Not me, but one of my friends stays there as a base while traveling (keeping it vague). They left Canada and stay in the south in a small village on the Pacific side that is not a tourist area. Their place is simple, has wifi and little else - a furnished bachelor unit with a shower and cooktop (which they wanted, to be clear). For the most part they are very content, but has had serious issues with accessing medical services (requires a 1+hr bus ride to find a doctor) and replacing tech gear. They are on a tourist visa, which they renew when they are traveling elsewhere in Central and South America (which they do regularly). They have had issues at the Panama border - another ExPat was really disrespectful to the Border patrol and apparently that crossing has been an issue for the ExPat community since. I'm not sure which point of entry, though.

In terms of issues, so far they have had several medical problems (Botfly myiasis more than once, skin infections, COVID) and some issues with banking (lost their card, huge nightmare to correct). They are Latinx and speak fluent Spanish, which helped immensely for both medical services and getting around day-to-day. In terms of culture shock, they have had some challenges with a few local residents (neighbours are abusive to their family/children, one local screams obscenities at them because they are heavily pierced/tattooed) but have otherwise been made to feel very welcomed by the community. They volunteer a lot when they can, have made friends and generally feel very content with their life.

I feel your enjoyment of living there would really depend on you - do you speak Spanish fluently? Are you expecting a lifestyle similar to what you have now or are you ok with something more simple? Do you want to be in a city, Oceanside or jungle? Will your job allow you to go? What amenities can you live without? There are some FB groups there, I'd see if you can join and speak with them before deciding. There are a lot of factors and logistics that can turn a great dream into a nightmare very quickly, so do your research.

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