How we lived in Costa Rica with toddlers for a summer

It was 10 weeks, in the American summer (Costa Rican summer is December to April). Our kids were almost 2 and almost 4 when we flew out of North Carolina to Costa Rica!

My husband and I were asked a ton of questions about how we made this happen so it’s time I break it down!

Renting out our home

We rented out our house for the entire time we were gone. We didn’t quite break even since we spent a bit more on accommodation than we made, but it was close! This was a TON of work and worth it. We spent a lot of spare time getting rid of things, putting stuff in storage (in our attic) and making our house feel like a nice retreat. 

I posted our house on Furnished Finder, which is an excellent site for healthcare workers or those looking to rent a home for several weeks to a few months. I also posted on Zillow, but the leads I received from Furnished Finder were closer to what we were looking for.

Choosing a school & town 

We found a bilingual school where our kids could learn Spanish and meet friends while we were living there. This was really important to us because we’d love them to have exposure to different languages and we were really burnt out. This ended up being a big driving factor to WHERE we would park ourselves in Costa Rica! I had narrowed it down to 3 options, and then again from there. The three options included a school near Chirripo, Mal Pais, and Samara. 

From there, it was easy to pick Samara because we were hoping for a beach experience and Samara’s waves are much more kid-friendly than any of the other surrounding areas. We knew we wouldn’t have any other assistance with the kiddos and so it was nice to have 4 hours a morning during the week. This also gave us a connection to the town! We were invited to birthday parties, went to all of the school gatherings and performances and built a little community. It was completely worth it!

Financial Planning

• We chose a town off the beaten path. We wanted our experience to be more authentic as well as more affordable. You can spend a pretty penny in several locations in Costa Rica, so this is a huge consideration!
• We got a local sim card for a dumb phone for communicating in-country. For international calls, we used Whatsapp or Facetime when we were on Wifi. Most cell phone providers have a program where you can pay $12/day and call internationally, so we knew that if we had an emergency, this was our backup plan.

• We paused all of our activities back home. This took some planning! We gave notice to the swim school that we’d be gone, and our co-working space. 

• We used savings. We met expats who were working, which is more common than our choice, which was to take a sabbatical. I had been teaching private Pilates sessions during all of my kid-free hours, and my husband had been working full-time. We decided to save for this experience and planned to take time off work. 

Transportation

We rented a car from someone on Facebook who was using the profit to help fund an animal rescue in Costa Rica called The Wet Nose Project. We paid $1600 for the entire 10 weeks and also managed to get the car delivered to us for a small fee. 

Finding a trustworthy source outside of the car rental companies saved us several thousand dollars! We were also quite happy to have a car that was a bit of a beater; it made us feel like we were locals and we didn’t have to worry about scratching the car.

Travel Insurance

We purchased travel insurance. It’s a non-negotiable for us, at this point. I know that from working in the travel industry for almost 20 years, that some things are unpredictable. We didn’t need to use the insurance for anything serious, but my son did have an eardrum burst and it was nice to know we could file for reimbursement from his doctor’s visits.

Flexibility

We kept an open mind! The first place we stayed had three bedrooms, but when we got there, the bedrooms that would have been for our kids were IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BUILDING. This was also where we saw a tarantula outside of our door, so we just piled into one bed and made a memory out of it.  

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My son’s favorite food before our trip was rice and beans and so we thought we were set when it came to food for him. It felt like the moment we landed in Costa Rica, he stopped liking rice and beans. We just had to go with it, every single day. This is the only attitude to have when turning your life upside down!

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Kid Emotions

Many chats were had about the experience we were about to have. They looked at photos of the places we were staying and watched videos of different experiences kids were having in Samara (like surfing). 

We also read lots of books about Costa Rica before leaving! This was helpful, but I will say that our kids basically thought they were going to a zoo. They were confused when we landed at the airport and didn’t see any monkeys. This was a lesson we learned; focus more on the overall experience, not the animals.

We brought their car seats. This was such a win! They feel comfortable in their car seats and during those first few days of adjustment, they had the same seat that they were always used to. 

Research, research! I joined all of the Facebook groups in Costa Rica that were useful. This is where I could search and find all the answers to my questions. For example, it’s hard to come by kids’ books that are written in English, so we brought our own.

Was it Worth it?

Absolutely. We learned more than we anticipated about ourselves. We had so many exciting adventures. The kids still remember watching turtles lay eggs on the beach!

The hard work of making this happen is something we plan to do again and again. In fact, we recently upended our whole life and MOVED to Colorado from North Carolina!

We're not sure when we'll take a family sabbatical next, but I know it's in the cards if we work for it.

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