We rented a car for the remaining period in Costa Rica…Until November 22, 2017…

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I’ve been anxious to get photos of unusual frogs in Costa Rica, especially the colorful species. But that will have to wait until we get out soon. We’ve yet to see a colorful frog at the villa. But, this plain frog attached to Henry’s left rear bumper satisfied me for now. Check out those toes!

“Sightings from the Veranda In Costa Rica”

The clouds that roll in each day create many gorgeous scenes.

We awoke this morning to one of those special days with the most perfect weather we’ve experienced in a very long time. The sky is clear, scattered with a few white pillowy clouds. Most likely by early afternoon, it will cloud over and rain as always.

There’s a balmy breeze rustling through the rainforest of over 100 species of indigenous trees. The temperature hovers close to 75F, 24C. Although the humidity is a high 86% right now, the comfort factor is not only bearable, it’s enticing and pleasurable. 

“They,” say that Costa Rica has the most perfect weather in the world and today, more than any day since we arrived over two weeks ago, further exemplifies this fact. It couldn’t be more to our liking.

The only aspect of our stay thus far that has been disappointing has been feeling a being a bit stranded with only a taxi driver at our disposal. At anywhere from US $15 (CRC 8665) to US $20 (CRC 11,553) each time we go to the village (a 10-minute drive plus the cost of waiting time for the driver), we found ourselves avoiding any long distances knowing the price would be pretty high. 

It’s always tricky taking photos from a moving car, especially when we’re sensitive about opening the window while we’re in air-conditioned comfort. 

This puts a damper on our desire of getting out to explore and taking photos while being able to stop at our leisure or quickly turn around when an ideal photo op is in sight. Tom’s is the best driver in accommodating my photo taking.

Besides, it doesn’t make sense to pay US $15 (CRC 8655) each time we realize we need a single item we forgot to purchase or a recipe pops into mind that requires a return to the market for ingredients. 

In many parts of the world, such a taxi ride might be only a few dollars making those single item outings worthwhile. In Australia, we had easy public transportation which isn’t as prevalent here.

But, adding a premium of US $15 (CRC 8655) or more to every few items purchased significantly throws off our food budget. So, we knew we needed to make a change and proceed to rent a vehicle for our remaining time in Costa Rica.

Typical shop along the road into the village.

No doubt we’ve become a bit spoiled after the nine weeks in the US with the red SUV in Minnesota and the little white car in Nevada, able to head out at any time we chose. Taxi fares in either state would have been prohibitive as they were in Australia.

At times, while in Minnesota, we wished we’d had a second vehicle but the cost of renting two cars was impractical. So for a short period, we borrowed a truck belonging to son Greg’s that helped in a pinch but we knew he needed to use and we didn’t keep it long. 

While in Nevada, Tom was content to stay at son Richard’s home in air-conditioned comfort while I flitted around to shop, visit sister Susan and even embark on a few sightseeing missions on my own.  It worked well.

We’re committed to a five-day car rental starting on Monday, August 21st, which Aad the property manager arranged for us. At 10:00 am we’ll take the taxi into Atenas to pick up the car at the cafe at SuperMercado Coopeatena and then head out of town to our dentist appointment at 1:00 pm. We’ll have plenty of time for sightseeing and photo taking along the way.

Typical house in the gated neighborhood.

Last night after 10:00 pm, while a bit bleary-eyed and tired, I decided to check prices one more time for rental cars from our favorite site, rentalcars.com which we’ve used since the onset of our travel. 

I was shocked when I saw the low prices which included all of the taxes and fees, to discover we could rent a car beginning on Monday, August 28th for US $783 (CRC 440,762) for the remaining 87 days in Costa Rica (at that point) which totaled US $9.10 (CRC 5257) a day. I had checked pricing a few days earlier and it was twice this amount. I asked Tom to verify the details with me. Was I too tired to access this carefully? He was wide awake and concurred with the pricing, dates, and conditions.

We quickly booked the car and paid the fee. The rental car company, Europcar, is one we’ve used approximately 60% of the times we’ve rented cars and never had any type of issues. This time, as always, we read all the terms and conditions of the rental.

Europcar require a US $1,500 (CRC 866,505) deposit which might be off-putting to some renters and, included in the above price is a surcharge of US $150 (CRC 86,651), for drivers over 64 years of age, at US $5 (CRC 2888) per day for a maximum of the US $150 (CRC 86,651), for the entire period). 

We couldn’t tell if this is a house or a business based on the sign on the front wall. 

We’re OK with these conditions, especially when the contract stipulates that all other fees and taxes are included in the base rate of US $633 (CRC 365,665). The surcharge for the senior factor might also be off-putting to some renters but for us, the grand total most appealing and, the fact that we’ll be getting a car with AC and automatic transmission ideal for driving on all the hills and mountains in Costa Rica.

We’ve been warned about “bait and switch” type car rentals in Costa Rica but with this familiar website and Europcar which we’ve used so often, we feel safe. In the worst case, if we discover we’ve been defrauded or misrepresented in some manner, we won’t take the car and/or take it up with the credit card company. We shall see what transpires and report back here.

