Kema Ward-Hopper by no means imagined she’d increase her kids in the course of a jungle.
However in 2018, after Hurricane Harvey destroyed her Houston house, a visit to Costa Rica together with her husband Nicholas Hopper after which 9-year-old daughter Aaralyn grew to become a everlasting transfer.
“The housing market was just insane in Houston because of so many people losing their homes to the storm,” Ward-Hopper tells CNBC Make It. “At the time, we were living in a small garage apartment above a neighbor’s home, with no relief in sight.”
Hopper steered they home hunt elsewhere. “I thought he meant we should move to a different city in Texas or a different state, but he looked at me and said, ‘No Kema, let’s leave the country,'” Ward-Hopper, 41, recollects.
From Hopper’s perspective, shifting to Costa Rica was a no brainer.
The couple received married there in 2016 and had been itching to return, however life — whether or not or not it’s payments, jobs or household obligations — stored delaying their plans.
“When we came back to Houston [after the wedding], we both had this calmness about us, and I felt like we were missing out on something by staying in the states,” Hopper, 43, says.
In July 2018, after spending six weeks scoping out completely different neighborhoods alongside Costa Rica’s northern shoreline and debating in the event that they had been able to change into expats, the Ward-Hoppers signed a one-year lease on a home (or “casita” in Spanish) in the course of the jungle on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula.
The Ward-Hoppers’ canine, Heidi, enjoys the view from their yard in Nicoya.
Photograph: Kema Ward-Hopper
The 2-bedroom, one-bathroom home sat on seven acres of land in the course of the jungle close to Playa San Miguel and got here with an out of doors kitchen in addition to panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean — plus, lease was solely $500 a month.
“Ten years ago, I would not have believed you if you told me that this is where we would be,” Ward-Hopper says. “But it feels like luck or fate led us here.”
Quick-forward six years later, and the Ward-Hoppers at the moment are everlasting residents of Costa Rica, with no plans to maneuver again to Texas. “We’re a lot happier living here than in the U.S.,” Ward-Hopper says.
Discovering a more healthy way of life for physique and soul in Costa Rica
One other pivotal second within the couple’s choice to go away america was Ward-Hopper’s most cancers restoration.
In April 2016, mere months earlier than her marriage ceremony, Ward-Hopper found she had stage 2B breast most cancers.
“Undergoing chemotherapy was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,” she says. “I only completed half of the prescribed infusions because I felt like if I did any more, it would kill me.”
Ward-Hopper paused therapy proper earlier than her marriage ceremony. She anticipated to really feel unwell throughout her ceremony and honeymoon however, a lot to her shock, Ward-Hopper says she felt higher than she had in months whereas vacationing in Costa Rica.
“Suddenly I had enough energy to get up in the morning and do yoga and go on hikes, I was eating more,” she says. “I really felt like I was healing while we were there, in no small part because of the fresh fruit, clean air and water.”
The Nicoya Peninsula is without doubt one of the five original Blue Zones, house to the longest-lived individuals and highest life expectations, in line with longevity researcher Dan Buettner.
A few of the factors that make Nicoya a Blue Zone, Buettner found, are the Nicoyans’ weight-reduction plan, which incorporates contemporary fruit, greens and complete grains in addition to their deal with household and group.
Each Ward-Hopper and her husband say that they noticed speedy advantages from dwelling in a Blue Zone for his or her well being together with getting sick much less, dropping pounds, feeling extra energized and fewer careworn.
An added bonus was the delivery of their son Nico in 2020, even after docs mentioned chemotherapy had rendered Ward-Hopper unable to conceive. “I got pregnant within 13 months of living here, which I thought was impossible,” she says. “It was a small miracle.”
The Ward-Hoppers reside in Costa Rica with their daughter Aaralyn, 15, and son Nico, 3.
Photograph: Alejandro Ferlini
Nico’s arrival additionally launched one other factor of stability to their lives by making the whole household eligible for citizenship in Costa Rica. Beforehand, the Ward-Hoppers stayed in Costa Rica on vacationer visas, which meant they needed to depart the nation each 90 days, time they used as alternatives to discover neighboring international locations like Nicaragua or go to household within the U.S.
Ward-Hopper’s docs within the U.S. mentioned they now not detected most cancers calls in her physique in 2017, and in 2021, her physician re-affirmed that she was cancer-free, an final result she attributes partially to her choice to reside in Costa Rica. For a lot of breast most cancers survivors, the chance of recurrence 5 years post-diagnosis considerably decreases, in line with the American Cancer Society.
