Living Overseas Part-Time: Dream … to … Reality
The lifestyle of the part-time expat is a continuous cycle. We just spent 2+ months in Costa Rica. Now we are back in Indiana for seven weeks for the holidays and to enjoy our family. We'll return to Costa Rica in February, and the cycle will continue at various intervals throughout the year. We live… Continue reading The Life Cycle (Part-Time Expat Version)
This is our last week in Costa Rica before returning to the United States to visit our family and enjoy the holidays together. We have been in Costa Rica since early October - the first longer stay in our new lifestyle. We will be returning in early February. We wondered what the adjustments to this… Continue reading Come and Go
I just love the Friday morning Farmers' Market - known in Costa Rica as "The Feria." All over the country, these markets are held in communities large and small. Farmers and vendors from the surrounding areas bring in their produce, baked goods, special products, and anything else they want to sell, set up their wares,… Continue reading Friday Feria – Farmers’ Market Fun
Sometimes I am engrossed in something interesting, and I discover something else equally fascinating that just appears in my experience. That is what happened as I began searching for sea glass recently (see my previous post). As I searched the beach for sea glass, I began to notice small pieces of tile washed up on… Continue reading Sea Tiles and Wondering
I am amazed at what washes ashore every day on the Jaco beach here in Costa Rica. Of course, rocks lead the pack, but I've also become intrigued with the sea glass and sea tiles that find their way to our backyard beach. A friend of ours here introduced me to sea glass - and… Continue reading Sea Glass and Sea Tiles – New Backyard Friends
We had the most enjoyable surprise this week! Twenty-five years ago, when we lived in Costa Rica full time (eleven years), and our children were young, a delightful family from Korea moved into the house next to ours in San Jose. The couple did not speak English, but through all of our various levels of… Continue reading Expat to Expat – Friendships Endure
(Whistling Duck sits on a palm frond.) It's been exactly one month since I retired from full-time work as an executive director of a nonprofit organization. It's hard to believe it's been a month already. There were so many, many months of planning, thinking, dreaming, packing, moving, etc. And, here we are. ccv Some aspects… Continue reading One Month and Counting…
I’ve shared in previous blogs about the energy and spirit of Jaco, Costa Rica. Today, I’d like to share about a group of people in the community who are intent on helping people, serving the community, and honoring their Creator in the process. We became acquainted with Horizon Church several years ago when we began… Continue reading People Helping People
One of the things we like about Costa Rica is the vibe – the energy, the Pura Vida approach to life. (Pura Vida is a Costa Rican term that means everything from “hello” to “all is well” to “life is good.”). When I am here, my mind slows down a bit, my perspective becomes a… Continue reading A Special Energy . . .
I left you last time as I was boarding an imaginary train to our new life as part-time expats in Indiana and Costa Rica. We arrived safely in Costa Rica on Tuesday (yesterday), and we have been settling in today. Here is a list of activities on our first full day in our new life.… Continue reading The Second Train Arrives – in Jaco, Costa Rica