Escaping to COSTA RICA DURING COVID
After 2 Days of Travel (Apparently without a Hairbrush)…We Finally Arrived!
Life in Costa Rica during the pandemic….
If you had told me a year ago that I’d be moving to Costa Rica for 4 months, I’d have told you you were delusional; probably fueled by excessive Covid wine-therapy sessions -while binging on travel blogs as a form of escapism.
I believe that’s the medical explanation anyhow.
The probability of me living in Central America a year earlier would have ranked just under me getting a tatoo of Minnie Mouse on my tush.
But all I know is after the first half of 2020 I couldn’t do it anymore.
Don’t worry, I know we don’t know each other well enough for me to get all “This Is Us” heavy on you.
Just suffice it to say that after months (years?) of feeling “we’re really not all in this together”, it was time to go in search of our peace.
So we loaded up the truck and moved to, well... Costa Rica. And to be clear there wasn’t a truck involved until we landed in Liberia Airport (which is in Costa Rica, not somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, as one might assume).
We had never been to this Central American country before and really new nothing about it- other than what we had heard from friends or a random Google search.
Oddly, the insanity of moving to a place for months, that we had never even been to before, did not really occur to me. At least not until after we had landed, passed through customs, and were barreling down a foreign, rain-drenched road, in the aforementioned truck to our new “home”.
WHAT? HAVE? I? DONE? That and other equally helpful thoughts whirled through my brain for the entire one hour drive to our home for the next 4 months.
WHAT if I don’t love the house we rented (and pre-paid for)!
WHAT if this sideways rain never stops?
WHAT if we have crocodiles for neighbors?
WHAT if we can’t get Netflix??
As I bargained with God and all of her most influential friends, we entered a gated community, with rather large, “American- style” homes spread out on acres of (severely pot-holed) mountainous roads.
Our place was on the tippy top of the ‘hood. Well, at least we wouldn’t have to worry about flooding; and I mentally patted myself on the back for splurging on 4 wheel drive and unlimited damage insurance for our rental car.
We turned into a driveway so steep all I could think of was who is going to shovel this in the winter? -even though it never goes below 70 degrees here (once a Mid-Western girl, always a Mid-Western girl).
When we reached the top of the drive I was relieved to see a charming and welcoming brand new home. But who new what awaited us inside?
I continued mumbling my “please-be-ok” prayers as I stumbled out of the truck and headed to the front door of Casa del Mar -our home for the foreseeable future.
It turns out at least one of the Gals upstairs was listening... (Thank God! Or... Gals?)
As soon as I opened the front door, I was greeted by a beautiful brand new, modern interior AND one of the most sensational vistas I’d ever seen. (And as a view “addict” I have seen some insane scenery in my travels).
(For Full Screen Tap [ ] Above Right, During Play)
The amazing thing about this view is that you saw it from the moment you walked in the house... a breathtaking panorama of the ocean and surrounding jungle that made you feel like you were in a Robinson Crusoe novel (but with electricity and running water, and all the latest appliances).
This was the beautiful-ness we got to look at every day for 4 months.
The Mesmerizing View Was Like Watching the National Geographic Channel 24/7!
Did I mention I knew this was a great idea to come here from the very start?
Never a doubt in my mind.
(This is the first of a series on Costa Rica)
