The Adventure Calls Podcast

Your Passport to Pura Vida: Expert Advice from a Costa Rica Relocation Specialist

• Jessica Drucker

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Join us as host Jess Drucker and Relocate Now Costa Rica Founder, Sarah Elena, discuss relocating to Costa Rica, from navigating visas, the housing market, education and local culture. 

Hailing originally from Virginia, Sarah Elena has called Costa Rica her home for nearly a decade. Having navigated the paths of relocation herself, she founded Relocate Now Costa Rica to guide others looking for a seamless transition to this tropical LGBTQ-friendly paradise. 

Below are the key takeaways from this episode:

  • Sarah Elena, founder of Relocate Now Costa Rica, shares her expertise in assisting individuals and families with a seamless relocation experience to Costa Rica, placing emphasis on housing, education, and adapting to the local lifestyle.
  • Sarah Elena discusses the many visa options, including the advantages and disadvantages of a perpetual tourist visa versus a digital nomad visa, among many other options. 
  • As an LGBTQ-friendly nation, Costa Rica offers a welcoming environment for queer expats, and Sarah's services are tailored to aid in navigating the relocation process, with insights into the friendliness of the community.
  • For families relocating with school-age children, Sarah Elena discusses the diversity of educational opportunities in Costa Rica, such as Waldorf, Montessori, and accredited international schools.
  • Sarah illustrates the nuances of Costa Rica's visa and residency options, advising on the importance of periodically reevaluating one's residency status, especially when owning property or during travel restrictions.
  • Comprehensive resources for potential expats to Costa Rica are discussed, including Sarah's website, YouTube channel, and a Facebook group offering support and information to those considering the move.

Find Sarah and Relocate Now online:

Website: https://www.lasarahelena.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-blanks
Move To Costa Rica Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/movetocostarica
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCalHokE9PKivEfGDwBuj3aw
Finding Family Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhFB6mz8oh8
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/la_sarah_elena

Find Jessica Drucker online:

Website: https://rainbowrelo.com 
Coaching: www.jessicadrucker.com/coaching
How To Move Abroad Book: www.jessicadrucker.com/book
Global Relocation Guide: www.jessicadrucker.com/guide
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainbowrelo


Jess Drucker:

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Adventure Calls Podcast. I'm your host, Jess Drucker. Adventure Calls is brought to you by Rainbow Relocation Strategies, where we empower queer folks and their families to move, live, and thrive abroad. That's what this podcast is all about. And lately, I've been setting up two different perspectives on moving abroad and airing those episodes next to each other. So for example, first, I tend to talk to a relocation specialist who gives like the nitty gritty details on What you need to know in order to move to a certain country. So they'll answer those questions that most people have when moving abroad. Then I talked to a local expat who can speak more to the experience of living abroad and living in that country as an expat. We did that first with New Zealand, where we spoke to relocation specialists and then a local. And on today's show, we're kicking that off again now for Costa Rica. However, on today's show, you're getting the best of both worlds. Honestly, I'm speaking to Sarah Elena, the founder of relocate now Costa Rica. So she's a relocation specialist, but Sarah herself is an expat from Virginia who moved to Costa Rica nine years ago. So she's lived there for nine years and you'll hear that she's lived in like 20 different apartments and houses throughout her time. So she really knows what she's talking about in terms of like location and destinations where you might want to move in Costa Rica. She's also a single mom of a seven year old. So you'll hear her talk about schools, education, the prices of private schools. And also you'll get to hear her talk about how she runs her company, helping clients relocate to Costa Rica, what the process is and what all the things that a relocation specialist can help you with. And she does all of those things for her clients. It's absolutely incredible. Honestly, I rarely speak to a relocation specialist. Who's as dedicated to making sure that the full experience of moving to a new country is as enjoyable and probably as seamless as what Saralina talks about on today's. episode. She really has like up to the minute, like local prices, food prices, the cost of private schools. She talks about rent prices. She talks about all these spreadsheets that she has for all of these things. I mean, she really keeps amazing track and she helps her clients to truly understand things like budget and cost of living as well. She also talks about popular locations to move to why different locations are popular for different types of expats And of course, she gives us some insight into why Costa Rica is like such a hit with the LGBTQ population LGBTQ expats we don't get into that too much in this episode mostly because quite honestly Costa Rica is It's so laid back and open to so many different types of people that I think that's why this country is on the radar for so many queer expats who probably listen to this podcast and take part in our queer expats group because honestly, Costa Rica is relatively LGBTQ friendly in almost every way. Now, coming up in a future episode, I'm talking to a queer expat couple who recently relocated to Costa Rica, and that's going to be a great show. They're going to give their personal experience on deciding to relocate to Costa Rica and what it's like for them living in Costa Rica now. And what's really cool about their perspective is that they did that without a ton of international experience. They were not traveling all around the world in their careers and then finally landed on Costa Rica. They did it without a lot of international experience at all. And so they're going to be giving you a raw, really cool perspective on relocating to Costa Rica and also relatively recently as well. But for today, we're going to get into it with Sarah, Elena founder of relocate now Costa Rica. And by the way, everything we talk about today will be linked to in the show notes. So you don't have to try and get everything down while you're listening. All the links should be there. So for now, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Sarah, thank you so much for joining us today. So you are the founder of Relocate Now Costa Rica, and I would love to get a little bit of your backstory. I think I told you this before, but our audience is very excited about Costa Rica, and it's a country that many people are interested in moving to. So We're excited to hear what you have to say today about moving to Costa Rica. So anyway, so what's your background a little bit? And how did you end up in Costa Rica in

Sarah Elena:

the

Jess Drucker:

first place?

