I moved to Costa Rica in 1998 from Seattle. Getting here was a complete accident and totally unplanned. It's a long story so I'll spare you the details but I came to enjoy living in this sometimes frustrating but always interesting place.

When people in the States ask me why I live here I tell them I don't want to return to my "cruise control" life in the USA. Have you ever been on the Interstate with your cruise control on and you drive for, say, 30 minutes without even realizing what you are doing? You can't do that in Ticolandia or you'll be a statistic in 5 minutes. With all it's pain and frustration, Costa Rica forces you to be conscious every minute. You can't even walk down the street without paying close attention or you'll have a sprained ankle (or worse) very quickly.

I was retired from a career in international sales and totally burned out. I always wanted to be a graphic designer so I self-educated myself and started a design firm. You can visit my design business at www.soybob.com.

I'm a member at Cariari Country Club and Monterán Golf Club so if you need information on golf in Costa Rica or want to play just let me know.

If you have any special recommendations about service providers you have had good experiences with use the "Contact Form" or e-mail me. If you use one of the recommendations on this site please give me some feedback that I can add to the recommendation.