I’ve been making on and off UA-cam videos for almost 10 years now. This video is the culmination of everything my team and I have learned, and it’s also the beginning of our biggest video project yet! Thank you all for watching ❤️
Same thing in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Lived there last winter after living in colombia for a while where I was teaching. It was flooded by digital nomads and young tourists, to a point where a single room with a mat on the floor now costs about 500-800$ a month. Started helping a local man who was doing community work with poor families outside the city. Being fluent in Spanish I took care of a couple that had 7 daughters, age ranging from 2-11 and they told me they were kicked out of the city/shore because they were apparently using too much water (having 7 children plus the grandmother) but its really because the landloard wanted to up the price of their flat to rent it to toursists. After a while I realised I was actually part of the problem since I was a Canadian foreigner renting an apt at an astonishing price compared to what locals would be able to pay. After being told the work I was doing neighbors bought me wine and said "at least you are not like the others" but i still felt like an impostor. So you know what, i moved out of the city. Ppl have to realize their self proclamed new paradise is actually someone else's homeland, not yours.
I lived in Puerto Escondido for a year, it was so crazy to see the prices double before your eyes one year to the next in terms of rent. The power outages and lack of.clean water is not getting better while they are building new condos every month. It's quite sad, in the end the well will dry up as the city is squeezed for all it has and the nomads will leave, but the locals will stay behind in the rubble. I totally agree with what you said that we are also part of the problem. A classic case of "you're not in traffic, you're part of the traffic". Probably you already know about it but I follow and support sospuerto, they actively try to hold politicians accountable and protest the construction of big appartment buildings.
When the rich immigrate they raise the standard of living. When the poor immigrate they lower it. It is what it is mate, been this way, it is this way, and it always will be this way unless the world suddenly magically changes into an idealists paradise 🤷♂️ Our whole system is built on manufactured scarcity. Change that, you fix the problem (hint, it starts with the usury monetary system a d fractional reserve lending)
I hate to break it to you but you are also one of the new foreigners... However virtuous you try to be and you try to detach yourself from the others, you are part of the problem
The problem with digital nomads is they usually come from urban areas. They say they like the nature and the slower pace of life but they also want all the “conveniences” of the very urban areas they are trying to escape. This usually turns out to be deter mental to both the locals and the environment. Hopefully Costa Rico’s government will be more interested in protecting the environment and the local people over the money the nomads promise.
I’m a Costa Rican citizenship and trust me they are not. Government is so corrupt and will take bribes like crazy. Samara was my favorite place and now I can’t afford to go. I grew up in La Fortuna and I can’t afford to buy a home there because everything is bought and re sold for crazy prices that only foreigners can afford. It’s ridiculous and everything is an Airbnb now so we can’t rent a home near our favorite places.
yeah, and its quite unfortunate that its the ones that say they love other cultures and people but act most like colonials. trying to make other people's lands conform to their standards
@@danielbrockerttravelwhen they are kept away from what is left from nature. Building a urban center in places like nosara is just capitalist ignorance. And It happens. Because there are too many sh*theads that only Care about money gaining wealth from this.
I am Costarican had the opportunity to bought land on 1997, close to the beach and create a business to afford to live here. I was looking for nature and be close to the beach, for many years loved to live walking distance to the beach until the boom of tourist for good or for bad came along, remember many years the local people were mixed in harmony and in peace with the foreigners, unfortunately it changed. I still live here and love Nosara but decided to move out of Guiones because the nature I used to be proud of is not there anymore, greedy become the new normal (specially real estate, that want to sell land no mater what) and for locals become hard to live even to find an affordable housing according to their salaries or not even able to rent because the renters prefer to rent to foreigners than Costa Rican that will paid the same amount in USD. I remember had a meeting with the owner of one of the biggest hotel in the area in order to convinced him to create apartments out of town to find a solution to his employees that comes from the GAM, the answer I got was : "that's not business for me". I guess what we are missing here is conscious and empathy, ironically is what those hotels on their Yoga classes try to teach. What I see is a snake eating his tail. With total honestly and and with no anger against anyone and after 25 years living in Guiones( not anymore)...this is what I saw and see and it is not Pura Vida.
I lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a couple of years and the weird thing for me was that the digital nomads just all hang out together in a cluster. Same work spaces, cafes etc. They travel all the way to a new country only to hang out with people just like them. I guess you could've classed me as a digital nomad because at the time as I was teaching English online but I worked from home and did everything I could to avoid places full of other foreigners with laptops.
I'm from the east coast US and I went out to California to visit an old friend. We ended up hanging out by the Bay with almost ten other people from our home town back east! Not one person there was west-coast born, and it felt a little weird for us to all just powwow in someone else's hometown, even if San Francisco is WAY wealthier than where I'm from, and I could barely afford lunch. People gravitate towards what is familiar. They hope to break that cycle by moving someplace new, but once they get there they don't want to be uncomfortable, and so they find the nearest starbucks, because they know the barista and the other patrons probably speak english, and the mocha lattes are just like back home
@@digitalsamurai42 yeah but why move to another country if you're not gonna learn the language/at least immerse yourself in it and the surrounding culture lol
@@mississippijohnfahey7175 I would say it's like race and immigrant communities. For example, when immigrants move to the US they just stay within their own group and build their own communities together. You can say the same with white people when they gentrify a new neighborhood in the US they won't hang out with the blacks, Hispanics, etc, in the neighborhood they are gentrifying but with only their own small group that is there. As humans we are just wired to gravitate and be around what is similar to us.
I identify two problems: The realisation that working remote is in many ways healthier, and that all you need is an internet connection for a lot of modern, high paying jobs. The speed and ease at which individuals can travel(city of Bordeaux in France, is now a Parisian suburb), means that anywhere can now be potentially bought up by people with way way higher income. Distance means nothing. So income disparity becomes hugely impactful, not only in places like Costa Rica, but everywhere around the globe.
@@madnessends2477 Some in tech. The problem is even if they get pay little, or work in some jobs like teaching English without qualification, they can still earn considerably mora than a local.
Yeah definitely. In a less drastic but still problematic way I see it in my own country, the Netherlands. Amsterdam is the most expensive, with also a lot of tourists. People moved to a nearby city because it’s more affordable: my city. Local businesses and the municipality wants some of that tourist money so a lot is done to make people visit. There’s more and more expats coming to my city because it’s quieter and cheaper than Amsterdam, but now my city is one of the most expensive places to live. So locals and others move to other nearby villages and towns, making those more and more expensive. And before you know it it’s hardly affordable to live anywhere near a major city in my country. I moved back in with my parents because I don’t have a car and rent in cities is going through the roof. My parents live in the city so I can take public transport.
I've worked as an Oil and Gas Engineer. I currently need to work 50:50 office:home but In Reality I can work much better away from The office. I had plenty before as was.
This happening in my country, Thailand, too. And in some places, it is worse because of these nomad also create a demand for drugs and other dangerous substances.
Crazy. With money comes greed, drugs, and a general unnerving of the entire country. I want to move to another country but does that make me part of the problem? I’ve seen many countries go from beautiful places to city development and earth digging sites over time and it’s sad but it’s not going to slow down.
I often think about moving somewhere else to get away from the crowd and have a better life quality, though not necessarily to a paradise beach. I'm from São Paulo (Brazil) and we've seen here (as the US probably also did) the downsides of such occupations. Rich people tend to think that moving somewhere more isolated will get them away from poverty and pollution from the big cities, but they don't want to give up the expensive lifestyle they have there, which requires cheap labor and creates pollution. If people want that better life they got to stop thinking that way, and settle in a sustainable (both environmentally and socially), and I'm not talking about giving away the technology, but rather using it to their favor. I'm talking about smaller houses, recycling water, green buildings, and if they're so rich why not green energy and investing in the community! That's the way to think.
As a costarican I absolutely love the way this video has been edited and how you portray us. This is the truth right here, kinks and all. Your english is also great, clear, concise and well spoken. True high quality video right here, and I love it that it was made and produced in my country. Thank you and may you have success in all your endeavors
This is so depressing not only for the locals in Costa Rica but for locals in every desirable/in demand location. I feel like there are affordable housing crisis in so many places and only the most wealthy individuals can survive.
Except these digital nomads are not wealthy, they are middle class income Americans that have been priced out of their own country, but the thing that bothers people about them is that they are arrogant and feel like they own the place, when they would not own or be shit in their own country.
This is exactly what happened to Tulum, México. It used to be a cute little town and now is full of hotels, no access to the beach and poor infrastructure making everyone lack water.
I did solar systems in Tulum and they were literally pumping water out of their well that was only 20 feet away from their septic and you can smell it. It was a mess.
But why is this happening? In theory new people with money contrubute to countrie's economy and new money can be used to improve the infrastructure among other things
@@vitaliiivanov9514 that's a lie. Most money returns to first world countries in the shape of laundering, fiscal paradises, commodities exploited or in form of debt to so few hands... The return of wealth to the people is non existent since these are corrupt flaky governments that only work for profit and prefer to sell all the natural resources for some money and stocks for their family's wealth and friends to benefit. Corporations are way up in the upper echelon, below them are the failed governments and then the people that no one cares about because their existence doesn't profit doing some bullshit job on advertising/marketing to keep your attention so you buy crap that you don't need.
I was born and raised in Panama, and now I live in New Zealand. Crazy to think how every time I read news about the city and neighbouring towns I grew up in becoming nomad/beach paradises, the cost of living for locals becomes even worse. But the same thing happened here in New Zealand. Tons of foreigners/expats came to work, and now we've contributed to making housing so unaffordable for many locals. And this is even worse for Costa Ricans and other Central Americans, sadly. Thanks for making this video, Caya.
I’m Australian and chose to leave for that reason. It’s way to expensive now. The crash will come for the housing market in NZ and Oz, as the demographics isn’t there. Hence why australia NEEDs to open the flood gates to immigration, to prop up the housing bubble. The by product being lower wage growth from diluting your labour force
I'm from NZ and this problem was one of the reasons I couldn't stand living there anymore, The prices just keep rising. I could afford a better life in another country. But i'm aware i'm probably becoming apart of the problem in this new country
I have lived in Nosara since 2012, and moved away 2 weeks before this video was posted. Very timely and well done, it captured all the reasons I left. Greed has overtaken the souls of many there small or big, the municipality, a local government, has been sued by foreign capital for imposing construction regulations, which got suspended because of the lawsuit. It's very heartbreaking what's happening there and people need to know.
I would like to see an update video now that it's 2023 and a lot of these digital nomad Lisa's are expiring. I wonder if there are firesales starting in that area?
"the municipality, a local government, has been sued by foreign capital for imposing construction regulations" how does this work? why would a local government have to listen to anything foreign capital has to say.... that doesn't make sense
The thing is that tourism is super important for a lot of place. It bring a lot of money and jobs, until it reach a certain point where the local can't afford to live where they used to. It's hard to say when to stop ( if it's even possible ). There is some place where people started pushing foreigner and tourist out, and the local economy collapsed in matter of months, you can see a lot of place hurting during covid because of the lack of tourism. It's a double edge sword.
I am not an economist, but I would say that an economy based exclusively on tourism as a source of income will be sooner or later detrimental to the local population, unless there is some sort of political intervention to regulate rent prices.
@Rosa Escrib If enough hotel are built, it's usually not an issue. Where there is a big problems is area without hotels,not enough houses and Airbnb, that's an issue with alot of rich countries also.
@@amadei2 I know first-hand tourist areas in Spain where hotels are abundant, but not enough housing for locals, and the little housing offer is becoming very costly for locals. The problem is huge and, in general, it favors foreigners and tourists in detriment of locals. It's a tragedy.
I hear about this rent supply problem everywhere these days - Nova Scotia, Toronto, and I believe it's a huge problem in Costa Rica. When I was on the Pacific coast of CR in 2019 I couldn't believe how expensive groceries were for the locals. They were more expensive then they are for me in Canada.
Yes there's similar issues in touristy parts of the UK where people have realised they can live in these places rather than spend a week or two there a year. House prices and rental prices have gone up and locals are struggling. It has the long term effect of removing the culture, traditions and services from an area.
@Unfluencer there's room. Always has been. It's the idiots who choose to sacrifice personal property and individual rights for their literal socialistic urban shitholes with exorbitant mental health problems. That's the issue here. IE, the morons who get rid of the traditional human roots in favor of "convenience" and other modern luxuries, only to then feel emptiness and a disconnect that can never be filled except if they leave the hell they created. Yeah, life is different and "harder" to do basic things for the poor. But just imagine a world where you aren't threatened with the metal cage every year if you don't properly file a piece of paper that was never taught to you. Or the wealthy, they face far more legal battles than the average Joe does, threatening far more in the process. Just imagine such a 'crazy world', one where you gather fruits and water among building up your camp and community, versus the daily life currently endured, consisting of 9-5 slave labor meaning no time for hobbies or socialization outside binge boozing, no ownership due to credit and subscriptions, no happiness due to decreasing birth rates and the aforementioned abandonment of human connections, etc... why would people choose a life of convenience over a life of substance? Because of sloth, that's why. These digital nomads wouldn't be hated worldwide if they didn't take the best of both socioeconomic classes, pissing both sides of the horseshoe surrounding their halfwitted selves, and then plant their narcissistic asses in every situation globally to help people while NEVER doing so by perpetuating the same laptop class and living large off the sweat of the locals. Nobody wants to see someone with over $20,000 in the bank come out of their hotel room and HAGGLE locals for their 10 cent fruit. Particularly when a "Nomad" would see the ghost income from social media for the blessing it is and utilize it to make real impacts rather than hoard it all until one day retiring off the internet and, exactly as the pinned comment here proves, become insanely unhappy when using it for a handful of first world luxuries among a community of 2nd or 3rd world neighbors. It does not take a decade to learn how basic economics works, it took 10 years for the shame of exploiting the minds of the genius and the labors of the not, to become unbearable. All to say, the problem isn't space, it's the space being used for nothing more than monetary gain within second and third world countries which need more agriculture and manufacturing. If they had more food and goods, they wouldn't need to employ the entire country in tourism and then act surprised when seasonal work isn't sufficient. When a bunch of university students are released into the wild to plague the world with their false ideologies, their unmatched self worship, their paradoxical mental trainwrecks, and worst of all, the pride which commands them to not ever consider being wrong. If all digital nomads gathered coconuts and actually behaved like the nomads of the visited country do, they would not get the same treatment. See the "survival" channels which evolved to do just this for proof
Muy bueno el vídeo. Me hubiera gustado que ampliaras más sobre la increíble desigualdad entre las dos Nosaras, y los efectos que tiene en las poblaciones locales. Pero muy buen resumen, sobre todo cuando hablas de cómo ha aumentado el costo de la vida, y el imposible acceso de tierras seguras para los locales, porque todas están en manos de Real estate y de extranjeros millonarios.
