Samara

So I thought I might say a word or two about the town I'm in. My guidebook said the town was one of the most beloved beaches in all of Costa Rica, that even the president had a house in the area. So, I was a little surprised when I got here. What do I mean? Here is the main street: 

Yep, that is all 3 blocks of it. It empties right onto the beach. Even on the weekend, this place is low key.  Saturday and Sunday there were definitely more people on the beach, but to say it was crowded you would have to have some serious personal space issues. Even if it is well known in Costa Rica, there is a very off-the-map feel to the place. 

Which is nice. 

Week In Review Sabbatical Style: Week 1

Now that I'm on the road again, I figured why not revive the Sunday Week In Review? You know you loved it.

• Yesterday I still wasn't feeling great, so I went to the reception desk and extended my stay a couple more days. I feel very good about this decision. 
• Despite it's sickly start, yesterday was one of the most beautiful days I've had in a while. It was finally cooler so I spent the entire afternoon swimming in the ocean, laying on the beach and watching surfers. Sunset was especially gorgeous. (Sadly, I didn't take anything to the beach with me, so no pictures!)
• Biggest decisions of the day: beach or pool?
• It's kind of strange to be so far away without a single hour of time difference from home. 
• It gets dark here at 6 o'clock sharp. I know this happens when you get closer to the equator, but it's almost disorienting that its so hot, yet the day ends so early. Long evenings are one of my favorite parts of summer. Maybe this helps explain why I have been going to sleep before 9 all week!
• I've been pulling 9-13 hours of sleep all week. I don't know if it's because I've been sick (probably) or because I've just been that exhausted, but it has been pretty glorious. 
• Costa Rica is proud of its coffee, and it's pretty tasty too. The flavor is strong, but it's not a dark roast. It's not thick or heavy at all. It's almost like what an agua fresca is to a fruit smoothie. 
• I ended up getting a kindle before I left. I give it a thumbs up!
• After basically nothing but bread and fruit all week and a day at the beach, last night I was hungry for real food. I figured I would regret it, but I found soda (local hole in the wall) and ordered a casado (picture below). It was delicious! And my body didn't reject it! (Hamdula!)
• I ordered the casado to go so I could eat back in my room (mostly so I could drink out of my 6 liter bottle of water I bought and not have to buy a drink! Yes, I am cheap!). Once I got back and unwrapped it I realized I hadn't thought about silverware. Hmm. I popped open my multi-tool and decided to use the pocket knife to (carefully!) eat. Unfortunately it was not doing me a ton of good with the rice and beans (I was actually wishing for even some chopsticks!). Solution? I used the heel of the (bitter!) orange slice as a scoop. Bien hecho Lauren. 
• About half way through I realized that the peel of the orange probably hadn't been washed. But then again, I figured I was already sick, so what is the harm? (Let's hope!)
• I have the beginnings of a Chaco tan. 

OK, so that is the week in review! A few more pictures below!

Feet, meet ocean!

This has been lunch most of the week.  

Finally a proper meal! This is my casado: rice, black beans, a piece of chicken, potatoes, fried plantains (YUM!), and some veggies. And for $4, a good deal to boot!

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Well, things got off to a rough start. I left Tuesday evening for Costa Rica...but woke up Tuesday morning at 5 violently throwing up. Fun. Not one to let a little vomit get me down (OK, I almost did, but it cost way to much to change my ticket so I refused!), I took a cocktail of different drugs, slept most of the day (and had some crazy fever-dreams) then woke up, packed in 30 minutes and was on my way. 

It was a long way, too--2 hours to Denver, a 3.5 hour layover, a 5 hour flight to San Jose, a 4 hour wait at the bus station in San Jose, and then a 5 hour bus ride to Samara. Most all of that was spent dozing so the contrast was even greater when I finally got here. 

In a way the landscape reminds me a bit of Puerto Rico, but it's really different too. The jungle just kind of falls into the beach. And I was just complaining about the cold a couple of days ago, so I won't go too far, but the sun is intense here. (PSA: If you fall asleep in the sun, you will get burned!) 

Once I got here and found my way to my hostel though, things unfortunately didn't start looking up--they had lost my reservations. Ugh. She did help us find a place in a new "hostel" out of the city some. Unfortunately, the place lacked some of the basic amenities that I generally prefer--like a door on the shared bathroom. I was so tired that night that nothing really mattered, and I got a good 13 hours of sleep out of that place, so I won't complain too much. In the end though I walked through town, saw a sign for a place full of Germans (which I figured at least meant it would be clean) and took a room. It's a bit of a splurge, but it has breakfast, AC and a pool that feels like you are right in the middle of the jungle (which...OK, you pretty much are). Also, I realized tonight, considering I'm still not eating hardly anything (I went for my first real meal since Monday yesterday...it did not go over well), I am still more or less making my budget! (Silver lining?)

It's been a rocky start, but soon I'll be feeling better, and in the meantime I've already seen 3 or 4 monkeys, 4 iguanas, a neon green and pink bird, tons of butterflies and 3 sea crabs. As the Ticos say, ¡Pura Vida!

Itinerary Update

Santiago De Compostela

So...I changed my mind.

I was feeling so stressed trying to get everything lined up for my trip (or trips--it was like trying to plan 4 trips at once). And I was having trouble getting my tickets bought and all of a sudden I thought...maybe I don't want to go there anyway. Also, I found my old "to-go" list on a post it note. So I looked deep and asked myself what I really wanted to do.

