Kema Ward-Hopper never imagined raising her children in the middle of the jungle.
But in 2018, after Hurricane Harvey destroyed her home in Houston, a trip to Costa Rica with her husband Nicholas Hopper and 9-year-old daughter Aaralyn became a permanent move.
“The real estate market in Houston was just crazy because of so many people losing their homes in the storm,” Ward-Hopper tells CNBC Make It. “At the time we were living in a little garage above a neighbor’s house , with no relief in sight.”
Hopper suggested they look for a home elsewhere. “I thought he meant we should move to another city in Texas or another state, but he looked at me and said, ‘No Kema, we’re leaving the country,’” Ward-Hopper, 41, recalled.
From Hopper’s perspective, moving to Costa Rica was a no-brainer.
The couple married there in 2016 and couldn’t wait to return, but life — whether it was bills, work or family obligations — kept delaying their plans.
“When we got back to Houston [after the wedding]we both had this calm around us, and I felt like we were missing out by staying in the States,” Hopper, 43, says.
In July 2018, after spending six weeks exploring different neighborhoods along Costa Rica’s north coast and debating whether they were ready to become expats, the Ward-Hoppers signed a one-year lease on a house (or “casita” in Spanish) in the middle of the jungle on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.
The Ward-Hoppers’ dog, Heidi, enjoys the view from their backyard in Nicoya.
Photo: Kema Ward-Hopper
The two-bedroom, one-bathroom home sat on seven acres of land in the middle of the jungle near Playa San Miguel and came with an outdoor kitchen and panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean — plus, the rent was of just $500 per month.
“Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me this is where we would be,” Ward-Hopper says. “But it seems luck or fate brought us here.”
Six years later, the Ward-Hoppers are now permanent residents of Costa Rica, with no plans to return to Texas. “We are much happier living here than in the United States,” says Ward-Hopper.
Find a healthier lifestyle for body and soul in Costa Rica
Another pivotal moment in the couple’s decision to leave the United States was Ward-Hopper’s recovery from cancer.
In April 2016, a few months before her wedding, Ward-Hopper discovered she had stage 2B breast cancer.
“Going through chemotherapy was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,” she says. “I only completed half of the prescribed infusions because I felt like if I did any more, it would kill me.”
Ward-Hopper stopped treatment just before her wedding. She expected to feel ill during the ceremony and honeymoon but, much to her surprise, Ward-Hopper says she felt better than she had in months during a vacation in Costa Rica.
“Suddenly I had enough energy to get up in the morning, do yoga and go hiking, I was eating more,” she says. “I really felt like I was healing while we were there, largely thanks to the fresh fruit, clean air and water.”
According to longevity researcher Dan Buettner, the Nicoya Peninsula is one of the five original Blue Zones, home to the longest-living people with the highest life expectancy.
Some of the factors that make Nicoya a Blue Zone, Buettner found, are Nicoyas’ diet, which includes fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as a focus on family and community.
Both Ward-Hopper and her husband say they saw immediate health benefits from living in a Blue Zone, including getting sick less, losing weight, feeling more energetic and less stressed.
An added bonus was the birth of son Nico in 2020, even after doctors said chemotherapy had left Ward-Hopper unable to conceive. “I got pregnant after 13 months of living here, which I thought was impossible,” she says. “It was a little miracle.”
The Ward-Hoppers live in Costa Rica with daughter Aaralyn, 15, and son Nico, 3.
Photo: Alessandro Ferlini
Nico’s arrival also introduced another element of stability into their lives, making the entire family eligible for citizenship in Costa Rica. Previously, the Ward-Hoppers remained in Costa Rica on tourist visas, which meant they had to leave the country every 90 days, time they used as an opportunity to explore nearby countries like Nicaragua or visit family in the United States.
Ward-Hopper’s doctors in the United States said they no longer detected signs of cancer in her body in 2017, and in 2021 her doctor reaffirmed that she was cancer-free, an achievement she attributes in part to her decision to live in Costa Rica. According to the American Cancer Society, for many breast cancer survivors, the risk of recurrence five years after diagnosis decreases significantly.
