Andrew: Born towards the tail end of the baby boomer years, in 1964, I have been living in Costa Rica for over a year. During this time I purchased, refurbished and ran, along with my business partner, the highly successful Angel Valley Farm Bed & Breakfast ( www.AngelValleyFarmBandB.com), located near San Ramon, which caters to both retirees and tourists.
I’ve also taken to blogging as I wanted my friends and family in the states to be able to keep up on my new life in Costa Rica. Now, I’m finding it’s a widely-read blog on Costa Rica (www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/AndrewNCostaRica) which documents (sometimes in excruciating detail) my move to Costa Rica and my life here. I get nearly 20 emails a week on all subjects “Costa Rica” and I enjoy hearing from people who want to do the same thing I did. It’s been rewarding being seen as an “expert” on living here!
I’ve also managed to become a “cub reporter” (as I like to call it) for the Tico Times (www.ticotimes.net), reporting on community activities in the San Ramon area. I’m pursuing a passion I never had time for in the U.S."”freelance writing"”and I love having the time here to do this!
Before I moved to Costa Rica, I had a typical corporate career and was an executive with US Airways, managing the company’s Internet sales, strategic planning and distribution departments, generating over $1 billion annually. Prior to that, I served as an international management consultant, working for U.S. companies interested in growing their businesses in Europe and Southeast Asia. I also served as executive director and board member of two leading environmental organizations and served as an environmental and industry consultant to the United Nations and President George H.W. Bush. Like many baby boomers, I’ve found that my working career is definitely not “one company until retirement” but several careers in which I can try new things and continue to grow.
One of the scariest things for me in moving to Costa Rica, at a fairly young age, was moving from the relative comfort of the corporate world"”a nice, steady paycheck every two weeks"”to becoming an entrepreneur in Costa Rica. Having to fend for myself for the first time in my life and finding ways to earn a living, was a daunting prospect a first. What I realized though is that Costa Rica is a terrific country in which to network, start a fun, but manageable business, and live the good life. If I can do it, anyone can!
Read an article by Andrew Mastrandonas:
The Ritual of Looking Up in New York
I love you people who make it all sound so easy… but meanwhile you come down to Costa Rica with a truckload of dinero…
Yeah, sure, “If I can do it, anyone can!” That is, anyone who “had a typical corporate career and was an executive with US Airways, managing the company’s Internet sales, strategic planning and distribution departments, generating over $1 billion annually. Prior to that, I served as an international management consultant, working for U.S. companies interested in growing their businesses in Europe and Southeast Asia. I also served as executive director and board member of two leading environmental organizations and served as an environmental and industry consultant to the United Nations and President George H.W. Bush.”
I’m finding no financial solution to our dreams of moving there… We just survive paycheck to paycheck each week. No savings. We are in our early 40’s…no retirement, no social security funds, etc. I do however have ambition and small business ideas to conduct there…but, they seem useless at this point. So, I guess not everyone can “do it”.