Over the the last 27 years I have had the opportunity to observe 1000s of foreigners who have moved here. Costa Rica has always been a expatriate haven and has attracted foreigners from all backgrounds.

When I originally came here in the early 1980s the place was like the wild west and only for adventurous souls. There were soldiers of fortune involved in the Contra War in Nicaragua, Gringos on the lam, hippies, some retirees, gold miners in the Osa and a few entrepreneurs. They really were an interesting bunch of characters. Many would gather at a the now defunct bars downtown like Our Club, Porkey’s, Grupo 21, La Fonda, the old New York Bar, the old Piano Blanco Bar, Happy Days, La Fonda, Tiny’s and Tingo’s. During the day most of the expats hung out at the old Soda Palace, Frostie’s or infamous Park Hotel.

The old Key Largo under the late Jimmy Adams was the hot spot at night. It resembled something right out of a 1940s Bogart  movie.

Over the years people came and went. Most of the old time characters died off and were replaced by a whole new breed of expatriates. There are still the retired people but now we have the Baby Boomer crowd and a younger bunch of expat entrepreneurs. The Internet and Costa Rica’s popularity have really changed a lot of things. Now people can come here and start a web based business or put up a website to tell about their lives. A slew of sites with exotic tropical names exist where the nouveau experts on Costa Rica pontificate. A lot of these characters have given themselves names like Tico Bob, Costa Rica Mary, Orosí Ed, San Jose Sally, etc. One of the latest things  is to write blogs about their experiences here.

Another new fad is to write a book about one’s live here in Costa Rica. Since anyone can self publish this is now quite easy. Ninety-percent of these writers and self publishers don’t make any money on their books because they are in too much of a niche market. One group of expats  has discovered that writing blogs and books is a good way to attract customers to their businesses. I wrote the first edition of my bestselling guidebook, “The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica,” twenty years ago as a labor of love for the country. It was something really novel at the time and only one of two guidebooks about the country.  Today we have people hyping real estate and all sorts of products and services through their books.

What happened to the good old days when most people came down here to retire and live? I really miss the old eccentric crowd where money and egos weren’t an issue. Many of the new group are just too self serving.

I still love Costa Rica and will never leave here even when I retire but some things have changed.