We’re both excited at the prospect of being able to get around on our own for the weekdays next week and from there on, from August 28th until November 22nd.

Today, we’re staying in again working on financial stuff.  But now, with a solution on the horizon enabling us to explore our surroundings and take many photos we can share, we’re content to wait it out until Monday morning when we’ll once again have wheels and “be on the road.”

Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, August 16, 2016:

These are 400 million-year-old fossils seen at the Phuket Seashell Museum. For more photos, please click here.

Learning to speak a little Spanish in town…Nature along the way…

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Check out those ears. They certainly were flicking back and forth when we stopped to say “hola!”

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

If you look carefully, you can see the butterfly atop this cracked piece of fruit lying on the ground that I shot when I just happened to look over the railing for photos for this feature.  We’ve seen more butterflies in Costa Rica than we’ve seen anywhere in the world.  

Yesterday morning Henry arrived at 11:30 am to take us into town.  We had four stops in mind, including the pharmacy, the cell phone store for more data and calling, the health food store for more almond flour and organic nuts, and the Supermercado Coopeatena for groceries.

 Last week we’d tried the warehouse-type MaxiPalil, but it didn’t seem to have as much variety as the Supermercado Coopeatenas.  We still can’t find whole cream, parchment paper, and imported cheeses between both major markets in town. 

 In Costa Rica, there are certain cheeses, types of queso, that the locals use that aren’t necessarily good for snacking. We tried a few different brands of Gouda and Edam, but they didn’t taste quite right. Also, they all have a thin layer of paper under the wax covering that’s difficult to remove.

We love cows, and all barnyard animals, as our long-time readers are well aware.

Since we only eat one meal a day, usually about every 24 hours, a little cheese plate after dinner is a nice touch. Unfortunately, we’re not doing so well in that department right now. So instead, I purchased a few organic unsalted nuts at the health food store, which I’m having instead of the cheese. Tom doesn’t seem to mind picking off the bits of paper. I have no patience for that.

We entered the pharmacy looking for some over-the-counter meds for my continuing gastrointestinal issue and were surprised to find an armed guard at the entrance who opened the door for us. Upon entering, the pharmacist and other staff were behind windows with steel bars to secure the inventory, comparable to those found in banks of yesteryear.

 This was a first for us. I contemplated taking a photo but knew there was no way it would have been allowed, so I didn’t ask or take out the camera. However, the pharmacist spoke a little English, and together with my sketchy Spanish, we managed to communicate well.

Could this be a mom and her calf?

Afterward, we headed to the Macrobiotica, a health food store where they now knew us. Unfortunately, they speak no English, but I’ve since learned “harina de almendras,” which translates to almond flour, and also “nueces,” which is “nuts.”

Oh, dear, I won’t bore our readers with the Spanish words we’re learned, nor will we start writing in Spanish but, I’m determined to learn as much as possible while we’re here when South America is on the horizon. 

Although, surprisingly, slightly more than half the citizens of South America speak Portuguese. We tried learning that language while we were in Madeira, Portugal, in 2014 and never got much further than “obrigado,” which translates to “thank you.” In every country, the first word we make a point of learning is “thank you.” 

A fence around a property on the way to the village.

Tom is still messing up his “gracias” (Spanish) and “grazie” (Italian) from the summer of 2013 when we lived in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy, for three full months. 

He always makes me laugh when he says “grazie” here in Costa Rica, but the locals seem to get it. But then again, he was still saying “grazie” (from habit) when we were in Kenya which followed Italy.  

It’s not easy learning a new language at our ages. However, we realize how beneficial doing so is for our aging brains, along with all the other morsels we learn every day, all stimulating to the ancient neurons in our heads.

 After the health food store, we had to find where we could recharge the free Movistar (yes, that’s spelled correctly) SIM card we were given at the appliance and furniture store when we first arrived. We didn’t want to run out of data using the SIM when we drive the long distance to the dentist on Monday. That would not be good. 

A newer building at the end of the tiny strip mall we entered for the “Pharmacia.”

They don’t use “Maps” here in Costa Rica.  Instead, they use an app called “Waze.” Hopefully, this will help us get to where we’re going on Monday, a 45 minutes drive from Atenas. 

On Monday at 10:00 am, we’ll be meeting the rental car guy outside at the cafe at the Supermercado Coopeatena, who apparently speaks English. From there, we’ll take the car and find our way to the small town where the large dental clinic is located with nine English-speaking dentists.

 We imagine visitors may come from the US to this clinic for dental work when prices are considerably lower than in the US and other countries. We’ll let you know how it goes after our appointment, with photos, of course.

Recharging the SIM card was painless when the rep spoke a little English and reloaded data, and called on the card for US $17.37 (CRC 10,000). We have no idea how much data or calling we have, but it should be enough for next week when we have a car for five days.

