Nadine Hays Pisani is a charming native of New Jersey who knows how to make her dreams come true. She quit her job and moved to Costa Rica a few years ago, and wrote a best-seller plus a sequel about her experience. Her latest book deals with the same topic, albeit with more of a “how-to” style of prose. Ms. Hays has kindly provided The Costa Rica Star with an excerpt of her new book, Happier Than A Billionaire: The Escape Manual. First, she tells us a bit about what motivated her to create this third sequel:

“This book is my unofficial guide to navigating Costa Rica, along with a little humor and a few life lessons thrown in. I’ll be including the things that I feel are most important, and answering the questions people ask most often. My goal is to inform but not overload, while sharing some laughs along the way. If you are looking to buy a teak farm, I’m sorry. I can’t help you with that. But if you are interested in moving here, or even traveling throughout the country, you may find some of these chapters useful.

If you haven’t read my previous two books, Happier Than A Billionaire: Quitting My Job, Moving to Costa Rica, and Living The Zero Hour Work Week and Happier Than A Billionaire: The Sequel, then my occasional tangents may surprise you. I have a tendency to share a lot of my life, especially all the funny (and not so funny) things that my husband ropes me into. Some have made accusations that my stories never happened, or that I’ve exaggerated. But I can assure you, once you decide to really start living—and take a chance on adventure—you tend to find yourself in one crazy predicament after another. This is my blueprint so that you can create all of your own incredible stories that no one will believe.

These adventures were exactly what I was searching for when embarking on this crazy odyssey, and I suspect you too are searching for something similar. You might have even ordered this book without telling your spouse. My husband, Rob, started researching our escape before he ever officially announced the plan to me. He knew where we should be long before I ever considered it.

I applaud you and want you to know that there are plenty more of us out there. It wasn’t until I became an expat (expatriate) that I met so many interesting people looking for a different kind of life. They did exactly what I did, and had equally interesting (if not better) stories.

This book is designed for everyone. For those who’ve already bought tickets and are making Costa Rica their home, and for those who read a chapter a night under the covers after they put the kids to bed. There is nothing wrong with dreaming of moving here, and armchair travel can take you many places you may never get to see in a lifetime. Through great books I’ve imagined living in Tuscany, climbing the tallest mountains, and traveling into space. Reading has given me more joy than I can possibly quantify. Therefore, this book is dedicated not just to those who want to live the pura vida (common phrase in Costa Rica meaning “full of life” or “going great”) lifestyle, but also to those who want to imagine the adventure. Because in many ways, I’m still doing that.”

 

Happier than a Billionaire: The Escape Manual

When I told my dad over the Christmas holiday that I was writing a “how to” book on Costa Rica, he gasped. I wasn’t sure why the news had elicited such a reaction, but I figured it was polite to return an unwarranted gasp with an equally discernible one. There we stood next to my mom’s glazed ham, gasping at one another for what felt like an unrelenting amount of time, until he finally explained his irritation.

“Nadine, I’ve read these books,” he said. “Lord knows I’ve tried to get through them, and let me express my concerns. To put it simply, nobody reads them.” There are times when it’s hard to tell how my father feels about a certain topic. This was not one of them.

“Okay, Dad, I’ll consider that,” I replied, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible. It appeared I was ruining our festive Presbyterian Christmas, one overflowing with long-upheld traditions of stoic silences and subliminal resentment. To think, I was under the impression I was actually livening up the place with talk of my travel guide.

“The type is always small,” my dad said. “And when you add the glossy white of the stiff pages, it becomes even more difficult and aggravating to read. In summary, they are heavy, boring, and awkward. Once you make the supreme effort to read it, there is nothing but a dull textbook quality as you peruse the standard sections: hotels, sights, weather, and criminal activity. On and on they drone. In the end, they all end up in the corner of one’s garage.”

“Received the message, Dad. Loud and clear,” I moaned. But he was unforgiving. After this pep talk, I had little confidence beginning this project.

“Perhaps I should listen to him,” I thought. He’s a smart guy, a man who would skim the whimsical pages of Soviet Life during his leisure hours after work. While other families discussed their day, my father would lecture on the inevitable fall of Communism. It’s no surprise that my spontaneous dissertations on rationed cooking fuel never garnered a bigger crowd during gym class. A bunch of pinko commie sympathizers for sure.

All this made me wonder if this Escape Manual would end up like other poorly received sequels, such as The Godfather III or the Rocky installment where he goes back to his old working-class neighborhood after filing for bankruptcy. Somehow the Balboas are so broke, Adrian is forced to wear her black-rimmed glasses again. She even ends up working at her old job in the pet store, spending an inordinate amount of time feeding turtles and staring at the ground. This could be my future if I wasn’t careful.

Therefore, to avoid having this book get demoted to a corner of your garage as my dad predicted, I decided that I’d make this road trip exciting. We’ll be taking a tour of the country, selling our junk, shipping some things, finding housing, and boarding a plane with our pets. We will apply for residency, wait for residency, and reapply together. Perhaps we’ll stop by and visit a doctor. Hopefully, we won’t be spending too much time in any hospital. But don’t worry—if you need medical attention, I’ll drive you to the best facility outside San José. That’s if the roads haven’t destroyed my car by then. It smells like the transmission is burning. If not that, something else is on fire. Eventually, the entire engine is going to blow. But even that doesn’t stress me out anymore. Since moving here, I’ve found that my anxiety is nowhere near the levels it was when I was working. It’s one of the greatest gifts Costa Rica has given me.