Amazon Customer:
Good value; amusing, if a little whiney in places.
United Kingdom on Feb 17, 2015
Sarah:
I have read both of Nadine Pisani's "Happier than a billionaire" books and can not recommend them highly enough. I came across them as I am about to make a similar move to Costa Rica. Swapping my professional, busy city lifestyle in London for a hopefully peaceful but essentially unknown future.
Nadine's chatty writing style makes you feel like she is talking directly to you, which is absolutely endearing. Her honesty and humour have had me laughing out embarrassingly loud on the London Underground winning me many looks of disapproval from grumpy fellow commuters. Nadine's tales of adapting to life at a different pace are hugely entertaining but also feel like a friend giving me great advice as I attempt the same transition.
Although, I must say, even if I wasn't about to follow in Nadine's footsteps I would still really enjoy these books. The stories about Nadine's adventurous, laid back but haphazard husband, Rob are hilarious enough to warrant a book by themselves! The "mace in the eye/weaponry" story is comic genius.
Going to download the third in the series right now.
United Kingdom on Dec 14, 2014
krishna priya:
No book has made me giggle as much in a long time. The writing is playful, incredibly sweet and endearing. I would recommend it to anyone who loves adventure and travel. Hoping to hear more from the tropical paradise.
India on Sep 25, 2014
Mike:
This book is worth reading. It shows the good, the bad, and the oddly funny differences of two very different life styles. It is quite entertaining and will probably make you think a little about how you live and what you take for granted as well as what you may be missing out on.
Canada on Aug 04, 2014
Debs:
I traveled to Costa Rica for the first time last year and fell in love. This started my personal journey to devour all the information I could get on retiring early and moving there. When I came across Happier than a Billionaire, I rushed out to get the book and started reading. I was immediately hooked on the adventures of Rob and Nadine! This book is written from a real-life perspective...nothing sugar coated here. Well, it is sugar coating with hilarious, side-splitting humour that is delivered in a way that has me laughing out load on the subway and at my desk when I was sneaking in a chapter or two.
It's the story of a couple who decide to leave their security and family and move lock, stock and barrel to Costa Rica. Their plan is to build a house over looking the ocean but as the story unfolds, it becomes more about their transition and the joys and pitfalls along the way. What intrigued me most was the honesty with which Nadine writes. Many times I truly felt what she was feeling as I have been fortunate to have lived in Trinidad and Barbados so I could relate to all the quirks and challenges. Nadine has a way of eventually seeing the silver lining...
Canada on Apr 27, 2013
Saralinda:
I read "Happier than a Billionaire" on the bus on the way home from San Jose, Costa Rica. After 2 and a half years of paperwork, I finally obtained my cedula! Why obtaining a small pink piece of plastic saying I am an official resident of Costa Rica should make me happy is a very long story. Certainly, getting my first US social security card or EIN number did not have a similar effect. I suppose that the joy of getting this cedula is that it took so long, it was so damn hard. Nadine Pisani's sidesplittingly funny description of life in Costa Rica is really a must read for anybody considering the move. She manages to capture the Kafka-esque nature of the situation while maintaining her good humor and a sense of growth through trauma. Hats off to her!
I had just previously read three dystopian novels, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, and the first two volumes of post-apocalyptic vampire horror, Justin Cronin's The Passage and The Twelve. I will admit that Ms. Pisani's book was a welcome respite, and a great way to shake off the horrors of waiting at Immigration in San Jose for paperwork that is contradictory, confusing, and silly. However, I did come...
United States on Dec 09, 2012
AlligatorEd:
Put simply, please get this book. You can either download it or get the print edition from Amazon.com. Choose which way you want it, but get it. Buy it or ask for it at your public library, but please: Just get it.
"Why's that?" you may ask. Because in these times in particular, we need some good laughs. And in Nadine Pisani's excellent first book we get them by the bucketful. There's hardly a page in this slender, soft cover book that doesn't have something that causes one at least a smile or a chuckle ranging up to "Hah!" and sometimes...blowing-milk-through-our-noses type laughter.
As a newspaper man for more than 50 years, I've been around the horn a couple of times and usually can spot hyperbole pretty well. And I have to admit that even I, an old skeptic with frayed cuffs, shiny-seated pants and scuffed shoes, may have been a little too enthusiastic a time or two and have let words of praise in a column or editorial run away with me.
But not this time. This is not hyperbole on my part. I read a lot. And I can tell you this little book as a first-person account has impressed me far more than many of the more weighty tomes of which I...
United States on Oct 16, 2011
| How I Left My Job, Moved to Costa Rica, and Found Happiness Living a Zero Hour Work Week | Navigating the Journey of Motherhood | The Epic Journey of African Americans: The Warmth of Other Suns - An Unforgettable Story of the Great Migration | |
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| B2B Rating |
93
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98
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98
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| Sale off | $16 OFF | $12 OFF | |
| Total Reviews | 22 reviews | 1 reviews | 727 reviews |
| Costa Rica Travel Guides | Costa Rica Travel Guides | ||
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,086 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when.execute { if { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative { if { ue.count || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when.execute { A.declarative{ if { ue.count || 0) + 1); } }); }); | 4.8/5 stars of 195,968 ratings | 4.8/5 stars of 21,594 ratings |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1463536107 | ||
| Item Weight | 11.5 ounces | ||
| Language | English | ||
| ISBN-10 | 1463536100 | ||
| Publisher | CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 6.3.2011 edition | ||
| Best Sellers Rank | #13 in Costa Rica History #137 in Costa Rica Travel Guides #298 in General Central America Travel Guides | #36 in Black & African American Biographies#42 in Women's Biographies#221 in Memoirs | #12 in Emigration & Immigration Studies #31 in Black & African American History #75 in African American Demographic Studies |
| Paperback | 242 pages | ||
| Dimensions | 5.98 x 0.51 x 9.02 inches | ||
| General Central America Travel Guides | General Central America Travel Guides | ||
| Costa Rica History | Costa Rica History |
United States on Nov 06, 2023