Blog

Posted on

The Costa Rica Amazon?

Aerial View of Tortuguero River/Canal not showing the beach area.
Photo from Chris Howard’s Live In Costa Rica Blog site

Chris Howard’s newsletter today tells about one of my favorite places in Costa Rica, Tortuguero which he calls Costa Rica’s Amazon. Having experienced part of the Amazon, I agree. And see my photos of Tortuguero as Days 3 & 4 in my Costa Rica 210 Photo Gallery. Or look at some professional photos on the Anywhere Costa Rica website, noting there are two sets on that site, one by tapping the arrows on the header collection and a static collection seen by scrolling down the page. There is good information on the Wikipedia page too!

Well, you can see it is one of the places I love in Costa Rica and will continue to visit while living there! There is another jungle boat ride in Los Chiles that is almost as good and of course Corcovado is the largest rainforest, but that is mostly seen by hiking with a guide. Recently a young man from Alaska was lost hiking there, meaning a guide is necessary. Well enough jungles for today! 

Posted on

ARCR Moving Checklist

That will be me in a few months!  🙂
A Biker I photographed near Puntarenas in 2011

I’ve been a member of Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR) since before the summer trip and it is the organization that conducted the seminar as part of the tour and provided me with an attorney who is helping me work through the Residency Application process.

They have helped in other ways and as part of the new member packet, I received a MOVING CHECKLIST FOR COSTA RICA that lists everything that must be done starting at 4-6 months before moving, then 3-4 months, 2 months, 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 week, and 1 day, plus a list for “After Arrival.” I have copied the activities related to me on my own countdown list with the specific dates counting up to December 24, so I will be ready. It gives me more confidence and peace of mind as I check off the things to be done, including my own personal needs. It is too long to place here, but I encourage anyone considering a move to Costa Rica to immediately join the ARCR and pay attention to their great checklist! 

Posted on

Apology & Moving Sale!

Okay, the last post about not trying to extend life aggressively after age 75 offended some people and that is not what I intended. I’m just saying I’ll not worry about how much longer I live and I’ll probably live longer than average. I’m still trying to eat healthy and stay active (but do eat a dessert now and then!)   🙂  But if you didn’t go to the link and read the article, you missed a very interesting concept. And my oncologist friend at church yesterday told me about some situations where he has extended life of people already in their 80’s and I told him, yeah, I might let him do that to me. But I’m not afraid to die and don’t want to go to great lengths.

Now the move to Atenas, Costa Rica is serious and I am selling my stuff, first at a antique/thrift shop kind of place here at McKendree and big things via friends and Craig’s List. I have a Moving Sale Page on my website. I have a business card ordered from VistaPrint that looks like this:

And I’ve already sold $135 worth before the shop opens this Saturday. Plus I have items listed on my eBay Store where I’ve sold one set of books and one set of movies for close to $100 to people in Delaware and New York. And I have a friend who says he will buy my library shelves and matching furniture. So it is starting to happen! The car and washing machine are to go at the last minute, but hope to have them pre-sold. I just answered a phone call from someone who wanted the washer/dryer now, but I’m holding them until the last week. Let me know if you want any of my stuff. I’m not going to store it all! And I’ll have to give away most books, so come help yourself! 
Posted on

Why I Hope to Die at 75 . . .

Got your attention, huh? That is the title of a philosophy (not a book yet) that was reviewed tonight on the PBS Newshour, Why I Hope to Die at 75 by Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel. The link is to The Atlantic interview since I can’t find Judy Woodruff’s interview on PBS.org.

What the doctor brother of Ron Emanuel is talking about is something I basically subscribe to, though I expect to live past 75 which happens for me next year in Costa Rica! Otherwise, let nature take its course! One of the things he says is:

Once I have lived to 75, my approach to my health care will completely change. I won’t actively end my life. But I won’t try to prolong it, either.

That has become my philosophy after two years living in a retirement center that promised an active lifestyle but has at times depressed me with the mostly infirm residents talking more about their ailments than anything else while I trip over walkers and wheel chairs in the dining room, my first nudge toward retiring in a place like Costa Rica. I actually expect to live to 85 or 95, but I could just as easily go next year and I’m ready if so. When I cease contributing to my world and start being a drain on the world and the people around me, then it seems best to go. Though basically healthy now, my body is not getting stronger, healthier or better. I am past “my peak” and will at some point become a drain on society and that is what I do not want. Well, read the article and you will see what I mean.

