Why we left Canada for Costa Rica
Beyond the obvious reasons of wretched, cold winters and outrageously inflated housing costs in Alberta, Canada we had other very compelling reasons to pack up and move to Costa Rica. From the age of 23 my wife and I have operated our own successful online business because we loathed the shackles of traditional employment. My wife had worked in oil and gas in a downtown high rise from before sunrise till after
sunset. I had 3 menial jobs none of which you’d call a career. When we learned that with little capital young people just like us were starting up online businesses and having success and travelling the world we were hooked. We launched into our own business and within 4 months we were both free from traditional employment. We stayed busy with our business and it took off very quickly with much financial blessing. After more than a decade of working hard we found ourselves in very much the same position. We had a couple exotic cars in the underground parking of a beautiful downtown condo and all the bills that go along with it. We grew tired of working hard and succeeding only to see it all go to opulence and not enjoy the freedom we wanted in the first place. We made a decision we were going to choose to live where we wanted to live. We were going to play tennis, surf, quad, fish to our heart’s content. We had friends and family who had spent significant time in Costa Rica and boasted of its’ beauty. We made a decision, liquidated most of our earthly possessions and boarded a plane for Costa Rica.
Photo Credit: Erick Umaña – Model: Solange RodWe had visited many tropical places before but never indefinitely and with no home to return to. The warm, heavy air hit us in the face as we stepped off the airplane. We knew we were going to love our new home. A friendly taxi drove us just 30 minutes to our condo in El Coco that we had booked online site unseen. The condo and facilities were beautiful and all amenities available. Our first morning we were excited to get up and out of the house to see our new tennis club we would be spending most of our time at. It was a short walk from our place, too short in fact for such a beautiful walk. The entire road leading into the facilities was paved in brick. Overhung completely by huge exotic trees that hundreds of monkeys would use to traverse and howl at us as we strolled to the club. When we arrived and entered the breezeway the large pool came into view, we then continued on to the tennis courts, which were clean and meticulously maintained.
Photo Credit: Juanqa FonsecaWe met some of the most wonderful people we’d ever met, from all over the world, who shared common interest in the sport of tennis and life in paradise. These are friends we’ll have for a lifetime. We are so glad we finally lifted our heads up from our workbench, so to speak, to look around us at what we and everyone else were doing in Canada, to assess what we truly wanted in life. Life is short.
See you at the beach!
By Chris Budd for TCRN
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