I spent a week working remotely from the small beach community of Samara in Costa Rica. I travelled to Costa Rica in advance of a vacation in the country to allow my daughter to attend Spanish school at the Samara campus of Intercultura. So what is it like working remotely in Costa Rica as a software developer?
Costa Rica has very good Internet connectivity even in small communities which makes remote work possible and ensures video calls can still be made without a hitch. I rented a small room with a bed, desk and kitchen which was plenty as a solo traveller. While I did travel with my duaghter she had her own accommodation through her school. My room was located in a building at the end of a quiet street of a rural residential area. This ended up being the perfect location for working remotely as it was away from noises and distractions which allowed for meetings to be attended without interruption and for focused work to be done as well. Costa Rica is two hours behind my usual time zone but I kept the same working hours. Generally, this resulted in roughly working from 6:30 am to 3:00 pm every day. Since the sun rises so early in Costa Rica, this arrangement was actually ideal. As a bonus, I had time to walk to the beach for a few hours at the end of each afternoon which was a pretty decent perk of working remotely.
Since I had a kitchen in the apartment I was renting I also made a point of preparing many of my meals. I attempted to eat like Costa Ricans do which helped keep the grocery bills low by not spending more for North American items. Meals consisted of a variety of eggs, cheese, beans, ham, and tortillas.
My typical daily schedule:
- 6:30 am: wake up
- 7:00 am: morning meetings
- 8:30 am: breakfast
- 9:00 am: continue working
- 12:00 pm: lunch
- 1:00 pm: a bit more work
- 3:00 pm: log off for the day
- 3:30 pm: head to the beach
- 5:00 pm: happy hour!
- 6:00 pm: back to room for dinner
- 7:30 pm: beach bar
This was my first time working remotely for an entire week in a foreign country and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity. I am fortunate to be in a position where I am able to take advantage of these experiences.
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