In the meantime I’ll do the things I enjoy the most: interacting with nature, loving God and people, and find a church or Christian fellowship. I believe I can do it with more freshness and adventure in a tropical rainforest! (I’m weary of everything American.) The move is already helping me simplify my life and slow down – just one adventure a week!  🙂  I think I will rest more, write more, create more photographic images. Of course having no grandchildren also makes it easier to go.

After I gain residency, I will get on the very affordable government healthcare program, CAJA, that will not likely try to over-extend my life and my advance directives are already in place. No more colonoscopies or worrying about my health, cancer, heart or stroke. When it is time to go, I will hopefully go quickly. Plus I have insurance that will fly my ashes back to Nashville to be buried next to Juli (If I haven’t donated my body to C.R. Medical School as I had planned for Vanderbilt in Nashville). Either way, a perfect ending.

In short, Dr. Emanuel’s philosophy seems to fit in with some of my unstated reasons for moving to Costa Rica. I’m nearing the end of my life and choosing to end it in a place I truly love. Simple.

And friend Robbie shared another quote that fits my big move:

Taking a chance and stepping beyond the safety of the world we’ve always known is the only way to grow.”
— Wil Wheaton,
American actor
Posted on

Nature Places

One of my favorite places is Luna Lodge at Corcovado National Park, Carate side. I just saw a ULTRA HD video on their site that I can’t link directly to on YouTube, so hope you find it on Luna’s site – beautiful! Even though he is more focused on snakes than me. I prefer the birds!  🙂
Posted on

Sticker Shock Twice Today! And Carretas!

Sarchi is just 21 km (25 minutes) north of Atenas and where these famous
painted oxcarts (carretas) are made, plus it’s the furniture making capital of Costa Rica
where I will buy furniture if I ever move to an unfurnished apartment.
I made this photo in Sarchi in 2010. Soon I’ll photograph the Atenas Oxcart Parade.

Today was another big step in my process of moving to Costa Rica. I sent the required documents for my Pensionado Residency application to my Costa Rica attorney. He will soon begin the application process so maybe I’ll have my residency by next summer. Today it brought some sticker shock at DHL. First, to send the stack of papers I’ve talked about earlier (Birth Certificate, Police Background Check, Social Security Letter, and U.S. Embassy Registration) by Registered DHL Express Courier, it cost $71. What?! Well, it is a very important package, that must get there safely, not get lost, and I spent almost that on getting the contents. Soooo, I just rationalized my acceptance of it!  🙂

My second sticker shock came when I asked the DHL man how much it would cost to send a 50 lb suitcase to San Jose, Costa Rica (thinking it would be cheaper than excess baggage on the plane). We estimated suitcase measurements and punched it all in his computer at 50 lbs. to find it would cost around $1,400! Wow! And I thought American Airlines excess baggage was expensive! I will check at least one other shipper, but it looks like I will move to Costa Rica with whatever I can get in 5 suitcases. I wanted to simplify my life and this will actually help me do that as I prioritize what is important and what I can live without. This fun adventure continues! And thanks to Robbie for this cool quote:

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.”— William Feather, American publisher
Posted on

Happiness is like a butterfly . . .

I photographed this Hecafe Longwing at a butterfly farm in Braulio Carrillo National Park in 2010.

I look forward to getting there, doing a better job of slowing down, sitting still, and being quiet, than I usually do here. That is when nature surprises me!

If you cannot read the quote within the photo, here it is again:

“Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”

― Nathaniel Hawthorne

Posted on

Me llamo Carlito.

Part of the hilly rainforest I will be exploring between my house and the coast.
I shot this on my 2011 Panama Canal Cruise Excursion to Tarcoles River for a jungle river cruise. 

Today was my second Spanish Class and it looks like the Spanish name Chris Howard gave me is what my Nashville Spanish Class likes best as they are all calling me Carlito now. Fun! Just getting my feet wet in the language and I like it and our teacher Maya! By the way, Charles in Spanish is Carlos, and the closest to the Charlie nickname is Carlito, which literally means “little Charles,” which is okay with me.

The letter from Social Security arrived today, so all my papers are in order for my residential application. By next week I will send them to my attorney in Costa Rica and the process will begin.

