If you do not mind missing American football, baseball, super sized menu items, golf, and American entertainment, Costa Rica would be just fine. Make sure you like hot & humid weather, ants, roaches, slugs, snakes and bed bugs.
One comment I hear repeatedly about Ecuador is how inexpensive it is. But it also has a certain charm in the different regions. Weather, views, etc...
They’re most likely the two most stable countries of Central and South America.
You need to know, they’re full of foreigners :/)
I have a relative who is married to an Ecuadorean (naturalized U.S. citizen). Their original plans were to retire to Ecuador to live. They are nearing retirement age. But they say the country has changed a lot in the past 10-20 years and now they do not think it’s safe to live there anymore, so they’re staying put.
I’d check Eduador out VERY carefully.
Andean panpipe music is pretty cool, though.
Costa Rica Yes = Nice to visit, don’t live there
Ecuador No = Don’t know enough
Instead of Costa Rica, live in Panama
Believe it or not, I lived in both places for a time - in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I wish I had dropped every last nickel in Costa Rican property.
Just a guess, but Costa Rica is the place today. But a lot can change in that amount of time.
Thailand~!!!
You can live like a King on $1000 a month, and the people are sweet and nice and hard-working
Consider going a bit further South, too - Chile is stable, open, nearly zero national debt, has fabulous climates, and is cheap to live in. Vina del Mar is a wonderful little city on the coast and you can live there for very little!
My GF years ago in jr. college was from Ecuador. She was damn caliente’ and loved to drink THEN dance to anything latin. Of course, i didn’t mind because she was drunk anyways..
Anyhoo, she was a city girl from Quito and she kept telling me that the place to go to beach-wise which acts like a city is Puerto Ayora or Riobamba.
If I did live outside of America right after the impending Civil war, I would live in Cebu, Philippines. As a matter of fact, I know a lot of peeps who bought condos in Makati and Cebu because they;re cheap...and the population speaks English AND Tagalog.
No, but from what I hear, Panama should be on your list.
Index of Economic Freedom, The Heritage Foundation.
Costa Rica is pretty nice, having visited there. They do have a lot of our fast food places, but the local restaurants (sodas) are very unique. The mountains are much cooler than the coasts, which are so hot and humid it is hard to move. I am sure, given enough time, you could acclimate to it.
Learn to speak Portuguese before you move there, it’ll help you tremendously!
Have written about Latin America for more than a decade, just returned from CR, and own a home in Honduras.
As to CR, absolutely fantastic place to live; San Jose is more European than Latino. But keep in mind that the country has a socialist government, so expect personal freedoms to be a bit restricted.
As to Ecuador, too much turmoil and Marxism. Still, it’s a beautiful country with great prices.
Right now, the best buy for the buck in Latin America is Honduras. Wonderful people. Incredibly low prices. Remarkable beauty. Caribbean coast is very hot. I prefer area around Tegus, where it is mild all year round.
In short, buy property in Honduras now. It is a great investment. Then, if Obama wins in 2012, prepare to move south!
Costa Rica? Fine. You’ll be OK.
Ecuador? Lotsa politcal turmoil, with big-time anti-Gringo sentiments. Stay away.
Lived in San José one year. At 3500 feet, it has 84º every day. In the wet season, drenching thunderstorms every day, no problem, kind of neat. Did not have any special problem with bugs, etc. It is unbearably hot and humid on the Atlantic shore, hot and dry on the Pacific. Innumerable things to do outdoors. It did not have the amenities readily available. Also, if you live there for long, you WILL develop a gastrointestinal infection, and it WILL be bad news. But all in all, it was a great experience.
Don’t know Quito.
I know that the real estate laws are screwy in Costa Rica. Probably would not want to buy real estate there.
bump for some good info. i’ve always wanted to visit Costa Rica myself.