Our life in this marvelous city was obviously coming to an end. Despite having the time and resources to enjoy Europe as we pleased, life here felt empty. This feeling was driven deep after we returned from a veritable dream vacation across the fat part of France where we had stayed in old chateaux and maisons, ate legendary French cuisine and drunk delicious wines from the Loire valley all the way to the Atlantic coast. Yet, upon returning home to Amsterdam, we felt unsatisfied. It was strange, to say the least, but it was a clear signal to us both.
I continued with my daily routines, trying to inject some meaning into my work as a studio painter, but the feeling that this phase of our lives was coming to a close just grew stronger with each brushstroke.
One day, my mother, who was living through GWBush's presidency, called and described her great desire to live anywhere else than in the USA. I listened patiently considering my mother's finances and abilities, as she spoke about her unease at the political winds blowing across America. She wanted to retire to a Spanish speaking country, but she couldn't afford Spain. She had considered Mexico, but it seemed a bit too unstable and violent for an "old woman".
I suggested she consider Central America, I even suggested Costa Rica might be right for her. Mom didn't know much about Costa Rica (neither did I really) so I offered to do some retirement related researches for her and inform her of the situation.
It was in the course of looking for my mother's ideal, non-USA, retirement that we discovered a veritable natural paradise. The country was environmentally diverse, all life zones except arctic were found within it's borders and the incredible variety of wildlife and climate made it very attractive to us as we sat in our lovely urban apartment, Dutch autumn quickly turning to winter outside our door. Could such a place actually be as great as it was promoted to be? Could one really see wildlife and be near it, was the culture really as open and friendly as claimed? We decided that we needed more information than the Internet could provide, so we bought nearly a dozen books on Costa Rica. From Rough Guides practical information for tourists to humorous accounts like "Potholes in Paradise", we learned that the paradise it offered was real, as far as earthly paradise is concerned.
Our lifestyle made it possible for us to get away for many months, a benefit many deserve but few can create. So we planned to take a "gap year", as students do before heading to higher study or into their careers. When we were young, such a concept didn't exist except for the idle rich and their offspring.
I continued with my daily routines, trying to inject some meaning into my work as a studio painter, but the feeling that this phase of our lives was coming to a close just grew stronger with each brushstroke.
One day, my mother, who was living through GWBush's presidency, called and described her great desire to live anywhere else than in the USA. I listened patiently considering my mother's finances and abilities, as she spoke about her unease at the political winds blowing across America. She wanted to retire to a Spanish speaking country, but she couldn't afford Spain. She had considered Mexico, but it seemed a bit too unstable and violent for an "old woman".
I suggested she consider Central America, I even suggested Costa Rica might be right for her. Mom didn't know much about Costa Rica (neither did I really) so I offered to do some retirement related researches for her and inform her of the situation.
It was in the course of looking for my mother's ideal, non-USA, retirement that we discovered a veritable natural paradise. The country was environmentally diverse, all life zones except arctic were found within it's borders and the incredible variety of wildlife and climate made it very attractive to us as we sat in our lovely urban apartment, Dutch autumn quickly turning to winter outside our door. Could such a place actually be as great as it was promoted to be? Could one really see wildlife and be near it, was the culture really as open and friendly as claimed? We decided that we needed more information than the Internet could provide, so we bought nearly a dozen books on Costa Rica. From Rough Guides practical information for tourists to humorous accounts like "Potholes in Paradise", we learned that the paradise it offered was real, as far as earthly paradise is concerned.
Our lifestyle made it possible for us to get away for many months, a benefit many deserve but few can create. So we planned to take a "gap year", as students do before heading to higher study or into their careers. When we were young, such a concept didn't exist except for the idle rich and their offspring.
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