Onwards in our journey through Costa Rica...

Thanks to Ronnie, we had an adventure already lined up for the next morning to get to Volcano Arenal. This adventure was called Jeep-Boat-Jeep and it was interesting to say the least. The roads in Costa Rica leave a LOT to be desired coming from the States. Holes are everywhere, dirt is the new pavement and shocks just don't exist on any vehicle. We did however get to see an amazing rainbow in route to the lake that we needed to cross in order to get to Arenal. The rain was so strange in Monteverde and would be raining sideways with not a cloud in site. The wind was a bit fierce and it helped carry the rain from really far away.

Moving on now, we made it to the boat and were surprised the other side of the adventure that we could have had was then getting onto a horse and traveling around the lake. Joanie and I just looked at each other and laughed. In the mid 60's, cloudy and damp everywhere, horses seemed like the least desirable choice available. We quietly applauded our choice to go for the boat and loaded our stuff on a very simple pontoon boat. As always, we made friends and enjoyed the views as we slowly made our way across the lake.

Onwards to Monteverde...

The first one was finding Monteverde and doing the ZIPLINES!!!

Monteverde proved to be quite the trip. The night before I had arranged online to stay in the hostel, Sleepers Sleep Cheaper, with Ronnie and his family. Much to my surprise after a looooong and dusty trip up some winding roads, we hopped off the bus and suddenly I hear my name being called. I am strangely confused since I thought I had left the only country that knew me well and suddenly here I was with some stranger asking the crowd if Megan was here. So without further ado I raised my hand and said, "Me llamo es Megan... y tú?" Turns out it was Ronnie, the owner of the hostel, here with curbside service to take us back to his hostel. It was pretty rad. We had picked up two more travelers in route on the bus, one a however-old guy named Neil who was awesome and a male Japanese student, Akira. My gift back to Ronnie for his curbside was the addition of two more guests in his hostel. Fun how that sort of stuff works out. Both Neil and Akira were interested in joining us on the ziplines and so we had it all arranged and had a great day zipping between amazing mountain ridges. The views from the ziplines were absolutely OUT OF THIS WORLD.



The cloud forest was full of 300+ year old trees and some of the most lush colors in the world. We had to work for the adventure in some moderate climbs, but it was worth every penny and every step. Joanie and I both would love to do this over again and maybe try and film some of the adventures with the help of the wonderful guides! Later that night we relaxed, took showers and all four of us went out to dinner at a neat little restaurant and had some enlightening, exciting, and interesting conversations.


The people and experiences shared during my travels have been some of the best memories I will carry on. There really are so many different people here in the world, all of us just tryin' to get by, the only way they know how...

San Jose...

A few planes later... and in a different country altogether...

First, there was San Jose... a neat place we will say. Effective as far as a capitol should be. However, if that is where I was going to be staying forever, I don't know if I would have let Joanie go home alone. The city is nice for certain parts, but it was not the lush greens and beautiful beaches that I had prepared in my mind after leaving a snow and ice filled Virginia. Joanie was a trooper though and for how overwhelmed I felt (and I speak Spanish), Joanie did not once let on that she too was having second thoughts. We laughed about it after the fact and things managed to get progressively better. We met up with a mutual friend (thanks again Korey!) Dani, and she let us bend her ear for a while about the in's and out's of Costa Rica. Another gringa that got bit by the bug, and is finding her way back here to "la pura vida". We stayed in Costa Rica Backpackers, a hostel, and had some fun experiences of meeting new people and being able to talk about the right adventures to go on. Joanie and I had a few ideas of things we were interested in doing and after one night in the hostel, we had some good directions to take.

Joanie and I begin the adventure...

Joanie was able to take a bit of time off from work and school and travel with me for the first week or so. What a blast we had! From the adventure of getting to the airport to the moment I had to put Joanie back on a plane by herself, we had a great time. I was lucky that she was able to take the time off and join me, both for my sake and for hers. She clearly had the harder job of having to go back to the States with the mentality and atmosphere here that she so perfectly fits into. Either way... here is a quick taste of what Joanie and I were able to do....

The first adventure was getting to the airport since we were flying out early in the morning of Inauguration Day. Great timing to fly out of DC on the same day the first black president is inaugurated in the United States. The streets were shut down in the middle of the night for the entire day... thus forcing Joanie and I to sleep in the airport the night before. Kaitlin and Brandon were so generous to drive us to the airport that Monday night on the 19th. It seemed stressful but so much nicer in hindsight by alleviating the stress of trying to get there and worrying about flight times. Also allowed me to get a few things taken care of during the down time before leaving the country. Always something you forget...

So I moved to Costa Rica...

As many of you may or may not know... about a month ago I quit both my jobs, packed up an enormous backpack and skipped the country. This was not a last minute decision, though it may have seemed otherwise to some. I had been thinking/planning this sort of adventure for about three years since after college I knew that I needed to go live somewhere else so I could 'appreciate the things that I have always had'.

After three years of working in a bar (the one and only, Finnigan's Cove) and working in a daycare, I decided I needed a location that included people that were generous and giving despite having nothing, a teaching certificate and if possible a beach. After stumbling onto a particular website involving being certified to teach English as a second language, I quickly began working on a plan. My first thoughts were Spain, since I had been there before. However, after looking into other places this certification was offered, I fell in love with Costa Rica. I knew nothing of it other than what I had read in books or on the internet. So I made the leap and paid for the class. Finally I had a plan. Next step was quitting my jobs.

Okay, so quitting my jobs turned out to be pretty easy initially until it was time to leave and I could feel the panic both from myself with having no income and others with me leaving them the responsibility. However, just as I knew they could... my people have come through with flying colors. So now on to the fun stuff...