This is really evident in all of Latin America. I've always enjoyed immersing myself in the culture of whatever country I go to but I find it practically impossible in certain cities in both Costa Rica and Guatemala most recently. It takes away from the experience because you're not actually seeing those countries, they're just extensions of the US and Canada with no respect for the local culture; learning the language, or even attempting to immerse themselves in it. Also being a Spanish speaker and talking to older locals who have been driven out by tourism and sharing what the last 20 years have been like, seeing their cities transformed into something they no longer recognize or can appreciate is saddening. I made the mistake of staying at some Selinas and got caught up in unknowingly contributing to this growing problem. My trips to Costa Rica and Guatemala have been the least enjoyable trips that I can recall, and this is not because they're not great countries, I'm sure they are, but sadly I have to go out of my way within those trips to just get to know locals since it was really hard to avoid speaking English, even in what one would expect would be local shops.
The pool is getting smaller in Central America. I'd argue that the majority of El Salvador and Honduras are still quite authentic, mostly because tourists are afraid to visit. Places like Costa Rica and Panama have gotten so expensive, almost as expensive as going on vacation/setting up shop in many parts of the USA, that people will seek alternatives. It's only a matter of time before people realize how beautiful some parts of these countries are.
Personally, I feel lile if all you go to is Atitlan, Antigua, and nice zones in la ciudad, sure. In my experience majority of Guatemala isn't like that. I've never HAD to use English. I shop in Spanish at mercados. Use Spanish even in Walmart! Or the theater. Or at the beach. Or in the inside country. Maybe it's because I look like I COULD be afrolatino. But no one tries to speak English to me....ever... My Spanish here has improved so much. It's the easiest country IMHO to understand Spanish and use it. (Other accents are harder to understand)
Costa Rican here. Excellent video. However we need to be careful on how we solve this problem. A lot of people gravitate toward maintaining artificial scarcity, and that can be dangerous because we are not attacking the root problems. I'll try to shed some light: 1. People complain about the "2 Nosaras" because of the inequality that appeared due to those developments. This is the typical error of focusing on "inequality" but not "poverty". The people in Guanacaste have always been poor and avoiding these developments to "conserve natural exclusivity" doesn't pull the locals out of poverty. Did people care about the poverty in Nosara before the "2 Nosaras"? No. 2. The water issue is due to the incompetency of our national water company, the AyA. If we want to attack the core issue, we need to make the AyA do its job. Develop infrastructure as a priority. However a lot of bureaucrats use "green-washing" to block projects that will give water to the areas, they prefer the locals to live on subsistence. 3. Nosara is expensive precisely due to its remote location and terrible infrastructure. Why does it have terrible infrastructure? Corrupt local government and an incredible useless but gigantic central government. If we want to lower costs, we need to develop the local infrastructure, especially roads. Zoning is necessary and needs to be done correctly. But blocking development after we fix the water issue is not the solution. Simple supply and demand. More people = more taxes and jobs thus more development for those areas. I would even jack up real estate taxes and use that money for local government to help their community, its not an issue for middle or low income people because the Costa Rican's can tax exempt their first property.
Interesting! Would you mind contact me over email (you can find the address on my channel)? I am writing about exactly this subject and would like to get in touch with someone who have some opinions about it.
As somebody who has worked in development these are great points. However, I'm curious whether building infrastructure will change the amount available in the local water table for the area because that is usually pretty much set. No amount of building infrastructure will ensure your fresh water source will multiply. Unless by building water infrastructure, you mean desalination plants. While progress and development feel like they should always be "good" not every place can be developed without severely impacting its ecology, and balancing the need to protect the area as an environmental reserve with economic growth can be truly difficult. Most places usually survive through ecotourism but that does not seem to be the case here. To be honest, seeing firsthand the examples of Bali and Thailand being jnfested with digital nomads who could care less about their negativd impact on local communities AND wildlife (supporting animal tours which may involve animal abuse), it's not always a good thing.
First time I visited Costa Rica I was a typical tourist. I slept in nice hotels and was amazed by the beautiful clean beaches… everything was marvelous… Next time I went there for a couple of months to study and to visit some costarrican friends. Needless to say that this time the experience was very different… Since I did not went to the touristy beaches but to the ones the locals go to, I saw how incredibly dirty many of these spots were. And because I lived in an average house in San José I got used to not having water for hours every day because the hotels „needed“ the water for the costumers and there simply wasn’t enough left for the locals. And meeting the locals also was always quite similar. First they reacted a tiny bit…let’s say…careful..when they saw me, when they realized that I am not from the USA they became a lot friendlier and when they realized that I speak spanish, they opened up completely. After a while I even had to pay lower prices because I was not considered „a tourist“ anymore. 😂 A beautiful country with a lot of very lovely people! Very sad that like in so many nice places the rich take everything for themselves and leave nothing for the rest…
Yup, I love Costa Rica and have been tot hto very touristy spots and they are amazing. Then I went to a small fishing town for a month, got to know the locals and establishment and went with their hangouts and wow, so welcoming and so different. Is my dream to get back there!!
I don't get the comment about the water in San Jose being cut to benefit hotels. That's not true. We have excellent water service in the central valley. There might be cuts sometimes due to maintenance or breaks but not because it's given to hotels.
The modern day UA-camr, Influencer "Digital Nomad" is like a plague.... .I wish they would just disappear....As someone who works online and has lived abroad for almost 25 years, I avoid locations and places where they congregate like 'Coworking Spaces". I've never understood coworking spaces to begin with....Instead, I go to off the beaten path towns and cities, invest in a nicer apartment instead of paying for coworking, never take up space working out of cafes with "free WiFi" etc. In fact, I even avoid places during their "peak seasons" instead, I visit and work from these places during their off seasons, when my presence is truly appreciated by the locals...
Tuve la oportunidad de vivir en Nosara hace 15 años, trabajé ahí con un amigo que vivía en el centro (la "otra" Nosara). Puedo decir que ya Nosara perdió su identidad hace mucho y que lo que se ve ahora es su nueva identidad 🤷🏽♂️. Mi amigo ya no vive ahí, no pudo seguir viviendo ahí. El video 100%!!! Faltó hablar sobre los conflictos con plan Regulador donde grandes corporaciones ganan demandas para construir cada vez más cerca de la zona marítimo terrestre.
I am Costa Rican and lived in many beaches always end up leaving because this happens each and every time - in Manuel Antonio, Coco, Tamarindo, Nosara the list continues... locals turn agressive and drugs and fancy places flood the place worst than than water :( I live in the city now for the same reason so that my children don't grow up thinking that party every night is a normal life. On my way to my next adventure in Guapiles where things haven't gotten that out of proportion yet. Hope we can stay there till they finish highschool but at this rate who knows???
Same is happening in Bali, Indonesia around Canggu. In some areas land prices are even higher than Manhattan. Foreigners aren't even allowed to 'own' land, but lots of them get their land illegaly by using Indonesians to get land, bribing government officials or setting up 'fake' companies and use the land as an asset for the company. I've been living in Bali for 9 years and 3 months ago my landlord told me that the rent for 2023 is going to be around 600 us dollar a month, while it was 125 us dollar in 2016. And lots of 'influencers' are building high end villas in the neighbourhood and rent those out for 1.000 us dollar per night. Balinese average wage is around 200 us dollar a month.
@Life as we know it not complaining about foreigners is actually the main reason of what is happening, we never did and now we're seeing the results not being able to live where we used to live and having to travel for so many kilometers to buy the food, I completely agree that government must help lot more but thanks god now we have a better president not the ones we used to have, really hope more people like you coming to the country that helps to grow the community TOGETHER, love from Guanacaste, Costa Rica 🇨🇷
This was fascinating! Definitely makes me examine my own relationship with travel and living abroad. I am a Brit living in Portugal. I've been here for ten years and I've seen similar effects to Portugal major cities as more people discover it as a cheap place to live. Lisbon is now almost as expensive as London in terms of rent prices!
Yes, it's not just in Lisbon, either. I have lived near the sw coast for 16years, and spend time in Central Portugal too. BOTH areas have seen unbelievable price increases in property and rents, due to the huge amount of newcomers, especially on the sw coast in the last 2 years. Locals can now not afford rents - it is very sad.
Not just Portugal - Cornwall is unafforable for many locals especially young people who are priced out of rentals by Air BnB and the greed for tourist dollars, plus of course all the 2nd home owners
I'm half portuguese and I definately feel this. As a student there is no affordable renting. If you live in a normal apartment and want to sell it you can't even find anything to buy at the same price, almost everything is over half a million for a simple house now for no reason. I feel people who come here need to think more about the locals and stop thinking its "cheap". Like yeah it might be in comparison to America, but we still have to live on small salaries and have a life. And if 90% of the country's housing costs over half a million soon Portuguese will be forced to leave and Portugal will be full of foreigners and inflated prices. The government is also to blame, enabling these quick foreign money schemes and having no control with rents or pricing. Its a speculative bubble atm. Hopefully things change or else I don't see a future in Portugal sadly...
@@meltossmedia I'm in the centre too! I live in Caldas da Rainha :) I moved away from Lisbon because of the sky rocketing rents plus I always liked the West Coast more. I completely agree it's a widespread issue. I don't think foreigners intend to outprice locals but the government should do more to measure the cost of living and raise wages so that the Portuguese can thrive in their own country.
It's the exact same that is happening in Mexico, sadly! I could notice that especifically in Mexico city, where rents have been up like crazy since the boom of remote working. Also in the Mayan Riviera (Tulum, Cancun), where the prices in general have gotten ridiculously high for locals, and in USD
Same thing going on in PV and Riviera Nayarit. It's heartbreaking knowing locals have been forced from their homes to make room for 5 star resorts, and now have to travel so far to and from to get to work everyday. The mangroves have been decimated and the wildlife there has been greatly effected. We have had several crocodile attacks these past couple of years because they have no safe places to go. Prices are crazy, and they have destroyed so much of the natural beauty to build more condos, or as they like to advertise "vertical living".
@@leeloo1701-D Yooo, that's were my father's family is from. The whole Bahia de Banderas area (especially the Nayarit side) has gotten so expensive that my pops had to sell his house and move more inland into the unregulated areas. Luckily he likes they area, but still says way too many gabachos are venturing out there for comfort.
I had a friend who recently went to Tulum for a wedding. They were telling me about the prices for certain things and I couldn't believe how expensive things were! I can't help but think that the local workforce is forced to live so far away, and travel far everyday, just to get to work.
One of several things we Ticos complain when we refer about "Costa Rica premium" is that areas of our country are now inaccessible because those are "exclusive/private" when is supposed to be public area, has happened to me before, specially when a hotel claims a whole section of a coast.
This is brilliant, and very informative. I live in a little town called Lagos in Portugal and have found the same thing happening here. The prices of rental properties have skyrocketed and the locals struggle to sustain themselves. I live on a local salary and if I wasn't lucky enough to have already rented my appartment with a set rent before the prices went crazy, I wouldn't be able to stay here.
They did it to themselves. Lagos created a tourist party city and now it's coming back to bite them. Portugal is openly inviting foreigners with nomad visas because their country is old and dying with minimal industry and income. Welcome to the consequences of choice.
Also throwing it out there Portugal has some very nice relocation visas to foreigners. It’s among the top easiest ones to relocate to. So you’re going to get foreigners flocking because even though the costs are heavy to you it’s cheaper for them. In the end it’s not good for either
Honestly I get that. I am originally from Poland which is very comparable to Portugal when it comes to cost of living and salaries… I emigrated and currently I am collecting money to settle in some nice country. I was thinking about Portugal and even visited last year… Housing is crazy expensive everywhere in Europe right now. Proper house for a family would cost at least 400k € in Portugal… But so it would in UK etc. I currently work in country where decent house costs about 2mln €… So I simply can’t afford to just settle where I am right now… It’s very likely that I will move to Portugal when I have enough money to get some place to live. If I have to pay so much for a house in Europe - then it should be at least in the place with nice weather and ocean.
estrangeiro que mora aqui em lagos - depois de 7 anos morando em diferentes paises, descobri que Lagos tem o melhor clima, comida, e atmosfera da Europa durante outubro-mai, desculpa :( But yes I've seen the flood of foreigners here however I think it's actually for the better. While in the short term this drastic cost of living increase is bad, Lagos has always been an explosive summer tourist down with dead and quiet winters. No university, not much going on, and a town focused purely on summer tourism exploitation (makes sense) However I think in 5-10 years we will see a lot more longterm people living here in winter, new cafes, new bars, maybe even a good nightclub! The winter 'nomads' are definitely a lot more respectful than the drunk english summer tourists by far. More restaurants and places will stay open during winter, more stuff will be happening - look at the amount of volleyball, surfers, football, events now compared to a few years ago. While foreigners are partial to blame, the real blame lies on the landlords and rich. Those are the people jacking up prices. Look at how many 'thousands' of apartments and houses go entirely unused during winter here. They are the ones jacking up prices - hoarding land, property, and wealth and bringing up prices
It's a world wide problem, not just in Costa Rica, Mexico, France...Rich billionaires from Arab and Indian countries swoop into USA and Canada, buy up real estate, hike up rents, and they continue to live comfy in their cheap countries, where their money stretches due to low taxation. Meanwhile, for Americans and Canadians, we're ousted from our own neighbourhoods because we can't afford it. So we head down to Costa Rica, Mexico Columbia, etc etc to get affordable housing, and it starts the process down there for the locals. So who is at fault? The laws in those jurisdictions. If the laws protected the locals, this couldn't happen. But politicians are lining their pockets with back room deals, and as they get richer, they don't care about their constituents, because by the time we wise up to it, years have gone by, and those now rich politicians can collect their amazing indexed pensions and live happily ever after in any part of the world, because they can afford it. So the joke is on all of us.
Great video guys! Love this series. Funny that you could replace the name Nosara with Canggu (Bali) and tell a very similar story. However, the urban planning here is terrible causing all types of construction nightmares to pop up. Keep up the amazing work!
Fucking hell. Yo tuve la oportunidad de visitar Nosara antes de la pandemia. Pase un tiempo en el pueblo propio y me dio mucha lástima la diferencia entre las condiciones de vivir para los ticos y los gringos que están el la playa. Espero que la gente haga la lucha para proteger este paraíso y que no se haga un satélite gringo con precios astronómicos. Solo si tuviera el tiempo y el dinero para ir y ayudar a la gente que lo ocupa y luchar para leyes que protejan los ticos, su economía, y su naturaleza. Saludos. Pura vida.
I think focusing on digital nomads is a great thing. I know that I spend a ridiculous amount of time hanging out on Nomadlist. It's ridiculous since I rarely travel at all and have no intention of living the nomad life long term. It's... aspirational.
It's important to note that the same thing is also happening across the United States and other Western nations from very very rich foreign nationals buying up all of the land, making them some of the most expensive places to live in the world. We should address these problems worldwide. I think that any citizen of any country should in one way or another be given some sort of priority for land, housing, work, etc. It's so sad what's happening down there in Costa Rica and elsewhere!
1000 percent! I also agree that we should cancel all of these remote jobs, except for very specific high level government positons! I feel as if there is zero need for many jobs to be remote!
