Auto Mercado is Costa Rica’s high-end market that carries most brand name products from the United States and Canada.

Presently I am in Seattle, Washington visiting my sister and seeing the sites. I make a yearly visit to the States every July and enjoy myself. However, the more time I spend in the U.S. reminds me why I originally moved to Costa Rica.

Don’t get me wrong! I have nothing against my country of birth. The differences between the two countries stand out the more time I live in Costa Rica. I consider myself 100% bilingual and bicultural and can live comfortably in either place.

The U.S. has good roads making it easy to get from one place to another provided there is no traffic. On the other hand Costa Rica is still working on infrastructure and roadways. Great progress has been make in the last couple of years with the completion of the Costanera between Quepos and Dominical and the new highway to Caldera from the Central Valley. Other new highways are in the works. When everything is completed I believe the country’s major highways will be on a par with those of the U.S.

Shopping is another big difference between the U.S. And Costa Rica. There is no question about it shopping is better in the United States. However, things are slowly change here. When I moved to Costa Rica over 30 years ago you couldn’t get any foreign products. Now the stores are inundated with them. We don’t have the variety of the U.S. But are closing the gap. For example, the Auto Mercado supermarket has almost every food product you can dream of from the U.S. Products that are not available in Costa Rica may be ordered over the Internet and shipped via one of the private mail companies like Aerocasillas.

On my monthly relocation/retirement tours I spend a lot of time lecturing about the differences and similarities between the U.S.and Costa Rica. My tours are like taking a constant seminar. I try to provide as much objective information as possible for my clients to help them decide if the country is right for them.