Email and Consulting

I so appreciate your blog comments and make every effort to reply in a timely manner. But I can't answer private emails, especially now that I'm working. Or supposed to be.

If you want to ask questions about Costa Rica, I am happy to answer one of two ways.

1. Ask on the blog as a comment. I will answer asap. Then others can benefit from the information (assuming I know what I'm talking about!) Blog answers are free. If you email me a question privately and I can get to it, fair warning, I will post it on the blog with the answer.

2. If you want to ask and be answered privately, I have to charge for my time. Consultations are $25/hour, one hour minimum (I talk fast). To get started, pay $25 via PayPal to saratica @ gmail . com. As soon as you've paid, I get a confirmation with your email address. I will write to you and we can decide how to chat. If email is good for you, just write me back with your question(s). I will answer right away.

Comments

[Erin]

My family and I (two kids and husband) will be attending a Spanish language school in San Pedro, later this year. We have considered the posibility of moving there after we are fluent but have heard/read that it is difficult for North Americans to find employment unless they start their own business. My husband designs and builds homes here but we have heard that may not be an option in CR. Any suggestions on finding work in CR? Thanks!

[Saratica]

Hi Erin,

You need to speak to an immigration attorney - try the link for residency in costa rica under costa rica info sites in the left column, pretty far down - for that legal advice. And it is: if you break the laws here, you can be deported for up to 10 years.

My understanding is that you cannot work here unless you have permanent residency which only comes after three years. OR you obtain an investor visa which requires an investment of $200,000+. You CANNOT work for a salary, that is deportable unless you have a work visa and those are almost impossible to get.

Re starting your own business... come here and visit for several months, over time talk to expats who own their businesses here. We did. We decided against it. You need to be fluent in the language - FLUENT - and you need to understand the culture. Intimately. Maybe in another two+ years we would consider it again.

As far as designing and building homes here, that market has peaked. I wouldn't count on that. Just my opinion.

Where there's a will. I'm clinging to that!!! Good luck, have fun!

[Julie]

Hi Sally -
Thanks for linking to my blog! Unfortunately, yahoo decided to *not* continue their 360 beta, so I've had to change blog sites to http://julieandrickincostarica.blogspot.com/
I love your posts and links - they are always full of interesting information.
Julie

[Vincent]

I am looking to CR as a possible destination for investment/residency. I have read that the qualifying investment can start as low as $50000 USD (up to $200,000) for qualifying tourism or export impresas. Would a B&B or small hotel qualify if the investment is part of a larger partnership? Do you know an example of a "qualifying" investment opt.

Vincent from Canada

***
I heard when I first came here that this type of residency is hard to get. You need to call a residency expert, either www.residencyincostarica.com or www.arcr.net. They will be able to advise you.

[Jacquie]

Can you give a name of a reliable agent that could help us find a reasonable rental in a central location while we explore CR as a possible place to Expat?
What area would you recommend as a place to rent and be able to explore all of CR?

Love your Blog, your honestly and your humor. Think we would be great friends,

Jacquie

[Amadeus Mozart]

High speed internet. What is available and where? Enjoy the site. Can't move as long as I have a job. Also enjoyed the picture of the boobs. A dirty ole man like me can imagine enough to make the pics look like Play Boy.

[John Kaiser]

I am a graduate student in the United States (hence the comment question since I can't afford the $25/hour fee). I am trying to locate an anthropologist in Costa Rica named Anita Gregorio Murchie and I know very little Spanish and wouldn't know the first place to look. I need to ask her about a book she wrote back in 1981. Any advice you can give?

[Saratica]

Hi John,

Your best bet (after an internet search) is to join the Costa Rica Living yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CostaRicaLiving/) and ask there. Some long time expats on this list - surely someone will know. Good luck!

[Lori Parks]

Hi,

My husband, 12-year-old son and I are thinking about moving to Costa Rica for a year and are planning on visiting a few areas this winter to try and figure out where we want to settle. I'd like a central valley location that's not too touristy, reasonably priced, not too remote and has good schools for my son. Any suggestions?:) Also, I'm having a hard time finding any information about the schools (other than they have a good school system) so how did you do your research for your children? BTW, I checked out your "schools" link and it sent me to your blog on Parasites:)
Thanks, Lori

[Saratica]

Thanks, Lori... sometimes I black out when choosing my categories... I fixed that. So now when you click schools, you actually just get the posts (there's more than one on that page) that have to do with schools.

