2010

What's in Our Luggage to Move Abroad?

What do you take with you when moving abroad? If you've been following this blog for a while, you know that we got rid of most of our stuff a few months ago. And we whittled down even further last week. The past two days, we've been packing and making more decisions about what to take and what to…

We Made it to Costa Rica!

Well, we're finally here! We're in Costa Rica, and it's warm and beautiful! I made a little video of our trip over, which you can watch below. Until then, here's a little summary of our trip so far:

A Little Update

I just wanted to keep everyone up to date on what we've been doing the past four days since we arrived in Costa Rica. We're in the perfect location for exploring the town. We're in walking distance of everything, and we have been walking a lot!

Los Chorros Waterfall and Breakdancing

This morning, we decided to fulfill Marie's biggest wish since she got here: go swimming. Unfortunately, after about a 10 minute walk to the pool, we found out that it was closed. It turns out that many shops, restaurants, and other facilities close on Mondays. And some just close whenever they…

More House Hunting

We've looked at a lot of houses for rent this week, in the small towns of Costa Rica, and have gone from excitement to discouragement and back again. Now we're just confused.

Week 2 in Grecia, Costa Rica

We have now been in Costa Rica for over two weeks! Since we got here, we haven't been doing many "touristy" things. Instead, we've been busy trying to find a place to live. And I think we finally found it!

World of Snakes

Rather than hang around the B&B today, we decided to take a short trip to the nearby World of Snakes museum in Grecia, which houses over 50 varieties of snakes, lizards, and other reptiles (as well as a couple toucans).

Our New Home in Costa Rica

After two weeks of visiting dozens of houses all over Grecia, Costa Rica, we finally picked the house we will live in for the next year. Who'd have guessed it would be the first house we looked at!

From Volcanoes to Beaches

Talk about views! We've seen the most breathtaking sites in the past few days. We decided to rent a car for a week and explore the country a little more while waiting for our new house to be ready.

Zip-line, Beach, and Monkeys

We've packed a lot of fun into the past couple days, and have even more planned for this week. We're taking advantage of our time at the beach, as well as having a car - and we're loving it!

Horseback Riding, Crocodiles, and Manuel Antonio

Our fun vacation along the Costa Rican Pacific coast is now over, but we are loving it here in Grecia. We've been without the Internet for a few days though, so I'm a little behind in writing. I'll do my best to catch up here. The last three days of our trip were spent in Manuel Antonio.

Getting Settled

We've been living in our house in Grecia, Costa Rica for over a week now and are starting to feel more settled. The plumbing issues have all been fixed, our Internet is working, and we're starting to get into more productive routines.

A Time for Work. A Time for Play.

My mornings recently have been a lot busier than usual, because I'm preparing to launch a new design for my main business, Music Teacher's Helper. I'm really excited about it because it will make the program look much more updated and clean. We've also simplified the interface so it should be much…

Exploring Nearby Nature

There is a waterfall about 15 minutes from our house by foot. The walk there is through various trails and meadows, with some nice sights along the way. We finally took the opportunity to visit the waterfall last week for the first time, and loved it!

Simple and Resourceful Fun

This week, my mom sent us a Spring/Easter package which contained some cards, candy, books, stickers, and more. We've been enjoying all that was inside the package, but we've had an unusual amount of fun with the cardboard box it came in.

A Car! A Car! My Kingdom for a Car!

After weeks of looking for cars, filling out paperwork, dealing with required lawyers, setting up a corporation, waiting for wire transfers, waiting for plates, waiting for repairs, and lots of red tape, we... still don't have a car...

Zarcero Afternoon Trip

Today we decided to take advantage of having a car (yes, we finally got one!), so this afternoon we drove to a nearby town called Zarcero. It's about an hour away from our house in Grecia, and has some beautiful topiary gardens in its central park reminiscent of Dr. Seuss trees.

Africa Mia Zoo

On our way back from Nicaragua, we saw a sign for a zoo called Africa Mia (My Africa) near the town of Liberia, Costa Rica. We didn't know anything about it, but had some extra time, so we thought we would check it out.

