www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I downloaded Chuck Green's new e book yesterday and would like to say it was very good reading. A lot of insight into the mongering scene.
Tom

Not familiar with this book-a few more details please.

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Y.N.W.A.

Yes, more details, please. Is it available in standard book form as opposed to E-book?

Zebra

From the CRT home page, under articles, click "more" under "The Action never Stops", scroll down to and click on CostaRicaMongering.com. You can download the book in PDF format.

Some of you may know Charlie better as MexPat. Here's the clickable link http://www.costaricamongering.com. I haven't seen the final version, but I helped proofread the draft and can second Tom's recommendation. It has MexPat's original Living the Dream series, most of which no longer comes up in a search here, and some new content, plus its all cleaned up and put together as a unified chronological and highly engaging travel narrative.

I'm not sure I agree with this project.

I've met Charlie and found him to be a great guy.

I've also met the founder of TSM (Travel and the Single Male), another site devoted to the world-wide travel and reports of guys looking for sexual adventure. His book and website got him stamped as persona non grata in Thailand for life.

Spreading the word about an activity that most authority figures in the United States find disgusting can never be good for those that participate in such activities.

With the current trend towards letting the religious right control the US government this type of journalism can only add fuel to the fire.

To me this goes beyond voicing opinions or relating travel adventures and smacks of exploitation just to make a buck.

As a fellow gambler, former Air Force member and "adventure" traveler we have more in common than not, but Charlie, I think we've been duped.

Similar sentiments were briefly mentioned in another thread- https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8196
Where the author reassured us-
Looking at the website it appears to be exactly that, (while also telling his story of living in CR of course.)
THE ACTION NEVER STOPS IN SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA!
Bars, casinos and brothels are open until all hours. Prostitution is legal and widely accepted. Beautiful young women come from all over Central and South America to provide company for adventurous men.

I know Mexpat has lots of veteran amigos here and is no doubt a great guy, but I agree with Wit on this one...
Does this type of publicity serve any good for Costa Rica, the hobby or us CRT guys? Not that I can see.

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

Honestly... I've been to Cr many times and thougt...what can this guy teach me?

I throughly enjoyed his step by step cuenta of the story. I found it amuzing to read and related to a lot of things he said the first time I really enjoyed CR.

It was definitley worth the $20 to me. Hell, I spend that much on a drink (well...buying a round for my buddies and I).

Hats off to Charlie, enjoyed it and would pay at least another $20 for the next cuenta.

Cheers,

bookumanno/idanimal69

I can understand these sentiments. It is largely for this precise reason that I have greatly limited access to my own site and only "promoted" it on sites such as this one to guys already IN the hobby or at least seriously checking it out. But I'm not really trying to make any money for myself on my site.

Maybe Chuck stepped a little over the line in the promotional copy at his site in his efforts to turn a little profit. But we all already know how his book ends. To say the book itself sensationalizes the hobby in CR is kinda unfair. His book describes FAIRLY both the pros AND THE CONS. I'm sure there will be many newbies that wind up buying his book. Others will say "Who is this guy and why does he think I'd spend $20 for his book?" After all there are already many other places to get the BASIC info on CR "mongering" (if you really want to know, that term is the thing I hate the most about his site). The real market that I think Chuck should go after are the guys ALREADY in this business, some of whom already know him and others of whom know OF him. Ultimately, this book is really more for those guys and those who are thinking about RETIREMENT in CR and generally those are guys that have already been there at least once or twice. AND this book is really more of a splash of cold water on THAT idea than it is a promotion.

Like Danno said its not just about what we can learn from Chuck if we've been there ourselves. Think about it. Why do so many guys like reading trip reports? Its not really to learn anything new but to entertain and amuse and to be able to say "oh yeah, I've been there and remember what that was like for me."

Hey guys,

I posted a note yesterday on the VIP form mentioning that I have changed my CRT screen name from Mexpat to Chuck Green. Since I’m not an expat at the moment and am no longer living in Mexico the old name doesn’t seem appropriate. Same old monger…just a different screen name.

Gringo Tom…thanks for starting this thread. I’m glad you found the book interesting. And I really appreciate the positive comments from the rest of the guys who have read it and replied so far.

Witling and Paco….I understand your position. Your comments seem to be referring to the website promo and that is a little aggressive. The content of the book is as I described it. It’s just the story of my personal experience in CR and the way that my outlook on life was altered by that experience.

In reality, my web page will probably disappear into cyberspace along with the billions of other pages out there and the vast majority of guys who ever view it will probably come to it through sites like CRT. They will already know about the action in SJ from reading forums like this which encourage more guys to visit and participate in the hobby than would ever be attracted by anything I could write as one individual. Occasionally a stranger will stumble on my webpage, be attracted by the promo and maybe buy a download. Hell, I hope so. But I doubt if the overall scheme of things in Costa Rica will really be affected.

Prolijo…Thanks for your support. Your help proofing my manuscript was invaluable. Mongering still seems to be the most widely understood word to describe the hobby. That’s why I use it. Perhaps whorticulture will eventually become popular. I really like that word. It sort of evokes the image in my mind of a paunchy, middle-aged guy with a sprinkler can conscientiously watering a bushy, spread beaver. Might make a pretty neat logo.

Chuck

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There ain't no romance without finance. ¡Se trata de la PLATA! (It's all about the MONEY!)

My new ebook, "Living La Vida Loca in Costa Rica", is available at http://costaricamongering.com/

Has 'Federico' updated his book from many years ago? I last saw him sitting with the ladies at NF yucking it up about a year ago. His book sold on the internet got me interested most of a decade ago. The best piece of advice I got from it was to try A&S, where I was a regular for years. The first time I met him I got to tell him a bunch of stuff that had changed, which was fun.

Hey Chuck,

In all honesty, I didn't learn about any basics from you manuscript, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading. You took the reader (Me) through a journey that very few people have experienced. Being a member of corporate America, I only had one chane at living "La Vida Loca" when my parents gave me a free pass to anywhere after high school nearly 20 years ago. I got a flight to San Diego and back packed down to Panama on buses over a 4 month period of time.

The people I met and the experiences I had in those 4 months kick ass on any and all experiences I've had in corp. am. over the past 7 years of my shit hole life.

I totally appreciate the writings, as they took me back to memories that have been buried and long forgotten.

Cheers Maje,

bookumdanno

Bookumdanno....Thanks, I'm really glad you found the book entertaining.

I feel really fortunate that I've always found some way to at least try to live out any fantasy that came into my mind. Following my bliss has taken me to some interesting places and left me with some great memories.

As I get older I find theses memories to be more important to me than the money and security that might have resulted from leading a "square" life. Or....maybe I've just been irresponsible In any case, it's been an interesting ride. And...hopefully it's not over yet.

Chuck

_________________
There ain't no romance without finance. ¡Se trata de la PLATA! (It's all about the MONEY!)

My new ebook, "Living La Vida Loca in Costa Rica", is available at http://costaricamongering.com/