Most of the buildings in town are old and well-used but not nearly as much as we’ve seen in many other parts of the world. As a result, it feels safe in the village, and we can freely walk from one location to another.

From there, the trip to the market went fine. We got most items on our list now that we’ve excluded items we know they don’t have available. Henry waited for us in the car during each of these trips and helped us load the bags into the trunk when we were done. 

 Once back inside the gated neighborhood, Henry promptly stopped when he heard me squeal with delight when I spotted the two cows close to the road, as shown in today’s photos.

Back at the villa before 2:00 pm, we put everything away while we spent the remainder of the day preparing dinner and researching. I spent some time in the outdoor Jacuzzi, which was lovely. No complaints here.

Have a pleasant day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 15, 2016:

While in Phuket, I was recovering from an injury to my spine and couldn’t get out much, although we had a rental car. However, we did tour some sites, including the Phuket Seashell Museum.  For more photos, please click here.

It’s time to start planning clothing for the Antarctica cruise… Different for us than most other travelers…

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This is a variety of Bromelaid.  This stunning bloom is located  on the grounds of the villa is over-the-top!

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

This was a perfect opportunity to get a photo of Ulysses, our groundskeeper, and maintenance person, who lives in an apartment on the property.  We wish we could chat with him freely but we are able to communicate sufficiently to ask him questions and make requests.

It’s not as if we can jump in the car and drive to REI or Cabella’s to purchase clothing for our upcoming Antarctica cruise in five months. And, realistically, we need to start planning now knowing anything we purchase will have to be shipped to Buenos Aires and go through customs which can take a long time, as we’ve experienced in past situations.

There are several options for handling the required items of clothing considering we’ll be leaving the ship on Zodiac boat for several hours at a time while we visit various islands, ice floes, and glaciers. Waterproof gear is a must.

Another Bromeliad with patterns appearing more like fabric for curtains than an actual plant. Wow!

Over the past several days, we’ve begun conducting research to discover the following options since the Ponant Cruise Line doesn’t handle rental clothing as do most other Antarctic cruise lines:
1.  Rent from one of a few companies that handle such clothing, all of which require the clothing to be sent to us in Buenos Aires. Downside: Clothing of this type can easily be stolen in transit; customs can cause delays; the clothing is rented for a specific period and penalties will incur if there are delays in transit times;  the clothes must promptly be returned at the end of the cruise, adding one more project to handle when we need to be on our way.
2.  Purchase the clothing from the US at lower costs. Downside: The above shipping and potential theft issues would be unavoidable. Plus, when we’re done, shipping the clothing back to the US to be held by our mailing service until we need it again someday.
3.  Purchase the majority of the clothing through Ponant. They’ll have it waiting for us in our cabin when we board the ship. Purchase odds and ends in the US and have them shipped to our hotel in Florida on November 22nd where we’ll stay for one night before boarding the back-to-back cruise the next day. This results in a two-step process. Downside:  Ponant’s items are expensive.

These waxy flowers almost look like Begonias we’d plant years ago in shady areas in Minnesota.

Originally, when we booked the cruise, we budgeted US $1,000, (CRC 57,594) for each of us for clothing rental as a necessary element of this expensive cruise, which is pretty much the going rate per person for all items. If we purchase some of the items separately and ship to Florida, we may be able to save a few hundred dollars each.

After considering all of the above options, we’ve definitely decided to go with purchasing the bulk of the major items directly from Ponant and the balance  (long-sleeved shirts, socks, glove liners, etc) from Amazon in the US with free shipping with our Prime membership directly to the hotel in Florida.

These orange flowers, Lobster Claws, against the palm background create an appealing scene.

The other options, although less expensive make no sense at all, especially when there’s the cost of shipping and delays due to customs. If we purchased the bigger items on our own, we’d have no idea of the quality and suitability for the cruise. Most likely, the clothing from the cruise line is suitable.

Most likely sizing will be an issue for me with my extra-long arms and legs. Maybe I’ll be able to tuck my pants into the Ponant provided complimentary boots to avoid the high water look. Hopefully, I’ll have enough layers to keep my arms covered especially wearing the almost elbow-length gloves we’ll also purchase through Ponant.

What was Mother Nature thinking here?

Tom inquired to previous Antarctica cruise passengers at Cruise Critic for more finite details and based on their comments, it appears we’re going down the right path.

It’s considerably easier for those who can jump in the car and drive to local cold-weather-clothing stores to check out the possibilities, try on a few items and purchase their smaller items with ease. Here again, this is one more of the many challenges we face as constant world travelers. 

We love this type of palm tree.  We’d seen many of these in Hawaii a few years ago.

No doubt, we’ll have it all figured out long before we board the ship, Ponant Le Soleil, on January 23, 2018, in Ushuaia Argentina. No worries. It will all work out! 

Have a happy Monday or Tuesday, depending on where you may be in the world, whether it’s approaching the end of your warm summer months or your cold winter months, depending on which side of the equator you may live.