Sarah Elena:

Sure. Um, I appreciate you having me. Excited to be here. Excited that we can, you know, chat together and talk through topics of Costa Rica. I obviously love Costa Rica. Eat, sleep, and breathe Costa Rica all day long. And I love living here. So I love to be able to share, you know, what that experience has been like for me, but also, you know, I do help people with moving here. So I like to also be able to share, you know, their experiences too, so that others can learn from them. Um, so for my story, so I grew up in Virginia in the United States. I was a social worker and I graduated college, got, you know, more jobs, you know, working, working, working, and nine to five. Life and I just kind of woke up one day and was like is this is this it like is this What all I did all that for? And I just thought, you know, there has to be something, you know more to life and I was at that point I was in a very good position to move a lot of people that we work with, you know They might have been living in a home for 30 years and they have a lot more complicated logistics But for me personally, I just packed two suitcases You know, the lease was coming up on my apartment, sold the car, just literally put my life into two suitcases, and told my family and friends I was moving to Costa Rica. Of course, everyone was pretty concerned, but Costa Rica had fallen on my radar. Actually, I knew I always wanted to move abroad to another country, so I was looking into different countries.

Jess Drucker:

Can I stop you there, because that's something that obviously a lot of people wonder about, but also, um, can I ask you, can we back all the way though, because You say you always wanted to move abroad, and I did notice in your bio that you were born in another country.

Sarah Elena:

Yes.

Jess Drucker:

Yep, I was born in Russia. And you moved to the U. S. when you were how old? I was probably like a year, under a year and a half.

Sarah Elena:

Okay.

Jess Drucker:

Do you think that, like, you kind of always wanted to move because, like, you had that precedent in your family already that, like, you even could move to it?

Sarah Elena:

I think so. So I was actually adopted. That's how I ended up in the United States. Okay, got it. But I traveled to Russia twice. Like, I'd been back, I'd actually, that's a whole nother, that's actually a pretty crazy YouTube video I have up about the whole story about going back and finding my biological family and everything. Wow,

Jess Drucker:

link to it in the show notes, why not?

Sarah Elena:

Yeah, yes, yes, it's, it's funny because that's the most viewed video on the channel, but, you know, my channel is about Costa Rica, but yeah, I actually went back and found my family. So, I think I was always interested, I was always interested in travel. I was always interested in exploring other countries. I remember during my, in my last internship as a social worker, you know, when I had nothing else to do, I'd be there planning my Euro trip, looking at the, okay, what countries I'm going to go to. Um, so I was always interested in moving abroad anyways.

Jess Drucker:

Yeah, totally. And then, so, and you were looking at other countries too, were there other countries that you were seriously considering moving to? So one

Sarah Elena:

was I guess Australia because I thought okay, it's a foreign country. They still speak English I thought maybe I can get a job there and then I realized that there are working visas, you know It's actually not that easy just to go there and work neither is it for costa rica? But and also I just thought the travel times if I want to you know Be visiting family at least twice a year going back and forth between australia is going to be kind of crazy but at least it opened up my Brain to other possibilities and then I had some friends that were in costa rica You And they were just raving about it. They said, it's so magical. It's amazing. It's and I was like, huh? You know, I didn't really think about Costa Rica, but they were talking so highly of it. I said, okay Well, i'm gonna let me look into this and I honestly didn't really do any research I googled a picture of Costa Rica. I saw the white sand beach. I said, yep, that sounds good to me Like i'm I like beaches so I did it by all the ways that you shouldn't do it, and I did make a lot of mistakes, but you know, almost nine years later, I'm still here, but that's why I do now try to help people so they don't do things the way I did. I did not pick a good area for myself, you know, I separated from those friends about two weeks after getting here, went off on my own, but if I were to move to another foreign country, like now in my life, because now I have a daughter, I, after a year of living here, I got pregnant. She's just turned seven. Today's actually her birthday. So she's seven years old. So if I were to do it again now, like move to another country, I would not do it. Because I did, I did go live in a hostel for a bit. And then I was teaching English on my computer. And I was, you know, just floating around. I've lived in 20 homes in this country, actually. So now I'm in my final home that I built. And I'm done moving. But that's, that's kind of, yeah, how things were. But now, definitely no. I would not do it the way I did it.

Jess Drucker:

Wow. Okay.

Sarah Elena:

And so you built a home. So where do you live in Costa Rica? So I live in Playa Mosa near Jaco. So it's in the Central Pacific. But I spent most of my years, I guess I spent most of my time down in the South Pacific. In Ibiza, Dominical, in those areas. I spent some time outside of San Jose before I gave birth. Manuel Antonio and Capos live there as well. All in no particular order, but I've, Probably lived at least 15 to 17 places different in the country.

