Things to Do to Prepare for My Initial Exploratory Visit in Jan'26

12 months ago
I'll be coming to Ojochal in Jan'26 for several (~6 or 7) weeks with my soon-to-be son-in-law. He's a native-born Costa Rican (Tico), but not from Ojochal. He speaks perfect English, but I'm also taking some online Spanish classes (I used to speak decent Spanish in college, but I've forgotten most of it.) My goal for this exploratory visit to Ojochal is to figure out if this is a good destination for me to retire, either full-time or for at least six months each year.
So, my question for you all would be what should I be doing now to prepare for this visit? As I mentioned, I'm already taking some online Spanish classes, but what else should I be doing?
Are there any websites that I should know of that will prepare me for this visit? Is there a local expat community group that I can join before I'm officially an Ojochal expat? What should I bring from the US for this initial visit? Should I bring USD? If so, how much?
What are some of the things you miss most from the US? What are some of the hardships/disappointments that you didn't expect when you moved to Ojochal from abroad.
Basically, any insights that you can provide based upon your experience of moving to/living in Ojochal would be appreciated.

Thanks and looking forward to my visit.

Mark

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