on a mission to inspire remote workers who are curious about relocating. From Ibiza to Lisbon and Marseille to Tbilisi, every other Tuesday we deliver interviews with tastemakers, adventurers and the wild-at-hearts who have chosen to live (and work) in some of the most interesting and colourful places in the world.
From the Editor:
Welcome and thanks so much for subscribing. I hope this newsletter ignites your imagination and the stories we tell resonate with you.
If you’d like to be featured in ‘Work is Where the Home is’- do reach out to me, I’d love to hear your story.
This week we feature a relocation to Costa Rica! As our regular readers know, we usually showcase three properties for sale in our featured country - but this week we have chosen to showcase an amazing property for hire (think retreats for remote first companies).
Enjoy - Hayley
The interview: A life enhancing landscape
As anybody who has lived in Manhattan knows; if you are looking for a calmer, slower paced quality of life - this city is almost certainly not for you. It’s loud, fast paced, diverse and exciting and the perfect place to carve out a career. Nataliya and her husband had done just this. Living in the Upper East Side, working hard in Real Estate and Fintech respectively. But by the time their daughter arrived, they felt disillusioned by the Big Apple and ready for a change.
“New York City was draining all of our energy through work, leaving very little for us. The lightbulb moment happened about a week after our daughter was born, when we realised that working this hard made no sense if it didn’t provide more opportunity to spend time with each other.”
After initially relocating Austin, TX, where Nataliya’s husband had been offered a job, they found the work culture too similar to NYC, so after 11 months, decided to relocate to Costa Rica.
“Initially, we put all of our belongings in storage and came here for six months. At the end of that six months we got our things out of storage and shipped them down for a permanent relocation.”
What attracted you to Costa Rica?
Besides the fact that the landscape of this country is beautiful and the weather is incredible, Costa Ricans are very welcoming towards expats. They were patient as we learned the language, understanding when we needed more time to learn the culture and its rules, and they LOVE kids, so our daughter was immediately well taken care of at pre-school. Before relocating we learned that our daughter has asthma, and the temperate climate here has been incredibly helpful in us being able to manage it better. Logistically, it helps that there are so many flights to the states (especially to NYC), so seeing family and friends is easy. The timezone is also very manageable, being just an hour or two behind EST.
How did you make the transition to working in Costa Rica?
My husband had already been working remotely for several years, so the transition for him was very straightforward. He needs a good internet connection and his laptop, so as long as we have a home office - he is good to go. I am working on building a real estate development and interior design business. Costa Rica is perfect for digital nomads, the community is spread all over the country, and it seems that Costa Rica has recently started to catch on in trying to appeal to this demographic.
Had you visited Costa Rica before the big move?
My husband had been here a couple of times. I hadn't stepped a foot in Costa Rica before we came! But I was completely fine moving to the country sight unseen because of the welcoming and helpful vibe we got from other young expats on forums and through friends of friends who had lived there before. Moving here was the biggest gift for us on every level.
Let’s talk about property - do you rent or own a place?
We live in a rental house in the Central Valley, about 40 minutes west of San Jose. Initially we rented a house in a town called Grecia, and we loved it, but found the school options to be less than ideal for our daughter. About 6 months later we moved to La Guácima de Alajuela. We rented here first too. Our development has a community pool, playgrounds, horseback riding, and an international school on-site. We live surrounded by 100 year old mango trees and spend most days outdoors in the sun. About an hour away by car is Jaco beach, and for a longer trip it’s 3hrs or so to the West Coast of the country with the most incredible beaches, volcanos, lakes, and of course the cloud forest.
We started looking at land in order to build a house a few months after moving here, and the one across the street from our rental came on the market. We made an offer and closed on it in about a month. My background in real estate helped with negotiation, so in this instance there was no need for a broker, although I have now met several reputable agents who specialise in expat relocation. We designed our home with an architect and filed for permits - that took about 4 months from start to finish. This process was tedious and involved a lot of personal visits to the municipality. Luckily, it only had to be done once! In November of 2019 we broke ground on the house, and we move in at the end of this month! (Stay tuned for a follow up Issue!)
How do your property and living costs per month compare with your pre relocation life?
We spend about ½ of what we did for housing now, and have significantly more space, both indoor and out. Our daughter is in a very highly rated international school and her tuition is ¼ of what it would have cost us in NYC. Food can be expensive, as almost everything prepackaged is imported. We really enjoy cooking, so end up spending less than we used to as we make most of our meals. One of our biggest savings has been health insurance. We have a top international plan that can (and has) covered us in the United States and costs ¼ of what we paid when we lived there. The healthcare here is incredible, personal, and will never bankrupt you. All the doctors at the hospitals expats use speak fluent English.
What are your insider's tips for Costa Rica?
Esterillos is an absolutely gorgeous beach, only 90 minutes from the Central Valley. Imagine being surrounded by a football field of 3cm deep water, reflecting the sunrise around you. An hour later the surfers come, and it’s heavenly to watch them catch the waves. Plaza Tempo in Escazu has a fantastic co-working space called Workings. Not only is the space fantastic, it's located above a massive food hub with every kind of cuisine imaginable. A great spot to work.
If you could give any advice to somebody reading this now who might be considering a move to Costa Rica what would it be?
Learn the language, be flexible, leave your ego and lack of patience at the door. One of the most beautiful things about Costa Rica is that things happen in their own time. We really had to calm down when we first moved here, and that adjustment was frustrating at first. A few months later we embraced it and stopped rushing. It’s a much more pleasant life. If you need an attorney, use Outlier Legal services, the best expat attorney firm in Costa Rica, hands down.
What do you miss the most?
The convenience of using an app to order just about anything!
If you had to pick another place to relocate to, where would you go?
Bali. But that time difference is hard if you’ve got ties to the west.
The Top List: Costa Rica
This week we want to showcase a very special property in Dominical, Costa Rica called Art Villas. Set in the lush Costa Rican jungle, it makes the perfect destination for a company workshop or retreat for up to 24 people. If you work for a remote first organisation - this place ticks so many boxes for an offsite. As soon as we discovered it - we knew we had to feature it!