@@TheJusticefornone Well, let's see. The company saves money on overhead expenses, the employee saves time and money on the commute, and statistically speaking, people who have the option to work from home are happier and more productive. So then, why NOT allow employees who do not need to be in a specific building to do their work to do it from wherever they are most comfortable? If it is more beneficial for an employee to work from home, why should the employer get to tell an employee where "home" is allowed to be?
This phenomenal makes me extremely sad 😢 it is happening so many places all over the world. Hopefully we as human beings can figure out a sustainable solution to support locals, wild life and land while welcoming foreigners 💔
I spent 3 months in CR as a digital nomad and elected to stay in San Jose, while taking weekend trips to the coast. I do agree that the coasts are full of "influencers" (heck, they refer to the coastal town of Tamarindo as Tamagringo now), and it was just weird in some places how many foreigners they were.
I used to live in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica for almost 10 Years. I went to school and grew up with the locals. Ive always loved the people, the culture and especially nature! Now i have moved back to Switzerland to study. I find myself heavy hearted to say I don't really want to go back where I grew up. Santa Teresa has had an extreme boom in population and tourism. The town infastructure of the town is not ready for it all. During high season, the town is a huge mess. It has not been the same for me ever since, i wish to find a place again that is untouched like Santa Teresa used to be. I met many people from all different places of the world that moved to Santa Teresa. What i have noticed, is the difference between the respect of the land all the people bring. From my experience, Americans are the worst. Self entitled, feel like they own everything and the world owes them everything. Imagine the difference if people who moved to a foreign country instead of creating their own bubbles, choose to join communities there, help the local people, interact respectfully with the land on with they step on and dont do everything only for profit or their own leasure. Extraño los días en que podía ver la puesta de sol solo en la playa. Extraño los días en que no fui insultado por estadounidenses irrespetuosos mientras surfeaba. No matter where you go, keep this thought in mind: You are visiting someone's home, so respect it like yours. Pura Vida
An interesting video. I definitely think there needs to be more videos on how people can travel more ethically, including, sometimes, the decision not to visit somewhere at all.
@@shanon72327 it is the responsibility of the government to limit development. Individuals and entrepreneurs are a drop in the bucket, and where one conscientiously steps aside, one without the same ethics will step in to take their place. It depends on government. Full stop.
My grandmother is a perfect example of the older form of tourists to Costa Rica, the retiree. In recent trips I've taken to visit her, the situation has gotten dire but one thing I think isn't discussed as much is the traffic generated by mass tourism. Just like in San Jose, it's becoming impossible to navigate the countryside without experiencing massive traffic jams, even on 2 lane country roads.
I get what you're saying and think you might be right, but traffic jams specifically in San José are also due to the lack of good quality public transportation, which forces people to buy a car if they wish to move safer and faster on the long run. Ironically, this makes cars the primary transportation method, causing all the traffic jams...
I'm from Bangalore/Bengaluru. And I would love to meet you man. I've been following this channel for years and love the content. Even though I lived in Bengaluru since birth, I know little to nothing about the city (I've started to read and visit places and learn more about the city now). Waiting for your content based on Bengaluru.
Thanks for this video. I been thinking about being a freelance, digital normad developer in the near future. I for example only see the positive side of this type of life but rarely see negative side of this lifestyle or a balanced view of being a digital normad lifestyle. Already subbed and look forward to part two.
I have some digital nomads in my extended family. They typically live outside the cities and in the smaller cheaper towns outside with enough services.
Wow I remember discovering your content through more business/tech related video essay style content and it's amazing to see the change into a more vlog/story style. Love to see where this channel is going and you also look like you're having a lot of fun!
People can complain all they want - but this will bring well needed money to Costa Rica and places like it. Nobody wants to live in a place like NYC. It's cold and miserable, and expensive. So they come to Costa Rica, they start spending money - tax revenues go up... People throughout time have lamented change - but it's inexorable.
Same thing is happening in Tama”gringo,” soaring prices make it practically impossible for locals to live there. They literally have to live kilometers away because of the high rent prices in town.
I absolutely understand the concern. Greece is one of the Western countries that has managed to maintain to coast line and water fronts. When traveling abroad my heart hurts from what I see around.
I live in Tamarindo and it’s happening here too in a BIG way. In the last two years prices have almost doubled and local friends have been pushed out of town, it’s pretty common in tourist towns too across the world. Byron Bay and Whistler come to mind. People living 8 to a house to be able to afford rent or because there’s not enough infrastructure to support the influx of tourism. It’s hard to be part of the problem but as you said, we care and want this country to be well cared for and protected too.
As a Costa Rican, I disliked Tamarindo when I visited. The moment I entered Tamarindo, I didn't feel in Costa Rica anymore, the prices are in dollars, the menus are in English. I was with my mother and had to be translating everything for her and changing the prices to Colones for her, in Costa Rica! I left Tamarindo thinking I was never going to return there. Santa Teresa will soon become the New Nosasa.
Same thing with Lisbon, Portugal. It's impossible for any young adult to leave their parent's house. The only way is to live with someone else or rent a room. To give you a better picture, the minimum income is 740€ and the majority of people comming out of school or university will take home 800€ - 900€. However, an one bedroom apartment in the city and its surroundings will be between 700€ to 850€. This leaves a normal person with 100€ to 200€ to live, which is simply impossible.
Used to travel to Portugal slightly before and after they got € currency, loved it of course... and today I was wondering why hotels rates have sky rocketed... now I know, but on the other hand there are youtube channels such as world according to briggs constantly making the same video, __""why you should move to Portugal, retire in Portugal, the Portuguese love to see you coming, why are you not in Portugal yet.. ""__ and then I read the comment sections, gee golly I should really consider retirement/digital nomading/moving to Portugal, thanks for tip, all these channels are playing the same game and a part of the scheme.
I had considered becoming a digital Nomad...enjoy working and chilling on some beach somewhere in Thailand...., but I'm so very happy with my decision to instead teach and live long-term in a community. Learning the language. Volunteering and tutoring in local communities. I couldn't imagine living in a community enjoying a rich lifestyle while others suffer. Here in Guatemala, I've had opportunities to volunteer at orphanages. Tutor adults. Etc. There's always opportunities to contribute to the economy and lives of those around you....IF that's what you actually want.
@@robdog114 I was born in canada at 8 I moved to yemen and at 18 I went back to canada. You don't think immigrants moving into canadian cities raise the prices through the roof and on the flipside everything in yemen was so cheap that people would move there to escape the rat race . Everyone from poor and rich countries move around the globe for their own benefits so don't demonize just one group. This man is somewhere helping schools and orphanages (I hope it's not that volunteer tourism crap.). Maybe you should assess his situation before you go into a self-righteous rant.
The rapid urbanisation across globe has been a double-edged sword. It has brought more opportunities for locals to find jobs and have better living standards, but at the same time it has also increased their exposure to crime rates and increased the cost of living.
Awesome video. The feel and tone is straight forward, honest, and I especially loved the optimistic feel at the end--i.e. if it's done in this way, it can be a win-win for everyone.
Holy crap, I am so glad I went to Costa Rica before the digital age... you almost had to make special trips to San Jose to get on the Internet in 2003....😂... well done you all for playing your part in destroying it 👏. Visit, get inspired, contribute if you can, then go home and actually invest your energy in making your own communities better instead of running away from the problems at home and just creating new ones for other people. Don't try and kid yourself that you are doing things differently...it's ying and yang baby, and always a trade-off...
I lived with a digital nomad with a marijuana fortune who later relocated to Costa Rica. He was one of the most arrogant, feckless people I've ever met, treating responsibilities as mere nuisances to people with money. Doesn't surprise me people like him would have this effect on foreign communities.
This is happening all around the world. From quiet coastal towns in NZ and Aus, to busy cities in Portugal and Bali. Wealthy expats are leaving cities and taking over smaller, lower cost of living places.
My parents were in Costa Rica for a month last fall visiting my mom's family. I guess tourists don't visit Limon too much, cuz they thankfully didn't see anything like this. But I do recall taking the bus from San Jose to Siquirres once and passing shanty towns literally right up against luxury developments. Weird how this went from a country none of my friends had ever heard of as a kid when I told them I was visiting, to this rich people's hub.
Thank you for talking about this and highlighting. I have been becoming considering a digital nomad and this helps me understand the responsibility I have to not impact the countries or people I choose to visit and also not visit. I feel so bad for what is happening here, I will not be visiting Costa Rica as a digital nomad for these reasons.
This happens everywhere. This is what happened to my home town on the California coast. It was a nice, quiet coastal suburb. Then the tech boom happened, and the techies all moved in with their 6 figure plus incomes. Housing prices sky rocketed, and the locals couldn't afford to live there anymore. I don't know anyone who still lives there, all gone.
i live in australia and for a young person living near the beach in a city is becoming insanely unaffordable, small towns are full and expensive thanks to airbnb. if i cant afford to live somewhere nice in my own country and there is a place i can afford somewhere else id like to think thats an option that im allowed to take. politicians and local governments need to regulate land sales to foreigners, infrastructure, land taxes etc to ensure that growth of a town does not cause such issues
you should do the same study in Punta Uva, Limon. There has been a surge of local tourism during all weekends since a couple of years ago, starting Thursdays, that is polluting (noise, garbage) that small strip of beach in Talamanca. Tons of people, zero care for the environment, stomping and touching the corals, swimming with sun screen that kills the corals. Leaving plastic and trash throughout the beach, and playing music super loud.
I just randomly came across this video, but I absolutely love this project and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Keep it up this style of storytelling was intriguing to listen too, loved it.
Videos like this make me feel guilty for even wanting to visit Costa Rica for a vacation. It's so informative and well done. My partner and I want to travel nearby and get an authentic experience, but do it as respectful as possible. I'd love any tips for traveling and areas that might not be filled with overwhelming amounts of tourists!
@@NathanHedglin no, they just hate racists, homophobes and people who are victims of misinformation (aka people with little to no informational/research literacy)
Don't worry. The locals in America feel the same way about them lol. They move into cheaper states, run up the price of everything, act like entitled children, vote in ways which harm the locals and then wonder why they get shouted at by our locals to go home. Most of them are empowered by some high paying tech job they have in CA but they "work from home" in some small town in the South or Midwest where the median income is $45k/ year.
This is basically happening any where that it is pretty. I just got priced out of my child hood home on Whidbey Island, near Seattle. Used to be a bunch of lower/ middle class families here. now its all tech bros and millionaires. We always were a tourist community, the population swelled every summer and went back down in the off season. You would recognize everybody on the roads. I noticed about 7 or 8 years ago it started changing and in the last 5 years there has been an insane amount of growth and the island can't keep up with it. Years long waits to build houses, can't get plumbers, electricians. building supplies. everything is twice as expensive compared to just across the water. There are over 500 vacation rentals just on the small south end of our island that all used to be homes families and working individuals would have rented. But hey! if you want a nearly 70 year old summer cabin with a non functioning septic system for 1.4 million I got a house to sell ya!
Hey there! Thanks for the video! I am from Europe, and I moved to San José to study and work here. I didn’t have the chance to go to the beaches so far, but it seems to be a different world. Maybe I am missing out on those beaches but I am glad that I have chosen San José to live. Study in a university and to work in a local company. Trying my best to learn an immerse myslef into the culture. And I know I am an expat as well and contribute to this problem of overpricing, but I think if you want to emigrate to another country, you should not only go an occupy the beautiful places... at least try to make an effort to become a part, instead of conquering.
The problem with western White culture is that... Doesnt exist whatsoever. Sorry but its a very disguting culture and all the World and the native ppl hace to de with it. Quite annoying.
@@maxpower8429 I'm part of the problem too and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Tell ya what, if Latin America takes all their people back, we'll take ours. Deal?
@@a.p.5825 anyone watching this is most likely traveling. I spent the last 16 months in southern Mexico, it’s awesome. But you know as much as anyone how the average Mexican/etc is living. Mexico doesn’t let non citizens buy property, most likely will happen in these other countries soon enough. But the cost of living is the issue. They aren’t affecting America’s cost of living the same way we affect theirs
@@maxpower8429 They're driving down wages in America and we're driving up cost of living in their countries, same effect in the long run, lower quality of living for everyone. But that's what globalism, immigration, and free trade does, allows the elites to exploit poor populations for their labor at the expense of labor in rich countries and wealthy populations for the markets they generate at the expense of markets poor people have access to.
Great video! I've been lliving here in CR for over 20 years now, and I've been watching the gentrification that is happening on the coast (especially Nosara, and recently even Samara) with much worry, and I hate how helpless I feel about it. No one is really 'in the wrong', and I can't fathom a way to slow the gentrification down. On the one hand, the unique blend of everybody just living together and doing their thing is what makes those places so nice. On the other hand, you can't really prohibit foreigners from building villas and spending their money at ridiculous prices there. Another problem is the land prices: once a lot is sold to foreigners at inflated prices, this lot will probably never, ever be bought by a tico again, because of the lower average salary here. 2000$ is way, way more for someone working in CR than for an average gringo.
Foreigners should not be allowed to buy land there. The profits generated never go back to the people of the country. The land should belong to them so they can live on it. The same problem is happening even in wealthy countries like Canada. Foreign investors (Chinese) are allowed to buy up massive amounts of land and property, the prices inflate, and the locals are priced out of being able to get into the market in their own country. It's wrong. The whole business model is wrong and unethical.
This is not just happening in Costa Rica! All of latin america is affected - particularly places like this - little beach towns. I live in Mexico & it's been happening for a while but since 2020 & the pandemic, it's been particularly crazy!
I haven't been to coastal Mexico in about five years. Is the Oaxaca cost, outside of Puerto Escondido, still relatively undeveloped? Some of those small coastal fishing towns were simply wonderful with kind, interesting people. Yet, I couldn't help feeling that they'd be "discovered" some day and rapidly developed.
@@TheHamburgler123 I can't speak to Oaxaca specifically but things are changing very quickly ... especially the demographic & the buying up of land to escape countries of origin. It's pretty wild.
What I can say, is that is a new reality we have to face as society. Changes are always here and way of living/working too. Laws and regulations should adjust to it and help regulate it in the best way possible, being opposed/complainning wont help.
This is a huge problem happening around the world. I'm from Vancouver and live in a hertitage tear down. When I will eventually have to leave I have no clue how I would ever afford rent considering 1 bedroom is now $2000 + nevermind inflated gas and food prices ect. I wanted to do digital nomad work to experience other cultures and live in a warmer and therefore unltimately kinder to my body climate. But I also don't wish to become part of the problem I am also trying to get away from. We desperately need all our leaders to come up with better planning for their citizens. provide adequate housing options to locals and reasonable amount for influx for people who might want to move. I feel like people displacing locals for homes is creating huge amounts of hatred and animosity to the point where I can see countries banning people from coming. But that won't help anyone. People should be alloowed to move but they should feel forced to have to leave somewhere because they could not find housing especially if they grew up and are local.
This is a real eye awakening for me as this has opened my eyes about the cause and effect of expats who plan to live overseas. Not that this will always be the case but it gives one an awareness so as not to find oneself getting stuck within this type of bubble. Thank you. Great contribution.
