Vacation Journal, Costa Rica 2012

This year is such a different trip for us. 

We obviously come here every year which began in 2006. What began as a simple trip of surfing and curiosity, a birthday present to Dustin, turned into a wanderlust for Costa Rica. We wanted to see it ALL and we certainly have come close. To date, we have spent approximately two months vacationing here since our first trip. This trip is our longest at 18 days.

We had originally planned to stay for 3 months over the summer of 2013, which we started planning for in late 2011, but logistically with work, a child, and overall responsibilities, we couldn't see how this was going to work. We then turned it into planning for a month for this trip. I did my thing and researched where we would stay, car rentals, etc., and of course, the best laid plans fall through as things with my job changed and a month off of work wasn't possible. We settled on 15 nights. We saved every penny in the past year to make this work. Bonus: Thanks to living in Florida, we had the threat of a hurricane so we got to leave two days early, making it 17 nights.

I had intended on writing everyday, or almost everyday, capturing everything I can about our days. Well, tomorrow we will already be here for a week. So much for that.

I cannot explain how I feel when I'm here. I want to freeze time. I want to bottle up the scent of the fresh air. I want to capture the non-anxious, non-hustle-and-bustle lifestyle. I want to memorize every waking second because it truly is that tranquil for me here. I know that this is what vacation is all about but it goes beyond that for me. I wish I could elaborate more but words will not transpose well enough.

Even when we're faced with several traveling challenges, I still love it...

We rented a privately owned home this time, which I knew was going to be a gamble. Thanks to the internet, I am a wiz at researching, planning and generally making awesome decisions when it comes to vacation lodging. This time, I may have missed the mark a bit. 

We arrived to the house, which I had come to memorize because I looked at the pictures online so.many.times. over that last 10 months, and as soon as we pulled up I just knew it wasn't exactly what I had lusted after in those pictures. It was close and had a lot of similarities, but it was far from perfect. I could tell by looking at Dustin's and my dad's face that they weren't too stoked on it either.

It was secluded, which sounds like a lovely term but in a 3rd world country...you just never know what seclusion can bring. We were met by the grounds keeper, Victor, a charming Tico who did not speak one single word of English. No problem. We're used to that here. But the house just seemed...big...and stark...and not homey or welcoming. It was lacking any kind of wow factor, aside from the amaing views of the beach. The first thing I actually hated were the amount of stairs. Sounds silly but I knew it would be a problem for Lily. The private pool was gorgeous, and what I was most excited about, especially having Lily with us, but it was not so clean. Neither was a lot of the rest of the house. 

Ok. I can deal with that. We are on the beach, literally, so saltwater damage happens. But I could still tell that the rest of the family was iffy. Dustin was the first to actually admit it.

But. We were going to make it work. Until our 4th night when we lost power. for 24 hours. It was one of the worst storms we have ever experienced in Costa Rica. Power outages are common here but not for 24 hours. That was a long, long night. Lily couldn't sleep because she was so hot and the rest of us couldn't sleep because we were scared shitless. Being without power, secluded in a remote-ish part of a foreign country...hmmm. No power = no alarm system, no phone, no nothing. Unsettled is the best term I can muster to describe the four of us adults. Especially at 3am when the policia were flocked on the beach right in front of the house, flashlights a blazed. Still not exactly sure what was going on there.

The next day, still without power, into about the 13th hour, I was getting pissed. It's hot, this is our vacation which was starting a little more like torture because of the heat and the inability to even use the pool because of how stagnant the water was getting, and oh, by the way, why the HELL does the community right down the street have power?? Why did it appear that EVERYONE had power except our secluded house after only 3-4 hours after it had gone out? We were all pretty miserable at that point.

Long story long, we decided to make other arrangements for the following night, fearing power wouldn't be restored and we would be forced to have another night sweating our asses off and trying to grin and bare it. Fuck that. We're on vacation. So, we called the owner, told him our plan, told him to call us when power was restored, and we headed down to our old stand by accommodations, The Bungalows. 

As soon as we checked in, I felt like I was at home, being that we had stayed there 4 times prior. I immediately kind of dreaded going back to the other house and {not so} quietly hoped that it would not be restored...but it was. Within 2 hours of checking into the bungalows, that mother-effing power came back on. Such is life.

The following morning I called the owner and basically told him we didn't want to go back so his eerie, large, unwelcoming house...in really nice words. He argued with me, which I knew he would, saying he can't give us our money back, so we regretfully agreed to return. 

Low and behold, he then shows up to the bungalows an hour later with our money back, hands it to Dustin and tells us to go get our stuff. He must have decided that losing the money was better than listening to us bitch again, should the power go out. Smart man.

The bungalows it is. And we love it. And so does Princess Lily.

Speaking of Lily, she has melded right into this lifestyle. Granted, she has plenty of technology to remind her of home, but she still has done amazingly well. She's loving the pool and the beach, chasing bop-bop around in the white water. I love watching these memories being made.

Dustin and I are on a two day mini trip down to Manuel Antonio, where we got married, and soaking in my most favorite place in the universe. The perfect combination of rainforest and beach, this place is amazing. The views are, well, more amazing. 

Aside from the scary house, a flat tire, and a jammed toe from tripping up the stairs (classic me), this trip could not be any better so far.

My parents leave on Tuesday, so it will just be the three of us for the last 8 nights. I'm already dreading leaving, which sounds so odd but it is just that amazing here. 

If anyone actually read this...kudos to you. You deserve a cookie. 

I will add pictures to this post soon to make it way more entertaining.