I lived in Costa Rica for 6 months a couple years ago, and it really is an amazing place. Land, housing, and physical labor are all super cheap there - most eve

I lived in Costa Rica for 6 months a couple years ago, and it really is an amazing place. Land, housing, and physical labor are all super cheap there - most everything else is pretty similar to the US. The food for instance is about the same, it's just better. I lived in Playa Avellanas, which was way off the beaten path, and I don't recommend that. It was cool learning Spanish to communicate with everyone but the logistics of living there soon became a nusiance (20-40 minute drive to the nearest place with an ATM, for example, and the ride costs about $50, the hospital being hours away). I've heard it is kind of a pain in the ass to legally reside in CR as well - navigating the waters and finding 'lawyers' who won't just steal your money and run is kind of tricky.