Jess Drucker:

And how long, how long have you been living where you are? Like, when did you decide, okay, this is it for me. This is where I want to stay.

Sarah Elena:

Well, I guess that was within that. So this August, it'll be four years in this particular area in Playa Hermosa near Jaco. So I moved up to Jaco during the pandemic. And then I was like, Oh, this place is pretty, this place is actually pretty nice. So I got really kind of cushy with the paved roads. The distance to the airport's really nice. It has a lot around. There's lots of school options, you know, for my daughter. And I do find them to be pretty affordable in this area as well. I like the rainy season. So I do like that things are all green all year round here versus other areas of the country. So, yeah. And then I'm, you know, just having community and a good friend group. Like, now I wouldn't, I couldn't imagine leaving my friend group where I'm at now. I mean, I love them and they're a big part of my life, so that also, I think, keeps me in this area.

Jess Drucker:

Okay, so if you don't mind, I would love to talk a little bit about the fact that you do have a daughter, and what that's like for you in terms of, so how do you decide, because you know, it's one thing to move by yourself, but people who have kids already, I think some people are afraid to move with their kids, when actually, I think it can, I mean, your daughter was obviously born there, so it's a little bit different, but like, it can be. Such an amazing experience for kids to actually move abroad. But how do you decide, like, where she goes to school? How do you make those decisions? And in Costa Rica, what is it like for kids going to school? Um, especially foreign kids or, or expat kids?

Sarah Elena:

Yeah. I mean, since my daughter was born here, it is a little bit different, but I do work with a ton of families who bring their kids. So, you know, some, someone might think, oh gosh, that's, you know, like, maybe that's not the right thing to do for my child. But a lot of people have done it. And actually, I've had a lot of single moms move as well. So, like, a lot of single parents have moved. Yeah. And families, so. The schools, the schools are usually one of the big, they can be a big determining factor as to where someone decides that they do want to live. And there's lots of different types of education here. So, for example, my daughter's in a MEP certified, the Costa Rican Board of Education certified program because she was born here in Costa Rica. She technically, she needs, legally, she's supposed to be enrolled in that kind of education. That could be through the public system or through a private school, which she does go to a private school. With the public system, I kind of opted out of that because, just like anywhere in the world. The more rural you get, sometimes they have less resources, the quality of education maybe won't be as good. As good as other places. So, and the beach areas, you know, here in Costa Rica are more rural and a lot of people do live to the, a lot of people do move to the beaches, but a lot of people do move to the Central Valley. So, I've had a lot of families move outside of San Jose because the school is good. The weather is good. The access to amenities are all there, but schools definitely do become a determining factor, but well, I guess what I hear from parents a lot whenever they want to move is, you know, they want their kids to be outside more. They want them to be off their screens. They want them to be in a nice community. And for me personally, I feel like I've met, I have a lot of friends that are parents, and we all have time to do stuff. It's not like everyone's so busy in their lives that there's no time to meet up or get the kids together. You just take them to the beach, or I guess if you're not living by the beach, some other area of the community, the park. Just let them roam free, you know, you can keep an eye on them, of course. But, and then they'll find friends, and then you hang out. So it's, I feel like there's just a good sense of community here as a parent. Because there's other people that are around that also have free time that make it, I guess, I would say more enjoyable. For

Jess Drucker:

Yeah, and are there in, so in San Jose and surrounding areas, I'm sure there are like American schools, British schools, German schools, French schools, you know, all of those type of international schools. What about in the, you're saying rural, but also just like in the beach areas on both sides, both the Pacific and the Caribbean side, are there international schools that kids attend there as well?

Sarah Elena:

Yes, so there's some ones, let's say up in Guanacaste, North Guanacaste. CREA is a really popular one, Journey. I mean, we have a whole, I got a whole spreadsheet actually of all the schools, their grade levels, their accreditation, you know, all those things. Um, so yeah, you can find really good international schools up in Guanacaste, even the HACO area. There's a, there's a pretty decent variety. There's also alternative schools around the country too. So for people who like Waldorf style education or maybe more holistic, you know, who aren't so worried about having a certain type of accreditation Montessori, you know, my daughter was a Montessori before she was really of school age. Cause it was just nice for her to go and do that. But there are accredited schools as well here in the country. Are there,

Jess Drucker:

what would you say, if you have any idea of like price ranges, like how, how expensive can a school get up to in Costa Rica? Are we talking like 15,000 or 20,000 a year annual or like do you happen to know and, and of course this is something we can look up. Okay.

Sarah Elena:

Just to name off some prices, you know, maybe 490 for preschool to could be 800 per month. 800 per month. This would be per month in US dollars, maybe high school 576. So I pay 400. I pay 425 per month, me personally. Um, I see another one for kindergarten and attendance that's 1, 300 per month. So that's really on the high scale. You know, high school 1, 500 per month, that's on the high, high, high scale. But 400, 600, 700, 800, 350, 350 would probably be on the lower end of things. But I think you can find something reasonable between, let's say, 300, And 450 or 500. I think that is possible.

