Fans of Bill Bryson will love this intimate and humorous memoir surrounding a group of expats as they entertain each other with their stories at a bar in a Costa Rican village.
Willa and her wife travel to Costa Rica to visit family—but what they discover is far more than they expected . In a sleepy fishing village on the Pacific coast, they meet a vibrant, curious group of expats who have come looking for paradise—or at least cheap beer.
At the Pato Loco, a local bar where stories flow as freely as the drinks, they meet Mama, the blind seventy-two-year-old co-owner of the place; her partner Mary, Willa’s sister, a bartender and installation artist; Richie, the aging hippie whose words are few but weighty; and a whole cast of unforgettable characters who will answer questions like:
- What is it really like to live in another country?
- How important is it to learn the local language?
- How does a tight-knit community face the pressure of development?
- Can you survive dengue—and would you want to?
- Oh, and how do you perform CPR on a fish?
A collection of stories full of humor, heart, and wisdom from unexpected places, A Gritty Little Tourist Town follows Willa as she discovers connection within this community of strangers—one bar tale at a time.
Author: Willa Goodfellow
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
