Everyone who has already taken the plunge in Costa Rica has the same advice: Do it in stages. First, if you’ve never traveled to the country (or even if you have), plan a multi-week vacation that will allow you to inhale the fragrance of life down there. Enjoy the gorgeous, lush tourist draws such as Arenal volcano, the Pacific beaches, and rainforest zipline tours, but consider a multi-day stay in San Jose with excursions to nearby neighborhoods and towns such as Escazu (a highly developed expat center), Heredia, and Grecia (more town-like and local-flavored), to get a look at what day-to-day life might entail.

With Christopher Howard’s excellent guide, The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica [1], you can plan your own get-to-know trip. Or just hire Howard to take you. His Relocation Retirement Tours [2]of various regions of the country run year-round, combining property visits with talks and seminars on relocation issues. (Call 800-365-2342, or visit liveincostarica.com. [3]) Also, register for International Living’s [4] email newsletters, and consider their guide to Latin America.

Ready to grab your Spanish dictionary and start your new life? Time for stage two: trial run. Arrange to rent a home in an area you’ve chosen, and commit to four to six months there. You need to spend enough time shopping, driving, and working (or not working!), to understand whether your way of living will mesh happily with the Costa Rican way of life. Talk to other expats. The Association of Residents of Costa Rica [5](ARCR) is an excellent resource, and holds monthly seminars on issues such as local laws, real estate, insurance, banking and healthcare. (In Costa Rica, call 221-2053, or visit arcr.net [6]). If you join ARCR, you will receive El Residente, a bimonthly newsletter. And start reading The Tico Times, [7]a fun and informative local newspaper published in English and available both in print and online.