“Health-wise, I did a complete 180 after moving here,” Ward-Hopper says. “I healed both physically and emotionally.”
Ward-Hopper additionally credit Costa Rica’s health-care system for her improved well-being.
As residents, the Ward-Hoppers obtain their well being care by means of the CAJA system, a government-run program that grants 100% protection for all medical procedures, appointments, hospital visits and prescribed drugs. The Ward-Hoppers spend about $83 monthly on their household’s health-care plan.
Even after they had been uninsured, Ward-Hopper says their medical bills had been negligible at greatest. “I remember one visit I had to the emergency room for chest pains and anticipating a bill that would cost thousands of dollars, as it would in the U.S., and it was less than $200,” she provides.
Dwelling comfortably on $30,000 a yr
Proper earlier than they moved to Costa Rica, the Ward-Hoppers give up their company jobs as a analysis analyst and mortgage dealer, respectively, to pursue new careers as entrepreneurs overseas.
Navigating their new careers — and lives — in Costa Rica did not contain a lot of a language barrier, Ward-Hopper says, as most Costa Ricans converse English, and he or she and her daughter are proficient in Spanish. Hopper, in the meantime, is enrolled in a newbie Spanish course.
Ward-Hopper now balances 4 part-time jobs: She’s a well being and health coach, a Spanish trainer, a bunch for wellness retreats and, most not too long ago, an creator. She self-published her first e book, “For my Beloveds: An End-of-life Journal for Guidance & Wisdom,” in September 2023.
Final yr, her completely different earnings streams earned her about $10,500, in line with monetary paperwork reviewed by CNBC Make It.
Hopper, in the meantime, runs his personal distant logistics enterprise, which earned him about $19,500 in 2023.
“Living here has allowed me to explore my passions so that my methods of earning income don’t feel like a job, it just feels like I’m getting to do the things that I love to do, which is to be of service to others,” Ward-Hopper says. “We make less money, but we’re still living pretty comfortably … our money definitely goes further here than in the U.S.”
In Might 2023, the Ward-Hoppers moved to a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home in Nicoya to be nearer to Aaralyn’s college, which is public and tuition-free.
Here is a month-to-month breakdown of the Ward-Hoppers’ spending (as of November 2023):
The Ward-Hoppers’ common month-to-month spending
Mithra Krishnan for CNBC Make It
Meals: $1,200
Lease and utilities: $628
Discretionary: $330
Nico’s college tuition: $284
Cellphone (U.S. cellphone plan): $223
Insurance coverage (well being, life, automotive): $99
Subscriptions and memberships: $78
Fuel: $67
Complete: $2,909
Every day common: $97
Discovering their perpetually house overseas
For the Ward-Hoppers, the most important problem of relocating to Costa Rica has been being removed from their household and mates within the U.S., and in addition dropping entry to sure American sources and merchandise, like Reese’s peanut butter cups, a household favourite they have not present in native supermarkets.
However by most measures, the Ward-Hoppers have discovered the qualify of life to be “much better” in Costa Rica than within the U.S.
“I’ve had great experiences in the U.S., but we can’t deny the way that people of color are treated there, and we have not had that experience here at all,” Ward-Hopper says. “In Costa Rica, I feel that people are treated as humans first, people are incredibly respectful and kind here.”
In banks and grocery shops, for instance, Ward-Hopper has seen that individuals will encourage pregnant individuals and aged prospects to skip to the entrance of the road. “While it’s not impossible to get that in the States, the baseline isn’t this theme of love, acceptance and community the same way it is here,” she provides.
The Ward-Hoppers say they plan to remain in Costa Rica for the remainder of their lives, even when they plan prolonged journeys to Africa, Europe and different international locations in South America.
“This is where we always want to return to,” Hopper says. “Ultimately, our goal is to build up our savings and build a nice finca [the Spanish word for “property”] for our family here.”
Hopper says the decrease value of dwelling and group in Costa Rica has far outweighed any emotions of homesickness he is felt because the transfer.
He provides: “I’m definitely happier living in Costa Rica than I used to be in the U.S. I’ve gained my family back being here, I’ve gained the opportunity to spend more time with them and not only create more freedom in myself but also more freedom within our family to explore our dreams.”
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