This is a very-well done doc, and could be about so many different places. I'm a digital nomad, also currently in Costa Rica, and struggle with this problem of pricing people out. I really don't want to be part of the problem. I agree there's this kind of bubble going on. If you travel solo and stay in hostels as the cheapest place to sleep, you soon feel like you're in an international, English-speaking bubble, and those richer digital nomads living in Selinas, which are expensive, might as well be in Europe, or the US. This is the exact opposite of what I wanted when I decided I had to find a way to work and travel at the same time. The whole point was to experience different cultures. The thing is I don't earn loads of money, I teach English, so I couldn't afford this kind of lifestyle either, or, in fact to live back in my home country, so it's not even all travellers or all digital nomads, just those with remote jobs out of richer countries, or, I guess, successful UA-cam creators!
You can go live in other non-beach places in Costa Rica that have not been “discovered” yet, in that way you can get the real Costa Rican experience, build relationships with locals, learn Spanish if you don’t know it already, buy from locals, support locals, etc you get the idea.
Days of Serendipity has great advice. Also, there are plenty of safe alternatives to CR. I'm particularly fond of the SE coast of El Salvador, small towns outside of El Cuco. It's inexpensive and has very little to no (foreign) tourism. A potential problem for you would be the lack of quality internet infrastructure. I think a wifi-hotspot could work but can't make any promises.
@@daysofserendipity Absolutely, I was only in CR for a few months and stayed and worked in San Jose half the time, which was a more normal life experience, living with locals in their home, with trips to various more remote places where I didn't work, or didn't work so much. I did find paradise, eventually, but the internet there was so shocking I couldn't stay. This is, presumalby, why it's still paradise!
I like your content. No one is going to agree with every perception or angle you take but you never take any viewpoint to extreme or without respect to nuance. Your graphics, maps, etc... are top tier. Very engaging visuals.
Great video! This is such an important topic to discuss. We love long-term travel and learning about new areas, but we also need to be aware of the impact we're making on the communities we're moving to.
That first vlogger made my eyes roll HARD! Puerto Rico is suffering the same thing. Honestly, if you want to move somewhere learn the language, contribute something, and do your best to integrate. Westerners have to realize that our presence can destabilize economies and flows if we're not careful.
Oh cry me a river! For decades and decades the migration from the less developed and developing nations to the developed nations has been in the millions! Now that migration flow has somewhat reversed a tiny fraction the people from these nations start crying?! A handful of remote workers are not going to destroy the country. How many millions of Costa Ricans have immigrated to the US for example as opposed to the few thousand that have moved to Costa Rica?!
Such an interesting video. As a Costa Rican I always wanted to go and visit Nosara for the first time. However is way too pricey. Suddenly got really expensive to rent a studio there. I'm a Digital Nomad too but I will never spend almost $2000 in a studio apartment in Nosara, and Im not even talking about groceries or dining out. Thank you for this video.
As a digital nomad do you make a typical Costa Rican income or are you able to earn much more? Hope my question isn't too personal, just trying to learn how nationality affects income potential for digital nomads.
@@TheHamburgler123 It depends on a lot of factors, the US will sometimes pay you less if you're living in another state with lower cost of living. Some north American companies that hire in latin america can get away with paying half the normal rate, and some actually pay competitively if the role is really important, most digital nomads are either content creators or consultants
I noticed this cycle of a natural/tourist place too. 1. Anyone barely goes here. The locals know of it, but it's nothing new for them. 2. A little more explorers come, it's nice but some are put off by the lack of roads or even any stores/food joints. 3. The hidden gem status: This is the window. This is when a few joints have sprung up. And they wanna impress you with good customer service. There's an overall good vibe everywhere. Just the right amount of people, not too few to get kidnapped. 4. Cool kids start going there. There are medium sized parties/raves happening. Some sick joints have popped up. This is when it reaches cult status. 5. It gets commercialized. Some rich folks are making hotels and vacation homes. There's a whole lot of street vendors and flea markets selling fake shit. Tour guides come. Overpriced cab unions pop up. Now families wanna travel there. A lot of things now have to be 'family-friendly.' 6. Everyone's been there. They're not interested in the crowd and overpriced shit anymore. They move on to the next trendy place leaving the locals to deal with the crumbling mess.
I lived in nosara for surfing and it was so calm, quiet and peaceful. My mom went back and said it was soooo different that it wasn’t even recognizable
Excelente video! Muy conciso en los puntos y ejecutado con una narrativa visual que cautiva. Viví en Nosara 8 meses y pienso que llegué en un momento esencial donde se pudo notar una alza exponencial en la construcción, tráfico, gente y desarrollo social en general. Aunque respeto y entiendo porque terminar el video así, no comparto al cien el mensaje de esperanza, the essence of Nosara is long gone. Pareciera que el negocio en muchos casos viene primero y no es la primera vez que sucede en Guanacaste. Claro, sí que es un lugar especial y hay gente con las manos en la masa para hacer las cosas bien. En fin, gran trabajo! Esperando la continuación!
I hate "digital nomads", not because they are taking our land but because they act and think that they are my allies or supporters while at the same time making my children speak english instead of Spanish, i got to work for them to pay rent. Have you ever served drinks to a gringo half your age with half of your education but eight times the salary? My main job is in healthcare but the job that pays my bills is listening to these pablo escobar fans who blog or code while i fetch them another "ethnic" drink. I wish i knew about this in the 00's so i could prepare.
I always wanted to be digital nomad, even before pandemic but what these people do is just shitty. Oftentimes not wanting to interact with culture, laerning language,
in terms of their relationship with the locals, the digital nomads are just like any other nomad "society". they have no roots and hence no loyalty to the land (and everything on it) and no respect for people who live on the land and do feel certain attachment to that land. the conflicts between locals and nomads started in prehistory. in fact, 1st undisputed proofs of warfare (organized violence between groups) are between the land-cultivating societies and nomadic raiders
Same thing in Portugal. Digital nomads have increased prices in Lisbon from 450 euros for a 2 bed apartment in 2014 to over 2000 euros for the same apartment in 2022. The minimum wage in Portugal is around 750 euros. They have come in with an arrogant attitude and thinking they are special because they moved to a city where blogs, magazines have told them to move too. They think they are free thinkers and independent but they are rich sheep economically destroying everywhere they go, making sure the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Modern day plague of locust's
Soy un tico que he sido nómada digital aquí mismo por toda Costa Rica y este video me trajo buenas memorias y más inspiración para proyectos personales. Muy buena mezcla de sonido, edición de video y las animaciones 3D del mapa me gustaron mucho, igual que los efectos. Excelente perspectiva de realizar un video, una vista social del turismo en la economía nacional. Gran trabajo de todo el equipo! Sigan sacando videos así que los veré todos. Gracias!
I must admit, I've been eyeing Costa Rica since friends and I vacationed in Arenal about 10 yrs ago. What I love was the greenery, how peaceful and friendly the people were. I loved seeing the grazing cows. I'm from Jamaica and grew up in the rural area so I have deep love for that type of living. I am now a family of four and looking to leave to US for a more peaceful setting and Costa Rica is in my top 2 list. However, if we decide to move this isn't the lifestyle we are looking to have. We want to be among the locals, plant our own food, etc. and be close enough to great schools for our 2 daughters. Not too close to the big cities but not too rural either. It's a shame how people will move to someone else's country and just not respect to locals and local customs. I saw someone below saying how some of the foreign investors have closed the beaches to locals. That's something we also experience in Jamaica. It literally pisses me off to where I just want to shout to the locals "BURN THEM DOWN"! You need to have respect, for the land and the locals. The young tourists are sometimes looking for drugs and party escapes. They leave America and Europe and take that same old privileged dirty mindset to the places they consider paradise. Just imagine what they'll do should God let them into heaven 🤣 Keep fighting for your country! Pura Vida! 🙏🏾
"Privileged dirty mindset"? Judge much? Moving to Cost Rica, you might end up returning to US like you did when you escaped Jamaica. I love how you blame rising crime, pollution, and rising prices on outsiders. The greedy Costa Ricans set the prices.
@@PoetClbrown Apparently you are the hit dog. Your thoughts of violence "BURN THEM DOWN" is clear evidence of your cognitive dissonance. You tell the Costa Ricans to fight for their country while you prefer to leave for a more "peaceful setting" than fight for your country. Internal corruption and greed is what destroys countries, but it is easier to blame the outsiders. Don't fall for that victimhood card, it never helps... Best wishes.
@@PoetClbrown Sure, one more thing to cough up. I find it ironic how you try to sound like the virtuous defender of the greedy and corrupt citizens of Costa Rica that are happy to sell out for the almighty dollar. At the same time you appear ready to bale out and abandon fellow citizens of your troubled island nation. Why are the Costa Ricans more worthy of your concern? Relative victimhood? Or maybe it's just that evil privileged dirty mindset you speak of. I find your misguided loyalty odd. Just saying....
As many have mentioned, this is an issue across all of Latin America, and one of the culprits is precisely Selina. Selina has branches all over these countries and they absolutely disrupt local businesses, all in the name of comfort for the nomads. They're like a mcdonalds of hospitality, cheap prices, prepackaged experience, absolutely exploitative (most hotels depend on volunteer labor). In towns where eco tourism is a main part of the economy, they choose to hire their own experts and tourist guides, leaving little to no employment opportunities for locals.
I'll take hostels like Selina any day of the week over expensive hotels and resorts. In large cities a place like that is a drop in the bucket. In places like Nosara that have such a lack of housing/accommodation they arguably are able to increase supply (4-12 people in a dorm room vs filling up like 10 hotel rooms or apartments) and attract people that wouldn't visit those places otherwise. Local tour guides only miss out because they don't know how to accommodate foreign tourists.
Costa Rica is definitely selling themselves short - they could easily charge at least SOME income tax without discouraging that many remote workers, and use that $$$ to more equitably benefit from the remote work revolution.
My fiancé and I moved to CR last June, first to Playa Potrero. Our house got robbed two times within our first month living there, while we were home too! We then tried living in the Southern Zone in Ojochal but the rain/mold was too much for us and finding a new place to live long term proved impossible. We then got turned onto the mountain areas around San Jose and ended up finding a really humble but amazing place in Ciudad Colon. There's basically no tourists here, the rent is low and the people are so friendly. There's also very little crime and having access to San Jose has proven to be exactly what we needed/wanted. I think the beach life is overrated and obviously over priced. We prefer to learn Spanish and meet locals, get to know their way of life and embrace that rather than try to impose our American way of life on this country. So far its been really a blessing to basically be rejected from the beach areas.
So sad. I visited Costa Rica before the digital nomad trend. Was very laid back and had the Pura Vida vibe. This happened here in Texas with Californian’s moving into Texas jacking up the real estate prices, cost of living, forcing Texans to move elsewhere. Greed always trumps what’s good for the locals. Imagine being forced out of your town because you can’t afford to live there anymore. Costa Rica will lose its appeal because it’s no longer what it use to be. Unfortunately it will be another tourist trap/ nomad haven. When you move into someone else’s country, don’t try to make it like the place you left. You don’t move to CR for the trendy cafe’s, restaurants, hotels. It’s always been about nature and solitude. Not high rise hotels on the beach. I always liked CR because of the minimalistic way of life. I really was thinking about moving to CR. If I did it would be nowhere near Nosara or where digital nomads live. I want the real CR experience.
Kudos to the author of this channel. I usually click right out of videos where the author is part of the message. So many use 4 minutes of their 5 minute video with their face in it. This author uses the exact right combination of his face with great content. And he’s very interesting in his knowledge and commentary. His love for what he’s doing bleeds through. Great content, excellent production. Thanks!
I always wanted to retire in Costa Rica, I've had this idea for the last 10 years. Unfortunately I'm only 36 and this just sealed the deal for me. Being from the Caribbean my self I understand Costa Rica's pain at the moment.
![8 Reasons Why Americans LEAVE Costa Rica [Why I Left]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cbGMngGx2xk/mqdefault.jpg)
I’ve been making on and off UA-cam videos for almost 10 years now. This video is the culmination of everything my team and I have learned, and it’s also the beginning of our biggest video project yet!
Thank you all for watching ❤️
Thank you for sharing Caya
All the best for your biggest video project! I know you and your team will absolutely kill it. Excited to see you in India!! Atithi Devo bhava!
yeah .... Caya is a normal human n, not just a CEO and youtube host!
good to see your other side !
Love this format Caya ☺️
Que bretesote Caya! Muy buena produccion, narracion, audio. 10 de 10
Same thing in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Lived there last winter after living in colombia for a while where I was teaching. It was flooded by digital nomads and young tourists, to a point where a single room with a mat on the floor now costs about 500-800$ a month. Started helping a local man who was doing community work with poor families outside the city. Being fluent in Spanish I took care of a couple that had 7 daughters, age ranging from 2-11 and they told me they were kicked out of the city/shore because they were apparently using too much water (having 7 children plus the grandmother) but its really because the landloard wanted to up the price of their flat to rent it to toursists. After a while I realised I was actually part of the problem since I was a Canadian foreigner renting an apt at an astonishing price compared to what locals would be able to pay. After being told the work I was doing neighbors bought me wine and said "at least you are not like the others" but i still felt like an impostor. So you know what, i moved out of the city. Ppl have to realize their self proclamed new paradise is actually someone else's homeland, not yours.
Thank you for sharing this story and consciousness.
I lived in Puerto Escondido for a year, it was so crazy to see the prices double before your eyes one year to the next in terms of rent. The power outages and lack of.clean water is not getting better while they are building new condos every month. It's quite sad, in the end the well will dry up as the city is squeezed for all it has and the nomads will leave, but the locals will stay behind in the rubble. I totally agree with what you said that we are also part of the problem. A classic case of "you're not in traffic, you're part of the traffic". Probably you already know about it but I follow and support sospuerto, they actively try to hold politicians accountable and protest the construction of big appartment buildings.
When the rich immigrate they raise the standard of living.
When the poor immigrate they lower it.
It is what it is mate, been this way, it is this way, and it always will be this way unless the world suddenly magically changes into an idealists paradise 🤷♂️
Our whole system is built on manufactured scarcity. Change that, you fix the problem (hint, it starts with the usury monetary system a d fractional reserve lending)
That's terrible. I think the name Escondido (hidden) adds even more to the twisted symbolism of this situation...
I hate to break it to you but you are also one of the new foreigners... However virtuous you try to be and you try to detach yourself from the others, you are part of the problem
The problem with digital nomads is they usually come from urban areas. They say they like the nature and the slower pace of life but they also want all the “conveniences” of the very urban areas they are trying to escape. This usually turns out to be deter mental to both the locals and the environment. Hopefully Costa Rico’s government will be more interested in protecting the environment and the local people over the money the nomads promise.
Given that Costa Rica was one of the early countries to offer cheap citizenship to Americans, I highly doubt it. But there's always a chance.
I’m a Costa Rican citizenship and trust me they are not. Government is so corrupt and will take bribes like crazy. Samara was my favorite place and now I can’t afford to go. I grew up in La Fortuna and I can’t afford to buy a home there because everything is bought and re sold for crazy prices that only foreigners can afford. It’s ridiculous and everything is an Airbnb now so we can’t rent a home near our favorite places.
