Learn as much Spanish as you can before coming to Costa Rica, at least the basics. Do not assume that the locals speak your language or English except when it is in a hotel, other tourism related business or in a community like Escazú or some of the beach areas. Try talking with hands and feet if necessary. Costaricans will love you for trying and will go out of their way to help you out if they see you at least try hard.

Be patient when you have to stand in line somewhere. Always have a book or a magazine with you, so you’ll pass the time better and faster.

Yelling and screaming at them doesn’t help. Even if you are not happy with the service or they don’t understand what you want to tell them, you have to think about it twice before yelling. Their attitude will only become worse, won’t yours when they yell at you? Don’t forget that things are nowhere as logical as back home. The rules are different here and people are many times not as well schooled as you are.

Many foreigners think that they can do here as they feel like. Wrong!!! Costa Rica has tax laws, social security laws, construction codes etc. just like your own country has. I’ve seen many people just start to remodel their house by adding another room or building a wall around their property, without any permits. Check with your realtor or your accountant or any other reliable source what you can do and what not. It will save you a lot of problems.

Don’t get mad about the potholes in the roads. Back home you were paying lots of taxes, so they have money to maintain roads. Here you pay a high import tax on cars, but that’s about it. A couple of tires and shocks every year are much cheaper than paying all those taxes.

Of course you know everything better than they do. Of course things are better organized back home as they are in Costa Rica. But that’s part of what makes living in Costa Rica so great. If things would be exactly like they are back home, why bother leaving and come to this beautiful country?

You’re here to retire, so you have plenty of time. Things will get done eventually, so what’s the rush. It’s all about your own attitude. Make sure you have the right attitude and you’ll have a happy life.

Nothing is perfect in life, go easy on yourself and the people around you. You have to work on adjusting to life in Costa Rica, not the other way around.