Jess Drucker:

Okay, and so you said also that you built a house. That feels very gutsy to me. Like, how did you decide that you could do that? Like, how did you know you could do that? Let's

Sarah Elena:

see. Well, I always tend to bite off more than I can chew. Okay. It's just kind of how I am. I'm like, let's move to another country. Oh, look, I'm pregnant. Let's raise this baby alone here. I always have a good people around me. So that came about because let's see, I was getting to the point where I wanted to buy, you know, I wanted to buy something for my daughter and I, and have our own, you know, place. Finally, we moved, I moved around so many times rented all these years. I've never owned a home yet in my life. I'm turning 32 next month. So I just was like, it's, I would like to have something of my home. When I was looking at the market. I couldn't really find exactly, exactly what I was looking for. And then I, I knew what area I wanted to be in. I like being in Playa Hermosa, right outside of Jaco. So I kind of, I'd been living in Hermosa, I'd lived in Jaco twice. You know, they're just ten minutes away from each other. But I know I like, I knew I liked Hermosa. And I decided I'm just going to start looking around at lots. So my idea was to actually build two homes. And then sell one of them and then, you know, live in the other. So I ended up doing that. Yeah. I started looking for lots, bought the first lot in April of 2022, but the second lot in August of 2022, by that point, I actually had a sales call, just a normal sales, you know, exploratory call with someone about moving to Costa Rica and him and, um, his wife and I and him became, you know, start talking more about properties and things like that. And they actually asked, Hey, can we. Go on and go in on with you with the second home that you want to do for sale. And I said, well, sure, why not? So we've been working together on that and I would love to work with them again. Absolutely. So we ended up doing that one together, did both the homes at the same time. So we started the design process in like September permits were happening in December approved by January. Broke ground, I want to say, end of February of 2023, 2020, you know, February, March, broke ground, and we finished up between this past September and October of 2023, and then I moved in. I'm here now.

Jess Drucker:

Amazing. I mean, yeah, gutsy, for sure. That is so brave. I mean, I know it doesn't probably feel like it because you're like, just thinking of all the details, now, you know, like, thinking about it all, but it's like, if you would look back when you were like, 24, Can you imagine that you would have done all of this on your own?

Sarah Elena:

No way. No way. And I think maybe part of that is having a kid, you know, like, honestly, put such a fire under my tush. Gotta do something. You know, I was always working before, but it really has always given me that extra push of, all right, we gotta do something. And then with COVID happening, that was kind of the perfect storm of people wanting to move to Costa Rica. And I'd started the YouTube channel just for fun years prior. I didn't, Think anything would honestly ever kind of never thought people would even watch the videos. So and that's where we are This is where we are now from that amazing

Jess Drucker:

Okay And so turning it a little bit more toward like your clients and the work that you do do you find people? Are the most interested to move, you know? Are people looking to move kind of in the area that you're in? So like on the Pacific side or even sort of split between the beaches or where people looking to move most

Sarah Elena:

Let's see. That's a really good question. So I do have a lot of people who like to live outside of San Jose, so that would be kind of the Central Valley, Atenas, Grecia, maybe Santa Ana, even Escazú, that's getting a little bit more towards the city at that point, San Ramon, and that might be more of my retired or nearing retirement crowd. I'll get more and more of that demographic in that area because of the distance to medical, you know, the roads are good, the infrastructure is good, they have access to a lot of amenities, and majorly the climate. So I do have a lot of people who moved to Costa Rica and say, I don't want to be near a beach. I don't, it's too hot, I'm already coming from hot, I want to go look at it, but I don't want to live near the beach. But then I also do have a lot of other people that it was, you know, it is their dream to live by the beach. So we do get a lot of people in the Central Pacific. They like that area because they're still not too far from the airport. That's kind of why I chose it. I've lived way out in the boonies so many times in my time here, so it's fine. I've been there, done that. I'm just going to kind of take the easy life here by the beach from now on. But they like it because it's close to the airport. Good, you know, good options for medical, good schools, and again, if you have families. South Pacific's very popular, so that's where I first moved, and it's, it's very magical. Just the jungle, and there's mountain that comes really close to the ocean, and it's just beautiful. It's beautiful. So that's also a very popular area.

Jess Drucker:

And what about the Caribbean side, like Limon and down, do people, do some of your clients like to move there as well?

Sarah Elena:

I think I've had three people total out of like hundreds move over there. So it's not that it's a bad area. I've been over there. It's beautiful. It's just, it's very disconnected from the rest of the country. You know, you could be four and a half, five hours from the international airport, but you got to go through that national park, that windy road that it can be subject to landslides or just things. I don't know of any private schools out there, to be honest, at all. And you know, the distance to medical and amenities is very far. So I think for that, I just think there's a lot of deal breakers for some people. But, I think the people who end up out there are the ones that just want to kind of be away from it all, that want to be in a more rustic environment, and, you know, not have access to those things. And they're totally fine with that. I mean, I have some people out there, like I said, very few, but they're out there, and they seem to love it, and that's why they moved out there. I think a lot of people vacation over there because it's more untouched too.