Photo from one year ago today, August 14, 2016:

We visited the Phuket Seashell Museum. It was fascinating to see all of the various seashells indigenous to the area. For more photos, please click here.

Limitations…Living within our means…Not always easy…

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View from the chaise lounges of the pool, the Jacuzzi to the left, and beyond it, the cold plunge pool. Nice.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica” 

Even the entrance to this property is stunning, as taken from the veranda on a cloudy day.

It’s been raining almost every day. We knew when we booked this property during the rainy season, but we decided with as much “work” as we had to do while here, it wouldn’t matter to us so much.

Besides, the likelihood of finding a reputable rental car facility was iffy from what we’d read online and heard from our landlord Aad. Hence, we decided to rent a car periodically (via Aad’s contacts), which we’ll be doing one week from tomorrow for five days.  We’re waiting for the quote and will post it here.

We realized that if we’d paid the premium prices for a decent car for over three months, it would be sitting in the driveway most days due to the rainy days. So it wouldn’t make sense to go sightseeing on these mountainous roads during rainstorms which occur by noon almost every day.

We noticed the times it starts raining since we attempt to use the pool each day, but often I don’t get done uploading the post until almost noon, and by then, the sun is gone with thunderstorms and lightning surrounding us, not a good time to go into the water.

Neither of us cares to go sightseeing in the rain when we can avoid it. Thus, when we have the rental car next week, we’ll try to get out in the mornings, and a few of our posts may be uploaded later in the day. We’ll let you know when and if this occurs.

On Monday, the 21st, the first day we’ll have the car Aad will have arranged for us. In addition, we both have dentist appointments at a distant location at 1:00 pm, giving us ample time to post before heading out.

Pretty plants and trees are scattered throughout the grounds, which Ulysses keeps perfectly maintained.

This past Friday, we’d intended to go to the weekly Farmers Market in the village at 1:00 pm based on times stated in an online ad we’d seen that said it started at 6:00 am and ended at 6:00 pm. 

Well, as it turned out, Marian, Aad’s wife, informed us that the Farmers Market closes at 1:00 pm. So thus, we canceled the taxi driver with a plan to go next Friday, the 25th, when we could go on our own in the rental car, taking our time to mosey around and take plenty of photos.

Many tourists rent cars in Costa Rica without incident. But, there’s a big difference in renting a car for a week or two instead of three and a half months. The agencies tend to give us the least desirable vehicles based on the extended period and the reasonable prices we’ve received online.  Generally, this is fine with us when we’re saving vast sums of money over extended periods. 

In this case, it just didn’t work out, so we’re somewhat stranded in the interim. However, we always strive to live within our means, especially with the pricey Antarctica cruise in five months which we’ll pay off in full by October 16th, in a mere two months.

Our “belts are tightened” during this period to prepare for this significant outlay of cash. Recently, we had a cost of almost US $10,000 (CRC 5,761,850) for our extended stay here in Costa Rica for this fine property. With a strict budget to follow and much upcoming in the future, we live as modestly as we can. 

A careless world traveler could efficiently run through money so fast they’d quickly put an end to their travels. So for us, we carefully manage every dollar we spend to ensure we can continue until we physically can’t go on any longer, not when we “run out of money.” 

The driveway pavers are laid to perfection.

We live off of our fixed monthly income comparable to that of most retirees. Yet, living as comfortably as we often do (with a few exceptions here and there), we must continue to be frugal. That means few expensive professional tours, dining out at a minimum (my diet dictates this more than money), no needless shopping, planning and cooking our meals, and above all, not being wasteful. 

A huge benefit of spending 2018 and part of 2019 in Africa is that it enables us to recover from the high expenses of the three upcoming cruises, all occurring by January 23, 2018. 

When we leave Costa Rica on November 22nd, we’ll fly to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for one night, after which we’ll be embarking on a 30-night back-to-back cruise to South America, finally ending in Buenos Aires, where we’ll stay 31 plus one night, as mentioned in a post of a few days ago, as shown here.

In a 78-night period beginning on November 23, 2017 (Thanksgiving Day in the US) and ending on February 8, 2018, we’ll be cruising for 47-nights.  The remaining nights we’ll be living in Buenos Aires as mentioned above.  Here again, we’ll have a long stretch where we won’t cook a single meal or make a bed.

Once we arrive in South Africa on or about February 9, 2018, we’ll begin to “lick our wounds” and once again be shopping, cooking, and taking care of our day-to-day lives on our own. A cleaner will come once or twice weekly while living in Marloth Park, comparable to here in Costa Rica, the delightful Isabel.

Gorgeous blooming plants.

That’s not to say we won’t have some significant expenses while in Africa with all we plan to do while there, leaving South Africa every three months (visa requirement) for one type of expedition or another that we’ll book once we arrive and settle in.

We’re in a constant state of flux, a state of being we both find exciting and adventurous, definitely not for everyone. However, most humans tend to find great comfort in gaining familiarity with their surroundings and creating a place to call home. 

