This American couple moved to Costa Rica. Then they found a Central American country they liked even better

Editor’s note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. And we just kind of made the leap,” said CoCo, who says she’s “always been very optimistic by nature and a free spirit.” It was a bold — and scary — move. CoCo and Deitrick Bates The couple, who are in their 40s and have children in the United States from previous relationships, went from a US city to “complete solitude” when they made their first big move to Costa Rica. “It was that ease of life that I kind of missed,” CoCo said, noting that getting around the country in Costa Rica was more difficult than it is in Panama and the currency conversion became much less favorable in Costa Rica in the three years the couple lived there. CoCo and Deitrick Bates While they are retired, “we’re not like retired, like we want to be at the top of a mountain alone forever,” CoCo said.