Tico Time 2012

So, probably the most exciting thing I’ve done since December is happening.  It’s going down.  Like in two days.  My cousin, Jason, and I are headed to Costa Rica, for not 5, 6, or even 8 days.  We are going for 14 days.  Yes, count them.  14!  This is by far the longest trip I’ve ever taken, and here’s how it came to be.

Right around the time of spring break, I was overcome with a serious case of wanderlust.  I was going stir crazy at work and had dealt with numerous changes throughout the school year, from my career, to my personal life, to my family, everything was changing, but yet felt completely the same.  I knew I was going crazy and that I had to do something to mix it up a bit.  So, one night while taking a bath at my parent’s house in Klamath Falls, I began dreaming.  Klamath Falls is a great place for dreaming, especially when you want to dream about going somewhere else!  I began thinking about possible options for travel.  I had really wanted to make it to Australia to see one of my good friends, but the airfare was outrageous, and it seemed like something I probably should have been planning for about a year in advance.  Unfortunately, as much as I love planning, I never really have the foresight to plan that far in advance, especially where money is concerned!  (Read: Worst budgeter ever!  I’m getting better though…I think..) So, then I began thinking about South/Central America.  I had heard from other traveling friends that these countries could be relatively inexpensive.  Right away, I thought, who could go with me?  And, the answer, of course, was my cousin Jason.  What makes Jason great, is that he is the very opposite of me.  He is completely logical, rational, and very ruled by the “left brain.”  I’m completely illogical, irrational, and strongly ruled by the “right brain.”  Now, that said, I don’t think being illogical or irrational are necessarily bad things.  That’s for another blog.  The point is, Jason is my balance.  Where he worries, I do not, where I worry, he is not.  See, Jason thinks about things like malaria medicine, and vaccinations, currency exchange, and transportation, whereas I think about beaches, and swimsuits, hiking, tree houses and sloths!  It’s a great combination, if you ask me.  Also, Jason’s riotously funny, so that helps. 

I decided I had to ask him to see if there was even the possibility of being able to go.  So, I shot him a text, asking him if there was any chance that he’d consider going to South/Central America with me for two weeks.  His response, in a typical logical fashion, was, “When?...but OF COURSE!”  I don’t think he anticipated me responding with, “I’m thinking July.”  Somehow, he acquiesced to this, I think, in part, because he didn’t believe it would happen in a million years, at the very least it would not happen this summer.  I spent the rest of my Spring break looking up places and activities to do in Costa Rica, and texting Jason what I had found.  It wasn’t until about three days of these texts that Jason asked, “Wait, are we seriously doing this?”  I was appalled, of course we are!  And, thus, a dream of Costa Rica was born.

Now, I’ve been incredibly diligent about not using the word “plan.”  Because, you see, we have in all actuality done very little “planning.”  I have a real issue with the idea of having a strict itinerary with specific activities because that ties me down.  It’s like having to commit to something and well, I think we all know how I deal with that!  But, then, there’s the stress of not having anything planned out which almost forces one to want to join one of those tour groups where everything is set up for you and you just pay some exorbitant amount of money to have other people stress for you.  That sounds lovely, in theory, but I’ve traveled outside of the country with groups before, and I know what happens when I don’t get to go do, or see, what I want to go do and see.  My reaction to being restricted in these types of environments have manifested in sneaking out, leaving the group, and taking “risks” to get whatever I was after.  I wanted something different for this trip. You know, I wanted it to be very Eat, Pray, Love…and all of that.  Now, Jason, being the opposite of me, I think is wondering half the time why we don’t have more details pinned down.  But, in the end, I think we are both at a place where we can agree, in not having things planned to the nth degree will make it that much more of an adventure!

In regards to our “plans,” we have bought plane tickets.  Yup, that’s the plan.  And, our passports aren’t outdated.  And, we both have Hep A shots.  That’s pretty much the extent of it.  Jason has been a fiend about reading information on Costa Rica via the interweb.  I’m not sure how many hours a day he spends but I get lots of ridiculous, random texts throughout the day about  all of the interesting tid-bits and trivia about Costa Rica. According to the internet if you go to Costa Rica you will get held up at knife point, eaten alive by malaria carrying mosquitoes, pick up ear parasites (that actually came from Karen Liska), contract flesh eating bacteria, fall off a zip line, or get gobbled up by sharks.  Also, beach towns are highly promiscuous places and we should definitely, at all costs, stay out of hotels/motels.  Jason and I, through various friends, have been put in touch with mutual friends that live in Costa Rica, though we’ve had some difficulty in actually communicating with said mutual friends.  See, in Costa Rica, the people are known as Ticos.  Ticos basically operate on their own time.  Jason has wondered, if the people in Costa Rica actually own watches (or calendars) there.  We had emailed several places asking questions about travel, and/or room rates, etc, and still, to this day have not heard back.  Jason was trying to get in touch with one guy, who responded minimally to his first email and said something like, “give me a week and I’ll get back to you” and I think Jason finally heard back from him at the end of last week.  (It was longer than a week, in US time)  Once Jason finally connected with this surf-dude named Kevin, he assured Jason that “Everything will be chill…”  It’s likely Kevin spends some time being high.  No judgment.  He’s on, what J and I now call, “Tico Time.”  Our trip has officially been dubbed, “Tico Time 2012.”  I’m just hoping there isn’t much lag time in switching from US time to Tico Time…

We have eagerly counted down the days since purchasing our flights, and we are closing in on the 48 hour mark!  It’s been a crazy time just thinking, and researching, and dreaming, but it’s all about to collide with reality.  So weird!  I’m pretty sure it’s not really going to hit me until I’m sitting on that United plane at midnight on Wednesday.  It is my aim to bring our travels to my friends and family, as much as I can (as much as I have internet access) and hope you’ll leave us your comments, or just enjoy the read.  I have a feeling this trip will be one to commemorate!  Let the great adventure begin!!!

Pura Vida!