Perhaps we nomadic humans in this world are more like the wildlife. We tend to go where the going is fruitful, where the going is exciting, continually on the move for the next adventure. So stay tuned, fellow travelers, fellow readers. Much more is yet to come.

Photo from one year ago today, August 13, 2016:

In the 1980’s I stayed in Phuket, Thailand, for a few weeks (before Tom, whom I met in 1991), splitting the time between two gorgeous resorts on the beach. Living in a vacation home in a resort town proved to be an entirely different experience when the front yards of many homes looked like this in the neighborhood of the lovely house we rented. This is the life of world travel, not always dreamy and gorgeous. For more details, please click here.

Future world travelers…What does it take besides a willingness to “let go”?..

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Ulysses, the groundskeeper, brought us these fresh limes this morning plucked from a tree on the property.  There’s an electric juicer here, so I juiced the lime and mixed the juice with my water and a slice of the lime. Delicious!

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Another exquisite sunset from the veranda.

Over these past years, we’ve had countless potential future world travelers contact us with questions. Many have been in the process of selling their homes or contemplating doing so. Some have decided to keep their homes and rent them to see how they feel after traveling for a year or two.

Many “baby boomers” and others have decided to downsize, keep a small apartment or condo with enough of their “stuff” should they choose this life isn’t for them. This way, they can return to a life intact in a desirable location containing their familiar belongings. 

Some who decide to become “homeless,” per se, put their belongings in a storage facility, providing them with peace of mind should they find the nomadic life is not for them in a year or two.

The formal dining room is lovely, but we’ve yet to dine at the table.

Those that can afford to do so may choose to keep their homes as a base and travel outside their home country for a while, returning every few months or so to take care of their homes, spend time with family, attend to their financial responsibilities, repack and plan for the next adventure.

All of these scenarios and many more consist of world travel. All of these scenarios will provide the adventure seeker and self-proclaimed explorer an opportunity to see the world.

However, when many travelers contact us, our answers may not be befitting their chosen path. Therefore, we try to keep this in mind and address the solutions to accommodate their personal choices.

Beautiful built-ins containing many treasures from Bev and Sam’s world travels.

Traveling for a month or two, staying short-term in resorts and hotels in tourist areas, and even perhaps traveling to a new location every week or two is far removed from our reality. 

Of course, we encourage everyone who can get outside of their “comfort zone” to explore whatever it may be that “trips their trigger” (no pun or political reference intended). 

Whether it’s sightseeing in your hometown, something few people ever do or visiting a nearby state for a weekend, we all benefit from getting away from the day-to-day stresses that can be suffocating. Unfortunately, we felt this creeping up during the nine weeks we spent in the USA;  traffic, noise, smog, pushy people, and waiting in long lines for almost everything.

This pretty plant in the dining room is situated next to one of two speakers for the sound system.

We’ve yet encountered a couple who took this leap of faith with no home, no stuff, no storage, with no end in sight; health and longevity providing.  Oh, we’ve met couples “out in the world” who’s let go of all their worldly possessions and plan to travel for a year or two. 

But, we’ve yet to meet the couple who’ve gone to the extremes that we have. That’s not to say there’s anything special about us. There’s not.  Perhaps, we just were in a headspace that has made this life meaningful and comfortable for us.

Indeed, my vastly renewed health after changing my diet (six years ago this month) after 25 years of chronic pain was highly instrumental. Perhaps, Tom’s good pension from 42 plus years on the railroad was highly instrumental. Finally, maybe, my desire to document, write, and share our story played some role.

Bev and Sam have also traveled to Africa, returning with many handmade works of art.

Perhaps, above all, the commonality Tom and I shared and continue to share in our passion for wildlife, nature, and culture was highly instrumental in making us the right couple to live this often challenging and always unusual life…a life of travel with no end in sight.

We had no idea at the onset that both of us would continue to find this lifestyle suitable and fulfilling. While we were planning, we committed to one another that should one of us want to “stop,” the other would agree to do so without issue.  Now we laugh when we jokingly ask one another, “Do you want to stop?”

We’ve heard many stories of how couples who seemed compatible in their travel desires have found after a while. However, they can’t seem to make the 24/7 commitment and decision-making process work for them.

The dining room is decorated with many fine works of art and decorator items.

Regardless of one’s motivation or method of traveling the world, each person/couple will decide for themselves what works for them, economically, emotionally, and spiritually in satisfying what for some is an innate desire to travel. Therefore, the terms and conditions determined and established for such a life are unique from one person, one couple to another.

For us, it’s the uncertainty; it’s the complexity. It’s the sense of adventure. Although to a degree, it’s an element of risk in stretching ourselves to our limits based on our age, ability, and health; all play a vital role in making this life joyful for us.

The sizeable exquisite table seats eight.  It surely could be fun to host a dinner party for eight.

No, we don’t do as much sightseeing as some travelers. But, browse through our archives over this past almost five years, and you’ll find how much we’ve been sightseeing and exploring. 