I wanted to go to Spain. I want to walk the Camino de Santiago. I didn't want to go back to Asia. I wanted to relax the pace.

I decided I have all my life to travel. For now what I really want is to take a sabbatical and rest and recoup. Also, I figure if I am going to throw myself a proper quarter-life crisis (and actually I realized it should probably be called a third-life crisis...which is even scarier!) then what better thing to do than to walk an 800 km pilgrimage route all by myself for a month? That is bound to sort me out.

Now, I had a minor relapse where I forgot about those things called visas, which only allow you to stay 90 days in an increasingly large area of all of Europe, so I had to be a bit creative, but I am oh-so happy with the result. (PS. Tip of the day: Do NOT try to overstay a Schengen/tourist visa in Europe anymore! Apparently they are on their way to making the Schengen zone into a fortress and are handing out fines in the thousands along with 5 year bands nowadays!) Anyway, here is the itinerary, part duex!

Step one: Central America (no change here): Costa Rica (I booked myself a place on the beach for the first week to just chill!), Panama, Nicaragua

Step two: Greece, Cyprus

Step three: Spain! Flying into Girona (Barca), then making my way to the French side of the boarder to start the Camino Frances. Then I'll be walking my way across the peninsula aiming to make it to Santiago by my 25th birthday.

Step four: Balkans--Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania. (I've also decided if I get there and don't love my time there that I'll head over to Turkey and spend some time in the countryside.)

Finally, step five: I'll make my way back into the Schengen zone, making sure to get up to Cinque Terre on my way to fly home out of Zurich on August 2.

So there you have it. Yes, I am very last minute (I leave in about 36 hours at this point!), but whatever, I am excited! And I have the permagrin to prove it!

Shots!

Today was shot day. Probably my least favorite part of trip preparation. Thankfully I just had two shots with my name on them. I finished off my Hep A series and then was lucky enough to get my first Yellow Fever vaccination. That one hurt! But it's good for 10 years, so I guess it works out to just a teensy bit of pain per year. The annoying bit is that I don't need the vac for where I am going, but because parts of Panama have Yellow Fever, the Panama stamp in my passport will cause questions throughout my trip without the vaccine. I just rolled up my sleeve and took it. Ouff, she didn't tell me until I was already wincing that it was a stinger. It's all right though, she told me I'm now ready to be a world traveler. 

And I have the shot record to prove it.  

PS. For anyone living in the metroplex, I highly recommend the travel clinic at Harris Methodist HEB! She's great and even got me in at the last minute. 

A big Texas sunset over DFW's international airport--does it get any better?

I needed to talk to the ticketing agents at British Airways and wasn't having any luck over the phone. I just decided to drive over to DFW and have a chat with them. They gave me the refund I was looking for plus and additional $10. Done and done. Also, is it just me, or is DFW's terminal D not one of the very best? It is definitely in my top 5 all time.  

Anyway, the weather was perfect so afterwards I took a few minutes to take in the sunset and people watch. Good times. 

Itinerary

OK, sorry for the blogging hiatus. Along with celebrating the holidays with family and friends I squeezed in a quick road trip and then was lucky enough to land a surprise visit from a Supy who was rerouted to Dallas due to snow in NYC. I shouldn't say I have been busy, but my days have definitely been full--full of board games and food and late night conversations and travel channel episodes. But full nonetheless. And as of late they have been full of one thing specifically.

Airport codes.

After my break for the holidays I got serious about trip planning. I am happy to say that I have tickets with my name on them and a basic itinerary! Now to get to this point, I have filled a whopping 13 pages in my little spiral with airport codes and possible routes. But I will admit it. I have a soft spot in my heart for airport codes. I remember Matt and Supy having Airport Code Bees in Santander to see who knew the most. I'm no expert like those guys, but I do love the airports.

It's been nice learning some new ones (SJO, MGA, GUA, BKK, JKT, KUL, AMM, BUY) and then there are the ones that feel like old friends (MAD, LHR, ATH, MXP, STN, BCN, ORY, STN) or old enemies (CDG, ERW). I've just been plugging them into Kayak.com and remixing them until it spit out something good. It's tedious, but not a bad way to pass the day.

Anyway, I said I came up with an itinerary, so here goes. It is still a little nebulous in areas, but part of that is by design. I wanted to stay away from having to get complicated or expensive visas, to go to places I haven't been, have nice weather, relax and see some incredible things. I divided it up into three legs that would let me do most of the traveling over land. That is, for one thing, cheaper, but it also gives me the flexibility to spend more time in places that I end up liking and to move on quickly from places that I don't. I think it's also more ideal for people who try to plan 6+ month trips in 2 weeks.

So starting January 18th (!) I'll be in:

Leg 1 Central America: Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua
Leg 2 Eastern Europe: Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia + Jordan
Leg 3 Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand

The return ticket still hasn't been finalized--I have two on hold. Because I am buying it with airline miles I couldn't exactly get out on the days I wanted. So the debate is between ZRH (Zurich) on August 2nd or CDG (Paris) on August 18th. Both are a little later than I planned on returning, but if I am careful, the money should hold out.

So there we have it. That's the final outcome of all the brainstorming. Some of the only things I had planned got bumped out, and some things I thought I would never see got thrown in. Overall, though, I am happy. And excited.

Also! If you are going to be in any of those areas, let me know! OK, 11 days till take off!