Travel 101: Why Live in Costa Rica?

The first question I am often asked when meeting new people is why I live in Costa Rica. This is also a common topic of conversation among ex-pats as everyone is curious as to why someone else chose to move to Costa Rica. I have compiled the top 10 reasons that I often hear.

1) Costa Rica offers the perfect climate. The Central Valley offers spring-like temperatures of around 72 degrees year round. If you would like it a little cooler, you can move up the mountain a little or if you would like it warmer, you move down towards the beach. There is no more shoveling of snow - ever.

2) Costa Rica is a stable, peace loving democracy. Costa Rica eliminated their military in 1948 and put all the money that they would have spent on the military into social programs. They have clean water, good health care and a very high literacy rate.

3) Costa Ricans believe they live in paradise. One of my favorite stories is one of our friends who was visiting was asked by Costa Rican immigration how long he was staying. He told them 10 days. The immigration official surprised our friend by shaking his head and responding sadly, "That is such a short time to be in paradise."

4) Costa Rica is committed to the environment and sustainable living. According to the Happy Planet Index, an incredible 99 percent of their energy is being generated from sustainable sources. Costa Rica is the first nation that has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2021 They have reversed deforestation. Forests now cover twice as much land as they did 20 years ago.

5) The cost of living is relatively low. Because of the temperature where we live, we have no heating or cooling costs. Property tax is incredibly low. Trash is collected twice a week. Water is cheap and clean throughout the country. Electricity is about the same or maybe higher if you realize you aren't paying for heating and cooling. Food depends heavily on what you eat. Imported foods are expensive, native foods are inexpensive. Health care costs are low for everyone and for citizens and permanent residents there is national health care. Education is free through college for citizens and permanent residents.

6) Good work life balance. People work hard here, but they also enjoy life. Family and friends are important. People take the time to be social. People talk to each other on the street, if only to say hello and ask how you are.

7) Monkeys wake you up. Now I'm aware that may not be a selling feature for everyone, but I think it is one of the greatest aspects of living in Costa Rica. I love hearing howler monkeys. Watching monkeys is also a great pastime. Costa Rica is home to four species, the howler, spider, white faced capuchin and the red backed squirrel monkey.

8) Costa Rica has beautiful beaches everywhere. Costa Rica has beaches on both the Caribbean and Pacific Coasts. There are beaches for every need. They have packed commercial beaches with lots of activities, beaches that are great for surfing, they have beaches where the turtles nest, they have protected beaches for families with small children, beaches where you can ride horses, or bikes, beaches where you can pitch a tent and sleep all night. They have white sand beaches and black volcanic beaches. You can watch the sun rise over the Caribbean and set over the Pacific, all in the same day.

9) Birds abound. Costa Rica is home to 850 species of birds and 600 live here year-round. Hummingbirds, parrots, toucans, scarlet macaws and a wide variety of water birds are all seen here. Bird-watching is a national past time.

10) Dogs go everywhere. Costa Rica doesn't have leash laws. Dogs are often seen in restaurants and at the beach. Most dogs are very friendly and well behaved. At the Christmas Eve service a dog walked in and sat down in the middle of the aisle. No one got up to shoo him out. They treated him like he was one of God's creatures too.