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It is just ninety days now that we will fly to Costa Rica and begin the new phase of our life. It is so weird that this is such a momentous move when it is really not that far away. I guess the fact that we are leaving the United States and are not planning to move back makes it seem more exotic to everyone. To me, moving to Florida or Canada would be just as much of a change as moving to Costa Rica. However, it is very apparent that we are not staying in the U.S. There is so much work to be done as far as ensuring that all our documents are properly verified and attested to – at times it seems overwhelming. We have pretty much decided that Tom will fly to Washington DC in late July/early August to go directly to the U.S. Embassy to get all of our documents certified. If he does not, then we will have to send the documents we collect (birth certificates, marriage license, etc.) to two different regional emabassies (California and Illinois) and hope that we get the certified copies back before we leave on August 13th. Neither of us are comfortable thinking that we will be able to get that all done before we fly out. We really want to be able to get our documents in order and filed so that we don’t have to leave the Costa Rica every 90 days. Becoming a resident (not a citizen) is our most important short term goal. Everything else can wait 🙂

Since the title of this blog is “Costa Rica Dog Lover” I thought I would give some insight as to why I chose that name. Two of the reasons are in the photo to the left. We have two siberian huskies who will be traveling with us to Puerto Viejo in 96 days 🙂 Wiley will be seven years old this summer and Kaya will be three. We got Wiley from a rescue in Colorado six years ago when he was eight months old. We had taken our HUGE (170 pounds) alaskan malamute named Neo with us to make sure that a new dog would interact well with the dominant malamute. All of the huskies were nervous and scared with him except Wiley. Wiley just thought that Neo was playing a game when he growled and just jumped and ran around Neo and had a great time. Although it took Neo a while to warm up to Wiley, he eventually did. Our third dog, Bentley, who was a boxer/pit bull mix, just kind of hung out and did his best to put up with both of them.

Kaya was a completely unexpected addition to the pack. After Bentley died in November of 2007, we had decided to just stick with two dogs. However, that darn Petfinder website got the best of me. I was just browsing one day and came across a picture of the cutest dog I had ever seen. She was about seven months old and her story was unbelieveably sad. She had been part of a 54 dog rescue in Washington State in the Fall of 2007′ the owner of the dogs thought that it would be a great idea to have a dog sledding business and so kept breeding huskies. Twice a week, the owner would throw food out for all 54 dogs and they would fight over it since they were so hungry. Kaya had both of her back legs broken during one of the fights by the older dogs – she was only three months old. The humane society came and picked her and four other puppies up but didn’t have enough evidence to take the others until a few months later. Kaya was taken by a wonderful rescue in Spokane and it was from that rescue that I saw her picture and adopted her. Even Neo accepted her and, although Wiley was a bit unsettled by not being the new guy any more, they have become inseparable – especially after Neo died a year ago.

Wiley has epilepsy and I have been worried about how he will do in Puerto Viejo. He has not had a seizure in over two years now so I think he should be fine but I won’t be comfortable until they are both there and settled and he continues to be seizure free. Kaya will be fine. Even though she started out with a difficult life, she has had absolutely no ill effects from it. She is incredibly forgiving and is an absolutely joy to be around. She reminds me everyday that holding a grudge does no one any good. She loves everyone and pretty much everyone loves her.

I’m thinking that it is not a coincidence that two of my favorite songs are “It’s my Life” and “California Dreaming”. My life has been one where I am always looking for the next adventure even though my career is one which most people view as conservative and stuffy. I have worked as an accountant most of my life and am presently (although not for long!!!) the controller at a university. My days are filled with numbers, regulations, and policy – a bureaucrat by most people’s standards. However, most people think of me as the “out-of-controller” because my personality doesn’t seem to fit the green eyeshades stereotype. I have moved on an average of every five years although have only lived in three states. But I don’t think I have ever lived in a house for more than four years in my adult life.

