Chris Howard have personally introduced young entrepreneurs, middle age people, Baby Boomers and retirees to Costa Rica.

I was having dinner with a close friend last week and during one of our conversations she remarked. “You know you have been a trend setter here in Costa Rica.” I then said, “What do you mean?”

She went on to explain that I had been the first person to promote and write about retirement and living in Costa Rica over twenty years ago. The more I thought about it she was right. When I came here in the early 1980s there were a few brave expatriates who had made the move. Some were retired while others were just  hanging out and enjoying life.

I never thought of myself as a trend setter but I did get bitten by the bug to promote the country for retirees about 25 years ago. The first thing I did was write a 60-page pamphlet which eventually evolved into he current 15th 550-page edition of my best selling guidebook, “The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica.” The book created  an awareness of the country as a retirement haven and has been read by over a quarter of a million people. Thanks to it thousands of people’s lives have been changed by making the move to this beautiful tropical paradise. My book has become so successful that a while slew of people have copied me by writing other books about living here. I really do feel flattered because of this.

About twelve years ago, at the insistence of some of the people who had read my book,  I started to offer relocation/retirement tours to Costa Rica for people of all ages and budgets. Since that time I have personally introduced young entrepreneurs, middle age people, Baby Boomers and retirees to Costa Rica. It is really rewarding to help so many people find what they are looking for in Costa Rica. At present my tour business is flourishing. As with my books others have copied my formula by starting their own version of my retirement/relocation tours. They have experienced some success but not to the extent I have. My tours have been featured on the NBC Today Show, CNBC World News and were mentioned on Good Morning America, in News Week Magazine and other publications like the Wall Street Journal. I expect somebody to copy this idea soon given my book’s success.

Aside from all of my accomplishments above, this article is to make people aware of the popularity of Costa Rica as a place to work, play, live or retire. Given the current financial crisis in the U.S. and other world events, Costa Rica just may be the solution. Hopefully, I can continue to help people change their lives foe the better by moving here.