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Afterthoughts on pre-thoughts

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I love to travel. I haven’t been on a trip like this since I went to Europe when I was 14. I know what a wonderful experience being immersed in other cultures, locales, and ways of life were for me, and I very much wanted to not only experience that again, but provide that experience to my family. I feel that this trip was something that I was able to provide, give, to them and it is an immense source of pride for me. Not only because of the experience they had, but because what the implication of being able to provide such an experience means… I have been successful in life. The support of the most wonderful, loving woman in the world, the learning I’ve done, the decisions I’ve made have all put me in a position to provide such an experience for my family. Don’t get me wrong… we are not rich… in fact far from it, but our income is such that we can (or at least think we can) enjoy an occasional indulgence. You can take that a step further… I hope my parents are equally proud of the human they created (actually I don’t hope, I know they are). They should be! Not because I am the cat’s meow, it isn’t about me, it is about them and realizing the fruits of their labor. Thanks mom and dad! But I digress…

I do not like humidity. That actually isn’t a true statement… I hate it. For that reason, I have always said that I will never move east of the Rockies. I do not like bugs that bite (not that anyone does), they find me delicious and tell their friends and family about me which is very much to my detriment. I don’t like outdoor activities in the rain. With all of this, why the hell would I go to Costa Rica in the “green” (wet) season? In the beginning of the planning process, Karen had concerns because she knows all these things about me. She was concerned that I would be miserable (and therefore no fun t be around). I had considered all of these things (albeit after paying for airfare), and I was not concerned. It was my choice to put myself in the position that I would be exposed to all of these things. Some (rain and humidity) would be completely out of my control. Others (bugs) I could educate myself and take precautions… which we did. We doused a subset of our clothing with permethrin. I told Karen that she was right, I would be hot, sticky, wet, bitten… in other words extremely uncomfortable, but I would not be miserable.

My mindset about these things was to admit, acknowledge, and embrace. I would be uncomfortable, but I would be riding a horse through a jungle on my way to a waterfall! I may be doing that soaking wet in the middle of a tropical downpour… but how much more could one experience a rain forest… it’s in the freakin’ name! I embraced the “negatives” and I had not concern regarding any potential combination of these things we would encounter on our trip. Karen was concerned how the boys would handle it… I was not. I felt if I had a great attitude regardless of the circumstances, I would be able to pass that on to them.

So those are my pre-thoughts… how did things turn out? Did we get stuck in the forest in the middle of a downpour? How bad was the humidity? Was I eaten alive? Things could not have turned out better in our favor.

Rain

  • Never had to drive in it
  • 5 minutes the morning of the waterfall horseback ride, none for the rest of the day
  • a HUGE downpour while we were hanging out by the pool, and in the pool with the swim up bar while enjoying beverages
    • This was a highlight of the trip!
  • In the cloud forest after our zip-lining before our suspension bridge hike
    • There was a slight drizzle when we started the hike, but it quickly ended and had no adverse effect on us
  • Big downpour and thunderstorm the first night in Playa Samara
    • We were in the villa not going anywhere… it was cool!
  • Rain on the walk down the street to the kayaking tour.
    • We were in our swim clothes about to go kayaking… who cares?
  • BIG Thunder in the night, then lots and lots of rain on the morning of our last full day in Playa Samara
    • We were in the villa having a lazy morning, so it was nice
    • But Karen did get a little cabin fever and went swimming in the pool in the rain
  • For the time of year, we were REALLY lucky with the lack of rain, and lack of impact from the rain that we experienced.

Bugs

  • This really only was an issue at the end of the trip. For me it was because I was lulled into a false sense of security and sat on the patio of the villa in shorts in the evening… I got TOMS of bites on my legs… oh well.
  • The boys had some sporadic bites throughout the trip, but nothing terrible. Aidan scratches his till they bleed so even though he only had a few, they turned a little ugly.

Heat and Humidity

  • Was much, MUCH worse in what I had expected than what I experienced.
  • Was not an issue, and becasue I expected so much worse than what I experienced, nothing about this sticks out other than “wasn’t that bad at all.”
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