I contrast this with my mother who just closed on the house that I grew up in today. Mom and Dad bought the house in 1960, raised five kids and continued to live there until my dad died almost a year ago – almost 50 years. They were also married over 65 years and even though there were many issues associated with raising five kids, they had the strongest marriage I have ever seen. My life has been quite a bit more hectic than theirs when it comes to houses and relationships……

So this brings me to Costa Rica. Will this be the ultimate adventure that allows Tom and me to stay in one place and just enjoy ourselves? I believe that it is. There are so many amazing things to see and do in this tiny country. And while I never thought that I was much of an ocean person, I found out in February when we stayed at the house that I must have been a closet ocean lover all along. I have found myself missing the sound of the waves and the cool breezes. I guess I’ll just have to report back on my success in staying in one place a few years from now 🙂

You might be wondering about how we came to have our house in Puerto Viejo. Two years ago, Tom’s mom passed away and he received some money from her estate. She had invested it and Tom continued to do so. However, as we all know, the market crashed and he watched as the investments kept going down and down. So he took the money out and put it into a savings account.

Over the last few years we had talked about how much we wanted to live in Costa Rica. In February of 2009 we started talking about where we might want to live if we took the money from his mom and bought a house. We were on the internet (www.point2homes.com) almost every night looking at houses all over Costa Rica. We also were researching parts of the country that we had not visited in the event that something looked promising. That is how we discovered Puerto Viejo. As we researched houses we also researched the various towns and everything about Puerto Viejo appealed to us. What we couldn’t believe is that we hadn’t visited it before in one of our many trips to the country. We decided that we had bought in to the fable on the internet and in some of the guidebooks that the Carribean was a lawless, univiting place rather than do what we normally do and experience it and decide for ourselves. So – we ended up visiting Puerto Viejo and falling in love with the entire area and the people. There are wonderful restaraunts, incredible scenery, and a laid back attitude that does not allow the concept of stress.

The house we ended up buying was one that we actually had seen on the internet and had marked as a strong possibility. When we went on the buying trip, we toured probably fifteen different houses but we knew immediately that we wanted to live in Casa de Oro. It was (is) wonderful!!! Two bedrooms with ensuite baths, an open living room, enclosed kitchen (with six gas burner stove) and family room and an amazing garden. Even though we loved it, it was not until we went back and stayed for two weeks in February that we realized how incredible this was for us. We get the light breeze off the ocean that cools it down in the heat of the day and the short walk allows us to not have to be near the road that runs along the ocean. We are a ten minute walk to Puerto Viejo itself and, unless you walk in the hottest part of the day, it is a very pleasant walk. We will buy bikes when we move and will cut the ten minute walk to about a five minute ride if we want to.

Tom’s mom and dad loved to travel. They not only lived all over the world but traveled all over throughout their lives. I cannot help but think that Marge and Glen would be thrilled that we are using what they gave to make our own dreams come true.

I have thought a lot about how we ended up in the place we are – eagerly anticipating an early retirement to Costa Rica. So many random things happened to get us here. We moved to Moscow Idaho in 2006 so that I could take a job at the University and I really thought we would be here until I turned 65 even though in my entire career I have never stayed in one place more than six years. I was 52 when we moved so thinking that I could make it another 13 years in one place may have been a bit misguided. Tom was a freelance photographer when we lived in Colorado after leaving the corporate life and planned to continue that career once we got to Idaho. However, while the images of the Palouse (the geographic formation in northern Idaho – see photo above) are gorgeous, they are very different than the red rock country that he was used to and it was difficult to get a toehold here. Fortuitously, a job opened up in the sponsored research office at the university that Tom was perfect for and he went back to work in an area that he liked and with people he connected with immediately.