For us, that’s not what it’s all about. We love being able to immerse ourselves into the daily lifestyle of the locals living nearby us at any given time. We love learning, researching, and exploring to discover the nuances and intricacies of life in other lands.  We come away with knowledge, stories, and photos we’ll be able to carry with us wherever we may go. 

Most of all, having the opportunity to share our day-to-day lives with all of you in words and photos has enhanced our travels in a truly indescribable way. 

The view from the dining room is not unlike the sweeping views from most of the rooms in this unique property.

Even if, our dreams of world travel are different from one another, we’re always delighted to share tidbits of information we’ve gleaned from our experiences, maybe saving you hours of research in the process.

Thanks to every one of our readers for traveling along with us, and please, never hesitate to share your stories or questions with us. We love hearing from YOU!

Photo from one year ago today, August 12, 2016:

Not our photo. Police and investigators searched for clues after a bombing not far from us in Phuket.  Many victims were taken to area hospitals. See this link for details. Here’s our story one year ago.

A dream kitchen adds to the experience in Costa Rica…

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The end of the island with the sinks has a stepped-down countertop with a shorter barstool.  This spot is ideal for sitting and chopping and dicing or sitting for a quick meal.
“Sighting from the Veranda in Costa Rica”
Two more birds perished from hitting the glass wall in the veranda. It’s heartbreaking to witness these while sitting right here.
These two pigeons flew into the glass at precisely the same moment and died immediately from what we could tell. Ulysses, the groundskeepers removed them to prevent the vultures flying overhead from stopping by.  Audubon Society approved stickers on the glass,s but they don’t deter the birds entirely. Although our friends/property owners, Bev and Sam, stated the stickers have helped considerably. Crashes and two deaths since we arrived.

Today, we’re rushing a bit. At 11:00 am I have a phone conference with our accountant in Nevada and shortly after, we’re heading to the popular local Farmers Market in Atenas that occurs every Friday.

This “Caterer’s or Baker’s” extra kitchen includes a newer model dishwasher, coffee maker, toaster oven, toaster, microwave and number varying sizes of plastic containers with lids.  Plenty of kitchen towels and supplies are in drawers and cabinets below. Tom rinses the dishes here and then fills the dishwasher.

Up and out of bed by 5:30, I did our laundry (the cleaner does the bedding when she comes tomorrow), made the bed and tidied up the house (as we do each morning). Tom emptied the dishwasher which we run every other day to save on power. 

The over-sized oven is perfect for us as well as the double door refrigerators with water and ice dispenser on the door. What a treat!

I continued to find household tasks to accomplish while Tom happily watched last night’s Minnesota Vikings pre-season football game using the GamePass app and the HDMI cord for the 80″ TV screen while drinking his morning coffee. (I’ve yet to have coffee when we haven’t been able to find real whole cream. I wonder what Costa Ricans use to make whipped cream desserts). 

We’ve noticed a ton of readers reading our site in Costa Rica. Can anyone near Atenas suggest where we can purchase real full-fat cream (whipping cream, unsweetened), the real deal, not Cremora or a powdered chemical laden alternative? Gosh, I’d love a cup of Joe.

This island includes a new model four-burner self-igniting gas range, wine cooler at left end, bucket with kitchen utensil and Chicago Cutlery knife block. Both islands have granite counter tops.

It’s hard to believe we have both a dishwasher and a clothes dryer, luxuries we’ve lived without most of this past almost five years. In our old lives, we took such conveniences for granted.  Now, we almost use them hesitantly after all this time of managing without them.

There’s no doubt, they both save considerable time although I never minded hanging the clothes outdoors and Tom never complained about washing the dishes by hand. 

There’s every sized bowl, plate, and glass we could possibly need or want.  Check out the huge pot on the top shelf.  That’s been sorely lacking in most vacation homes.

Over these past 11 days since arriving in Atenas, we’ve come to appreciate the many fine features in this property while accepting the reality that many of these are truly luxuries that we won’t have available to us in the future, at least not quite in the same way. So we’d better not become spoiled!

Today’s photos include not only those for the main kitchen but also the additional cleanup kitchen aka, Baker’s or Caterer’s Kitchen, now found in many higher end houses as well as in some old kitchens of decades past, often referred to as a “pantry kitchen.” 

There are actually two center islands in the kitchen. This island includes three barstools and a double sink with instant cold/hot water dispenser.

See this article below I spotted in an online magazine:

A Second Kitchen for Dirty Dishes

BY MARY CANDACE EVANS PUBLISHED IN D HOME MARCH-APRIL 2009
First, it was two ovens, then two dishwashers, we knew it wouldn’t be long before a high-end home genius somewhere said, why not two kitchens? From Long Island to LA, the two-kitchen trend—called a Bakers’ or Caterer’s Kitchen—is creeping into high-dollar homes to contain the cooking chaos. For as little as $15,000, homeowners can add additional “closed” kitchen space to their “open kitchen.” Some are pantry-sized with minimal appliances, like the secondary draft kitchen in one North Dallas home created to vent while cooking Indian cuisine. Others are larger than the main kitchen itself, decked out with granite slabs, custom cabinetry, and top-of-the-line appliances.
“The main kitchen has become co-mingled with the family room,” says Tatum Brown Custom Home’s Mark Danuser. Kitchens today are equipped with televisions, fireplaces, stools, and sofas. As a result, the room is sometimes overcrowded and it’s almost impossible to, well, cook in. Tatum Brown has built three Dallas custom homes with what Danuser calls “hybrid kitchens”—second kitchens that do double duty as the craft room or caterer’s kitchen. His high-end buyers love them.