Urban areas are better for the environment than rural areas. This is such a widespread and ignorant myth.
yeah, and its quite unfortunate that its the ones that say they love other cultures and people but act most like colonials. trying to make other people's lands conform to their standards
@@danielbrockerttravelwhen they are kept away from what is left from nature. Building a urban center in places like nosara is just capitalist ignorance. And It happens. Because there are too many sh*theads that only Care about money gaining wealth from this.
I am Costarican had the opportunity to bought land on 1997, close to the beach and create a business to afford to live here. I was looking for nature and be close to the beach, for many years loved to live walking distance to the beach until the boom of tourist for good or for bad came along, remember many years the local people were mixed in harmony and in peace with the foreigners, unfortunately it changed. I still live here and love Nosara but decided to move out of Guiones because the nature I used to be proud of is not there anymore, greedy become the new normal (specially real estate, that want to sell land no mater what) and for locals become hard to live even to find an affordable housing according to their salaries or not even able to rent because the renters prefer to rent to foreigners than Costa Rican that will paid the same amount in USD. I remember had a meeting with the owner of one of the biggest hotel in the area in order to convinced him to create apartments out of town to find a solution to his employees that comes from the GAM, the answer I got was : "that's not business for me". I guess what we are missing here is conscious and empathy, ironically is what those hotels on their Yoga classes try to teach. What I see is a snake eating his tail. With total honestly and and with no anger against anyone and after 25 years living in Guiones( not anymore)...this is what I saw and see and it is not Pura Vida.
Hahaha yes. yoga is supposed to teach empathy and self reflection but these hotel owners use it to be even more greedy.
@@tomymelon6293 that's the real Yoga from India, white-washed yoga for white people is just a trend & modern lifestyle (not all tho).
How much did you sell your business for? cha ching?
@@angcil88 I use Yoga to keep myself healthy. I am not Jesus.
@@daniella8400 way to read the room
I lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a couple of years and the weird thing for me was that the digital nomads just all hang out together in a cluster. Same work spaces, cafes etc. They travel all the way to a new country only to hang out with people just like them. I guess you could've classed me as a digital nomad because at the time as I was teaching English online but I worked from home and did everything I could to avoid places full of other foreigners with laptops.
I'm from the east coast US and I went out to California to visit an old friend. We ended up hanging out by the Bay with almost ten other people from our home town back east! Not one person there was west-coast born, and it felt a little weird for us to all just powwow in someone else's hometown, even if San Francisco is WAY wealthier than where I'm from, and I could barely afford lunch.
People gravitate towards what is familiar. They hope to break that cycle by moving someplace new, but once they get there they don't want to be uncomfortable, and so they find the nearest starbucks, because they know the barista and the other patrons probably speak english, and the mocha lattes are just like back home
The hoardes of laptops !!!!! Oh noooooo!!!!!!!
Language barrier duh
@@digitalsamurai42 yeah but why move to another country if you're not gonna learn the language/at least immerse yourself in it and the surrounding culture lol
@@mississippijohnfahey7175 I would say it's like race and immigrant communities. For example, when immigrants move to the US they just stay within their own group and build their own communities together. You can say the same with white people when they gentrify a new neighborhood in the US they won't hang out with the blacks, Hispanics, etc, in the neighborhood they are gentrifying but with only their own small group that is there. As humans we are just wired to gravitate and be around what is similar to us.
I identify two problems:
The realisation that working remote is in many ways healthier, and that all you need is an internet connection for a lot of modern, high paying jobs.
The speed and ease at which individuals can travel(city of Bordeaux in France, is now a Parisian suburb), means that anywhere can now be potentially bought up by people with way way higher income.
Distance means nothing. So income disparity becomes hugely impactful, not only in places like Costa Rica, but everywhere around the globe.
Can I ask you something? What kind of jobs do these foreigners have that they can earn so much working from home? Sounds like a dream tbh
@@madnessends2477 typically jobs in tech, software engineering for example
@@madnessends2477 Some in tech. The problem is even if they get pay little, or work in some jobs like teaching English without qualification, they can still earn considerably mora than a local.
Yeah definitely. In a less drastic but still problematic way I see it in my own country, the Netherlands. Amsterdam is the most expensive, with also a lot of tourists. People moved to a nearby city because it’s more affordable: my city. Local businesses and the municipality wants some of that tourist money so a lot is done to make people visit. There’s more and more expats coming to my city because it’s quieter and cheaper than Amsterdam, but now my city is one of the most expensive places to live. So locals and others move to other nearby villages and towns, making those more and more expensive. And before you know it it’s hardly affordable to live anywhere near a major city in my country. I moved back in with my parents because I don’t have a car and rent in cities is going through the roof. My parents live in the city so I can take public transport.
I've worked as an Oil and Gas Engineer. I currently need to work 50:50 office:home but In Reality I can work much better away from The office. I had plenty before as was.
This happening in my country, Thailand, too. And in some places, it is worse because of these nomad also create a demand for drugs and other dangerous substances.
Crazy. With money comes greed, drugs, and a general unnerving of the entire country. I want to move to another country but does that make me part of the problem? I’ve seen many countries go from beautiful places to city development and earth digging sites over time and it’s sad but it’s not going to slow down.
Booze drugs sex 👍🏼
As an Indonesian, I see the same phenomenon happening in my town in Bali.
Drug is not dangerous, embrace the new world man
More black men coming to Thailand, the women need to be careful.
I often think about moving somewhere else to get away from the crowd and have a better life quality, though not necessarily to a paradise beach. I'm from São Paulo (Brazil) and we've seen here (as the US probably also did) the downsides of such occupations. Rich people tend to think that moving somewhere more isolated will get them away from poverty and pollution from the big cities, but they don't want to give up the expensive lifestyle they have there, which requires cheap labor and creates pollution. If people want that better life they got to stop thinking that way, and settle in a sustainable (both environmentally and socially), and I'm not talking about giving away the technology, but rather using it to their favor. I'm talking about smaller houses, recycling water, green buildings, and if they're so rich why not green energy and investing in the community! That's the way to think.
Expat only want one things, live like a king at the expense of locals people
Its like that everywhere
I agree. Living so lavishly is killing our planet
Yes. Agreed. Bring money and a shift in mentalitym
@@sotch2271 The moment immigrants call themselves "expat" you know something went wrong.
As a costarican I absolutely love the way this video has been edited and how you portray us. This is the truth right here, kinks and all. Your english is also great, clear, concise and well spoken. True high quality video right here, and I love it that it was made and produced in my country. Thank you and may you have success in all your endeavors
This is so depressing not only for the locals in Costa Rica but for locals in every desirable/in demand location. I feel like there are affordable housing crisis in so many places and only the most wealthy individuals can survive.
Except these digital nomads are not wealthy, they are middle class income Americans that have been priced out of their own country, but the thing that bothers people about them is that they are arrogant and feel like they own the place, when they would not own or be shit in their own country.
This is exactly what happened to Tulum, México. It used to be a cute little town and now is full of hotels, no access to the beach and poor infrastructure making everyone lack water.
Tulum is a rat hole noe
I did solar systems in Tulum and they were literally pumping water out of their well that was only 20 feet away from their septic and you can smell it. It was a mess.
But why is this happening? In theory new people with money contrubute to countrie's economy and new money can be used to improve the infrastructure among other things
@@vitaliiivanov9514 that's a lie. Most money returns to first world countries in the shape of laundering, fiscal paradises, commodities exploited or in form of debt to so few hands... The return of wealth to the people is non existent since these are corrupt flaky governments that only work for profit and prefer to sell all the natural resources for some money and stocks for their family's wealth and friends to benefit. Corporations are way up in the upper echelon, below them are the failed governments and then the people that no one cares about because their existence doesn't profit doing some bullshit job on advertising/marketing to keep your attention so you buy crap that you don't need.
I was born and raised in Panama, and now I live in New Zealand.
Crazy to think how every time I read news about the city and neighbouring towns I grew up in becoming nomad/beach paradises, the cost of living for locals becomes even worse. But the same thing happened here in New Zealand. Tons of foreigners/expats came to work, and now we've contributed to making housing so unaffordable for many locals.
And this is even worse for Costa Ricans and other Central Americans, sadly.
Thanks for making this video, Caya.
I’m Australian and chose to leave for that reason. It’s way to expensive now. The crash will come for the housing market in NZ and Oz, as the demographics isn’t there. Hence why australia NEEDs to open the flood gates to immigration, to prop up the housing bubble. The by product being lower wage growth from diluting your labour force
I'm from NZ and this problem was one of the reasons I couldn't stand living there anymore, The prices just keep rising. I could afford a better life in another country. But i'm aware i'm probably becoming apart of the problem in this new country
It doesn't help that in that city in Costa Rica they limited who could build houses and how dense they could be. That only increases the scarcity.
It's happening the same in Portugal
I fully get locals dont like this and express this in different legal and illegal ways
I have lived in Nosara since 2012, and moved away 2 weeks before this video was posted. Very timely and well done, it captured all the reasons I left. Greed has overtaken the souls of many there small or big, the municipality, a local government, has been sued by foreign capital for imposing construction regulations, which got suspended because of the lawsuit. It's very heartbreaking what's happening there and people need to know.
I would like to see an update video now that it's 2023 and a lot of these digital nomad Lisa's are expiring. I wonder if there are firesales starting in that area?
"the municipality, a local government, has been sued by foreign capital for imposing construction regulations" how does this work? why would a local government have to listen to anything foreign capital has to say.... that doesn't make sense
yeah - I'm afraid that big money will have the political clout to wreck everything
@@supernice_auto Sometimes of commercial treaties which involve the same rules that can overrule national laws.
Search up TPP-11 for example.
Agree I’ve visited nosara 10 times since 2005 and it’s been sad to see the changes
The thing is that tourism is super important for a lot of place. It bring a lot of money and jobs, until it reach a certain point where the local can't afford to live where they used to. It's hard to say when to stop ( if it's even possible ). There is some place where people started pushing foreigner and tourist out, and the local economy collapsed in matter of months, you can see a lot of place hurting during covid because of the lack of tourism. It's a double edge sword.
I am not an economist, but I would say that an economy based exclusively on tourism as a source of income will be sooner or later detrimental to the local population, unless there is some sort of political intervention to regulate rent prices.
@Rosa Escrib If enough hotel are built, it's usually not an issue. Where there is a big problems is area without hotels,not enough houses and Airbnb, that's an issue with alot of rich countries also.
@@amadei2 I know first-hand tourist areas in Spain where hotels are abundant, but not enough housing for locals, and the little housing offer is becoming very costly for locals. The problem is huge and, in general, it favors foreigners and tourists in detriment of locals. It's a tragedy.
@@amadei2 Look Cuba for example, that literally fucked up your whole argument.
Costa Rica’s culture has been affected heavily a lot of people say it’s lacks the culture and authenticity that other Central American countries have
I hear about this rent supply problem everywhere these days - Nova Scotia, Toronto, and I believe it's a huge problem in Costa Rica. When I was on the Pacific coast of CR in 2019 I couldn't believe how expensive groceries were for the locals. They were more expensive then they are for me in Canada.
Yes there's similar issues in touristy parts of the UK where people have realised they can live in these places rather than spend a week or two there a year. House prices and rental prices have gone up and locals are struggling. It has the long term effect of removing the culture, traditions and services from an area.
Gentrification
8 billion people. what could possibly go wrong?
yes, you are correct, groceries are expensive and we make waaay less money here
@Unfluencer there's room. Always has been. It's the idiots who choose to sacrifice personal property and individual rights for their literal socialistic urban shitholes with exorbitant mental health problems. That's the issue here.
IE, the morons who get rid of the traditional human roots in favor of "convenience" and other modern luxuries, only to then feel emptiness and a disconnect that can never be filled except if they leave the hell they created.
Yeah, life is different and "harder" to do basic things for the poor. But just imagine a world where you aren't threatened with the metal cage every year if you don't properly file a piece of paper that was never taught to you. Or the wealthy, they face far more legal battles than the average Joe does, threatening far more in the process.
Just imagine such a 'crazy world', one where you gather fruits and water among building up your camp and community, versus the daily life currently endured, consisting of 9-5 slave labor meaning no time for hobbies or socialization outside binge boozing, no ownership due to credit and subscriptions, no happiness due to decreasing birth rates and the aforementioned abandonment of human connections, etc... why would people choose a life of convenience over a life of substance? Because of sloth, that's why.
These digital nomads wouldn't be hated worldwide if they didn't take the best of both socioeconomic classes, pissing both sides of the horseshoe surrounding their halfwitted selves, and then plant their narcissistic asses in every situation globally to help people while NEVER doing so by perpetuating the same laptop class and living large off the sweat of the locals. Nobody wants to see someone with over $20,000 in the bank come out of their hotel room and HAGGLE locals for their 10 cent fruit. Particularly when a "Nomad" would see the ghost income from social media for the blessing it is and utilize it to make real impacts rather than hoard it all until one day retiring off the internet and, exactly as the pinned comment here proves, become insanely unhappy when using it for a handful of first world luxuries among a community of 2nd or 3rd world neighbors. It does not take a decade to learn how basic economics works, it took 10 years for the shame of exploiting the minds of the genius and the labors of the not, to become unbearable.
All to say, the problem isn't space, it's the space being used for nothing more than monetary gain within second and third world countries which need more agriculture and manufacturing. If they had more food and goods, they wouldn't need to employ the entire country in tourism and then act surprised when seasonal work isn't sufficient. When a bunch of university students are released into the wild to plague the world with their false ideologies, their unmatched self worship, their paradoxical mental trainwrecks, and worst of all, the pride which commands them to not ever consider being wrong.
If all digital nomads gathered coconuts and actually behaved like the nomads of the visited country do, they would not get the same treatment. See the "survival" channels which evolved to do just this for proof
Muy bueno el vídeo. Me hubiera gustado que ampliaras más sobre la increíble desigualdad entre las dos Nosaras, y los efectos que tiene en las poblaciones locales. Pero muy buen resumen, sobre todo cuando hablas de cómo ha aumentado el costo de la vida, y el imposible acceso de tierras seguras para los locales, porque todas están en manos de Real estate y de extranjeros millonarios.
This is really evident in all of Latin America. I've always enjoyed immersing myself in the culture of whatever country I go to but I find it practically impossible in certain cities in both Costa Rica and Guatemala most recently. It takes away from the experience because you're not actually seeing those countries, they're just extensions of the US and Canada with no respect for the local culture; learning the language, or even attempting to immerse themselves in it. Also being a Spanish speaker and talking to older locals who have been driven out by tourism and sharing what the last 20 years have been like, seeing their cities transformed into something they no longer recognize or can appreciate is saddening. I made the mistake of staying at some Selinas and got caught up in unknowingly contributing to this growing problem. My trips to Costa Rica and Guatemala have been the least enjoyable trips that I can recall, and this is not because they're not great countries, I'm sure they are, but sadly I have to go out of my way within those trips to just get to know locals since it was really hard to avoid speaking English, even in what one would expect would be local shops.
i hate to break it to you, but you're just another tourist trying to get the "authentic" experience. i know it sucks, but you're part of the problem.
