I first came to Santa Teresa in 2002. On a later trip in 2008, I met a man who ran a restaurant by the beach. When I came back in November 2019, he lived on the hill with his wife and four children, looking over the jungle and the ocean. "My brother," I told him, "I want your life." He became an older brother to me. He still is.
From his house I could see land for sale. In 2019 I bought it, with all my savings for half and owner financing for the rest, and called it Hummingbird Garden. There was no house, no water and no power. I built my first house there, and a second one in 2020. These were my own homes, not Yoko builds.
Then, in March 2020, COVID shut the world down. I stayed, and I began picturing Yoko Village. I no longer wanted to sell the American dream. Costa Rica was giving me a different one, surfing, meditation, living close to nature. I wanted to help other people make that move.
To pay my way, I started a small remote-work business. It fell apart within weeks. Then a former PassRight client offered me a contract with a large global company. I had two and a half weeks to hire about 70 people. By May 2020 we were running from five locations in town. That money paid for my land, my house and Yoko's first steps, including a team of architects. I put a lot of my own money into Yoko and never got it back. It also cost me my anonymity. People knew my name because I had hired them or turned them down.