What's Missed

[reyna]

Being in the U.S. ,we are blessed to have the conveniences of attaining just about anything without much fuss or wait.  I'm just curious when we relocate what we would miss most.  What would you consider most missed among relocators?
  Thanks    

[Russ]

In my humble opinion it depends where you relocate to.  If you are going to move to the Central Valley, there are 3 particular areas where I don't think you would miss much of anything:

Santa Ana & Guachepelin - Along the highway and near the Forum and Multiplaza.
Escazu - Anywhere within a few minutes of the San Rafael area, particularly Trejos Montealegre and Bello Horizonte
Lomas de Ayarco, on the east side in front of the new Terra Mall

In these areas you will find most of the same stores and services you are used to, either from the same company or from a local company that is equivalent.  You won't find yourself waiting in line a lot and you will find that most of the employees can at least communicate in English.  I guess it would be fair to state that you will have to pay more for many items and services. I think that this is do to the lower volume that these businesses do here and the cost of importing. You also might not find the same variety of brands, models and products.

Other areas in the Central Valley offer maybe less immediate convenience but you can get more for property your money and you still will be close to most services.

If you want to be on the beach, you can look for a place like Jacó, here you won't have quite as many conveniences in the immediate area, but you can always get to them within an hour.