Jess Drucker:

Okay, so people are looking at these locations and they're buying or they're renting or whatever and they decide they're moving to Costa Rica but like, how are they staying? What are the

Sarah Elena:

visas they're

Jess Drucker:

getting?

Sarah Elena:

So yeah, the visa options, I mean one thing that I do like to discuss with people is, so I didn't think about this at all, again I didn't think of anything. I thought that I could come. I thought I would have been that person that would have been hated on Facebook saying, what jobs can I get in Costa Rica? You know, moving down next month. Where can I work? And also didn't even think about these options. So when I moved, you could stay for 90 days. Now, as of last September of 2023, they extended it to the tourist visa to 180 days. So that was pretty big, a big change. So I do have some people come in and they'll do perpetual tourism, but I, I always want to educate people on their residency options or visa options prior to the moving, because like myself, I came and absolutely loved it. And you know, I'm, I wouldn't want to be doing visa run for nine years. You know, it's just, it's unstable. So there are some different ways. So there is the digital nomad visa. It was supposed to be a faster visa that people could get for up to two years. If as an individual they could show at least 3, 000 U. S. dollars of income for the last 12 months. But as a family, you'd have to show 4, 000. They look at it through your bank statements and they are going to want to know that you can technically work remotely. But the digital nomad visa, now immigration is all backed up with all those applications. So I don't even know if that's even faster at this point. That was supposed to be a faster solution for people, but at this point, just do your border runs rather than maybe even filing that. But residency options would be, well, if you, we have people come retired, so they have their pension. If you have a pension of at least a thousand U. S. dollars, some people will come and invest. So if you've invested at least 150, 000 U. S. dollars into the country, it could be through real estate, a business. The other residency categories can be someone with a pension, someone coming to invest. There's another one, like a smaller investor category. And then there, like what I did mine, what's, well, I got pregnant a year after I moved by surprise. So by having my child here in Costa Rica and her being Costa Rican, that actually put me straight to permanent residency. Because all the other categories, you're a temporary resident at first for a few years, and then you can. transition that status to permanent. So since my daughter was born here, that's how I ended up with my residency. So that was a good bonus, but I think there's some good options for people, for sure. I think I was a pension. I think I admit marriage too. Let's say if someone does come here and they get married to a Costa Rican citizen. That's another way to get residency. So I said, those are the main, main residency categories that I see most people file under. But of course, anytime I'm working with someone and they, I can give them this preliminary information, see if they qualify or what I think category, what category sounds like would be the best fit for them. And then if it's appropriate, I would connect them with an attorney to actually do that process. This is this conversation is for educational purposes. Exactly. Yeah. I always know, like when it's time for me to say, okay, like this kind of question. I would prefer that you speak with an attorney over it just to never ever step my own boundaries.

Jess Drucker:

Is this, does being fluent in Spanish or taking some kind of test ever factor in in Costa Rica, or can you get

Sarah Elena:

by on

Jess Drucker:

these visas?

Sarah Elena:

So you don't have to take a test for the residency categories, or for the digital nomad visa, for the, you know, the tourist visa, the 180 days of people coming in on that. For citizenship, let's say if someone would be eligible to file citizenship in Costa Rica in the future, After years of having residency, and maybe it's only a specific category that they can eventually move to citizenship with, then they would have to take a test. I always recommend that people learn Spanish as much as they can. I moved without knowing very much. I didn't, you know, the basics, but I am fully fluent now, and I learned it just from being here, being immersed in places where people didn't speak English, you know, forcing myself to use it. But I always also encourage people to be patient with themselves and that Costa Ricans are really kind, very kind people, and they will try to work with you on whatever Spanish you have, and you guys can do charades, and they're just very gracious with those things. They're, if they see you trying, they really appreciate it. So even if it's not perfect, I would say just try to use what you can. Keep learning on your own, whether it's through an app, or people will do online programs, or there's some tutors I'll recommend here in Costa Rica that can do virtually, but they'll teach you about Costa Rica Spanish, you know, because every. You know, country has their own kind of version of it at times, and the culture. So, I think that learning Spanish will enhance your experience 1, 000%. Like, 1, 000%, it'll make it so much better.

Jess Drucker:

Hey, Noah, thank you so much for sort of laying that out. That's really interesting. I mean, I think it's important for people to realize, like, in places like Costa Rica, what you, what you called, you know, What did you call it? Permanent tourism? Is that what you called it? Perpetual tourism. Perpetual tourism. Um, I hadn't heard that term. I like it. I will steal it. But perpetual tourism is actually a thing. Um, do people with families do that? Like, could you, could your kid go to school on that visa? Like, I'm sorry, like, being a perpetual tourist?

