Why Nicaragua?
The big question is always “Why Nicaragua?” Our answer is simple. We love it here.
Shane and I first visited Nicaragua in February of 2011, with his parents, Dan and Maureen and our first son, Jack. Jack was 22 months at the time and we were trying to take advantage of him flying for free before he turned two. It was a 10 day trip which took us to Laguna de Apoyo, San Juan Del Sur and then back here to Granada. We had been traveling every other year to Central America and always felt at the end of the 9 or 10 days that it wasn’t enough. We have always had dreams about living in another country, but life’s distractions kept us from really considering a move.
About a year after we returned from our trip, we seriously discussed the idea of moving to Nicaragua. We had just welcomed our second son Reed into the family, and going back to work after Maternity Leave just didn’t sound like as fun much as before. But I did. For the next year after that we were online, researching places to live, houses to rent etc. We started putting together a plan, saving money and budgeting for what we thought we would need for a year. The plan was to spend at least a year here in Nicaragua to experience the Central American Culture from more of a local’s perspective and improve our Spanish.
Then we got pregnant. First thought was, “There is no way I am having a baby in Nicaragua”.
Part of me didn’t want to let go of this dream so after a few months I was back online looking, and I connected with a woman via the internet. Her name was Sarah Fahey and not only was she living in Nicaragua, but also had her first daughter there and was currently pregnant with number 2! Turns out we were about a month and a half apart. After reading her blog and hearing about her experiences here, we were right back on the Moving-to-Nicaragua-Train. This time in fast forward.
Within 3 months we sold our cars, rented our house, found homes for large furniture and stored or donated everything else. We then packed up 7 suitcases, two car seats, a stroller, a 3 year old and a 15 month old and got on that plane. We arrived here on February 7th, 2013 with the intention of spending a year.
Nicaragua is an easy country to fall in love with, the landscape is beautiful, the culture is welcoming, and the variety of food is just what we were looking for. It’s no surprise that after a few months we were thinking about staying longer and after the birth of our third son, Levi Louis we knew we would.