Why I Boldly Choose A Pura Vida Life
by Ayoka Blandford
In 2017, my partner, David and I began exploring relocation: how to do it and where to go. We wanted a place with water, Black or Brown people, thriving culture, stable government, and stable internet. Our vacations became reconnaissance missions, looking for strategic features for long-term joy.
Last year, there was a net negative migration in the U.S. for the first time since the Great Depression. In other words, more people left than came.
While some are hiring relocation experts or attending conferences at $500-1000 per ticket, I did old-fashioned research, prayed, and followed my gut. And finally, on a trip with a girlfriend, I identified Costa Rica as the destination.
David and I began to look for property and on our sixth trip, we found our home. At 47, I resigned and for the next year, I focused on selling our historic DC home and planning my family’s relocation.
We sold, gave away, or donated a house full of furniture. This was key to the new life that we were creating: getting rid of “stuff.” We wanted a simpler life to connect with each other and truly live.
My son was 13 and I could not imagine raising him in the States any longer. The pandemic was raging, but it allowed me to keep him close. He would soon demand a level of independence I was unwilling to give; there were too many risks.
Between the violence against Black people, the pandemic, and the January 6 insurrection that happened ten minutes from my house, I was not in a good head space. At work, my ideas and production were praised company-wide; however, the director of my department created a toxic environment.
We sold our home on a Friday and landed in Costa Rica on the following Wednesday afternoon. I was 49 and for the first time as an adult, I felt free. I asked myself, “who are you going to be?”
Did someone say alignment? I found a Black Writers' Group two weeks after we landed. A year later, what began as a short story would become my debut novel. Who knew I would be an author?
It’s a big, wide world. Find your place and go! You don’t need permission to live where you are welcome, enjoy life, and thrive.
While I know everyone can’t pick up and go, let this be the sign to do what you always dreamed of. Do the thing that scares you. Trust yourself even when people don’t understand your vision.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/americans-leaving-the-us-migration-a5795bfa
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/12/couple-built-travel-company-for-americans-to-leave-the-us.html
Ayoka lives in Costa Rica with her family. She is the author of six books and co-host of the podcast Writing While Black. When she's not writing or recording, she’s at the beach or her nose is in a book.