Yes, we do love this extra kitchen which is larger than many of the galley-type kitchens we’ve had all over the world.  I particularly recall the tiniest of them all, the kitchen in Diani Beach, Kenya.  Click here for the link to the house photos which includes two photos of that tiny kitchen which is much smaller than the “Caterer’s Kitchen” in this villa in Costa Rica.

In many kitchens that were larger than in Kenya, many were lacking in equipment such as in the first house in Fiji which we discovered had no oven at all. So the owner, Mario, went out and purchased a counter top oven for our use during the three months. 
We squealed with delight when we noticed the whisk, the garlic press and the stainless steel measuring spoons in upper left corner.  There’s even a meat thermometer!

We can’t imagine functioning well without an oven for a three month period when many of our meals and side dishes require some baking or broiling. Unfortunately, not everything can be cooked in a peeling Teflon pan (yuck). At times, we’ve asked for a better quality pan or even purchased one ourselves which ultimately, we left behind.

Another area of concern in most vacation homes is the lack of mixing bowls. Oh my goodness, we’ve had kitchens that didn’t have a large enough bowl to toss dressing for a salad for two. We often tossed salads in tin foil pans we’d purchased to use for baking when no baking pans were available either.

As for knives…yikes…I’ve cut myself more times than I can count using dull and unpredictable knives when each day I usually spent most of my cooking prep time in chopping and dicing, a by-product of making lots of fresh produce and unprocessed foods. 

We were so excited when we saw this egg slicer, the first we’ve had to use in years! There is even a peeler and micro plane. We’ve been carrying around a peeler, measuring cup and turner all these years.

But, dear readers…not here in La Perla! This kitchen practically has every imaginable kitchen tool, knife, bowl, pan, gadget and major appliance. There’s even a wine cooler built into the kitchen cabinets! 

And, of course, there’s the second kitchen where Tom can be busy loading the dishwasher contained therein, while I scrubbing down the sink and counters with hot soapy water every night after we eat. 

A few nights ago I got distracted for a short while and hadn’t yet wiped up the granite counter tops and the sink. Around 7:00 pm when I finally wandered into the main kitchen to do my part of the cleanup, three giant bugs jumped up out of the sink aiming for me. 

Oh, good grief. I didn’t scream. I’m preparing myself for Africa once again…no shrieking, no screaming. Instead, I grabbed a paper towel and scooped them  out of the sink and squeezed the paper towel until I was sure they were “gone.” Then, I threw them into the trash and scrubbed my hands in hot soapy water.

Wine cooler in the kitchen at the end of one of the two center islands.

Sorry, bug lovers, I can’t quite get a fix on the type of insects although I’m much more compassionate about most of Mother Nature’s creepy crawlers. We often scoop up insects we find indoors with a broom and dustpan and send them outdoors where they belong.

Anyway, back to La Perla’s kitchen…need I say? It’s divine and I’m finding cooking our daily meals easier and more delightful than its been in years.  Thanks to Bev and Sam for their creative ideas, tasteful design and well-stocked kitchen which these travelers are appreciating more than most (since we cook much more than tourists who typically stay a week or two).

Soon we’re off to the Farmers Market and we’ll be back with more new photos tomorrow. Also, more La Perla photos will continue in days to come.

Have a happy weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, August 11, 2016:

No disrespect intended here when Tom wanted to illustrate the size of this statue while also making me laugh at his copycat antics. For more photos from Phuket Thailand, please click here.

Finally, we booked 32 nights in Buenos Aires…The details for making this cost effective booking transpire…

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Pool view at the Prodeo Hotel.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Cows resting in the pasture as seen from the veranda.

Note: Today, many of our photos are of a smaller size in an attempt to avoid blurring when I borrowed them from various sites.

Whenever we need to book a hotel, we use the link here on our site for Hotels.com. We receive a tiny commission using our own links (and we hope you will too). 

The commissions we earn are never enough to cover the cost of managing our site, but every little bit helps. If you can, please use our links which have identical pricing and features as if you went directly to the same sites from your choice of browser. We so much appreciate it!

Lounge at Prodeo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Whenever a traveler desires a 30-night or more booking, the inquiry from the Hotels.com link on our site will take you directly to “corporate rates.” If you choose, a representative will contact you by email after you’ve decided on the criteria for such an extended stay.

Within a day or so, you’ll start receiving lists of possible hotels that will accommodate your criteria including pricing, location, and amenities. We’ve used this feature only on two occasions since, in most cases, we stay in vacation/holiday homes. 