The pool is getting smaller in Central America. I'd argue that the majority of El Salvador and Honduras are still quite authentic, mostly because tourists are afraid to visit. Places like Costa Rica and Panama have gotten so expensive, almost as expensive as going on vacation/setting up shop in many parts of the USA, that people will seek alternatives. It's only a matter of time before people realize how beautiful some parts of these countries are.
Pretty ironic huh
@@haypro4713 Exactly
Personally, I feel lile if all you go to is Atitlan, Antigua, and nice zones in la ciudad, sure. In my experience majority of Guatemala isn't like that. I've never HAD to use English.
I shop in Spanish at mercados.
Use Spanish even in Walmart!
Or the theater.
Or at the beach.
Or in the inside country.
Maybe it's because I look like I COULD be afrolatino. But no one tries to speak English to me....ever...
My Spanish here has improved so much. It's the easiest country IMHO to understand Spanish and use it.
(Other accents are harder to understand)
Costa Rican here. Excellent video. However we need to be careful on how we solve this problem. A lot of people gravitate toward maintaining artificial scarcity, and that can be dangerous because we are not attacking the root problems. I'll try to shed some light:
1. People complain about the "2 Nosaras" because of the inequality that appeared due to those developments. This is the typical error of focusing on "inequality" but not "poverty". The people in Guanacaste have always been poor and avoiding these developments to "conserve natural exclusivity" doesn't pull the locals out of poverty. Did people care about the poverty in Nosara before the "2 Nosaras"? No.
2. The water issue is due to the incompetency of our national water company, the AyA. If we want to attack the core issue, we need to make the AyA do its job. Develop infrastructure as a priority. However a lot of bureaucrats use "green-washing" to block projects that will give water to the areas, they prefer the locals to live on subsistence.
3. Nosara is expensive precisely due to its remote location and terrible infrastructure. Why does it have terrible infrastructure? Corrupt local government and an incredible useless but gigantic central government. If we want to lower costs, we need to develop the local infrastructure, especially roads.
Zoning is necessary and needs to be done correctly. But blocking development after we fix the water issue is not the solution. Simple supply and demand. More people = more taxes and jobs thus more development for those areas. I would even jack up real estate taxes and use that money for local government to help their community, its not an issue for middle or low income people because the Costa Rican's can tax exempt their first property.
Interesting! Would you mind contact me over email (you can find the address on my channel)? I am writing about exactly this subject and would like to get in touch with someone who have some opinions about it.
As somebody who has worked in development these are great points. However, I'm curious whether building infrastructure will change the amount available in the local water table for the area because that is usually pretty much set. No amount of building infrastructure will ensure your fresh water source will multiply. Unless by building water infrastructure, you mean desalination plants. While progress and development feel like they should always be "good" not every place can be developed without severely impacting its ecology, and balancing the need to protect the area as an environmental reserve with economic growth can be truly difficult. Most places usually survive through ecotourism but that does not seem to be the case here. To be honest, seeing firsthand the examples of Bali and Thailand being jnfested with digital nomads who could care less about their negativd impact on local communities AND wildlife (supporting animal tours which may involve animal abuse), it's not always a good thing.
God damn, dude. Good answer.
Yes! Don’t say “everyone should be equally poor”. Address the corruption and issues that keep them poor.
First time I visited Costa Rica I was a typical tourist. I slept in nice hotels and was amazed by the beautiful clean beaches… everything was marvelous…
Next time I went there for a couple of months to study and to visit some costarrican friends. Needless to say that this time the experience was very different…
Since I did not went to the touristy beaches but to the ones the locals go to, I saw how incredibly dirty many of these spots were. And because I lived in an average house in San José I got used to not having water for hours every day because the hotels „needed“ the water for the costumers and there simply wasn’t enough left for the locals.
And meeting the locals also was always quite similar. First they reacted a tiny bit…let’s say…careful..when they saw me, when they realized that I am not from the USA they became a lot friendlier and when they realized that I speak spanish, they opened up completely. After a while I even had to pay lower prices because I was not considered „a tourist“ anymore. 😂
A beautiful country with a lot of very lovely people!
Very sad that like in so many nice places the rich take everything for themselves and leave nothing for the rest…
Nailed it!
Yup, I love Costa Rica and have been tot hto very touristy spots and they are amazing. Then I went to a small fishing town for a month, got to know the locals and establishment and went with their hangouts and wow, so welcoming and so different. Is my dream to get back there!!
It's thing happen in everywhere
Great video, good content, well presented and edited 👏.
I don't get the comment about the water in San Jose being cut to benefit hotels. That's not true. We have excellent water service in the central valley. There might be cuts sometimes due to maintenance or breaks but not because it's given to hotels.
The modern day UA-camr, Influencer "Digital Nomad" is like a plague.... .I wish they would just disappear....As someone who works online and has lived abroad for almost 25 years, I avoid locations and places where they congregate like 'Coworking Spaces".
I've never understood coworking spaces to begin with....Instead, I go to off the beaten path towns and cities, invest in a nicer apartment instead of paying for coworking, never take up space working out of cafes with "free WiFi" etc.
In fact, I even avoid places during their "peak seasons" instead, I visit and work from these places during their off seasons, when my presence is truly appreciated by the locals...
Loved this! Loved the change up, can’t wait to see more. Great footage and editing, educational too. Looking forward to India!
Tuve la oportunidad de vivir en Nosara hace 15 años, trabajé ahí con un amigo que vivía en el centro (la "otra" Nosara). Puedo decir que ya Nosara perdió su identidad hace mucho y que lo que se ve ahora es su nueva identidad 🤷🏽♂️. Mi amigo ya no vive ahí, no pudo seguir viviendo ahí. El video 100%!!! Faltó hablar sobre los conflictos con plan Regulador donde grandes corporaciones ganan demandas para construir cada vez más cerca de la zona marítimo terrestre.
I am Costa Rican and lived in many beaches always end up leaving because this happens each and every time - in Manuel Antonio, Coco, Tamarindo, Nosara the list continues... locals turn agressive and drugs and fancy places flood the place worst than than water :( I live in the city now for the same reason so that my children don't grow up thinking that party every night is a normal life. On my way to my next adventure in Guapiles where things haven't gotten that out of proportion yet. Hope we can stay there till they finish highschool but at this rate who knows???
Same is happening in Bali, Indonesia around Canggu. In some areas land prices are even higher than Manhattan. Foreigners aren't even allowed to 'own' land, but lots of them get their land illegaly by using Indonesians to get land, bribing government officials or setting up 'fake' companies and use the land as an asset for the company. I've been living in Bali for 9 years and 3 months ago my landlord told me that the rent for 2023 is going to be around 600 us dollar a month, while it was 125 us dollar in 2016. And lots of 'influencers' are building high end villas in the neighbourhood and rent those out for 1.000 us dollar per night. Balinese average wage is around 200 us dollar a month.
Anti Prophet
This channel Is super underrated. I love this idea of episodes, and love Costa Rica. Gonna send this video to my family there 🇨🇷
Please do! Pura vida 🇨🇷
@Life as we know it not complaining about foreigners is actually the main reason of what is happening, we never did and now we're seeing the results not being able to live where we used to live and having to travel for so many kilometers to buy the food, I completely agree that government must help lot more but thanks god now we have a better president not the ones we used to have, really hope more people like you coming to the country that helps to grow the community TOGETHER, love from Guanacaste, Costa Rica 🇨🇷
This was fascinating! Definitely makes me examine my own relationship with travel and living abroad. I am a Brit living in Portugal. I've been here for ten years and I've seen similar effects to Portugal major cities as more people discover it as a cheap place to live. Lisbon is now almost as expensive as London in terms of rent prices!
Yes, it's not just in Lisbon, either. I have lived near the sw coast for 16years, and spend time in Central Portugal too. BOTH areas have seen unbelievable price increases in property and rents, due to the huge amount of newcomers, especially on the sw coast in the last 2 years. Locals can now not afford rents - it is very sad.
Portugal is an L if they're going down like this
Not just Portugal - Cornwall is unafforable for many locals especially young people who are priced out of rentals by Air BnB and the greed for tourist dollars, plus of course all the 2nd home owners
I'm half portuguese and I definately feel this. As a student there is no affordable renting. If you live in a normal apartment and want to sell it you can't even find anything to buy at the same price, almost everything is over half a million for a simple house now for no reason. I feel people who come here need to think more about the locals and stop thinking its "cheap". Like yeah it might be in comparison to America, but we still have to live on small salaries and have a life. And if 90% of the country's housing costs over half a million soon Portuguese will be forced to leave and Portugal will be full of foreigners and inflated prices. The government is also to blame, enabling these quick foreign money schemes and having no control with rents or pricing. Its a speculative bubble atm. Hopefully things change or else I don't see a future in Portugal sadly...
@@meltossmedia I'm in the centre too! I live in Caldas da Rainha :) I moved away from Lisbon because of the sky rocketing rents plus I always liked the West Coast more. I completely agree it's a widespread issue. I don't think foreigners intend to outprice locals but the government should do more to measure the cost of living and raise wages so that the Portuguese can thrive in their own country.
It's the exact same that is happening in Mexico, sadly! I could notice that especifically in Mexico city, where rents have been up like crazy since the boom of remote working. Also in the Mayan Riviera (Tulum, Cancun), where the prices in general have gotten ridiculously high for locals, and in USD
Same thing going on in PV and Riviera Nayarit. It's heartbreaking knowing locals have been forced from their homes to make room for 5 star resorts, and now have to travel so far to and from to get to work everyday. The mangroves have been decimated and the wildlife there has been greatly effected. We have had several crocodile attacks these past couple of years because they have no safe places to go.
Prices are crazy, and they have destroyed so much of the natural beauty to build more condos, or as they like to advertise "vertical living".
@@leeloo1701-D Yooo, that's were my father's family is from. The whole Bahia de Banderas area (especially the Nayarit side) has gotten so expensive that my pops had to sell his house and move more inland into the unregulated areas. Luckily he likes they area, but still says way too many gabachos are venturing out there for comfort.
I had a friend who recently went to Tulum for a wedding. They were telling me about the prices for certain things and I couldn't believe how expensive things were! I can't help but think that the local workforce is forced to live so far away, and travel far everyday, just to get to work.
Ahahaha so you don't like immigrants
@@JadedJet excuse me? Can you point where did I say that?
They also end up bringing money to the local businesses, raising people out of poverty in those areas. Everything is nuanced .
One of several things we Ticos complain when we refer about "Costa Rica premium" is that areas of our country are now inaccessible because those are "exclusive/private" when is supposed to be public area, has happened to me before, specially when a hotel claims a whole section of a coast.
Absolutely superb, loved it.
Yoooo Tommo. How you doing? :) Waiting for your post-race chinwag live!!
Thanks @Tommo.
Bernardo from our research team is a big fan of your channel. We.. um.. should maybe to a video together.
-Caya
@@slidebean yes! Maybe that old F1 idea…
This is brilliant, and very informative. I live in a little town called Lagos in Portugal and have found the same thing happening here. The prices of rental properties have skyrocketed and the locals struggle to sustain themselves. I live on a local salary and if I wasn't lucky enough to have already rented my appartment with a set rent before the prices went crazy, I wouldn't be able to stay here.
It's happening here too .
The rich get a bargain and the poor get nothing.
They did it to themselves. Lagos created a tourist party city and now it's coming back to bite them. Portugal is openly inviting foreigners with nomad visas because their country is old and dying with minimal industry and income. Welcome to the consequences of choice.
Also throwing it out there Portugal has some very nice relocation visas to foreigners. It’s among the top easiest ones to relocate to. So you’re going to get foreigners flocking because even though the costs are heavy to you it’s cheaper for them. In the end it’s not good for either
Honestly I get that. I am originally from Poland which is very comparable to Portugal when it comes to cost of living and salaries…
I emigrated and currently I am collecting money to settle in some nice country.
I was thinking about Portugal and even visited last year… Housing is crazy expensive everywhere in Europe right now.
Proper house for a family would cost at least 400k € in Portugal… But so it would in UK etc. I currently work in country where decent house costs about 2mln €… So I simply can’t afford to just settle where I am right now…
It’s very likely that I will move to Portugal when I have enough money to get some place to live. If I have to pay so much for a house in Europe - then it should be at least in the place with nice weather and ocean.
estrangeiro que mora aqui em lagos - depois de 7 anos morando em diferentes paises, descobri que Lagos tem o melhor clima, comida, e atmosfera da Europa durante outubro-mai, desculpa :(
But yes I've seen the flood of foreigners here however I think it's actually for the better. While in the short term this drastic cost of living increase is bad, Lagos has always been an explosive summer tourist down with dead and quiet winters. No university, not much going on, and a town focused purely on summer tourism exploitation (makes sense)
However I think in 5-10 years we will see a lot more longterm people living here in winter, new cafes, new bars, maybe even a good nightclub! The winter 'nomads' are definitely a lot more respectful than the drunk english summer tourists by far. More restaurants and places will stay open during winter, more stuff will be happening - look at the amount of volleyball, surfers, football, events now compared to a few years ago.
While foreigners are partial to blame, the real blame lies on the landlords and rich. Those are the people jacking up prices. Look at how many 'thousands' of apartments and houses go entirely unused during winter here. They are the ones jacking up prices - hoarding land, property, and wealth and bringing up prices
You guys really knocked this video out of the park! I really loved this style. Keep it up.
Much appreciated, Chris! 🙌
It's a world wide problem, not just in Costa Rica, Mexico, France...Rich billionaires from Arab and Indian countries swoop into USA and Canada, buy up real estate, hike up rents, and they continue to live comfy in their cheap countries, where their money stretches due to low taxation. Meanwhile, for Americans and Canadians, we're ousted from our own neighbourhoods because we can't afford it. So we head down to Costa Rica, Mexico Columbia, etc etc to get affordable housing, and it starts the process down there for the locals. So who is at fault? The laws in those jurisdictions. If the laws protected the locals, this couldn't happen. But politicians are lining their pockets with back room deals, and as they get richer, they don't care about their constituents, because by the time we wise up to it, years have gone by, and those now rich politicians can collect their amazing indexed pensions and live happily ever after in any part of the world, because they can afford it. So the joke is on all of us.
Great video guys! Love this series. Funny that you could replace the name Nosara with Canggu (Bali) and tell a very similar story. However, the urban planning here is terrible causing all types of construction nightmares to pop up. Keep up the amazing work!
Surely does Canggu came to my mind
You've magically made me feel relaxed and informed at the same time. Thank you for this :)
Fucking hell. Yo tuve la oportunidad de visitar Nosara antes de la pandemia. Pase un tiempo en el pueblo propio y me dio mucha lástima la diferencia entre las condiciones de vivir para los ticos y los gringos que están el la playa. Espero que la gente haga la lucha para proteger este paraíso y que no se haga un satélite gringo con precios astronómicos. Solo si tuviera el tiempo y el dinero para ir y ayudar a la gente que lo ocupa y luchar para leyes que protejan los ticos, su economía, y su naturaleza. Saludos. Pura vida.
