Living Abroad in Costa Rica (Paperback)

~ Erin Van Rheenen (Author) "Are you ready for a change?..." (more)
Key Phrases: vos form, many foreign residents, other expats, Costa Rica, San José, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you're ready for a new life, consider Living Abroad in Costa Rica. This Moon book delivers indispensable advice for anyone contemplating planting roots in foreign soil or just purchasing a second home in an idyllic location. The author has homes in California and Costa Rica, so she can tell you what to expect when you wish to join the thousands of North Americans who have found new life in retirement here. -- 15 Minutes Magazine, January/February 2008 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

Imagine yourself living in Costa Rica. You stroll home past lush vegetation after a long day of surfing. You know the locals and speak Spanish with ease. You show visiting friends around with the confidence of one who belongs. Author Erin Van Rheenen shows you how to make your dream take shape. She left her life as a guidebook editor in the San Francisco Bay Area to make a home abroad in Costa Rica. While some give up—daunted by the financial, bureaucratic, and decision-making issues that accompany a move so extraordinary—you'll be led step-by-step through the information you need on visas, money, jobs, housing, safety, language, culture, and history. Erin has done the research and made the mistakes—so you don't have to. There's a place that matches your budget, needs, and dreams: perhaps it's an impressive new condominium in the upper-class San José suburb of Escazú, a wooden house on stilts in the isolated Caribbean coast town of Tortuguero, or a mountain retreat with a view of the Arenal Volcano. You can make it happen. With Living Abroad in Costa Rica, it's easier than you think.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing (August 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566916526
• ISBN-13: 978-1566916523
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #388,597 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #57 in

  Books > Travel > Latin America > Central America > Costa Rica

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Travel and Living Guide to Costa Rica, December 19, 2004

By	R. Colman (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having traveled to Costa Rica several times over the last 15 years - for both pleasure and business - the idea of making The Move, of leaving yourself behind, is a reoccurring thought and increasingly dear to my heart.

In planning another trip this spring I came across Ms. Van Rheenen's splendid "Living Abroad in Costa Rica" doing a search on Amazon. Frankly, I expected one more of those endless travel book-of-lists, where one looks up a town or region only to find suspect hotel snap shots and questionable restaurant reviews.

Instead I found a wealth of very detailed information, thorough, logically laid out and well packaged. Further, the authors personal commentary is both insightful and often very funny. For example, her observation that the availability of single cigarettes at street kiosks allows you to "pretend you're not really a smoker" or in her discussion of the healthcare system; a fellow who had opted back into the state system and "was trying to schedule his operation within the next decade." Unlike most travel books, "Living Abroad in Costa Rica" is well worth reading cover to cover.

Finally, having actually read the book, I was struck by Mr. Taylor's odd review. He seems caught up in how much time the author does or doesn't spend in Costa Rico (how would he know?) declaring her not to be a "true" authority. Maybe he wishes he wrote his own book? I guess the drive by some folks to create a Social Register for the purpose of excluding others exists everywhere. I must say that in the specific areas in which I have experience, Ms. Van Rheenen was 100% on the mark, and I expect that holds true for the rest of the book.

Ms. Van Rheenen writes:

"If you want to sleepwalk trough life, don't come here. Being alert is the price you pay (or the reward) for not being told at every turn what to do. For those who adapt well to it, Costa Rica is the ideal place to live a rich independent life , and a great place to make a fresh start."

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best in Class, November 6, 2004

By	K. Mueller (S.F. Bay Area) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having traveled over much of the world, I am not a newcomer to this type of book. I think this is the most comprehensive, best written book of its class that I have come across. My husband and have been considering retirement in Costa Rica (even more so since the recent election) and Ms. Van Rheenen answered every question we had thought of and some we hadn't. Her knowledge of the culture, history, geography, health care, etc. is obvious and I would recommend this as an essential read for anyone traveling to or thinking of living in Costa Rica

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read and very entertaining, July 5, 2006

By	V. Bishop (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In short, if you are thinking of moving or retiring to Costa Rica, this book is a great place to start whether you have been to Costa Rica before, or know nothing at all.

This book is an easy read, and very entertaining. I am not one to read an entire work in a few sittings, but before I knew it I had devoured this book. If you are interested in living in or visiting Costa Rica, this is a must read.

I have been to Costa Rica several times, and besides being an easy read and an entertaining escape, the information is accurate at the time of writing.

The best thing that I liked about the book besides the great information is that it does what a book is supposed to do... Take you away from whatever is going on in the world while you are reading it and transport you somewhere else, in this case Costa Rica.

I have shared this book with a number of friends, and they all say the same thing, the book is an easy read, informative, entertaining. I have studied a great deal about Costa Rica, and this book highlights all the important information that I have found in numerous other disparate sources. In short, a great one stop shop for useful information on living in Costa Rica.

I have examined numerous travel books on Costa Rica, but this one ranks the highest of what I have found so far.