Sarah Elena:

Yes, people do that. So, I mean, there can be some reasons. Like, I, I don't think it's a good permanent solution. But I also don't ever encourage that someone rushes into filing residency if they're not sure if Costa Rica is right for them. So, I think it can be appropriate. I don't think it's the best long term solution that you should just come be a perpetual tourist forever. Like, 20 years, you know. But I do, but I also, Tell people why don't you give what maybe every six months you reevaluate? How do we feel here? Do we want to stay longer? Could we really envision us planning more roots here, especially if someone's going to buy property? I would recommend getting the residency if you qualified under that category for sure. You're going to own a major asset in a foreign country. And I think that would be good to be a resident of that country, because during COVID, Costa Rica wasn't allowing, so if people had properties here during COVID, but they did not have residency, and they happened to be outside of Costa Rica whenever the borders closed down, they weren't going to be able to get back in. So that would be a good reason to have your residency if you're going to own an asset here. But I think it's also okay to do the perpetual tourism as you're evaluating if you want to stay in Costa Rica and become a resident. It's kind of a pain. You got to gather the paperwork and get it apostilled and go through all these, you know, few hoops. So it's not something that you just want to, you know, Do if you think you might only be here for a year, it would not be worth it because it might take you the whole year to get the residency.

Jess Drucker:

Okay, and then let's talk a little bit more specifically, um, you know, my audience is mainly like LGBTQ people who are interested in moving abroad. Is there a, is there a large queer community? Is there like a large expat community that like meets up or anything that might be LGBTQ? And what's like in your obviously outside opinion, like what is your general feeling of like how welcoming Costa Rica is?

Sarah Elena:

Yeah, so one of my best friends is a part of the queer community. So she's given me some perspective on this in the past because of course I ask her questions. I'm just curious myself too, you know, how she's been here for, I guess, about as long as I have, nine years. And I've also have clients who have moved down actually, men who came with a child, uh, you know, male clients that moved down together or singles. And they've all asked me the same questions as well. And so far, at least they've told me that they felt very welcomed. So even Costa Ricans, I feel in general, they're very like, You know, as long as you're not hurting yourself or other people, they're pretty cool and whatever you want to do with yourself, they're very open, they're very accepting, that's, that is just the general culture, so I would say. There, maybe there's some areas, like especially around beach towns, where you get so many other cultures coming into those beach towns that people are a lot more open minded as well. But it also sounds like in San Jose and the surrounding those areas, people are very open too. So, so far, that's at least what I've heard. They reported back to me that it's absolutely fine and that they felt really welcome here.

Jess Drucker:

Um, okay, great. And then, so I wanted to ask, like, what is the process like when, when you work with clients? Like how, how does Relocate now? Like what, what do you do? Do they reach out to you and you sort of walk them through step by step everything they need to know? Or how does it work to, to work with you?

Sarah Elena:

Okay, well, the process has shifted and changed over time in good ways. You know, when you start working one on one with people, you start to understand their needs more. So, from when we started to now, and who knows? I mean, if someone's listening to this years from now, who knows where we'll be? In a good way. It's always good things. So, I have a few different programs. So, I guess number one would be scouting trips. So, we help people plan out scouting trips to, number one, determine, is Costa Rica the right fit for them? If so, you know, where do they actually want to start in the country? So that session is usually with me. We'll pick apart the whole trip. I get to know someone's lifestyle, their hobbies, their, what's important to them, go through each area of the country on the map and really just structure something so that they're getting to areas that would be a potential fit for them and then they can actually come out of the trip with those goals and we organize everything. Some people start with a scouting trip and then if it goes well, then they move on to relocation. And so for our relocation, what we do is we It's really in depth. So we have a kickoff call. It's usually an hour and a half. We'll go through each and every logistic of their move. So that could be areas that we do their long term rental search, residency, packing, shipping, bringing pets, budgeting, banking, insurance, medical, car purchase, phones, prescriptions, literally everything. And we actually make a month to month timeline. So we map out, okay, this is where we're at now. This is when your timeframe, let's say they're moving in six months or a year, a year and a half. This is what's going to happen kind of month to month with each of your logistics. And then we have like this nice little do list. So they always know where they should be out on their progress. And then we actually, in the meantime, we always have weekly meetings. Like, I like to have that sense of community. We have weekly meetings for our members. We meet up in person too, but our weekly meetings are in Zoom. And we're always there via email or WhatsApp. We arrange their whole arrival to their rental, and then we're around as an, like an, uh, as an ongoing, as needed basis after their move. So that's definitely our, like, more complete, more popular package. And then I came out with a new program. It's called the Do It Yourself Move to Costa Rica. So it's more of an online course format, but they do get 12 weeks of group calls with me. They can come and ask questions and get clarity on different items. And they still get, you know, all my expert information, everything that's in my brain, I just put into a nice, neat course format where I've worked through videos that they can watch. And I actually create their roadmap, you know, I'll create their month to month plan for them. But a lot of what we do is connecting people to vetted professionals. So again, like, what lawyer should I use? Okay, I want a SHIP. Who do I need to do for that? Okay, we want insurance. Who do we need to go to for that? So I already have all these You know providers that I vetted and been working with for years. So through any of our programs, you know We'll get connected with any, you know, our kind of our approved vetted professionals And I think that's it. Oh the last one's retreats. The retreats are in person experiences. What do

Jess Drucker:

retreats

Sarah Elena:

entail? They're pretty cool. So I know I have a lot we have a lot going on I know I should should just have one service but It's evolved over time. So the retreats were something that I had started years ago So I thought you know, it wouldn't it be fun if we had everyone coming in person You Like so people could come meet with speakers. So the residency attorney that I like to work with, you know, all of our professionals actually come, we do seminars, and then we go do really fun activities and show them around, you know, different areas. And that's like a week long.

