The Question- Bring or Not to Bring Furniture

I've been debating, bring my furniture or not to bring my furniture.  I have antiques and paintings that I really love.  I've spent my adult life slowly finding my personal tastes and purchasing the things I love along the way.

When I visited Costa Rica this summer, George Lundquist, took us to Sarchi as part of his tour where the local craftsmen and furniture makers have sold their products for the past 100 years.  There are about 70 family owned workshops, or "talleres" with showrooms along the main road.  Many were in little shack like buildings, but with the most amazing and beautiful handmade hardwood furniture I've ever seen.  Most of the wood is plantation grown or sustainable tropical hardwoods like cenizaro, guanacaste, melina, and cedar.

These artisans make bedroom sets, dining room, sofas, chairs, dressers, entertainment units, desks, outdoor furniture, swings, baby furniture, and anything else you can imagine.  They can recreate a family heirloom or anything you can describe or sketch out for them.  You can usually get these custom made pieces for the same price as ready-made items.

Six seater dining tables ran anywhere from $300 to $700.  Compare that to $1,500 at regular furniture store here that was most likely made in China.

I saw new beautiful carved queen sized beds from $400 to $600 with matching bedside tables for an additional $150.  You could not touch it in the states for under $1,300.  Entertainment unit with the space for a TV at $400.

Since I have personally seen the furniture I know what amazing quality is available.  Plus remember, these are made with hardwoods.

I have options!  I'm thinking I need to find someone else moving at the same time that I could share a moving container with.  I still want to bring some of my things, but I do not need them all.  To bring a full container costs anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 depending on the size of the container.  I have some thinking to do!

Setting Goals to Get to Paradise

It is amazing what you can accomplish when your heart and soul are involved.  Moving to Costa Rica is what I want most in my life.  I want it because, on the practical side, I cannot afford to ever retire in the US, and I fell in love with the country.  The climate, the views, the people, the vegetation, the color of Costa Rica, and the monkeys feel like they are already part of me.

Do you believe in predestination? There has always been a wanderer in me.  My parents had to lock the house down and build a fence around the yard when I was only two years old because I wanted to explore all my surroundings.  At three the police were involved because I took off on my tricycle to explore my neighborhood.  I can remember being taken into a house by a family's maid when she saw me out in the weather just having a great 'ole time.  That desire to see the world with no fear has never left me.

Costa Rica has everything.  Waterfalls, mountains, volcanos, rain forests, beaches, amazing animals and birds, perfect temperatures year round, rivers, and views that go forever. 

I live in a very crowded and busy city.  I am in high gear everyday, but as social as I can be, I prefer solitude and harmony.  I am looking so forward to living in a quite area without someone right up against me.  I am looking forward to the smell of rain and sweet air rather than exhaust and pollution.  I am looking forward to seeing miles and miles of beauty rather than the houses right across the street blocking the view of my world.  I am looking forward to the quiet.  When I was in CR outside of the city I could not believe the peace the quite brought.  I did not even recognize the noise in my life until I realized the lack of it when I was there.

I've told some friends I will be moving into my 460 sq. foot garage apartment, and they cannot believe I am going to do this and live without all my beautiful things (they will be in storage).  I am so happy and excited to do this because it is exactly this that will get me to CR sooner.  Renting out my house will enable me to save almost every penny I make then at the end of the two years I'll sell my house and add the profit to those savings.  Not only will this move take the financial stress that I live under now off me it achieves my goal.  I will be one very happy little lady living there making my plans to move to paradise.

Pura Vida

Why Live In Costa Rica

This is a really good article from International Living Magazine on living in Costa Rica.  I am still patiently working my way there!  Will have my house ready to rent out in January and will move into the apartment above my garage and count the days to moving day.

Why Convenient Costa Rica Still Makes So Much Sense
By Jennifer Stevens

It’s like a grab bag at a candy store—coastal drama, rainforests, spring-weather valleys…this place costs less than Cleveland…and things just work here.” That was my assessment of Costa Rica in 1998.

That trip felt like a reward. I’d been nosing out “new” destinations in places like Nicaragua and Panama—“early-in finds” that would be attractive to pioneering retirees. But such places can lack certain “comforts.” (Like the hotel where you had to hold two wires together in the shower to turn the lights on. Don’t worry: I didn’t recommend it to readers.)

Costa Rica was a different story—even back then. It was much further along on that “continuum of development” as I think of it. The infrastructure was solid. Airplanes took off and landed on schedule. And because an expat population was already well-established two decades ago, life in Costa Rica was convenient…and it still is.

As Jason Holland reports from the Central Valley (p. 18 of the current issue of International Living magazine), you can find everything from waffles at a breakfast joint to a memory card for a camera. Of course, convenience alone is no reason to retire somewhere. In truth, you won’t find anywhere as convenient as the U.S.

Costa Rica makes sense today because—beyond the conveniences—it offers you broad choice in locale and lifestyle. It’s safe. The healthcare is top tier. Yet you still find excellent values—a week’s worth of fresh produce for less than $30…rent on a home with a mountain view, $500…a couple’s health insurance, $600 a year.

If you’re ready to dip your toe overseas, Costa Rica remains one of the easiest, most rewarding places to do it. As proof, we bring you stories of expats there enjoying the lack of stress (p. 12)…running fishing charters (p. 24)…brewing beer (p. 25). As one couple says, “It’s a pretty liberating feeling knowing you can afford to live your dream.”