Life with Covid 19 in NYC

Wow, I cannot believe I was so busy in Costa Rica with my kids and my mountain and businesses that I did not have time to write for years at a time! As of this Covid 19 update we are in NYC, or at least half of us are. I came back to NYC last year in September with the kids, to help care for my father, who recently passed away in February about 30 days before the city went into lock down

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Living Between NYC and Costa Rica

We are a split family right now, thanks to the virus. We had been traveling back and forth quite a bit (thanks to Jetblue and United having cheap direct flights from EWR and JFK to SJO – SJO is the Central Valley’s International Airport and don’t believe the hype about one coming to Orotina!), and living half in CR…half here, some of us there at times, some of us here at times. Now we cannot travel, and I sincerely appreciate my life in Costa Rica more than ever. My children miss it terribly, and while I know I need to be here for my mother and my next degree that I am studying for, I cannot wait to start integrating my life back there again! I will TRY and document some things here for other moms (and Dads!) who want to move to Costa Rica, and are trying to figure out whether it is really do-able. I can tell you right now… it is!

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Is it Still possible to Move to Costa Rica during the Covid 19 Pandemic?

NO! Not DURING – but completely possible after. Listen, the world will re-open so be ready. For now, you will need to wait since the country is in lock down and not allowing anyone in who is not a Costa Rican citizen.  The borders are closed as they struggle to contain the virus, just like all the other countries. There seems to be less spread for now in Costa Rica than many other countries, and it is concentrated in the larger areas. San Ramon has seen VERY FEW CASES which is AWESOME! Keep up the good isolation San Ramon! And folks reading this from elsewhere, please know Costa Rica is not a shangri-la and untouched. It is part of this world just like anywhere else, and right now there is only about 1 flight in and out every 2 weeks from the US, and ONLY CITIZENS are allowed to travel into the country because of the Covid-19 virus measures in Costa Rica. Even if you are a permanent resident, my understanding is you will NOT be allowed in.

PLAN for your Move to Costa Rica, just like us!

So if you want to move to Costa Rica, use this time wisely and do your HW.  Get ready. Shoot, I am! I have been ordering my seeds, getting the art supplies ready for my daughter, ordering sun dresses from Old Navy – making sure the suitcases have zippers and the passports are up to date. My kids and I are CR citizens and can go at any time, but since the flights are few and far in between, and I am now caring for my 86 year old mother who has NO legal papers in Costa Rica, we need to rethink life just like all of you. But get ready and MAKE YOUR PLANS! I have a feeling there will be a bit of a rush when this starts to lift as folks start doing the things they always wanted to do. Like Move to Costa Rica.

Make Sure you Don’t go Broke with Kids in Costa Rica

Please know you will need to have a cash flow.  This may seem obvious, but for some it is not and Costa Rica is not Mexico or Nicaragua cheap.  If you can work remotely, I highly suggest getting on that now and talking to your company about doing it from CR.  If you can’t work remotely, make some other realistic plans since non-citizens are NOT allowed to work in CR unless hired by a company there with proper visa work. (All things that may change now, I will post links for this as soon as I start gathering that info – you might want to shoot me an email or sign up to get those updates from us)  One smart way to move is to take out the equity in your home in the US if you have one, rent it out to cover the loan, and then buy a few other stateside rentals that can pay your bills in CR.  I can connect you with VERY reputable companies that have helped other clients of ours prepare for the financial end of their move this way. Don’t just grab a ticket, fly your family down when the border opens, and buy a small farm thinking you can teach some yoga to make ends meet since you spent all the cash on a pretty house with a view. Its not that easy. Trust me – we found out the hard way and now I am back in NYC getting another degree while caring for my family’s estate and putting things in order.  Granted, I needed and wanted to do that anyway, but remember – you can’t live if you can’t feed your kids.  And all the lemons, coffee beans and mangos in the world won’t fill them up! But there are ways to live cheaply, there are places that need some things more than others (businesses, doctors, teachers), and if your money flow relies on the internet, then you need to cross out a LOT of Costa Rica from your options of places to live so lets start talking about your options. I have helped so many families realize their dream of living in Costa Rica, there is no reason why you should be any different. And I can’t wait to start working with families to do that again – helping folks move to Costa Rica and start a new life.  Especially in this time where crazy ideas are becoming real – living on a 9 acre farm with no one else around just might sound like Paradise more than ever now.  It did to me 7 years ago, and still does now

Whats Happening at Vista Valverde B&B and my Real Estate Company in Costa Rica?

They’re not dead, just resting – at least I hope! But seriously, only time will tell. Vista Valverde is, of course, closed for now.  And sometime during the week my father passed away, I noticed my real estate sites were down – Bluetierrarealtygroup.com and MLSinCostaRica.com. By the time I called my tech guy in Costa Rica, it was too late. Something happened and the cloud company canceled my sites. ENTIRELY! No back up (tech guy is no longer my tech guy, needless to say) So I am rebuilding from my old site at CostaRicaPM.com – Paradise Management Realty. Welcome to Blue Tierra’s Paradise Management! lol… where there is a will there is a way, and I am hoping to bring the businesses back to life in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic. I am also trying to work with Kai and Bruno who will be running our Wellness Retreats at Vista Valverde to discuss real measures we can take to keep ourselves safe, and our guests and clients in the next stages of life with this virus, and the new understanding of what our future holds in the context of possible future pandemics. What do we need need to improve upon as a small hotel? A retreat center? A tour base for future expats exploring our area of San Ramon? How do we proceed? Do we want to? And if not – what is next?

Self-Isolation in NYC vs. Costa Rica

So as the time ticks by and we self-isolate in a 2BR apartment in NYC, we dream of self-isolating in Costa Rica.  I dream of answers to the above questions, in a completely uncertain day to day to future.  My office overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the mountains of San Ramon have given way to a small plant, my father’s globe, and a view of buildings along 95th street in NYC.  What I wouldn’t give to be in San Ramon now where the boys can run around free, I can teach my daughter piano and bring her suitcases full of art supplies.  I’d be running around our mountain dotted with mango trees, pines and lemons, and I could work on the possible re-opening of 2 businesses, just like I am here in NYC – but not in NYC! Vista Valverde B&B and WELLNESS Retreat Center (yes – that last part is new! what do you think?) and Blue Tierra Realty’s Paradise Management of San Ramon (I am still working on that title, lol). I will NEVER again complain about having too many lemons, I miss them so much. Vista Valverde has every kind you can imagine…. green on the outside and inside, green on the outside orange on the inside, yellow on the outside yellow on the inside, orange on the outside orange on the inside, green on the outside yellow on the inside… I now have about 102 recipes on our Lemons – What to do with them All? Pinterest page and I can’t wait to try them all! Of course that would be in between running around the mountain and building tree houses with the boys, going to the Multi-Plaza mall in Escazu with my teenage daughter, hammock sunsets over the pacific, swimming under waterfalls and falling down on the beach as the waves lap over me. I. Miss. Home.