Jess Drucker:

And do you then after like people relocate, you ever see like your babies out in the wild and feel really proud of them? Like they're just like at dinner, but you're like, Oh, look at them. They live here now. Do you like to have like a

Sarah Elena:

little network like that? Yeah. I do, I do, I do see people. So sometimes I'll be driving around. I'm like, I might be with a friend or another client. I'm like, Oh, there's one of my clients. So there goes Ed on his bike. Or you also have a

Jess Drucker:

Facebook group of like 48, 000 people. I know that's ridiculous to me. That's a huge group. I mean, obviously there's huge interest in moving to Costa Rica, but like, yeah. So people can join that for free. Right.

Sarah Elena:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And then we have, and I have a client's only like separate Facebook group for just people that we're actually working with where we also stream our weekly meetings because our do it yourself course people, they get their 12, they get their weekly meetings too. So that's always streamed in case anyone misses anything. And same with the other relocate now member people. Wow. You have

Jess Drucker:

got a lot going on. I mean, Costa Rica is such a hot topic. It's where so many people want to move. So I can only imagine you're so busy.

Sarah Elena:

It is. It has absolutely been busy, but it's been good. And hopefully You know, I think people just want to try something new, and this is the way that I kind of went into it with, Hey, I'm gonna go try this, and if it doesn't work out, I'll just go back to doing what I was doing. Exactly.

Jess Drucker:

And that's the point, is that you always can go back to doing what you're doing. It's not like a life or death decision. It's like, The year of your life and then you can totally just go back home.

Sarah Elena:

Exactly. So you've been thinking about maybe an exit plan or and then that's okay and that's not a bad thing but I have had people who have moved back after moving and but they've always said that they're so glad they came they met wonderful people they had such a cool life experience like they wouldn't they don't regret moving at all. And that they would do it again. And I think that that's fine, you know, you're right, the move doesn't have to be this crazy life or death experience or life altering experience if, if you come. And I don't know, I mean, people ask me, will I be in Costa Rica forever? I think so. But if in 20 years from now, that's not a good fit for me anymore, then it's not. And I guess I would look at making a change. And that's the mindset that I came into it from the beginning.

Jess Drucker:

Yeah, exactly.

Sarah Elena:

Exactly.

Jess Drucker:

Okay, so, as we wrap things up, what are some, like, top tips you have for people when they're looking to move to Costa Rica? Like, what are a few things that maybe people don't even know to think about? And you can sort of help set them right here with these, like, a few top tips.

Sarah Elena:

Well, first, like, really refining your budget, because I do see where that's where some people run into problems, is they've ended up being more expensive than what they thought, or they didn't understand the cost of living of a certain area. Yeah. Like, just refining their budget to, to really getting some real numbers. So, like, we do budgeting with people. So, you know, figure out, I always mark out, okay, what is the person's largest expense is going to be, and then we can kind of fill in the gaps. So, really making a very realistic budget so that you're not surprised. But also being adaptable and learning how to change some of your habits. So, you know, being, you have to be very, very adaptable because you're going to be learning a whole new culture, a whole new language. Even driving here can be a challenge. Just doing all these new things is just a, it's going to be a challenge. So I would, I would tell people just to be adaptable, but also take it a bit slow, you know, step by step. Not try to get overwhelmed with everything. Cause I see people are go, go, go, go, go up until they move. And then they get here and they're like, what do I need to do? What do I need to do? And I'm just like, all right, slow down. We'll take it out. Like we'll get your phone chip. That's a big first step. And then we'll just take everything step by step from there. Like, it's like, I do recommend that people should be renting prior to buying. Take your time, get to know your area, be 100 percent sure on your area before buying anything. I mean, that's really important. I mean, if you're 100 percent sure before you move, which I've had some clients who are, okay, by all means, go ahead and buy, but be 100 percent sure on an area before you buy. I have an areas quiz. I've done webinars on areas, because that is such a big kind of determining factor of how you're going to feel for your move. You need to make sure that you, you know, It's okay if you don't stay there. Like I said, I've moved to 20 different homes, but at least choosing an area that's going to be a good fit for you, that's going to fit your needs. And then you can get comfortable and integrate and adapt a little bit. And then you can start to branch out from there.

Jess Drucker:

Yeah, I think people probably would underestimate the microclimates of Costa Rica. Really different from 20 minutes away driving can be completely different. So yeah, I bet your area is because it's really useful.

Sarah Elena:

Yes. Oh, yeah. I like to think there's a place for everyone in Costa Rica in terms of budget, but also in terms of climate and community, if you want something more lively, something more laid back, so I do like to think there's definitely something for everyone here, but it's just about choosing the right one for you.