Crossing the Border to Nicaragua from Costa Rica

Because we're living in Costa Rica on tourist visas, we need to leave the country every 90 days in order to renew our visas. There are so many different rumors about what the actual laws are concerning these visa runs, and no one seems to know the answer for sure. (Well, many think they know the…

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

We just got back last night from our first trip to Nicaragua. We spent three days in the small coastal town of San Juan del Sur. Every 90 days, we're "forced" to take a vacation outside of Costa Rica to renew our tourist visas, and since Nicaragua is the closest country to where we're living, we…

Monteverde Cloud Forest

The highlight of our trip to Nicaragua was actually in Costa Rica, just 2 1/2 hours from our house in Grecia. We took a detour on our way back home to see the rainforest in Monteverde. It's actually quite close geographically, but you have to drive up a steep dirt road for almost an hour to get…

Poás and La Paz Waterfall Gardens

Today we had the awesome experience of visiting both Poás volcano (the one we smell from our house), and the La Paz waterfall gardens, where we got to hold toucans, blue morpho butterflies, and red-eye tree frogs, take a ride in a painted ox cart, eat old fashioned Costa Rican treats, and see lots…

Proyecto Asis Wildlife Rescue Center

Recently, we paid a visit to an animal rescue center near La Fortuna, Costa Rica called Proyecto Asis. Our kids can never seem to get enough of animals, and this seemed like a good opportunity to not only see them, but interact with them, learn about them, feed them, and even clean up after them.…

Los Lagos, La Fortuna, and Arenal

Rather than head home after the rescue center, we decided to continue on to La Fortuna and spend a day and a night at Los Lagos, which is a hotel/resort at the base of the Arenal Volcano, with hot springs and swimming pools, butterfly and frog houses, and beautiful grounds.

Life Lessons I've Learned in 30 Years of Living

This month marks my 30th birthday! Being a milestone (decade) year, I thought I would take the chance to reflect a bit on what I've learned so far in my life. In many ways, I still feel like a baby when I compare my current wisdom and knowledge to the seemingly infinite amount that is possible to…

Random snippets of life in Costa Rica

I have been keeping several photos and videos on my computer for the past few weeks because I wasn't sure if wanted to dedicate an entire blog post to any one of them. So I figured today I would just post some random photos and videos that show what's been going on in our lives the past few weeks.…

Interviewed by JetSetCitizen

Last week, I was contacted by John Bardos from JetSetCitizen.com, the popular blog showcasing those trying to live their lives to the fullest. I've been a fan of John's blog for a long time, and especially enjoy his interviews with perpetual travelers, international volunteers, entrepreneurs, and…

Things I Miss Living in Costa Rica

Living in Costa Rica is a wonderful experience. There is so much that I like, from the perfect weather and green surroundings, to the friendly people and the chance to learn a new language. But after being here for almost 5 months, there are a few things I find that I miss from the United States.…

Where Can I Turn for Peace?

I have always enjoyed playing the piano and singing. And I especially love creating my own music. One of my favorite things to do is arrange hymns, and I'm happy to announce that I have finally recorded my latest hymn arrangement in both Spanish and English. It's called "Where Can I Turn for…

Life Is What You Make It - A Review

Life Is What You Make It" by Peter Buffet, the son of Warren Buffet. But despite having a multi-billionaire father, he was required to forge his own path in life, and ended up choosing a career in music. In his book, he talks about the necessity of work for self-respect, the cankering caused by a…

First Family Visit

The past week, we've been privileged to enjoy our first visit from family since we moved to Costa Rica 6 months ago. My dad, step-mom, two brothers and a sister came and stayed with us for 6 days. It was great to see them again and to spend time together seeing this beautiful country - not to…

Second Visa Run and Corrupt Policemen

This past week we made our second visa run since moving to Costa Rica. We have to make our way out of the country every 90 days, and this time we chose to drive to Panama and visit our friends in Volcán, whom we met on our 6-week trip last year. It was quite an adventurous week, including driving…

A Visit to Panama

As I mentioned in my last post, despite having a crazy drive and border crossing experience, we enjoyed our trip to Panama. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but I've been meaning to write about the trip for several days. So here we go.

Celebrating 8 Years of Marriage

This month Jennifer and I spent three days away from the kids celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary. We went to the northwestern part of Costa Rica where we'd never been before, near the Guanacaste beaches in the Nicoya peninsula. We wanted to do some things that would have been a little harder…

Is Money the Root of All Evil?

I recently received a comment in response to a Twitter/Facebook post I made about considering the possibility of buying a rental condo in Costa Rica. (Lately, I've been thinking about the importance of diversifying my investments rather than keeping what little money I have in U.S. based mutual…

A week in Jaco

Earlier this month, we decided we wanted a little beach time. With all the rain and clouds up in the mountains of Grecia, where we live, it's been getting a little cold - yes, even sweater weather at times! We decided we wanted a little warmth and sun, and surf.

