We’re Finally Here: Our First Days in Costa Rica

We’re finally here!!! And with a huge sense of relief, I can say that so far, everything has gone according to plan.

The Hectic Final Days at Home

The last few weeks at home were extremely hectic and exhausting, especially the final ten days. That is also why I had to let go of my commitment to publish a new article every Sunday. It simply was not possible. We were in full “survive, pack, sort everything out, and don’t forget to breathe” mode.

Once the exact date for handing over the keys to the new owners of our house was confirmed, I panicked a little. Even though I had not underestimated the preparation, I knew there was still an enormous amount left to do. In the end, we sent the children to their grandmother — I honestly cannot imagine what we would do without my beloved mother-in-law, not only now, but in general. At least they got to spend a few intense days together before we left, and my husband and I could fully focus on cleaning, packing, and dealing with everything that needed to be done. Since the kids were not at home, I was able to use one of their rooms for packing our suitcases. I went through the house room by room and sorted everything into four categories:

1. Pack
2. Donate
3. Throw away
4. Store temporarily at my mother-in-law’s

Suitcases, Weight Limits, and a Huge Luggage Relief

After that, I kept cleaning the rooms and packing our luggage as I went. In the end, it turned out that the problem was not so much the capacity of the suitcases, but the airline weight limit. I know it sounds silly to pack books, but I felt terribly sorry to leave behind several valuable titles, especially beautiful encyclopedias that I could also use for homeschooling. They were simply too heavy, so for now I temporarily set them aside. Thankfully, everything worked out well and all five suitcases stayed within the required 23 kg limit. I packed clothes in one half and textbooks, small souvenirs, and other bits and pieces in the other. We also took three carry-on suitcases, and each of us had a small travel backpack — and of course, I had my handbag 😊. You cannot imagine how relieved I felt when the airport staff accepted all our luggage without any objections. And when every single piece arrived safely too (and the dog!!!), that was the ultimate relief.

Offices, Paperwork, and the Promised E-books

As for offices and administrative tasks, there was quite a lot to deal with, but everything was manageable. We handled the school, the labour office, health insurance, powers of attorney, but the most stressful part was definitely arranging all the documentation for the dog. In the near future, I will prepare two e-books for you: one general guide about relocation and one about travelling with a dog, where I will describe all the steps, advice, and tips in detail.

Leaving Budapest and the First Big Stress with Teddy

We spent the last two days in Rožňava at my mother-in-law’s. Since our flight was on the morning of 27 August from Budapest and we did not want to travel during the night, we left the day before and stayed in an apartment near the airport. Check-in took quite a while because we really had a lot with us, but as I mentioned earlier, everything was accepted without any issues. In the end, I still had to run one floor down to pay the fee for the dog, then return to the counter and check Teddy in. We were very worried about him and had no idea how he would handle the flight. When they took him away from us, his barking echoed through the whole airport and I almost cried. Even once we boarded the plane, we could still hear him. We had trained him to use the travel crate, and of course he was used to being home alone without us, but emotionally I could not prepare him for a situation like this. You simply cannot explain to a dog that you are travelling somewhere and that you will see each other again after many long hours.

The Crate, Equipment, and Preparing to Fly with a Dog

As for his equipment, a few months before our departure I received a message from the airline saying that the crate requirements had become stricter and that the openings could no longer be larger than 25 × 25 mm. All the other criteria still applied. Based on the current IATA requirements, I chose a Ferplast crate and bought wheels for it as well, which can be removed very easily. For the lining, I stuck two layers of training pads to the bottom and placed a Vetbed on top. This little mat is excellent: it is beautifully soft, protects against getting cold on the plane, and at the same time has a mesh rubber base that does not slip and lets any liquid pass straight through to the absorbent pad underneath.

A Long Flight, the Kids, and a Happy Landing

In the end, the journey went very smoothly. The flights were not delayed, there were no strikes, and there was enough fuel too. The children handled the 12-hour flight from Frankfurt, where we had our layover, to San José brilliantly. We travelled with Lufthansa in economy class. The kids watched cartoons, played games on the screen, and later even slept a little. Before the trip, I had bought them adjustable children’s headphones, which turned out to be a great choice during the flight — they fit well, could be adjusted easily, and what the kids loved most was that they could decorate them with interchangeable magnetic discs and stickers however they liked.

There was plenty of legroom, as well as enough food and drinks, so we really have nothing to complain about. I would definitely recommend this airline. We landed on time, at around 5:30 p.m. local time. When my husband and I were here last March, we waited two hours at passport control; this time we were through in about 20 minutes. We had to show our return ticket and our place of stay. A small surprise came when we had to pay a local airport employee 30 dollars to borrow a luggage trolley — US dollars are used quite often in Costa Rica, although he happily accepted 20 euros from us too. Elsewhere, this service is usually free and taken for granted, but oh well. We accepted it, because without the trolley we would not have made it out of the airport at all. After collecting the luggage, I went to get Teddy, who had simply been placed in a corridor at the airport and was quietly waiting for his fate. My poor boy — I could not even let him out of the crate so we could properly greet each other, because out of happiness he would have peed everywhere and started running around the airport 😊. He was a little apathetic, but happy that we were together again — and we were too, of course.

At the airport, we were picked up by the man whose Airbnb we stayed at for the first two days, and we went to check in. There, I could finally let Teddy out into the park opposite our house. Only then did I see that his crate was still dry even after 18 hours. He handled it beautifully and had plenty of time in the park to run around and do everything else he needed 😊. The journey was difficult for him, but I basically had only two choices: leave him in Slovakia and say goodbye to him forever, or put him through this long and stressful situation and hope he would recover from it. Six days have passed since our arrival, and I can confirm that his joyful, crazy personality is back.

The Car Arranged in Advance and the Journey to Osa

The next day, we had an appointment at a law office, where we signed the document for the purchase of the car and picked up the vehicle. Originally, we had planned to stay in the San José area for a week so we could find a car. However, buying a car in Costa Rica works differently than it does back home. You need a lawyer to draw up the document, and the whole process can sometimes take up to two weeks. That is why we used the services of a law office that found a car for us based on our criteria, handled the paperwork, and by the time we arrived, the car was already ready to be picked up. It saved us a lot of time and worries.

The next morning, we set off for the south of the Osa Peninsula, where our land is located. Until our house is finished, we will be living in a spacious cabin by the sea, on the edge of the jungle, with a huge garden. As I am writing this article, we have been living here for five days and so far, we are delighted. We slowly started to settle in, getting used to the monkeys jumping across our roof in the morning and to all the other sounds of the local nature. It has an incredibly calming effect on us. We are not rushing anywhere; we want to give ourselves some time to acclimatize, adjust to the time difference, and get used to the local climate. We are managing everything fairly well, except for heat rash, which has appeared on everyone — only I am still fine so far. If any of you have a good tip on how to get rid of it, I would be happy if you let me know in the comments.

Our Land and First Feelings About Our New Home

Of course, we also went to see our land. We showed the children where our new home will one day stand. It is even more amazing than we remembered. In addition to the coconut palms and banana trees we noticed last time, we also enjoyed lychees, cacao beans, and mandarins. We also have vanilla there, along with many other fruit and medicinal plants.

Still Only the Beginning

We have only been here for a short time, and right now we are thrilled, still riding the wave of that initial euphoria. I know that sooner or later we will also face frustration, homesickness, and everything that comes with such a big change. That is exactly why we want to enjoy these first days as much as possible. Before reality arrives with all its challenges, we are allowing ourselves, just for a little while, simply to be — together, in the warmth, surrounded by new sounds, scents, and plans that are slowly beginning to turn into reality.