“Health-wise, I did a complete 180 after moving here,” Ward-Hopper says. “I am healed both physically and emotionally.”
Ward-Hopper also credits Costa Rica’s healthcare system for improving her well-being.
As citizens, Ward-Hoppers receive health care through the CAJA system, a government-run program that guarantees 100 percent coverage for all medical procedures, appointments, hospital visits and prescription drugs. The Ward-Hoppers spend about $83 a month on their family’s health plan.
Even when they were uninsured, Ward-Hopper says their medical bills were negligible at best. “I remember a visit to the emergency room for chest pain and anticipating a bill that would cost thousands of dollars, like in the United States, and was less than $200,” she adds.
Living comfortably on $30,000 a year
Just before moving to Costa Rica, the Ward-Hoppers left their corporate jobs as a research analyst and mortgage broker, respectively, to pursue new careers as entrepreneurs abroad.
Navigating their new careers — and lives — in Costa Rica didn’t involve major language barriers, Ward-Hopper says, as most Costa Ricans speak English and she and her daughter speak Spanish well. Hopper, meanwhile, is enrolled in a Spanish course for beginners.
Ward-Hopper now balances four part-time jobs: She’s a health and fitness instructor, a Spanish teacher, a wellness retreat host, and, most recently, an author. She self-published her first book, “For my Beloveds: An End-of-life Journal for Guidance & Wisdom,” in September 2023.
Last year, her multiple income streams brought her about $10,500, according to financial documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
Hopper, meanwhile, runs his own remote logistics business, which earned him about $19,500 in 2023.
“Living here has allowed me to explore my passions so that my earning methods don’t feel like work, I just feel like I get to do the things I love to do, which is being of service to others,” Ward-Hopper says. “We earn less, but we still live quite comfortably… our money definitely goes farther here than in the US”
In May 2023, the Ward-Hoppers moved to a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom house in Nicoya to be closer to Aaralyn’s school, which is public and free.
Here’s a monthly breakdown of Ward-Hoppers spending (as of November 2023):
Average monthly expenditure of Ward-Hoppers
Mithra Krishnan for CNBC Make It
Food: $1,200
Rent and utilities: $628
Discretionary: $330
Nico’s tuition: $284
Telephone (US phone plan): $223
Insurance (health, life, car): $99
Subscriptions and memberships: $78
Gas: $67
Total: $2,909
Daily average: $97
Finding their forever home abroad
For the Ward-Hoppers, the biggest challenge in moving to Costa Rica was being away from family and friends in the United States, and also losing access to some American resources and products, like peanut butter cups Reese’s, a family favorite. it is not found in local supermarkets.
But by many metrics, the Ward-Hoppers found the quality of life to be “much better” in Costa Rica than in the United States.
“I’ve had great experiences in the United States, but we can’t deny the way people of color are treated there, and here we haven’t had that experience at all,” Ward-Hopper says. “In Costa Rica, I feel that people are treated as human beings first and foremost, here people are incredibly respectful and kind.”
At banks and grocery stores, for example, Ward-Hopper has noticed that people encourage pregnant women and elderly customers to jump to the front of the line. “While it’s not impossible to achieve in the United States, the baseline is not about love, acceptance and community in the same way it is here,” she adds.
The Ward-Hoppers say they plan to stay in Costa Rica for the rest of their lives, even as they plan extended trips to Africa, Europe and other South American countries.
“This is where we always want to come back,” says Hopper. “Ultimately, our goal is to accumulate our savings and build a nice finca [the Spanish word for “estate”] for our family here.”
Hopper says the lower cost of living and community in Costa Rica far outweighed any feelings of nostalgia he felt after the move.
He adds, “I am definitely happier living in Costa Rica than when I was in the United States. I found my family here, I had the opportunity to spend more time with them and not only create more freedom in myself, but also more freedom within our family to explore our dreams.”
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