Our Story
Born from Vision, Built with Purpose
How a digital guide became the most comprehensive resource for those choosing Costa Rica as their home.
How It All Began
The idea behind Your Move to Costa Rica Guide was born from a very personal place.
Patricia Villa-Roel, a professional in graphic design, industrial design and web development, consultant for national and international NGOs, Foundations and associations, is a Colombian expat who has been calling Costa Rica home for 26 years. She knows what it truly means to live here, not as a tourist, not as a passing visitor, but as someone who raised her children in this country, built her professional career here, and fully integrated into Costa Rican daily life, just as a local would.
Over the years, Patricia became an active part of multiple expat communities, surrounded by friends from the most diverse corners of the world, all navigating the same questions, the same uncertainties, the same desire to do things right. What she observed in those groups was a repeating pattern: people arrived with enthusiasm but without solid, reliable guidance. Many ended up concentrating in the same areas, precisely the places already showing signs of the gentrification that is silently but consistently affecting the social and economic fabric of the country.
But Costa Rica is much more than those places.
Patricia's vision was clear: to create a resource that would not only guide people through the legal, practical, and cultural realities of living in Costa Rica, but also invite them to discover the lesser-known corners of the country, places of extraordinary beauty where expats are genuinely welcomed, where their presence generates real benefits for tourism and the local economy, and where demographic pressure remains manageable.
A guide that would help distribute people intelligently, fairly, and beautifully throughout a country that has so much to offer.
From Idea to Reality
The Timeline
The Site Goes Live
The first version of the guide launches covering the essential pillars every newcomer needs: residency types and migration processes, housing, health, finance, education, culture, and transportation. Available in English and Spanish from day one. That same month, Felipe Hernández, Strategic Advisor, was brought on board. Felipe brings a global perspective and international experience across multiple countries, developing a comprehensive strategy to increasingly facilitate information for expats about Costa Rica worldwide.
Build and Listen
Over nine months, content was developed, refined, and tested. A preliminary organic audience study, with no social media promotion and based solely on direct visits, yielded outstanding results. Real people found the site, read it, and came back.
Relaunch with Full Team
With the concept validated, the project relaunched with a dedicated multidisciplinary team, a commercial structure, and a clearer direction than ever: to become the definitive bilingual guide for those choosing Costa Rica as their home.
The Team
The people behind the guide
Patricia Villa-Roel
Founder & Relocation Strategist
Senior Digital Strategist and Consultant expert in graphic design, industrial design, and web development, with prestigious clients such as the World Bank and multiple United Nations agencies in LATAM. With 26 years living as an expat in Costa Rica, Patricia not only created this project, she lived it before writing it.
Felipe Hernández
Strategic Advisor
Product Designer trained in Costa Rica and Master in Eco Design from Politecnico di Milano, Felipe currently resides in Italy and visits Costa Rica frequently, collaborating as a strategic consultant on the project. His strategic thinking drives our mission to position Costa Rica as one of the most attractive destinations in the world to live, invest, and grow.
José Vargas
Chief Technical Officer
Full Stack Developer and expert in applied AI, José ensures technical stability and optimal performance of Your Move to Costa Rica Guide. He manages server logic, platform architecture, and the integration of solutions that enhance the user experience. His work is the solid and intelligent foundation on which the entire project rests.
Fabiola Merino
Strategic Partnerships Manager
Advertising professional and commercial strategist, Fabiola is the bridge between Your Move to Costa Rica Guide and businesses seeking to connect with an expat and local audience. With a clear market vision, she builds alliances that generate real visibility and measurable results. Her approach turns every conversation into a mutual growth opportunity.
Terry Young
Content Contributor
Former Assistant Vice Chancellor for Technology Transfer at Texas A&M University, with over 25 years of international experience advising governments, universities, and organizations across more than 50 countries. Now living in Costa Rica, Terry contributes firsthand expat perspective and a lifetime of global knowledge to help others navigate their own move to the country he proudly calls home.
Our Purpose
Your Move to Costa Rica Guide is shaped by firsthand experience navigating visas, healthcare systems, schools, banks, and neighborhoods and a deep understanding of what people truly need to know when they arrive. But it's also guided by a deeper responsibility: to present Costa Rica honestly, in all its breadth and diversity, and to invite those who come to put down roots across its many beautiful, welcoming, and still-undiscovered corners.
Available in English and Spanish, optimized for mobile, and referenced by tools like Google, ChatGPT, and Gemini, the guide is designed to reach people at the exact moment they need it most, when they make the decision to move.
Whether you're planning your move, already live here, or discovering Costa Rica for the first time, this is your trusted companion. Welcome!