I think focusing on digital nomads is a great thing. I know that I spend a ridiculous amount of time hanging out on Nomadlist. It's ridiculous since I rarely travel at all and have no intention of living the nomad life long term. It's... aspirational.
It's important to note that the same thing is also happening across the United States and other Western nations from very very rich foreign nationals buying up all of the land, making them some of the most expensive places to live in the world. We should address these problems worldwide. I think that any citizen of any country should in one way or another be given some sort of priority for land, housing, work, etc. It's so sad what's happening down there in Costa Rica and elsewhere!
1000 percent! I also agree that we should cancel all of these remote jobs, except for very specific high level government positons! I feel as if there is zero need for many jobs to be remote!
@@TheJusticefornoneCounter point: I feel there is no need for many jobs to be in an office.
@@dresdenvisage Any reason you say that?
@@TheJusticefornone Well, let's see. The company saves money on overhead expenses, the employee saves time and money on the commute, and statistically speaking, people who have the option to work from home are happier and more productive. So then, why NOT allow employees who do not need to be in a specific building to do their work to do it from wherever they are most comfortable? If it is more beneficial for an employee to work from home, why should the employer get to tell an employee where "home" is allowed to be?
This phenomenal makes me extremely sad 😢 it is happening so many places all over the world. Hopefully we as human beings can figure out a sustainable solution to support locals, wild life and land while welcoming foreigners 💔
I spent 3 months in CR as a digital nomad and elected to stay in San Jose, while taking weekend trips to the coast. I do agree that the coasts are full of "influencers" (heck, they refer to the coastal town of Tamarindo as Tamagringo now), and it was just weird in some places how many foreigners they were.
I used to live in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica for almost 10 Years. I went to school and grew up with the locals. Ive always loved the people, the culture and especially nature! Now i have moved back to Switzerland to study. I find myself heavy hearted to say I don't really want to go back where I grew up. Santa Teresa has had an extreme boom in population and tourism. The town infastructure of the town is not ready for it all. During high season, the town is a huge mess. It has not been the same for me ever since, i wish to find a place again that is untouched like Santa Teresa used to be.
I met many people from all different places of the world that moved to Santa Teresa. What i have noticed, is the difference between the respect of the land all the people bring. From my experience, Americans are the worst. Self entitled, feel like they own everything and the world owes them everything. Imagine the difference if people who moved to a foreign country instead of creating their own bubbles, choose to join communities there, help the local people, interact respectfully with the land on with they step on and dont do everything only for profit or their own leasure.
Extraño los días en que podía ver la puesta de sol solo en la playa. Extraño los días en que no fui insultado por estadounidenses irrespetuosos mientras surfeaba.
No matter where you go, keep this thought in mind:
You are visiting someone's home, so respect it like yours.
Pura Vida
yeah it's the RICH Americans, they act like that everywhere, too much money makes them like that. Some of us do respect the locals.
An interesting video. I definitely think there needs to be more videos on how people can travel more ethically, including, sometimes, the decision not to visit somewhere at all.
I agree. We need more conscious and ethical thinking when traveling.
@@shanon72327 it is the responsibility of the government to limit development. Individuals and entrepreneurs are a drop in the bucket, and where one conscientiously steps aside, one without the same ethics will step in to take their place. It depends on government. Full stop.
@@findtheorigins2940 Totally agreed.
Definitivamente! Another Latino here!
My grandmother is a perfect example of the older form of tourists to Costa Rica, the retiree. In recent trips I've taken to visit her, the situation has gotten dire but one thing I think isn't discussed as much is the traffic generated by mass tourism. Just like in San Jose, it's becoming impossible to navigate the countryside without experiencing massive traffic jams, even on 2 lane country roads.
I get what you're saying and think you might be right, but traffic jams specifically in San José are also due to the lack of good quality public transportation, which forces people to buy a car if they wish to move safer and faster on the long run. Ironically, this makes cars the primary transportation method, causing all the traffic jams...
I'm from Bangalore/Bengaluru. And I would love to meet you man. I've been following this channel for years and love the content. Even though I lived in Bengaluru since birth, I know little to nothing about the city (I've started to read and visit places and learn more about the city now). Waiting for your content based on Bengaluru.
Thanks for this video. I been thinking about being a freelance, digital normad developer in the near future. I for example only see the positive side of this type of life but rarely see negative side of this lifestyle or a balanced view of being a digital normad lifestyle.
Already subbed and look forward to part two.
I have some digital nomads in my extended family. They typically live outside the cities and in the smaller cheaper towns outside with enough services.
Wow I remember discovering your content through more business/tech related video essay style content and it's amazing to see the change into a more vlog/story style.
Love to see where this channel is going and you also look like you're having a lot of fun!
An OG subscriber! 💜
- Caya
People can complain all they want - but this will bring well needed money to Costa Rica and places like it. Nobody wants to live in a place like NYC. It's cold and miserable, and expensive. So they come to Costa Rica, they start spending money - tax revenues go up... People throughout time have lamented change - but it's inexorable.
Same thing is happening in Tama”gringo,” soaring prices make it practically impossible for locals to live there. They literally have to live kilometers away because of the high rent prices in town.
This happened, and is still happening, in Florida with New Yorkers and Canadians.
This is what happened to Tulum, Mexico. It's devastating to see it happen in beloved Costa Rica. 💔
I absolutely understand the concern.
Greece is one of the Western countries that has managed to maintain to coast line and water fronts. When traveling abroad my heart hurts from what I see around.
I live in Tamarindo and it’s happening here too in a BIG way. In the last two years prices have almost doubled and local friends have been pushed out of town, it’s pretty common in tourist towns too across the world. Byron Bay and Whistler come to mind. People living 8 to a house to be able to afford rent or because there’s not enough infrastructure to support the influx of tourism. It’s hard to be part of the problem but as you said, we care and want this country to be well cared for and protected too.
So if you care, why do you accept locals to be displaced?
@@doriangray2001 It's not a matter of locals or digital nomads. In San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, it's also very expensive to rent.
As a Costa Rican, I disliked Tamarindo when I visited. The moment I entered Tamarindo, I didn't feel in Costa Rica anymore, the prices are in dollars, the menus are in English. I was with my mother and had to be translating everything for her and changing the prices to Colones for her, in Costa Rica! I left Tamarindo thinking I was never going to return there. Santa Teresa will soon become the New Nosasa.
sure.... you care about the locals
Same thing with Lisbon, Portugal. It's impossible for any young adult to leave their parent's house. The only way is to live with someone else or rent a room.
To give you a better picture, the minimum income is 740€ and the majority of people comming out of school or university will take home 800€ - 900€. However, an one bedroom apartment in the city and its surroundings will be between 700€ to 850€. This leaves a normal person with 100€ to 200€ to live, which is simply impossible.
Used to travel to Portugal slightly before and after they got € currency, loved it of course... and today I was wondering why hotels rates have sky rocketed... now I know, but on the other hand there are youtube channels such as world according to briggs constantly making the same video, __""why you should move to Portugal, retire in Portugal, the Portuguese love to see you coming, why are you not in Portugal yet.. ""__ and then I read the comment sections, gee golly I should really consider retirement/digital nomading/moving to Portugal, thanks for tip, all these channels are playing the same game and a part of the scheme.
I had considered becoming a digital Nomad...enjoy working and chilling on some beach somewhere in Thailand...., but I'm so very happy with my decision to instead teach and live long-term in a community. Learning the language. Volunteering and tutoring in local communities.
I couldn't imagine living in a community enjoying a rich lifestyle while others suffer.
Here in Guatemala, I've had opportunities to volunteer at orphanages. Tutor adults. Etc. There's always opportunities to contribute to the economy and lives of those around you....IF that's what you actually want.
You know you're part of the problem right ? That community is better off without you gentrifying it
@@robdog114 I was born in canada at 8 I moved to yemen and at 18 I went back to canada. You don't think immigrants moving into canadian cities raise the prices through the roof and on the flipside everything in yemen was so cheap that people would move there to escape the rat race . Everyone from poor and rich countries move around the globe for their own benefits so don't demonize just one group. This man is somewhere helping schools and orphanages (I hope it's not that volunteer tourism crap.). Maybe you should assess his situation before you go into a self-righteous rant.
@@burrybondz225 Yea no, he's contributing to in the increase in rents those little orphans he's supposedly helping will eventually struggle to pay.
The rapid urbanisation across globe has been a double-edged sword. It has brought more opportunities for locals to find jobs and have better living standards, but at the same time it has also increased their exposure to crime rates and increased the cost of living.
Awesome video. The feel and tone is straight forward, honest, and I especially loved the optimistic feel at the end--i.e. if it's done in this way, it can be a win-win for everyone.
Holy crap, I am so glad I went to Costa Rica before the digital age... you almost had to make special trips to San Jose to get on the Internet in 2003....😂... well done you all for playing your part in destroying it 👏. Visit, get inspired, contribute if you can, then go home and actually invest your energy in making your own communities better instead of running away from the problems at home and just creating new ones for other people. Don't try and kid yourself that you are doing things differently...it's ying and yang baby, and always a trade-off...
I lived with a digital nomad with a marijuana fortune who later relocated to Costa Rica. He was one of the most arrogant, feckless people I've ever met, treating responsibilities as mere nuisances to people with money. Doesn't surprise me people like him would have this effect on foreign communities.
This is happening all around the world. From quiet coastal towns in NZ and Aus, to busy cities in Portugal and Bali. Wealthy expats are leaving cities and taking over smaller, lower cost of living places.
My parents were in Costa Rica for a month last fall visiting my mom's family. I guess tourists don't visit Limon too much, cuz they thankfully didn't see anything like this. But I do recall taking the bus from San Jose to Siquirres once and passing shanty towns literally right up against luxury developments. Weird how this went from a country none of my friends had ever heard of as a kid when I told them I was visiting, to this rich people's hub.
Thank you for talking about this and highlighting. I have been becoming considering a digital nomad and this helps me understand the responsibility I have to not impact the countries or people I choose to visit and also not visit. I feel so bad for what is happening here, I will not be visiting Costa Rica as a digital nomad for these reasons.
This happens everywhere. This is what happened to my home town on the California coast. It was a nice, quiet coastal suburb. Then the tech boom happened, and the techies all moved in with their 6 figure plus incomes. Housing prices sky rocketed, and the locals couldn't afford to live there anymore. I don't know anyone who still lives there, all gone.
i live in australia and for a young person living near the beach in a city is becoming insanely unaffordable, small towns are full and expensive thanks to airbnb. if i cant afford to live somewhere nice in my own country and there is a place i can afford somewhere else id like to think thats an option that im allowed to take. politicians and local governments need to regulate land sales to foreigners, infrastructure, land taxes etc to ensure that growth of a town does not cause such issues
you should do the same study in Punta Uva, Limon. There has been a surge of local tourism during all weekends since a couple of years ago, starting Thursdays, that is polluting (noise, garbage) that small strip of beach in Talamanca. Tons of people, zero care for the environment, stomping and touching the corals, swimming with sun screen that kills the corals. Leaving plastic and trash throughout the beach, and playing music super loud.
I just randomly came across this video, but I absolutely love this project and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Keep it up this style of storytelling was intriguing to listen too, loved it.
Excelente trabajo. Animación, edición, estructura, súper bien jalado. Felicidades!
Videos like this make me feel guilty for even wanting to visit Costa Rica for a vacation. It's so informative and well done. My partner and I want to travel nearby and get an authentic experience, but do it as respectful as possible. I'd love any tips for traveling and areas that might not be filled with overwhelming amounts of tourists!
Don’t be. Costa Rica’s entire economy is built ok tourism; we’ll be happy to have you.
We want you to visit, only "woke" people thing tourism is bad. If you don't visit, many people won't eat, I am serious. Please visit. I am Costa Rican
@@danielcj13 society is really crumbling when people think being "woke" is bad lol. I definitely will visit!
@@Alex_McFarland woke is bad. They hate freedom of speech.
@@NathanHedglin no, they just hate racists, homophobes and people who are victims of misinformation (aka people with little to no informational/research literacy)
Don't worry. The locals in America feel the same way about them lol. They move into cheaper states, run up the price of everything, act like entitled children, vote in ways which harm the locals and then wonder why they get shouted at by our locals to go home.
Most of them are empowered by some high paying tech job they have in CA but they "work from home" in some small town in the South or Midwest where the median income is $45k/ year.
This is basically happening any where that it is pretty. I just got priced out of my child hood home on Whidbey Island, near Seattle. Used to be a bunch of lower/ middle class families here. now its all tech bros and millionaires. We always were a tourist community, the population swelled every summer and went back down in the off season. You would recognize everybody on the roads. I noticed about 7 or 8 years ago it started changing and in the last 5 years there has been an insane amount of growth and the island can't keep up with it. Years long waits to build houses, can't get plumbers, electricians. building supplies. everything is twice as expensive compared to just across the water. There are over 500 vacation rentals just on the small south end of our island that all used to be homes families and working individuals would have rented. But hey! if you want a nearly 70 year old summer cabin with a non functioning septic system for 1.4 million I got a house to sell ya!
Hey there! Thanks for the video!
I am from Europe, and I moved to San José to study and work here. I didn’t have the chance to go to the beaches so far, but it seems to be a different world. Maybe I am missing out on those beaches but I am glad that I have chosen San José to live. Study in a university and to work in a local company. Trying my best to learn an immerse myslef into the culture. And I know I am an expat as well and contribute to this problem of overpricing, but I think if you want to emigrate to another country, you should not only go an occupy the beautiful places... at least try to make an effort to become a part, instead of conquering.
The problem with western White culture is that... Doesnt exist whatsoever. Sorry but its a very disguting culture and all the World and the native ppl hace to de with it. Quite annoying.
Ya but your the problem non the less. What’s wrong with Europe?
@@maxpower8429 I'm part of the problem too and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Tell ya what, if Latin America takes all their people back, we'll take ours. Deal?
@@a.p.5825 anyone watching this is most likely traveling. I spent the last 16 months in southern Mexico, it’s awesome. But you know as much as anyone how the average Mexican/etc is living. Mexico doesn’t let non citizens buy property, most likely will happen in these other countries soon enough. But the cost of living is the issue. They aren’t affecting America’s cost of living the same way we affect theirs
@@maxpower8429 They're driving down wages in America and we're driving up cost of living in their countries, same effect in the long run, lower quality of living for everyone. But that's what globalism, immigration, and free trade does, allows the elites to exploit poor populations for their labor at the expense of labor in rich countries and wealthy populations for the markets they generate at the expense of markets poor people have access to.
Great video! I've been lliving here in CR for over 20 years now, and I've been watching the gentrification that is happening on the coast (especially Nosara, and recently even Samara) with much worry, and I hate how helpless I feel about it. No one is really 'in the wrong', and I can't fathom a way to slow the gentrification down.
On the one hand, the unique blend of everybody just living together and doing their thing is what makes those places so nice. On the other hand, you can't really prohibit foreigners from building villas and spending their money at ridiculous prices there.
