Costa Rica in the Upside Down… And Some News

Hola Amigos. How are you holding up? The world has certainly changed since our last post. We truly do hope this finds you healthy and staying safe during these strange and scary times. If you know Nikk and I, you know we love the musical Hamilton. As HamFans, we like to refer to this as the time that the world turned upside-down.

Nikk and I are doing well. We are still down here in Costa Rica… for now. I know many people have been wondering how Costa Rica is doing during the pandemic. The country has done an absolutely tremendous job of closing quickly and thoroughly to prevent the spread of the virus. The border has been closed to any non-residents since March 16^th, and most flights in or out have ceased. As of yesterday we have had just over 2,200 confirmed cases country-wide, but only 9 in our area. Again, I totally attribute this to the government’s quick and comprehensive action. (Side note: a great resource to keep up with Costa Rica news in English is the Tico Times – perfect for new residents or those thinking of moving here.)

In our area, we were under a stay-at-home order for about two months. Regulations have begun to lift, but in a slow and methodical way. All bars remain closed and restaurants must operate at 50% capacity, although many have decided to only do to-go or have closed all together. Driving is restricted by the numbers on your license plate so that there are certain days when you aren’t allowed to drive at all. The biggest bummer for us is that the beaches have been closed. A few weeks ago they opened some beaches, but only from 5-8 am. It makes sense and I understand their reasoning, but it has been so hard!! We also had a few weeks where alcohol sales were banned, as the government didn’t want people from the Central Valley (San Jose area) to come out to the coasts during Semana Santa (Holy Week), which is usually a HUGE tourism week. Luckily those bans are done and we’re able to get to-go beer from our favorite Cerveceria Independiente 😉. Unlike the US, there have been no runs on grocery items, so we’re well-stocked on everything.

Despite all the positive steps the government has taken, it has been extremely hard to watch our many friends struggle during this time. Costa Rica as a whole, but especially our small town, relies on tourism. The profit margins are very small (if existent at all) so many businesses don’t have the ability to stay open if they lose a month of sales. The economy here is really suffering. We grow more and more concerned each day about what the future will look like here. However, in true “Pura Vida” style, everyone is still kind and taking care of one-another. Several local charities came together right away to provide food and necessities for families that were out of work, and they continue to do so with the support of the community.

The only constant is change…

Isn’t it funny to think about how plans change? When Nikk and I packed up the Jeep and moved down here a year ago, our plan was to be a little transient until we found a city/town that we liked to settle down in. Then we found Surfside and fell in love right away, so we stayed. We’ve always had a loose plan to build a business wherever we settled. We had started discussing some businesses we could open here in Surfside. In January we even started to look at purchasing a house here!

And then… the world turned upside-down.

As we sat (literally… we were quarantined…) and watched all the changes happening, we started to think about a lot of things. We thought about how we couldn’t get to the US quickly if we needed to see our parents or if Nikk’s son needed us. We thought about our plans to open a business if there was no tourism. All of our business ideas were tourism-based, so our long-term plans were on hold for at least a year, but probably two. We thought about our future with our respective jobs – Nikk was laid off and my grant writing job wasn’t guaranteed past December.

And then… the Universe stepped in.

Unexpectedly, I received a call asking if I would consider returning to the non-profit I previously worked for (and for whom I was still writing grants for). My mentor was retiring and, although I had turned down her position previously, she wanted to ask me one more time. Now that everything had changed in Costa Rica, it became a more viable option. So after a LOT of discussion and a LOT of tears, we decided that moving back to Denver was the right choice for us right now.

This has been such a bittersweet change for us. We are excited about so many things: returning to Denver, seeing our friends and family there, my new job, Nikk’s job has returned, and the food – oh the food – that we have missed! But we are absolutely crushed to leave Surfside, the beach, our friends, this wonderful country and the safety that we feel here.

As the Terminator said, “We’ll be back.” Costa Rica is our home, and our dreams are still in tact. We’re just taking a quick vacation from our vacation life.

One last – very important – thing…

Please come visit Costa Rica when it opens up for tourism. This country will need you. Our friends will need you. The people here will need you. And I promise you, you won’t regret it. We definitely plan to visit a BUNCH once we can get back! As the Costa Rican Tourism body says, “Don’t cancel… postpone.”

We’re not canceling our dreams, we’re just postponing them. So keep checking in with the blog! It might be less beach-y, but we promise to share all the good food and breweries and Bosco pics from Denver!