QCOSTARICA – Of the curious data that one reads daily, Forbes Ranking lists Costa Rica in the top 10 of the best destinations to quit your job and move abroad.

According to Laura Begley Bloom, a Forbes travel and lifestyle contributor, “the list selects the ideal destinations for anyone looking for a better, more affordable life or simply a way to escape the hectic pace and violence.”
In her most recent list, Quit Your Job And Move Abroad: 10 Cheapest Places To Live, the author describes 2023 as “the year to chase the dream: to quit your job and move to one of the cheapest and best places to live, a country where it costs so little that you could stop working.”
The list selects the ideal destinations, according to Begley, for those who are looking for a better, more affordable life or simply a way to escape the hectic pace and violence.

Every year, the list is benchmarked against International Living’s Global Retirement Index, which is designed to identify specific places that would be best for people based on their budget and priorities.
This year, other categories and factors that must be considered when looking to live abroad were also combined, such as: cost of living, climate, visas, housing, and medical attention, among others.
Under this premise, Costa Rica is positioned fifth.
An internationally low cost of living, ease of travel to other countries, affordable health care, and political stability were the highlights.

Likewise, the variety of microclimates that exist in Costa Rica is considered a plus point.
“If you like warm weather, the dry tropical beaches of Guanacaste or the green jungles of the southern zone and the Caribbean will not disappoint you. Prefer something eternally temperate? The higher elevations of San José and the Central Valley would be the chosen location,” the report states.
As for the cost, the approximate amount for a couple to live comfortably but not extravagantly, including rent, food, and transportation, is $2,500 to $3,000, according to the publication.
Mexico, Panama and Ecuador are other countries in the Americas that make up the top 10.
- Portugal
- Mexico
- Panama
- Ecuador
- Costa Rica
- Spain
- Greece
- France
- Italy
- Thailand
I believe that we cannot ignore these things, they are incentives to bring people with experience and economic capacity who want to come to be part of Costa Rica. But, we have a lot of work ahead of us. We need to improve security, infrastructure, and public services, among many others.
This recognition is not achieved from one day to the next, it has been the achievement of many years of dedication to achieve progress and levels of development – although still lacking – that make us different.
Our leaders need to apply more common sense and less politics in this difficult undertaking.