I have been reading a lot online recently about the world economy, the terrorism, the politic in the world, and all of what is published on the thousands of news websites. The world had changed so much since I am young that I have the impression I am 95 years old but I am actually just 43.
When my parents were bringing us in vacation, it was in the States to see the ocean. I spent all of the “construction vacations” of July since I am very young in Virginia Beach. Being from Quebec, Canada, it was a 14-16 hours trip by car and was bringing us to another country where we could swim, surf, eat the salty toffees and have some fun. We were not texting, emailing or calling anyone on our way to VA, my sister and I were fighting in the back seats and making all kind of stupid things that was driving my father crazy. It was fun!
When I turned 14, I grew up. Stopped being a little kid and became an “adult”. I remember sitting in class of high school when I was 14 or 15, the new class of IBM computers. There were all these electronic “beasts” in the room and we had to learn how to enter data into c: / .... . We were all wondering what would be the purpose of it, except for maybe writing a text - which would be easier cause we were able to “delete” instead of erasing. Our teacher had a white smock to teach us how to use the computers, cause it was “a lab”. Back in 1986-1987, it was impressive.
Cell phone (at my knowledge) didn’t exist, except in “Back To The Future”. We could not call or text a friend between 2 classes, we had to give an appointment to a particular place at a particular time. At night, if you wanted to talk on the phone for hours with a friend, you must release the line if someone wanted to call the house. What a pain…
I have been a kid and student for 21 years, a teacher for 8 years, a builder for 10 years and I am now a Remax Broker in Costa Rica for 4 years. I made a longggg ride before arriving here in 2012. I have been raised in a very simple family, honest, with rules and respect. My parents are Canadians, my grand parents too on both sides, my uncles, aunts, friends of my parents, friends of friends of my family as well! Who had thought that I would emigrate one day? Nobody, even not me. But I am pretty sure that my trips to Virginia Beach gave me the taste of adventures and traveling. The ocean is part of my life since I am young, and I needed it more often than just 2 weeks per year. I always felt I needed it, but never had a chance to have it until I moved here.
I am now sitting in front of my Mac Book Pro (yeah, that's not a IBM!) and I am honestly very grateful, for everything that makes my life easier. Internet allowed me to emigrate. It makes any move a lot much easier. We can book our flights ourselves, we can look online the pictures and the comments of people who have been where we want to go, we can communicate with the world without going out of our homes, and we have gps so never get lost. We can call for free or Skype our friends and family 1000 times a day. Without internet, I would not have discovered Costa Rica. I would not have known that Tamarindo existed. And I would not have become a Broker in Costa Rica.
Moving here was the best decision I ever made (after marrying my husband and having our son of course)! People always ask me if I have ever regretted or missed something. It’s hard to be believe but no… never. I enjoy every day of my life and I am so grateful to have made this decision. I feel in a bubble of happiness here. We don't have terrorism acts here, there's no purposes. We don't have to choose between Clinton and Trump either. We are not in war, cause there's no army and nothing interesting to fight for. Who wants pineapple and bananas anyway?
If you are thinking expatriation, faith is the key…. faith in you, faith in life, faith in the future. If it’s meant to be, I’ll meet you here in town and I’ll be happy to help you making the right move.
Like my friend Julius says: Life is good! Pura Vida :-)
Isabelle Emond, Broker/Owner