Rather than re-hash here what I've posted on the topic, read those posts (I think there are four or five having to do just with the school system) and then maybe you'll have some specific questions! I'm happy to answer!!!

School system aside, moving here with the boys was one of the best things we could have done for them.

[Lisa Valencia]

Thank you so much for linking to my Costa Rica Travel Journals.
Lisa Valencia

[Saratica]

Always nice to meet a sister traveler!

[Kirie Pedersen]

Something I haven't seen mentioned for ex-pats who want to live out of country is working via Internet. My husband and I both work on-line. He owns a business in public relations that operates out of NY but is global. I teach for an on-line university. Clearly, one has to be experienced in both fields (and have a masters of Ph.D. to teach on-line), but they do allow one to earn while living pretty much anywhere with a reliable high-speed Internet hookup. K. P. Manhattan and Seattle.

[Saratica]

Hi Kirie, No one has asked me about working online so I haven't addressed it. If you are already working online, then you know it's ok. Reliable high speed internet is an interesting problem here. If you can get it, great. It's expensive - we pay $150/month for our internet here, have to have TV with it. And, so far, it's still only reliable in the central valley. Forget the beach except maybe Jacó.

If you aren't already working online, well, it's not something you can just pick up and do. It's something to explore, certainly, like what online jobs (as opposed to owning an online business) are available? Forget starting an online business... we've done it. It's like learning greek and not for the faint of heart.

[Andrea]

Hi Sally,

I've been following your blog for the past few years, I Love it! I'm wondering if you are still doing consultations, since this is an older post. We are taking the 'one year' leap in September and would love to talk/e-mail with you for some more insights. I feel like we have much in common....I also have two boys/men, now 17 & 21, married forever to a great guy, spent 14 years in Real Estate, in the last year dropped that...or the market just plain Dropped and became a massage therapist, something I've wanted to do for I long time.
So anyway, If you are still doing the consultations I'll go ahead and try the pay pal thing and see if we can meet up.
Just an FYI ~ we own land in Uvita and will be building/living there.
Looking forward to it.

Andrea

[Desireé Owen]

Fellow Kentuckian here! Coming down to Jaco next month on my first visit. I'm glad to have found your blog. Interesting post about the petty theft and love the chickens!

[Jamie]

Hi there! I've been following your blog for a while now. My fiance and I have been living in Costa Rica (San Isidro de El General) for 6 months now, and we're trying to connect with other expat Americans. I saw that you went to Lindenwood! I'm from St. Louis, so I have some friends who went there too. Small world!

A note about internet. It's not expensive everywhere. We pay about $30 a month for high-speed internet and a local telephone line, including calls. It's DSL, so it's not quite as fast as what we had in the States, but we also work via internet, and it serves us just fine. It's reliable too, for the most part. It'll go down for an hour or two once in a while, but not often at all. I also heard from a friend that ICE is now selling a USB stick modem that uses cell phone technology to connect to the internet *anywhere* in Costa Rica! It's apparently not terribly expensive either, definitely less than you're paying now. You and Kirie might want to look into it.

[renee]

Hi Sally,

nice to 'meet' you through your blog and video! Would love to meet you sometime...much in common it seems. We have lived in Kentucky for the past 23 years, I have a music ed degree, teach music from my home and sing at church. But I couldn't act my way out of a paper bag! anyway...my husband turns 50 this year (I'm still under that, even if just by a smidge)! my original plan was to take him to the Maui invitational in november to watch our beloved CATS play. However, it is way too much mula to go to hawaii to see 3 basket ball games! SO my 2nd option is to take him back to Costa Rica. We LOVED our first trip a few years ago and are very excited about returning 1st of November! We are also going to be looking into some property while there (lodging near Uvita). Any 'tips' you can give us about CR and the southern coastal region would greatly appreciated. thanks so much! and can't wait to read future blogs! You make me laugh. =)

[Saratica]

Hi Renee, nice to e-meet you, too! For property in Uvita area, contact Ben Vaughn via his site:
http://www.uvita.biz/contact

Or you can look at one of the communities down there with Steve Linder at: http://www.pacificlots.com/sales-team/.

If you haven't read it yet, I'll tell you that Uvita is my second favorite place in Costa Rica. If I moved anywhere else in the country, it would be there. Lots of good community there, easy going lifestyle, very laid back.

Where in KY do you live?