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Also here I should say: don't get me wrong, for now we decided to live in the Philippines. These vacation pics are from summer 2023 when we were still considering to move to Costa Rica (I just have more time now than before to write about these experiences).

Ahhh got ya... so this was in 'orientation time' what was it that eventually made the choice on one or the other? Two totally different countries but I understand the similarities naturewise in them.

Well, naturewise ... also both are crypto friendly and both have teritorial taxation.

Both have advantages and disadvantages (as every country), both are recommendable as migration destinations in my opinion, but two main factors in favour of the Philippines were that:

  • My English is better than my Spanish, and in the Philippines (opposite to Costa Rica) most people speak English well enough.
  • My wife stems originally from Indonesia, so she is nearer to her Indonesian family now.

Agree....after moving around for a bit here as well I totally understand the concept every country has its pros and cons. And not only on the rules and regulations but also what kind of general vibe you get there. Those aspects you are naming have a lot to do with them. Language feels more essential for integration and blending in than I had realised initially. My German kind of sucked when I moved to switzerland, but using it on the daily made me get to know loads of people over there (while I also saw other who were not entirely into the language never really integrating)

And yeah family... that factor is also priceless!