FAQ: Do we have a mailing address?

Our most frequently asked question?  Do we have a mailing address?

The answer is yes and no.  There is no postal service in Costa Rica.  It took me a while to really understand what that meant, because I took the postal service in the US for granted.  There is no organized or sanctioned address system here and no Post Office branch of the government.  All deliveries to your home are from private carriers.  Plus, addresses are weird.  You can write down your address in many different ways and they are all acceptable to the people asking, for example, the address of Vivian's school is: 300 meters south of Restaurante el Rodeo.   I can't help but wonder if Restaurante el Rodeo's address is 300 m north of Vivian's School.  When you put in your address for grocery delivery,  the website pulls up google maps and has you drop a pin where you are. When friends tell you where to meet, you send each other a map pin.  So, we have no mailbox and no one comes to deliver mail. Which has cut down on our junk mail tremendously!  How did Costa Ricans do it before smartphones??

The good news is that the electronic records are fantastic - we can do nearly everything over the internet.  But if you actually need something in hard copy, for example, your bank needs to send you a PIN code for your debit card?  A guy shows up on a motorcycle.  There are couriers for everything.  When we were setting up our bank accounts, we had about 6 different couriers show up for various things - signing the account forms, delivering credit cards, and then debit cards, and then PINs...

That said, private companies do cater to people wanting to get mail from the US.  So, we have a mailing address for letters:

1321 Upland Dr. Apt 12385

Houston, TX 77043

and one for packages: 

CR-1699651

8952 NW 24th Terrace

Liberty Express

Doral, FL 33172

The letter service takes a picture of the outside of the mail and uploads it to a website.  Then, if you want them to open it and scan it, they will, for $4 a page (so, you can imagine, the only thing we have done that with so far is the letter from the IRS) or, periodically,  when you request it, they will group all your mail together and send it to you via DHL.  so... if you would really like to send us mail,  as long as you are ok with an 8 week-ish delay by the time we get it, we would love it!  By the way - to everyone who sent us a Christmas card to 370 Waco Ct, thank you, it's been forwarded to the Houston address and we'll get it someday in the next quarter, delivered on a motorcycle to our front door.