When Kema Ward-Hopper and her then-fiancé Nicholas Hopper, both from the US, decided to get married in Costa Rica, they had no idea they’d be moving there a few years later.
But a series of devastating events led them and their daughter Aaralyn, now 15, to a new life in the Central American country’s “blue zone”, one of the world’s regions where people live long and are healthy.
Kema was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months before their wedding in 2016. “I had started treatment… If you see pictures from my wedding, I didn’t have any hair and I didn’t look very good. I was sick“, she told CNN Travel.
A special place
Although she hadn’t been feeling well before leaving for Costa Rica for the big day, Kema noticed that her energy levels had increased while she was there. “I felt the best since I was diagnosed. Then we came back and I felt sick again. This was the first sign that there was something special about Costa Rica” said the woman.
After the wedding, she had two surgeries, while the family, based in Houston, Texas, tried to get back to normal.
But shortly after they suffered another major blow when their house was destroyed by a hurricane in August 2017.
“I had surgery and then the hurricane hit Houston. That’s how we ended up losing our house. A lot of bad things happened to us”the woman said.
After struggling to find a new home, the couple realized they no longer felt connected to Houston and decided to make a change. “My husband came up with the idea of leaving the country,” Kema told.
They initially had four possible destinations in their sights: Ghana, Sweden, Mexico and, of course, Costa Rica. They ultimately chose Costa Rica because they were impressed by the country’s health and education system, as well as environmental protection, with Costa Rica being the first tropical country to reverse deforestation.
“Ever since we left there on our honeymoon, we felt like we wanted to go back there. There is a special energy in Costa Ricashe said.
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Costa Rica is less than a four-hour flight from Houston, and that was one more reason to choose this destination. He says that if he had made a different choice, the preparations would have taken longer.
In 2018, about eight months after they decided to move to Costa Rica, the two spouses arrived in Pueblo Nuevo, a town in the Nicoya Peninsula, one of the blue areas of the world, along with Loma Linda in California, Sardinia in Italy , Okinawa in Japan and Ikaria in Greece.
“My husband and I got here first and spent the first six weeks without our daughter”Kema said, explaining that they needed time to rent a house and sign the necessary documents.
Meanwhile, they enjoyed a second honeymoon. They spent their time tending their garden, meeting the locals and getting used to the new landscape.
“It was an adventure. The memories from that time are very pleasant. When we returned with our daughter, it was the rainy season and another adventure ensued”she also said.
Since they had entered Costa Rica on tourist visas, they were only allowed to stay in the country for 90 days, so for a while they regularly returned to the US to renew their visas.
Kema already spoke Spanish, which helped the family make the transition faster.
“I don’t know if we would have gotten some of the deals that we did if we didn’t have the ability to communicate”she says, adding that her husband, who runs a logistics business, has also learned Spanish in the meantime.
As the family settled in Costa Rica, Kema was particularly impressed by the country’s strong sense of community. “I had an idea of what I thought community was, but that was completely changed when I got here and saw what community really means”she says.
“The locals helped us, whether they knew us or not… It was amazing. The community really looked after us”.
The adaptation
Aaralyn, their daughter, adapted very quickly and enjoyed spending practically all day at the beach and hiking. “My husband and I both felt that he was able to have a childhood like we had in the 80s and 90s”she says.
“It’s incredible to be able to go outside and play without being constantly watched by your parents”said Kema.
All three also felt more energetic, which Kema attributes to easy access to fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, whole foods and fresh air.
“I think the health benefits of the blue zone come along, but we’ve noticed that we feel better when we’re here”she remarked.
In August 2019, Kema found out she was pregnant with her second child, although she didn’t think it would ever happen again.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit everyone in 2020, the family was granted permission to stay in Costa Rica on tourist visas indefinitely. Kema gave birth to their son, Nicolai, at their home in Pueblo Nuevo in April 2020. Even though family in the US couldn’t be with him due to restrictions, Kema says giving birth in Costa Rica turned out to be an experience wonderful.
Unfortunately, her sister died suddenly a few months later, and due to restrictions and the fact that Nicolai was born in Costa Rica, they were unable to go to the US to be with family. “This was a very difficult time in our lives, but the local community rallied around us and we felt loved and helped. This is the kind of community we live in”she said.
Meanwhile, the family has moved to a bigger house in Nicoya and is determined to stay in Costa Rica.
For Kema, one of the most positive aspects of the Costa Rican lifestyle is how children are involved in almost every aspect of daily life.
Family comes first
“They love their children. It is a very family oriented nation. Families definitely come first”says Kema.
The woman, who has been recovering from cancer for several years, has adapted to a slower-paced lifestyle and learned to be more relaxed. “Everything is super fast in the US”she says, noting that she had to learn to stop apologizing every time she was a few minutes late.
The average life expectancy in Nicoya is about 85 years, and many centenarians live in the region. “I’m excited to talk to them,” says Kema, noting that she is impressed to see how local families take care of each other and the old take care of the young and vice versa. “The elderly take care of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren again, because they are in very good shape”she says.
“And they are like that because they are industrious people, they walk a lot and take care of many things and they eat very well. I think all these things contribute to their long life“, said the woman.
“They don’t try to remove nature in order to exist, they exist with nature. At least where we live”she also told.
While Kema says there are incredible benefits to living in Costa Rica, it’s not necessarily more affordable than in the US: “Costa Rica is the most expensive country in Latin America. But I think that also depends on the way you want to live.”
The cost of living in areas of the country where there are many expats is comparable to the US, she says. “Where we live, it would be much more expensive if we had the same quality of life as in Houston. So for us, it’s more affordable, but it’s getting more expensive as more people move to Costa Rica. But there are still places where you can go and live cheaper. But they are not the most popular places”she explained.
After several years in Costa Rica, Kema is still as amazed by its incredible nature and is grateful for what she sees every day.
Kema, her husband and their daughter became permanent residents of Costa Rica after the birth of Nicolai, who is a Costa Rican citizen. Although they don’t want to return to the US, Kema misses his friends and family, and sometimes longs for a traditional US winter.
“When Christmas comes around, I’d love to put on socks and a big hoodie and retreat to a cozy place with a cup of hot chocolate while it’s cold outside. But that can’t happen here, because it’s very hot at Christmas“, she says.
The family does not plan to stay in Costa Rica permanently. “I think Costa Rica will be our base, but we have plans to travel to other parts of the world as well”adds Kema, explaining that they are thinking of spending periods of time in Colombia and Brazil as well.
Publisher: DC
Tags: woman cancer decided move family blue zone Costa Rica life changed completely
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