Another problem is the land prices: once a lot is sold to foreigners at inflated prices, this lot will probably never, ever be bought by a tico again, because of the lower average salary here. 2000$ is way, way more for someone working in CR than for an average gringo.
Foreigners should not be allowed to buy land there. The profits generated never go back to the people of the country. The land should belong to them so they can live on it. The same problem is happening even in wealthy countries like Canada. Foreign investors (Chinese) are allowed to buy up massive amounts of land and property, the prices inflate, and the locals are priced out of being able to get into the market in their own country. It's wrong. The whole business model is wrong and unethical.
This is not just happening in Costa Rica! All of latin america is affected - particularly places like this - little beach towns. I live in Mexico & it's been happening for a while but since 2020 & the pandemic, it's been particularly crazy!
I haven't been to coastal Mexico in about five years. Is the Oaxaca cost, outside of Puerto Escondido, still relatively undeveloped? Some of those small coastal fishing towns were simply wonderful with kind, interesting people. Yet, I couldn't help feeling that they'd be "discovered" some day and rapidly developed.
@@TheHamburgler123 I can't speak to Oaxaca specifically but things are changing very quickly ... especially the demographic & the buying up of land to escape countries of origin. It's pretty wild.
What I can say, is that is a new reality we have to face as society. Changes are always here and way of living/working too. Laws and regulations should adjust to it and help regulate it in the best way possible, being opposed/complainning wont help.
This feels like a blend of Parts Unknown and Down to Earth, in the best possible way! Keep expanding this series! We want more!
This is a huge problem happening around the world. I'm from Vancouver and live in a hertitage tear down. When I will eventually have to leave I have no clue how I would ever afford rent considering 1 bedroom is now $2000 + nevermind inflated gas and food prices ect. I wanted to do digital nomad work to experience other cultures and live in a warmer and therefore unltimately kinder to my body climate. But I also don't wish to become part of the problem I am also trying to get away from. We desperately need all our leaders to come up with better planning for their citizens. provide adequate housing options to locals and reasonable amount for influx for people who might want to move. I feel like people displacing locals for homes is creating huge amounts of hatred and animosity to the point where I can see countries banning people from coming. But that won't help anyone. People should be alloowed to move but they should feel forced to have to leave somewhere because they could not find housing especially if they grew up and are local.
This is a real eye awakening for me as this has opened my eyes about the cause and effect of expats who plan to live overseas. Not that this will always be the case but it gives one an awareness so as not to find oneself getting stuck within this type of bubble. Thank you. Great contribution.
This is a very-well done doc, and could be about so many different places. I'm a digital nomad, also currently in Costa Rica, and struggle with this problem of pricing people out. I really don't want to be part of the problem. I agree there's this kind of bubble going on. If you travel solo and stay in hostels as the cheapest place to sleep, you soon feel like you're in an international, English-speaking bubble, and those richer digital nomads living in Selinas, which are expensive, might as well be in Europe, or the US. This is the exact opposite of what I wanted when I decided I had to find a way to work and travel at the same time. The whole point was to experience different cultures. The thing is I don't earn loads of money, I teach English, so I couldn't afford this kind of lifestyle either, or, in fact to live back in my home country, so it's not even all travellers or all digital nomads, just those with remote jobs out of richer countries, or, I guess, successful UA-cam creators!
You can go live in other non-beach places in Costa Rica that have not been “discovered” yet, in that way you can get the real Costa Rican experience, build relationships with locals, learn Spanish if you don’t know it already, buy from locals, support locals, etc you get the idea.
Days of Serendipity has great advice. Also, there are plenty of safe alternatives to CR. I'm particularly fond of the SE coast of El Salvador, small towns outside of El Cuco. It's inexpensive and has very little to no (foreign) tourism. A potential problem for you would be the lack of quality internet infrastructure. I think a wifi-hotspot could work but can't make any promises.
@@daysofserendipity Absolutely, I was only in CR for a few months and stayed and worked in San Jose half the time, which was a more normal life experience, living with locals in their home, with trips to various more remote places where I didn't work, or didn't work so much. I did find paradise, eventually, but the internet there was so shocking I couldn't stay. This is, presumalby, why it's still paradise!
I like your content. No one is going to agree with every perception or angle you take but you never take any viewpoint to extreme or without respect to nuance. Your graphics, maps, etc... are top tier. Very engaging visuals.
Great video! This is such an important topic to discuss. We love long-term travel and learning about new areas, but we also need to be aware of the impact we're making on the communities we're moving to.
That first vlogger made my eyes roll HARD! Puerto Rico is suffering the same thing. Honestly, if you want to move somewhere learn the language, contribute something, and do your best to integrate. Westerners have to realize that our presence can destabilize economies and flows if we're not careful.
Oh cry me a river!
For decades and decades the migration from the less developed and developing nations to the developed nations has been in the millions!
Now that migration flow has somewhat reversed a tiny fraction the people from these nations start crying?!
A handful of remote workers are not going to destroy the country.
How many millions of Costa Ricans have immigrated to the US for example as opposed to the few thousand that have moved to Costa Rica?!
1000%👌
Such an interesting video. As a Costa Rican I always wanted to go and visit Nosara for the first time. However is way too pricey. Suddenly got really expensive to rent a studio there. I'm a Digital Nomad too but I will never spend almost $2000 in a studio apartment in Nosara, and Im not even talking about groceries or dining out. Thank you for this video.
As a digital nomad do you make a typical Costa Rican income or are you able to earn much more? Hope my question isn't too personal, just trying to learn how nationality affects income potential for digital nomads.
@@TheHamburgler123 It depends on a lot of factors, the US will sometimes pay you less if you're living in another state with lower cost of living. Some north American companies that hire in latin america can get away with paying half the normal rate, and some actually pay competitively if the role is really important, most digital nomads are either content creators or consultants
Digital nomads are some of the most entitled and insufferable people I've ever met.
I noticed this cycle of a natural/tourist place too.
1. Anyone barely goes here. The locals know of it, but it's nothing new for them.
2. A little more explorers come, it's nice but some are put off by the lack of roads or even any stores/food joints.
3. The hidden gem status: This is the window. This is when a few joints have sprung up. And they wanna impress you with good customer service. There's an overall good vibe everywhere. Just the right amount of people, not too few to get kidnapped.
4. Cool kids start going there. There are medium sized parties/raves happening. Some sick joints have popped up. This is when it reaches cult status.
5. It gets commercialized. Some rich folks are making hotels and vacation homes. There's a whole lot of street vendors and flea markets selling fake shit. Tour guides come. Overpriced cab unions pop up. Now families wanna travel there. A lot of things now have to be 'family-friendly.'
6. Everyone's been there. They're not interested in the crowd and overpriced shit anymore. They move on to the next trendy place leaving the locals to deal with the crumbling mess.
I lived in nosara for surfing and it was so calm, quiet and peaceful. My mom went back and said it was soooo different that it wasn’t even recognizable
Excelente video! Muy conciso en los puntos y ejecutado con una narrativa visual que cautiva.
Viví en Nosara 8 meses y pienso que llegué en un momento esencial donde se pudo notar una alza exponencial en la construcción, tráfico, gente y desarrollo social en general. Aunque respeto y entiendo porque terminar el video así, no comparto al cien el mensaje de esperanza, the essence of Nosara is long gone. Pareciera que el negocio en muchos casos viene primero y no es la primera vez que sucede en Guanacaste. Claro, sí que es un lugar especial y hay gente con las manos en la masa para hacer las cosas bien.
En fin, gran trabajo! Esperando la continuación!
I hate "digital nomads", not because they are taking our land but because they act and think that they are my allies or supporters while at the same time making my children speak english instead of Spanish, i got to work for them to pay rent. Have you ever served drinks to a gringo half your age with half of your education but eight times the salary? My main job is in healthcare but the job that pays my bills is listening to these pablo escobar fans who blog or code while i fetch them another "ethnic" drink. I wish i knew about this in the 00's so i could prepare.
This was basically if Johnny Harris & Casey Neistat's videos had a Costa Rican Baby, loved it!
I was looking for someone to say this lol ^
This happens in Bali too, digital nomads made local balinese can't afford anything in some areas
I always wanted to be digital nomad, even before pandemic but what these people do is just shitty. Oftentimes not wanting to interact with culture, laerning language,
in terms of their relationship with the locals, the digital nomads are just like any other nomad "society". they have no roots and hence no loyalty to the land (and everything on it) and no respect for people who live on the land and do feel certain attachment to that land. the conflicts between locals and nomads started in prehistory. in fact, 1st undisputed proofs of warfare (organized violence between groups) are between the land-cultivating societies and nomadic raiders
Same thing in Portugal. Digital nomads have increased prices in Lisbon from 450 euros for a 2 bed apartment in 2014 to over 2000 euros for the same apartment in 2022. The minimum wage in Portugal is around 750 euros. They have come in with an arrogant attitude and thinking they are special because they moved to a city where blogs, magazines have told them to move too. They think they are free thinkers and independent but they are rich sheep economically destroying everywhere they go, making sure the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Modern day plague of locust's
Soy un tico que he sido nómada digital aquí mismo por toda Costa Rica y este video me trajo buenas memorias y más inspiración para proyectos personales. Muy buena mezcla de sonido, edición de video y las animaciones 3D del mapa me gustaron mucho, igual que los efectos.
Excelente perspectiva de realizar un video, una vista social del turismo en la economía nacional. Gran trabajo de todo el equipo! Sigan sacando videos así que los veré todos. Gracias!
I must admit, I've been eyeing Costa Rica since friends and I vacationed in Arenal about 10 yrs ago. What I love was the greenery, how peaceful and friendly the people were. I loved seeing the grazing cows. I'm from Jamaica and grew up in the rural area so I have deep love for that type of living. I am now a family of four and looking to leave to US for a more peaceful setting and Costa Rica is in my top 2 list. However, if we decide to move this isn't the lifestyle we are looking to have. We want to be among the locals, plant our own food, etc. and be close enough to great schools for our 2 daughters. Not too close to the big cities but not too rural either. It's a shame how people will move to someone else's country and just not respect to locals and local customs. I saw someone below saying how some of the foreign investors have closed the beaches to locals. That's something we also experience in Jamaica. It literally pisses me off to where I just want to shout to the locals "BURN THEM DOWN"! You need to have respect, for the land and the locals. The young tourists are sometimes looking for drugs and party escapes. They leave America and Europe and take that same old privileged dirty mindset to the places they consider paradise. Just imagine what they'll do should God let them into heaven 🤣 Keep fighting for your country! Pura Vida! 🙏🏾
"Privileged dirty mindset"? Judge much? Moving to Cost Rica, you might end up returning to US like you did when you escaped Jamaica. I love how you blame rising crime, pollution, and rising prices on outsiders. The greedy Costa Ricans set the prices.
@@alexthai4957 you must be one of the people im speaking about. A hit dog will holler right?
@@PoetClbrown Apparently you are the hit dog. Your thoughts of violence "BURN THEM DOWN" is clear evidence of your cognitive dissonance. You tell the Costa Ricans to fight for their country while you prefer to leave for a more "peaceful setting" than fight for your country. Internal corruption and greed is what destroys countries, but it is easier to blame the outsiders. Don't fall for that victimhood card, it never helps... Best wishes.
@@alexthai4957 your chest clear now or you got more shyt to cough up?
@@PoetClbrown Sure, one more thing to cough up. I find it ironic how you try to sound like the virtuous defender of the greedy and corrupt citizens of Costa Rica that are happy to sell out for the almighty dollar. At the same time you appear ready to bale out and abandon fellow citizens of your troubled island nation. Why are the Costa Ricans more worthy of your concern? Relative victimhood? Or maybe it's just that evil privileged dirty mindset you speak of. I find your misguided loyalty odd. Just saying....
As many have mentioned, this is an issue across all of Latin America, and one of the culprits is precisely Selina. Selina has branches all over these countries and they absolutely disrupt local businesses, all in the name of comfort for the nomads. They're like a mcdonalds of hospitality, cheap prices, prepackaged experience, absolutely exploitative (most hotels depend on volunteer labor). In towns where eco tourism is a main part of the economy, they choose to hire their own experts and tourist guides, leaving little to no employment opportunities for locals.
I'll take hostels like Selina any day of the week over expensive hotels and resorts. In large cities a place like that is a drop in the bucket. In places like Nosara that have such a lack of housing/accommodation they arguably are able to increase supply (4-12 people in a dorm room vs filling up like 10 hotel rooms or apartments) and attract people that wouldn't visit those places otherwise. Local tour guides only miss out because they don't know how to accommodate foreign tourists.
very informative. This happened also to Tulum Mx , Limassol Cyprus and pretty much every nice place in the world.
Costa Rica is definitely selling themselves short - they could easily charge at least SOME income tax without discouraging that many remote workers, and use that $$$ to more equitably benefit from the remote work revolution.
My fiancé and I moved to CR last June, first to Playa Potrero. Our house got robbed two times within our first month living there, while we were home too! We then tried living in the Southern Zone in Ojochal but the rain/mold was too much for us and finding a new place to live long term proved impossible. We then got turned onto the mountain areas around San Jose and ended up finding a really humble but amazing place in Ciudad Colon. There's basically no tourists here, the rent is low and the people are so friendly. There's also very little crime and having access to San Jose has proven to be exactly what we needed/wanted. I think the beach life is overrated and obviously over priced. We prefer to learn Spanish and meet locals, get to know their way of life and embrace that rather than try to impose our American way of life on this country. So far its been really a blessing to basically be rejected from the beach areas.
Qué triste, ahora ya están comprando las zonas aledañas a San José….
So sad. I visited Costa Rica before the digital nomad trend. Was very laid back and had the Pura Vida vibe. This happened here in Texas with Californian’s moving into Texas jacking up the real estate prices, cost of living, forcing Texans to move elsewhere. Greed always trumps what’s good for the locals. Imagine being forced out of your town because you can’t afford to live there anymore. Costa Rica will lose its appeal because it’s no longer what it use to be. Unfortunately it will be another tourist trap/ nomad haven. When you move into someone else’s country, don’t try to make it like the place you left. You don’t move to CR for the trendy cafe’s, restaurants, hotels. It’s always been about nature and solitude. Not high rise hotels on the beach. I always liked CR because of the minimalistic way of life. I really was thinking about moving to CR. If I did it would be nowhere near Nosara or where digital nomads live. I want the real CR experience.
So gentrification??
So digital knowmads are essentially gentrificating developing countries.
Really really good video, btw. Top quality.
Kudos to the author of this channel. I usually click right out of videos where the author is part of the message. So many use 4 minutes of their 5 minute video with their face in it. This author uses the exact right combination of his face with great content. And he’s very interesting in his knowledge and commentary. His love for what he’s doing bleeds through. Great content, excellent production. Thanks!
This means a lot. Thanks!!
- Caya (one of the authors)
I always wanted to retire in Costa Rica, I've had this idea for the last 10 years. Unfortunately I'm only 36 and this just sealed the deal for me. Being from the Caribbean my self I understand Costa Rica's pain at the moment.