Part diary, part travelogue, part advice column, Borner artfully walks readers through every step of their relocation to Costa R

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67348 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-31
• Binding: Paperback
• 177 pages

Tico Times, November 1st, 2001
Part diary, part travelogue, part advice column, Borner artfully walks readers through every step of their relocation to Costa Rica

From the Publisher
Co-owner of Posada Mimosa Bed & Breakfast, Tessa Borner hopes her "Potholes to Paradise" guide book will help others avoid the investment and adjustment mistakes she and her husband Martin made when they moved to Costa Rica from just outside of Toronto in 1994. The book retraces the couple's decision to re-locate to Costa Rica and build and operate their B&B in the rural Central Valley community of Grecia, about an hour northwest of San José.

And the 177-page, black-and-white result, illustrated with family photographs, is at its best when relating personal experiences - with builders, lawyers, real estate agents and the country's private Clinica Biblica Hospital, where Martin received triple by-pass surgery in 1993. The health section may be particualrly helpful to Canadians, with advice on urging a reimbursement from Canada's socialized medicine for treatment received in Costa Rica.

The Borners also provide valuable tips, based on their own foibles, for dealing with contractors and government bureaucracy. "We were away for extended periods while construction was supposed to be going on. Do not start construction unless you can be present at all times," she wisely advises.

Borner is a skilled writer who excels when telling her own story and is obviously in love with her new life in Costa Rica. The book provides valuable insight into this Canadian couple's experiences in Costa Rica - experiences that many foreigners, struggling with a new culture and language would also encounter.

From the Author
In 1993, I started writing a series of newsletters "Around and About Costa Rica" in response to the difficulty we had in getting answers to our questions about Costa Rica. At that time, there were few guidebooks and little other information.

I continued writing them until April 1995, when the pressure of moving and adjusting to another culture, as well as starting a Bed and Breakfast, took all of my time. I decided to update them and put them in book form for the benefit of North Americans and others who are thinking of moving here. I want to bring the Costa Rican experience into perspective by sharing my family's personal story, and that of other people who have adopted this country as their own. Using our own continuing story as a model, I will give you practical tips on traveling, running a business and retiring in Costa Rica, as well as unravelling some of its cultural peculiarities.

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Customer Reviews

Other books on the topic are 100% better
This is the first time that I have ever been motivated to write a review. There is virtually no useful information here which cannot be garnered from other more comprehensive and literate books on the topic.
It is written from a very personal viewpoint, which would be interesting if the author was a writer. As it is, this is one of the worst books I have read in several years.

A waste of my time ...
An overt advertisement for their business in Costa Rica, I found virtually no helpful information here. If you want to know the history of the people (and therefore understand things like squatters' rights), read "The Ticos". If you are investing in land or a business ANYWHERE, know the language and get a second legal opinion before signing at the X. Check crime stats on the web for free, and keep in mind that a city is a city - use good old common sense in all that you do. Make several trips covering different regions and grow your "network" each time you return. When it comes together, you'll be ready. Pura Vida!

I found it helpful
I did like that it was "part diary, part travelogue, part advice column" instead of so straightforward a text. Desultory, yes, but inviting--sort of like REAL travel and life abroad!

Another book I found helpful before my "relocation-research trip" was a photo-essay book called, "Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made." It too gave me a feeling for the country in a randomized sort of way. But that's not to say it wasn't wonderful information and insight into Tico culture--like Borner's book!