However, around the time he went to work, I was becoming very disillusioned with my own job for a variety of reasons. So, we began talking about what we really wanted to do with the rest of our lives and it quickly became apparent that we wanted to move to Costa Rica. We had made several trips down to this amazing country since 1999 and hated leaving every time. We had a trip planned for May of 2009 and so began looking at places that we might want to live. While we had never been to the Caribbean side of the country, the more we looked and read, the more we thought that that might be the place for us. We ended up staying the entire two weeks of our vacation there and bought a house. This side of the country still has the amazing charm and wildlife of the rest of the country but has a truly different vibe. Very laid back and comfortable for us. We were lucky enough to buy the house from a couple who said they could live there until we moved down and so we have had absolutely no worries there. They have bent over backwards to make sure that anything we want is done. When we went to stay in the house for the first time in February, we decided that we would buy the lot they owned behind our house and they have made that a very easy transaction. In addition, we were able to find a great lawyer in San Jose, an amazing realtor who doubles as an “everything we need will be done” man, and a person in San Jose who has managed to not only buy us a car but get us a cell phone. What more could we ask!!!

I am counting down the days to our move on another blog – http://lovingpuertoviejo.blogspot.com . I am going to have to figure out how to bring the two together at some point.

I spent quite a bit of time today looking at the ARCR (Associated Residents of Costa Rica) website searching about transporting animals into the country. I am going to be a wreck about this until our dogs are actually in the country. They are booked as excessive luggage on Frontier but we just don’t know what that means or entails.

Yep – Tom and I turned in our resignation letters on Friday, effective July 30, 2010.  No turning back now – not that we had thought about that anyway.  But it does make it all real now – house sold, jobs ending.  We also bought our plane tickets and are leaving on Frontier on the midnight flight out of Denver on August 13th.  The dogs are booked as excessive baggage but I am still not sure about how that is going to work.

Friends in Spokane are going to help us and will bringing four additional duffle bags so we will have eight in all for the final trip.  That is going to allow us to bring many more things that I was afraid we would have to leave or pick up for an exhorbitant price in Costa Rica.  Smal electronic items are very expensive compared to the United States because of the import tax that is paid to bring them in and sell them.  We also will be able to bring in some of the art we have collected over the years that I would have been sad to leave behind.  Not much but enough of the special things I love. 

124 days and counting……..

We are moved in to our new abode (picture on the left) – if you can call living out of boxes moved in.  We have food in the refrigerator, sheets on the bed, and a temporary fence set up so the dogs can’t get out of the yard.  Closing on the old house will take place on Wednesday April 7th and then we will be free of almost all of our possessions in the United States.   

There was an article in the travel section of the New York Times this morning about Puerto Viejo ( http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/travel/04next.html ).  The pictures in the slide show made me wish we were already there.  I love our house and the gorgeous garden, and the beach, and the town, and the monkeys, sloths, and birds.  I am anxious to grow some fruit trees and herbs along with the flowers and greenery that are already there.  We are going to buy the lot next to the house so that we will have additional space for a small guest house and additional plants and trees.  I CAN’T WAIT!!!!

We have been packing all day and running all over town getting rid of our remaining possessions.  Goodwill and the used bookstore have increased their inventory significantly today.  We put up a temporary fence at the rental and have pretty much finished up at our home.  I really thought that I would be more sad – all we have left is a couch and a couple of chairs, our bedroom set, and our TV – all of which will be sold when we leave the country.  But – I’m not sad.  I’m just getting more and more excited about our adventure. 

All we are taking to Costa Rica is what we can get in duffle bags.  We took some of our prized possessions down in four duffle bags in February, and Tom and a friend will take four more down in June.  We have enlisted the help of friends to take the final eight duffle bags down when we move.  It feels good to be starting over once again.  I seem to do that a lot 🙂

My name is Jana Stotler and this is my first post on my new blog!  My plan is to document my new life in Costa Rica.  We haven’t actually moved yet but it is coming up more quickly than I could have imagined.  We have sold our house in Moscow Idaho and are moving to a rental just a few minutes outside of town on Sunday.  It will be just a few short months before we are living in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca!!  My biggest worry is about how the dogs are going to do before, during, and after the move.  They know something is going on – they just don’t know what!