One of the most important factors in happiness is where you live, so retiring in Costa Rica just might make you a happier person. According to recent research Costa Ricans are considered the happiest people in the world. Many people who move here become infected with happiness. I have lost count of the retirees who I have talked to who claim they are 1000 times happier here than in the U.S. Of Canada. You can see it in their faces. It must be something in the water.

Best-selling author Dan Buettner has traveled the world in search of the keys to happiness. In his book, He reveals secrets from the world’s happiest people. Where you live definitely plays a role on how happy you are. If you live in a place where there are a lot of happy people, something is bound to rub off on you. Costa Rica should be called the land of smiles because it seems that its people are almost always smiling and engaging in activities that make them happy. Costa Rica’s people like to play whether it is dancing, joking with friends, having coffee or a shot of one’s favorites spirt or just watching a soccer game, it seems the people are always in a jovial mood here.

I picked up on this carefree attitude years ago and it is one of the reasons I decided move to Costa Rica. I really feel good interacting with the locals. The fact that I speak Spanish with native fluency helps but it is not necessary to become infected with a happy outlook in life. Every day is really a gift here and I consider myself to blessed to live in this incredible place.

I have even seen changes in the clients on my monthly relocation/retirement tours in less than a week. When they first arrive they are very serious and by the end of the tour most of them take on a more care free and playful attitude. Truly amazing!

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. This day is especially popular in the U.S. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005, although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate, have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.

The day’s name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term began by 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that “Black Friday” indicates the period during which retailers are turning a profit, or “in the black.”

In recent years Black Friday has become very popular among Costa Ricans. This is primarily because of the Internet and the many private mail services which have sprouted up all over the country. Now it is possible to purchase discounted products on Black Friday and have them shipped to you in Costa Rica. Last Thursday and Friday there were long lines at all of the branches of the private mail services as Costa Ricans and foreign retirees took advantage of the the on-line Black Friday bargains.

Many Costa Rica business have began to offer their version of Black Friday bargains. Slashed prices and extended schedules have become common as Costa Rican business reduce their prices on this day. One chain of appliance and furniture stores that has 105 branches, offered discounts of up to 50 percent on certain items.

So, if you decide to retire here you can take advantage of Black Friday bargains without ever having to travel the U.S.A

The other day I was browsing some websites related to Costa Rica Retirement. One particular site starts off by claiming that most people offering retirement services are really selling real estate. The site goes on to say that most retirement tours in Costa Rica are disguised real estate tours where people only see expensive properties.  I have news for the people behind this website — nothing could be farther from the truth and they are 100% incorrect. What you have here are foreigners playing self righteous by inferring that they run the only company that doesn’t have a hidden agenda and what they are really doing is manipulating readers to signing up for their services by scaring them. This is an old fear tactic.

Let’s take a look at my retirement tours to see what they are all about. About fifteen years ago  I started my retirement tours by popular demand because the readers of my guidebooks wanted someone with experience and knowledge to introduce them personally to Costa Rica. My early tours were more tourist oriented. We went to the volcanoes, took a tour on a catamaran to a beautiful island and visited a coffee farm to learn about how coffee is grown . From the beginning I gave my clients a lot of tips about moving here and  had them attend our valuable two-day seminar. However, my clients expressed a strong desire to learn about housing options and see how people lived here. So, I decided to include visits to a broad range of different priced homes to satisfy my clients curiosity and improve the quality of my tours. The question was, Who could I get to select the home we were going to view on my tours?

Fortunately, someone came to the rescue.  My friend Robert Shannon had a real estate company called Costa Rica Retirement Vacation Properties. It was exactly what I was looking for because the company could select a wide range of properties for my tours, were a buyer’s agent and would not pressure my clients into buying real estate. Actually, the company’s services complimented my tours enormously because people who move to Costa Rica have to live somewhere whether the buy or rent and need help with their housing choices.

My tours are really lifestyle tours where I provide information and contacts to help people make the move successfully. I don’t sell property but can put my clients in the hands of a reputable real estate company who will look out for their best interests. I am happy to be able to provide this service.

Recently I met with my orthopedic surgeon, Oscar Oeding, who works at the Clínica Bíblica in San José, Costa Rica. He performed arthroscopic surgery on my knees a couple of years ago. We always find time to chat about knee pain which is a common ailment among many older retirees. We always end up talking about the benefits of Tai Chi Chuan.

According to the Thurston Center at the University of North Carolina, “Practicing Tai Chi can ease a lot of the knee pain caused by arthritis.” The study found that a couple of sessions per week allowed people to engage in their daily activities without experiencing the usual physical problems. Since I have practiced Tai Chi for 25 years this topic is of great interest to me.

Tai Chi is a gentle form of exercised that originated in China hundreds of years ago. Practitioners do slow and fluid movements based on the martial arts. Tai Chi is a type of low impact aerobics. In the last 30 years it has become very popular as a form of physical therapy to treat everything from high blood pressure to joint problems like osteoarthritis. It also is improves one’s balance which is important for seniors since many suffer serious injuries from falls.

The good news is that if you choose to live or retire in Costa Rica there are several places where you can study Tai Chi to improve the quality of your life.

I live in Heredia but go to San José a couple to times a week to do errands, see friends, have a bite to eat at the Patio Restaurant or hit a few of the watering holes in the Gringo Gulch area. As I have mentioned before The Patio Restaurant at the Hotel Balmoral is a great place for people watching because thousands of pedestrians who pass by daily. The News Café diagonal to the Patio Restaurant is another good spot to eat or drink and watch the sideshow.

I find the nearby gringo bars interesting with their cast of colorful characters from all walks of life. You can find a mix old timers, newcomers, retirees, tourists and a few Costa Ricans. It is quite easy to strike up a conversation with a fellow expat even make new friends. I don’t recommend hanging out in these bars every day because of the risk of becoming an alcoholic. Most of the people who frequent these places are older retired single men, but a few middle-age American men are also regulars. For some the only downside to these spots is that a lot of ladies of the night hang out there. You may feel uncomfortable around these females, but most of them will leave you alone if you tell them you are not interested in what they are selling. I couldn’t take these places as a steady diet but do enjoy hanging out there once in a while since I always manage to run into old expat friends.

Joe B’s and Karen’s, the New York Bar and Chubs are where most Americans can be found nursing a cold brew. The Hotel Del Rey is too intense, too big, the women are too aggressive and there are too many alpha male tourists with their hormones in high gear. I really feel uncomfortable there. However, the owners of the Del Rey also operate Key Largo across the street which is a good late night spot to listen to live music and dance and fend of the ladies of the night.

Downtown San José is fun in small doses and not at all boring. Despite what some naïve gringos say, it really isn’t that dangerous if you know your way around and because of a greater police presence than before. This is just one example of the hundreds of activities to stay busy and happy in Costa Rica for single retirees.

Enjoy!