Hating and Living in Costa Rica | Leave n' STFU

Описание: Yeah. That’s the title.
And in this MAV Throwback, my dad delivers one of his most brutally honest takes about living in Costa Rica... the good, the bad, and the parts nobody puts in the brochure.

For years, people have romanticized Costa Rica as nothing but monkeys, palm trees, coconuts, and Pura Vida sunsets. And while that beauty absolutely exists, this video breaks down the reality that life here... like anywhere... isn’t a postcard.

In one of his most unfiltered conversations, my dad compares his experience living in Costa Rica to a Jackson Pollock painting. From a distance, it looks chaotic. Up close, it’s layered. Emotional. Complex. Not always pretty, but undeniably real. My pops, Michael Alan hasnt changed since I was a kid...and here he speaks candidly, with more white hair in his later years abut his own experiences living in Costa Rica..
-He talks openly about being arrested while living here.
-About having a gun held to his face.
-About a drug-related drive-by murder happening one street over.
..........Not for shock value. But for perspective......Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: everything that has happened to someone in Costa Rica has happened somewhere else too.
Bad neighborhoods exist EVERYWHERE.
Crime exists everywhere.
Corruption exists everywhere.
Misfortune exists everywhere.

Over the years, some commenters have called Costa Rica a “sh*thole” based on their personal experiences, being ripped off, dealing with crime, or simply struggling with culture shock. And while those experiences are valid, this video challenges the idea that one traumatic event defines an entire country.
Costa Rica is not perfect.
It’s not Disneyland.
It’s not just a monkey eating a coconut under a palm tree.
It’s a real country with real people, real problems, and real beauty.
The bigger message here isn’t blind defense of Costa Rica. It’s about mindset. It’s about refusing to let trauma become a permanent filter through which you see the world. If something bad happens somewhere, does that mean you never travel again? Never trust again? Never explore again?
Or does it mean you learn, adapt, and move forward wiser?
This is one of my dad’s most layered conversations about expat life, expectations, and personal responsibility. It’s not sugar-coated. It’s not a sales pitch. It’s a reminder that living abroad requires resilience, and perspective.
If you’re thinking about moving to Costa Rica, retiring here, or even just visiting, this is required watching. Not to scare you... but to ground you.
Costa Rica will test you.
But so will anywhere else.
The question isn’t whether bad things can happen.
The question is whether you’re going to let fear define your future.
Watch this MAV Throwback and hear one of the most honest reflections on what life in Costa Rica actually looks like beyond the Instagram fantasy.
Drop your thoughts below. Have you ever written off an entire place because of one experience?

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