1. The magazine subscriptions come directly from the publisher of whichever magazine you receive a subscription from, e.g. The Atlantic Monthly. The reason I say this is because I received a letter directly from The Atlantic thanking me for my subscription and it has an identical coding as the magazine mailing label.
2. I have been receiving two magazine subscriptions on a monthly basis for a year and have not received any junk mail as a result of these two subscriptions. If I did receive any I would just return it to Aerocasillas for a credit (see below).
3. I do receive some junk mail as a result of other shopping I have done using my Aero mailing address, e.g. Lands End; also from some of the financial institutions I have accounts with in the U.S. However, one of the things that I like about Aerocasillas is that if you do receive any “correo basura (junk mail)” all you have to do is to return it to Aerocasillas and you immediately receive a full credit for the weight/cost of the junk mail in your account.
4. In my case I use the “Dorada” plan which has a minimum charge of $12 per month; so I would be charged this amount even if I did not receive any mail. However, I also sign up for the annual pre-pay of $120 which brings it down to $10 per month. Between my magazines, my Netflix and all of my other mail I receive a fairly significant amount of mail. My monthly bill is usually within $1 – $2 more of the $10 pre-paid minimum. I would estimate that the two magazine subscriptions I receive generally account for about $5 of my monthly bill.
5. For me, my mail is delivered to the development I live in and then a guard brings the mail directly to my door so it could not be more convenient.

When thinking of retirement in Costa Rica one of the first things that comes to mind is the best way to explore the country. A lot has been written in publications and websites about this subject and some of the information is incorrect.

Those who have a high level of Spanish fluency, who have traveled extensively abroad or visited Costa Rica on numerous occasions will probably have success touring the country on their own. However, they are few and far between.

On the other hand, almost one hundred percent of the participants on my retirement/relocation tours have stated that they could have never explored the country on their own nor made the contacts I provide.

At some point independent travelers will have to drive or take buses which can prove tiresome. There have also been cases where people traveling by bus have had their luggage stolen. Even if you choose to fly, at some point you will a taxi or bus since you won’t have ground transportation which can add up to a lot of money.

On top of that most travelers speak little or no Spanish which can increase their anxiety and make them feel helpless when asking directions when lost. Remember NOT all Costa Ricans speak English. Imagine having car troubles or some other emergency in the middle of nowhere and trying to communicate with people. I had one client for a two-day consultation who insisted on renting an automobile and driving as we toured the Central Valley. After our tour he remarked that he saw very little.

Wouldn’t it be easier to take a guided retirement/relocation tour than to have to deal with all the situations above? I would think so.

The knowledge and contacts you get from an experienced retirement guide are invaluable. And best of all you can leave all of the headaches like finding lodging, transportation, viewing the inside of homes and looking for a good restaurants to your guide.

By the time time you ad up your valuable time, the monetary and emotional costs of a self-guided tour, a guided retirement tour is a no brainer.

For more information about Christopher’s tours see Live in Costa Rica Tours or call TOLL-FREE 800-365-2342

1. Ask your fellow ex-pats for recommendations. They have been there and done that.

2. Do not let advertising influence your decision. It is only a paid ad. Anyone can do that.

3. If you do have a problem, you CAN file a complaint against an attorney, but it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to get another attorney to represent you so be prepared to represent yourself which requires fluent Spanish.

4. Do not automatically trust someone that appears in forums as an “expert”. There is way more involved in Costa Rica legal transactions than “knowledge”. Basically, “FOLLOW THROUGH”.

5. Never, ever pay for the entire amount required up front. Pay no more than 1/2 initially and 1/2 upon completion.

6. Remember that sometimes the “giving your word” concept is not understood here as in other countries.

7. A good clue is if the attorney makes the appointment for 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it is possible that is when he begins the work day. Most government offices close from 3 to 4:30 for the day, leaving little time for attorney “work”.

8. Ask for at least 2 recommendations for a particular attorney.

9. And if you are personally involved with an attorney, go elsewhere for your legal work.

10. Do not trust an attorney (or anyone else) just because they speak English.

Last night I heard that the cost of heating oil in the States was expected to rise 22 percent this winter due to the high price of oil. In Costa Rica we don’t have to worry about heating oil because nobody needs it.

I live in the Central Valley and don’t have air conditioning or heaters in my house. The area where I reside is called Heredia. At certain times of the year it can get cold but I have never used more than two light blankets at night. I can’t even use the leather jacket I brought from the States.