Jess Drucker:

Yeah, and one follow up question with budget, and then I promise that I'll let you go. Um, you've been so kind with your time, but with budget, I think other, uh, another thing that people might be surprised about with Costa Rica is that it is like a pretty developed country. I mean, we're talking about how rural it is and like, yes, there's like definitely dirt roads and you definitely have to drive on them and there's big potholes and things. There's also, it's like also pretty well developed. And so budget, it can get really expensive. You mentioned Escazú, and Escazú is fancy. I mean, you know, you can probably have a higher budget there than you might at home. Yeah. Cool. Depending on where you move. So I know that you can help them personally with this, but like, how do you know what

Sarah Elena:

the budget might be? A lot of it's market research. So, you know, doing the rental market. So if you're curious about a certain area, hop on a website or a group where you're going to be actually looking at what are the rental prices there? Cause that's going to be a big part of your budget. Food, it'll depend on your habits, you know, how often do you eat out, what do you eat, you know, learning not just to grab for the main store, the main brands that you're used to, but go to something right next to it that's literally the same, just under a different brand, but cheaper. So I actually have a cost of items spreadsheet that I put together too, that I actually went to the store in Jaco, you know, which is a touristy town. I went to Mas Permanos, it's actually technically owned by Walmart. Well, that along with maxi poly, but I went and actually took down the prices and took photos of all the items, like a lot of common items in there so that people could calculate and look and maybe compare where they're coming from, too, in terms of food and then schools. So again, if you're gonna have kids, private school is gonna be a big part of your budget. So mapping out. Okay. What are the costs of the schools in the areas that you're most interested in?

Jess Drucker:

You're right. I mean,

Sarah Elena:

it's

Jess Drucker:

really rent, food, and school are your biggest things, and then

Sarah Elena:

compare

Jess Drucker:

those

Sarah Elena:

prices. I think so, yeah.

Jess Drucker:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you. I mean, thank you for all of this. Obviously, you, everyone should work with you if they want to move to Costa Rica. You seem to know literally everything, or you have a spreadsheet for it. So, how do people get in touch with you? Where should they look to find more of your content?

Sarah Elena:

Okay, well, I guess if someone's very excited to move to Costa Rica, they can go to my website, LaSaralena. com. And you'll see there, I do have a book a call link, so that would be if someone would like to, well, just get some information on what program might be a good fit for them, or you can actually just click on the programs on the website and start right then and there, and we get the whole process started. But I understand some people might have a few questions first, so I do have the calls available, they're complimentary, they're 30 minutes, I can go through someone's questions that they might have, and then, you know, talk about what it would look like, the next steps forward would look like. If someone's still kind of in their research phase, I do have the YouTube channel. If anyone just go I guess you'll probably have it in the description. But if you go to Saralena, Costa Rica, I'm sure I will pop up. You can dig through lots of information on there. I'm gonna have, uh, I don't know, maybe almost 300 videos, 200 something for sure. And then, of course, there's our Facebook group, the Move into Costa Rica Facebook group. And a lot of these templates are, um, you know, things that I talk about, I have as freebies, you know, I have, I, like I said, I'm a spreadsheet person, so I guess see my Instagram, that's where I would have a lot of my freebies, like my areas quiz, or, so I like to give out a lot of freebies in my content, too, that'll help people narrow things down or assist with them with some of these questions that they might have before. Or they need answered before they can even decide if they can move.

Jess Drucker:

Well, that's awesome. I mean, I'll try to link to everything you just said, um, in the show notes. But I think that's the benefit of being someone who was brave enough to go down and just like, kind of make all the mistakes first. Because you know what to cover in order to help people not make the same mistakes. So actually, I think it totally benefits everyone. Oh yeah, I'm the guinea pig. Well, thank you. Thanks so much for being on the show. We really appreciate it and I hope that everyone who's interested in Costa Rica reaches out to you is Thank you. I appreciate you

Sarah Elena:

having me. Thanks so much.

Jess Drucker:

Alright. Thank you again to Sarah Elena. She can be found@lastsarahelena.com or you can head over to her over 200 YouTube videos or join her 48,000 plus person Facebook group as well. Speaking of Facebook groups, we're growing ours as well. So while you're on Facebook, type in queer expat and join our group. And if you'd like to start figuring out where to move abroad, but you don't quite know where and you don't know what the next steps are, our team at Rainbow Relocation Strategies will help you create your own international relocation strategy. What we do is we help you figure out what you're truly looking for, like what's your why in terms of an international relocation. We help you figure out where it's safe, secure, where you're going to have an improved quality of life as a queer person, what it's like to move with your family, or if you have a family with queer folks, and I know you guys are queer. We'll find countries for you that match your budget, have visa requirements that you can meet. and match the lifestyle you're looking for. Then we'll work on a custom checklist for you in terms of steps to keep you accountable. We'll introduce you to our relocation specialists in each location, which Sarah Elena is our relocation specialist for Costa Rica. And we'll do everything we can to help you feel confident in your move abroad. For more information on that, head to rainbow reload. com. That's rainbow R E L O. com. We're at socials and our queer expats. Facebook group is also free and available for you to join. And as always, if you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple podcasts or wherever you're listening to the show and give us a rating and review. It really helps us reach a wider audience and keep listening every other Tuesday for another adventure calls podcast with tips, tricks, and information on how you can move, live, and thrive. Around.