The Travel #3: Preparation 2/2

 The journey continues...
(Read the previous part here)

After all the bureaucracy was done, it was time for the personal belongings to be processed. In this post, I want to lay out our experiences spending the first few month in Costa Rica. This might be useful for you, if you are on the verge of emigrating to a country in Latin-america. The challenges were, that in Costa Rica, getting a hold of some things can be really challenging.

So here is a list of things you 
might need to bring:

Good quality items

Migrating from Germany, we realised that there is a big difference in the quality of american products to european brands. Even the ones imported from the US lack durability and practicability. I, for example, brought some tools, baking pans for bread and high-quality kitchen knives.


Rye flour

It is really hard to find rye flour. In fact. as of now, beeing in Costa Rica for ten weeks we have not found it anywhere. This is because the country does not cultivate any cereal. Wheat flour can be found everywhere but no rye.
I needed the rye flour for making sour dough because good bread and yeast both also are hard to get.

//Update 30.09.2021: I found this dark rye flour in a small organic store in Samara, a village popular amongst tourists in Guanacaste.


Electronic devices

Electronic devices such as mobile phones or laptops are avaible if needed, but they are way more expensive than in Europe. We bought new phones and laptops prior to leaving Germany.


Clothing

The differences the tropical climate makes are unexpected, to say the least. One of the effects, that it has, is the clothes break more frequently due to more exposure to the sun and constant high humidity during rainy season. Especially lace dresses do not make it past the first year. All other clothes like socks and T-shirts break in shorter time than in moderate climates. Make shure to bring a lot of spare clothes!


Earplugs

Many might not find earplugs to be nessecary, but they are one object, that are only available in big stores. So if you are in a rural area, you should bring your own. It is also a personal tip from me. We have a lot of wildlife around us. And let me tell you: It is way louder than in Germany. So if you like a quite environment while sleeping, bring your own!


Supplements

Some people swear on them, some find them extremely unnessacary. If you belong to the first group, make shure to bring your supplements like iron, magnesium, vitamin D3 and so on. You might even need them more than at home because of the drastic change in your diet. Depending on your eating habits of course. My girlfriend and her sister had a magnesium-defficiency for the first few weeks due to the change.



This is my list of what you should bring, when emigrating to Latin-america. This comes from a ten weeks in emigrant. If I notice more things along the ways there shure will be a follow-up linked.

Hope I could help someone out. Keep in mind: Preparation is key!



*Disclaimer: Some links used on this site are amazon referral links, meaning that I get a poromotion if someone buys something from the link. You do not have a extra costs!

Location: Costa Rica

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