Planning 2 Months in South America and How I Outsourced it

Recently, we decided that we're ready to get out of the rainy season here in Costa Rica, which is usually fine in the mornings, but very rainy, foggy, and cold in the afternoons - at least up in the mountains where we live. So, we're going to be spending September and October in South America this…

Bugs, Birds, and Other Nearby Animals

I've been meaning to write a post like this for a while. Since we moved into this house, we regularly encounter new, interesting creatures. While I don't always take photos, I think I have enough now to make a decent post. I don't know the names of most of these animals, but all that you see in the…

Old Town Cartagena, Colombia

Our two-month trip to South America has begun! We've been in Cartagena, Colombia now for about 3 days and are having a great time. Our first views of the city were at night, with the high rise apartment buildings, lights on the cathedrals and old walls of the city, and the reflection from the…

Last Days in Cartagena

Beautiful Lima, Peru

Lima rocks!! We flew in last Thursday and are staying in the Miraflores area, which we're told is one of the nicest and safest parts of the city. And it's easy to see why. Our apartment overlooks a lovely and very well-maintained park that follows the coastline for miles, providing a beautiful…

Why and Why Not Travel With Kids?

In our travels, we rarely meet others traveling with their kids, especially in backpacker havens like Cusco. To some it might seem odd to take a vacation with your children, since a vacation is often seen as a break from the kids. And there are definitely times when that break is welcome. But there…

Cusco, Peru

My first impression of Cusco, Peru was that it was dry, dusty and hot - until night time. Then it was dry, dusty and cold. Granted, we arrived near the end of Cusco's dry season, so I can't expect to see much green. But between the clay-brown buildings, sandy mountains, and dusty streets, there…

Volunteering at Aldea Yanapay School

One of the main reasons we wanted to come to Cusco, Peru - besides visiting Machu Picchu, of course - was to volunteer; and Cusco did not disappoint us in that regard. There are a number of volunteering opportunities here. We found a school called Aldea Yanapay where kids can go after regular…

Machu Picchu

To say that our visit to Machu Picchu was amazing would be an understatement. There just don't seem to be words to describe places like this. Having visited many ruins in Peru over the past couple weeks, I was expecting more of the same. However, on the bus ride up, with the backdrop of the morning…

Welcome to Southwest Ecuador

And what a welcome it has been! The day we arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador was permeated with extreme political unrest. President Correa had just threatened to cut police benefits, so all the police were on strike. Many took advantage of the situation by robbing stores and banks, burning tires in the…

A Week in the Galapagos Islands

Quito and Mindo, Ecuador

We're having a blast in Disney World right now, so I'm not going to take much time on this post. Mostly, I'll just comment on some of the highlights of our time in Quito, and the nearby town (ie. 2 hour bus ride) of Mindo, where we spent a night.

Disney World

This past week we enjoyed some time at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It's been a great week, and it started out with a bit of culture shock. The first few days, we found ourselves speaking Spanish to people accidentally, which was a little embarrassing. But it turns out a lot of people in…

We're Having a Baby!

We've been visiting our friends and family here in Salt Lake City, Utah the past week or so. It has been great to see everyone, share some nice hugs, meals, and long conversations, and also experience the cozy feeling of the town we grew up in. I had forgotten how nice it feels to walk on carpet in…

Back in Costa Rica

Wow! It feels so good to be back here in Costa Rica! I love the warmth weather (a perfect 65-75 degrees), the lush, green vegetation and breathtaking views all around, the friendly, smiling people, the inexpensive food, the spaciousness and quietness of our rental house and the gardens surrounding…

Movin' Around

We've been doing a lot of thinking the past few weeks. We've been trying to decide where we'd like to have our baby, and where we'd like to live for the majority of next year. After looking at several different countries, we realized that there weren't a lot of options for dual citizenship in…

Growing a Beard

Recently, I decided to start growing a beard. It's the first time I've ever attempted this, even though I'm 30 years old. There are a few things that prompted it:

Our Guatemalan Adventure

We just got back from an 8-day trip to Guatemala as a final visa run before we have some visitors over the next few months. This was our first time in Guatemala, but I hope it won't be our last. We really enjoyed our time there.

First Christmas in Costa Rica

If you didn't get a Christmas card from me this year, it's not because I don't love you. It's just because I'm lazy. :) In fact, we've been consciously lazy about Christmas this year, and it's been our least stressful holiday season yet! Well, maybe "minimalist" is a better word choice than "lazy".…