Also today Jane and Scott came to my house to see what all I have to sell in their “Village Treasure Shop” on campus. We are no longer allowed to have yard sales because of traffic among the cottages, so the Treasures Shop is a substitute. I have so much stuff that they decided to give me a whole room in the former cottage used as the shop and let me operate it as my store each Saturday until December. I do my own pricing and they just get a percentage of whatever I make. So that is what I will be doing for the next few Saturdays. It will be kind of like an indoor yard sale one day a week. Hope to make some money!   🙂  Come see me some Saturday, beginning October 11, the Grand Opening! I’m also deciding what I will keep and put in storage during my first year in Costa Rica. A few pieces of furniture, books, art, etc. will stay here until I decide to either return to states or make Costa Rica my permanent home. If the latter, then I will ship it all to Costa Rica. As the old TV comedy soldier of fortune used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together!”

Thanks for reading my blog! And please comment or write!   -Carlito

Posted on

No Record! and No Excess Luggage! :-)

Another Species of Toucan, I photographed in 2010 in Braulio Carrillo
Click photo to enlarge

POLICE BACKGROUND CHECK MARKED “NO RECORD”
So one more needed document obtained today from Nashville Police pretty quickly and easily for $13. The Costa Rica officials will like the red ink rubber stamped declaration “No Record” below the colorful Metro Police logo. I’m good to go on that!

ONE-WAY FLIGHT SCHEDULED FOR CHRISTMAS EVE
This was easy too and a free flight with air miles, except for tax I had to pay! And I decided on Christmas Eve to be there for the holiday and get away from what could be Christmas blues here. In Costa Rica everyone makes tamales for Christmas, a long time tradition! I’ll expect some! Plus I may get to see some colorful Catholic Church celebrations on Christmas! Plus I need to get rid of all by stuff before Christmas anyway, so Christmas Eve seemed to be the best time to leave with an empty house. And hey!  I got great seats in front of the business class cabin on both flights! That is almost like first class (row 7 with bigger seat & more leg room). I will be flying in style through Miami on American Airlines. Another momentous Christmas for me!

LIMITED EXCESS LUGGAGE
But the hope that I could take 6 to 8 suitcases to carry my beginning stuff, is not going to work out. There is a max of 5 suitcases, but the escalating cost may mean only taking two and shipping other stuff. 1st bag is $25, 2nd bag is $40, 3rd bag is $150, and the 4th & 5th bags will be $200 each! So much for a free flight! I’m hoping air freight will be cheaper and plan to start with quotes from DHL which was my shipper from The Gambia, but will compare with FedEx and maybe find a freight company that will send footlockers. UPS is not in C.R.

WAITING ON LAST DOCUMENT FROM SOCIAL SECURITY
I will wait until next week before I try following up on their promised letter. Then I can stay focused on getting rid of stuff. So far, everything is falling together pretty quickly and easily.

Posted on

A Few Steps Closer

Phons sent me his photo of one of my future neighbors, an iguana.
Hope I get photos this good! I think he and I will get along fine!

I’ve made the deposit and it is confirmed that I will be moving into an apartment at Hacienda La Jacaranda in Atenas, Costa Rica the end of December. It is run by a lovely Dutch couple and he, Phons von der Bom, has been corresponding with me and sent the above photo plus one of a butterfly earlier.  If you zoom in on a Google Map of Atenas enough you can find the name of the apartments on the map, just north of downtown within about 8 blocks of the Central Plaza and a Super Mercado and of course the weekly Farmers’ Market every Friday. And the Map Link above includes a map pin for Helados POPS, the best ice cream in Costa Rica and some of the best I’ve ever eaten. I had my first Fig Ice Cream there!

 Birth Certificate has been returned with an Apostille on it, thus one more document ready for the residency application. I earlier printed out my filing with the U.S. Embassy (State Department) of my intentions called a “Smart Traveler Enrollment Program” which Jose wanted on file. But I am still waiting on a letter from Social Security proving a minimum income for residency. Even though the last guy I talked with said he would do it right then, I really expected it to take a while. I just called our Metro Police Department and for the “police report” Costa Rica is asking for on me, they say they call it a “Background Check.” I simply go downtown to the Criminal Justice Building to the Records Window and for $13 they will provide one while I wait. So maybe tomorrow. When that is done, I will only lack the Social Security letter.

And the next step soon is to order my one-way airline ticket to San Jose, Costa Rica and I’m hoping I have enough air miles for it and they have space on their planes for an air miles ticket! If not, one way should cost less than round trip. Then the main job is to clean out this house, decide what to take, what to store, and what to sell or give away – the biggest job of all!