In March and April it can get warm in the Central Valley but I have never felt the need to have air conditioning in my home. The beach is another story because it can get very hot and humid. But if you have to have to air conditioning the cost of electricity here is much lower than the United States. My electric bill usually runs about $25 to $30 per month. At the beach you might have to pay twice or three times that if you run your air conditioner all day.

Pity the poor Costa Rican postman. Sure, he doesn’t have to deal with sleet or snow. But consider what passes for an address here:

From the Tibas cemetery, 200 meters south, 300 meters west, cross the train tracks, white two-story house.

That’s actually a pretty easy one. Making his rounds on the outskirts of this capital city one recent morning, carrier Roberto Montero Reyes pulled envelopes from his canvas sack whose addresses read like treasure-hunt clues or lines of haiku.

There was one for someone who lived on “the south side of the Red Cross” and another for a family whose home is “125 meters [410 feet] west of the Pizza Hut.”

“You’ve got to be a mind reader, . . . a historian and a detective” to do this job, said Montero, a 27-year veteran, who walks his route in camouflage-print sneakers.

It may be difficult for GPS addicts to comprehend, but Costa Rica doesn’t have a standardized system of addresses — at least not ones that can be typed into MapQuest. Many streets aren’t named, and virtually none have signs. Many houses don’t have numbers. Only a few pockets of the country use anything close to the “123 Main St.” format that Americans would recognize.

Instead, most Costa Rican addresses are expressed in relation to the closest community landmark. In colonial times, that was the church or town hall. Today it could be a fast-food joint or car dealership.

For some, the quirky system is a reassuring link to their country’s agrarian past, a colorful affirmation of what it means to be “Tico,” or Costa Rican. Almost everyone beams when they talk about the “old fig tree” and the “old Coca-Cola plant.” Both of those San Jose-area landmarks have been lost to history, but locals still cite them when giving directions as if they still existed. For a disoriented visitor, it’s proof that magical realism is alive and well in Latin America.
“It’s part of the idiosyncrasy of Costa Ricans,” said historian Francisco Maroto Mejia, director of the postal museum for Correos de Costa Rica, the nation’s postal service.

The trouble is that these rustic addresses aren’t keeping pace with Costa Rica’s development. A nation of more than 4 million, Costa Rica boasts the highest standard of living in Central America and has a vibrant technology sector. But until recently it took an average of nine days to deliver a letter — if it got there at all. Postal authorities say that 1 in 5 pieces of mail is undeliverable because they can’t figure out where the addressee lives. The problem is worse in new subdivisions, where neighbors don’t know one another and can’t advise carriers.

Mail is just one problem. Emergency crews, cabdrivers, utility workers and delivery people spend an inordinate amount of time on cellphones and knocking on doors to find out where they’re supposed to be.

“It’s total chaos,” said San Jose-area retiree Claudio Gonzalez, 73, who recently spent three fruitless hours searching for a friend’s home in an unfamiliar suburb. “I could find my way easier in a foreign country.”

Postal authorities have embarked on a major overhaul. Recent changes in the way mail is sorted have cut the average delivery time to two days nationwide. Now the postal service is assigning numbers, street names and ZIP Codes to every home and building in the country, which at about 20,000 square miles is slightly smaller than San Bernardino County.

Officials have rolled out more than 430,000 streamlined addresses, mostly in urban areas. They hope to convert the entire country over the next two years if the government allocates about $1 million to finish the job.

Erecting street signs will take a lot longer and cost a bundle. Correos de Costa Rica is trying to persuade the private sector to help pay for that effort. But the biggest challenge will be altering the Tico mind-set, said Alvaro Coghi Gomez, the postmaster general.

“It’s a cultural process,” Coghi said. “We have to stop thinking about the fig tree.”
Costa Rica isn’t the only nation with an address system potentially befuddling to outsiders.
Neighboring Nicaragua uses the same landmark system, with a few added wrinkles. Residents often write arriba, or “up,” to denote east (where the sun rises), and abajo, “down,” for west (where it sets). Instead of meters, they use city blocks, or varas, an antiquated Spanish unit of measurement equivalent to about 33 inches.

Costa Rican carrier Montero has his hands full at home. A third-generation postal worker, he joined the ranks because it was respectable work and he liked the benefits, which include company-paid pants, shirts and shoes.