Customer Reviews

Potholes to Paradise: Living in Costa Rica - What You Need to Know

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've lived in Costa Rica since 1981 and am a very successful buisnessman. I work in the field of real estate development. Many of my clients ask me for books about living and investing here. At one time or another I've read all of the books on the subject including "Potholes in Paradise." I really don't think it has a lot to offer the potential investor other than superficial information. I think potential residents and investors would be better off reading some of the other guides.

The authors can't be serious! I really didn't get any benefit from this book. I just moved to Costa Rica and didn't learn much from it. It just doesn't contain enough info. for the potential resident. I read other books on the subject and prefer "The New Golden Door" and "Choose Costa Rica." The authors of these guides really seem to know the scoop.

An overt advertisement for their business in Costa Rica, I found virtually no helpful information here. If you want to know the history of the people (and therefore understand things like squatters' rights), read "The Ticos". If you are investing in land or a business ANYWHERE, know the language and get a second legal opinion before signing at the X. Check crime stats on the web for free, and keep in mind that a city is a city - use good old common sense in all that you do. Make several trips covering different regions and grow your "network" each time you return. When it comes together, you'll be ready. Pura Vida!

The table of contents makes this book seem more complete than it really is. The last forty pages are a diary, thus reducing the useful content to only 130 pages. The book constantly plugs the author's bead & breafast business. Furthermore, the whole book seems to designed for Canadians rather than people from the U.S.

We stayed for six weeks in Costa Rica and found Tessa Borner's book to be "right on the money" in describing the pros and cons of living there. The book is an invaluable guide to anyone planning to move to CR - even for tourists it's a mine of useful info. Her style whips the reader right along and the comments by those who have gone through the moving and settling in process are apt and thought-provoking. The design of the book is outstanding - clear, big type; pages clearly numbered, gorgeous front and back covers. Read this book before taking a trip to
Costa Rica - and while you are there -its practical advice will save many a misstep. And besides, it's an entertaining read.

This is the first time that I have ever been motivated to write a review. There is virtually no useful information here which cannot be garnered from other more comprehensive and literate books on the topic.
It is written from a very personal viewpoint, which would be interesting if the author was a writer. As it is, this is one of the worst books I have read in several years.

Bumbling down a winding road, under the dark cover of sub-tropical
> rainforest, it's quite easy to land in a Costa Rican crater. A perfect
> analogy to international travel and living as a whole, Tessa Borner has
> written a friendly and familiar roadmap to approaching the pitfalls found
> in everything from setting up a business to approaching a social life in
> Costa Rica. This is not a guide for the backseat traveler; this guide is
> intended for those at the wheel, steering them carefully away from the
> dangers and annoyances known only to those with real practical experience
> and wisdom.
>
> Descriptions of how to approach banking, contracting, and legal
> issues are easy to follow and read more like suggestions from a close and
> trustworthy friend than from a lawyer. Despite one particular suggestion
> being to hire a lawyer immediately upon making the decision to set up a
> business, the advice of a lawyer - just like the advice of any paid
> professional - would fall far short of the creative approaches to living
> and enjoying life in paradise suggested in Borner's book.
>
> This book is the backseat driver you would wish to travel with
> while embarking on the path of opening a business in Costa Rica

I found "Potholes to Paradise" extremely informative as a
comprehensive tourist guide or even a reference for a potential
resident. I appreciated the simplicity the book had to offer, providing easily grasped details on the benefits of Costa Rica. One does not get bombarded with confusing details as most comparitive books of this nature present. It especially appeals to anyone desiring to live somewhere that offers a more cost effective medical system! I can relate to the radical change relocating can impose. I wish there had been such a reference when we moved to Florida from Canada. Reading this book makes me wonder whether I shouldn't move yet another time! After visiting the Borners' Bed and Breakfast (Posada Mimosa), it is probably as close to paradise as you'll find.

Tessa's book is a valuable guide for anyone considering living in Costa Rica. It is very easy to read and contains valuable information and facts about the country as well as interesting stories of the Borner's experiences and those of their friends. Tessa will save you time and trouble if you follow her advise. She has done the work for you!

I did like that it was "part diary, part travelogue, part advice column" instead of so straightforward a text. Desultory, yes, but inviting--sort of like REAL travel and life abroad!

Another book I found helpful before my "relocation-research trip" was a photo-essay book called, "Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made." It too gave me a feeling for the country in a randomized sort of way. But that's not to say it wasn't wonderful information and insight into Tico culture--like Borner's book!