Staying in hotels for 30 nights or more isn’t our first choice of accommodation. However, most recently we stayed in the Minnesota at a hotel for 42-nights and will need to do so upcoming from December 23, 2017, to January 23, 2018, and again one more night after the Antarctica cruise on February 8, 2018.

We were overlooking the tub area in bath.

Finding a hotel that would accommodate both dates, 31-nights in December/January plus the one night in February with one reasonable price, would be the ideal scenario. In doing so, most importantly, we’re able to store our luggage for no additional cost while we’re off on the Antarctica cruise, the entire reason we chose a hotel as opposed to a vacation home.

Sure, we would have preferred a vacation home, able to cook our meals, having more space to maneuver, along with a greater sense of freedom and mobility. But, this particular instance, not unlike in Minnesota, provided us with features and amenities that make it all worthwhile.

Once we received the list of hotels, all of which included offers for better-than-average-pricing (and there were dozens), we narrowed it down to our top two based on price, location, and amenities, finally deciding on the Prodeo Hotel and Lounge after contacting both hotel managers.

Complimentary breakfast is included in the nightly rate, which, after inquiring, it was explained contains eggs, cheese, and meats which works for us when pastries and bread products don’t.

The staff at Hotels.com suggested that once we find hotels, we find it suitable to contact them directly via a listing link to make inquiries for any additional questions we may have. In our case, we asked the following questions:

Our few questions prior to booking this 31-plus-one-night stay:
  1. Does the complimentary breakfast include any eggs or meats?  I am gluten-free and cannot eat pastries or fruit.
  1. Can you store our luggage for 17 nights while we travel to Ushuaia for an Antarctica cruise? We’ll return on February 8th and stay one additional night.
  1. Do you have free Wi-Fi in the rooms? We are world travel writers and need to upload a story each day with photos using my husband’s laptops. This is very important. We will be providing free press during our stay during the 32-night period.
  1. Do you have self-service laundry on-site, or is there a laundromat nearby?
  1. What is the total rate with taxes? How much is the deposit to hold it? When is the balance due?
Dining room located in Prodeo Hotel.
Within an hour I received the following answers to my questions:
“Dear Jess,

Thank you very much for your interest in Prodeo Hotel + Lounge.

To address your concerns:
1. Our complimentary breakfast includes ham, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs. We can also provide you with gluten-free bread.
2. We can store your luggage in our deposit for free for the time required
3. We offer property-wide free wi-fi, thus you will be able to work from your room and from every common space of the hotel
4. Prodeo offers a laundry service for 10 USD per bag. There are also several laundries just a few blocks from the hotel
5. The final rate is US $80, (CRC 46,121) per night. The final price for 32 nights will be US $2,560, (CRC 1,475,878).  Since you are not Argentinian citizens no any other tax or fee will be charged. The deposit is 20% of the total price, while the total balance will be due at the check-in
If you have any other question or concern, please, do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards
Alessandro
Operations Manager
alessandro@prodeohotels.com“
Pool area located in the hotel including an outdoor bar.
Firstly, I was impressed with Alessandro’s mastery of the English language, especially in writing. Secondly, we were thrilled with his answers, all of which made this particular hotel work for us in every way. Also, in a later email, he included a free shuttle to the airport. based on our long term stay
During our multiple email messages over the next few hours, we finalized the 20% deposit. Doing so required that Alessandro and I speak on the phone. (We used our Skype account with a clear connection at around two cents a minute). We never send credit card information via an email (not secure).
We paid the US $512, (CRC 295,176) and received an online receipt and booking confirmation. We couldn’t have been more thrilled to not only have this task accomplished but to have done so with this great pricing and terms.
Sure, in Buenos Aires there are hotels priced slightly lower. However, we were searching for a relatively well-rated property (4 stars), a good location and the above-stated amenities.  It couldn’t be more ideal for us.
A typical room in the hotel.
We don’t consider such an extended stay in this and other hotels as a “vacation/holiday.” For us, this is a stopping point along the way in our continuing world travels. The fact that we’ll have an opportunity to explore Buenos Aires, its sights, sound, smells, and tastes, is purely a bonus.During the 42-night stay in Minneapolis, our goal was to spend time with family, as was the case during the 25-night visit at son Richard’s home in Henderson, Nevada. Sightseeing wasn’t on our radar.

Now, here in Atenas, Costa Rica, I’m chomping at the bit to get out, but we’ve found the taxi service cost higher than in some other parts of the world. For instance, when we stopped at the health food store and MaxiPali for groceries for a total turnaround time of 75 minutes for taxi fare of US $15, (CRC 8648) and discovered the cost to go to Walmart in San Jose (35-minutes each way) at US $35, (CRC 20,178) plus tip, we decided we’ll rent a car every so often.

This way, when we have the rental car, we can make longer sightseeing trips, go to the dentist and explore on our own. We’ve scheduled a car for five days for the week of August 21st, Monday through Friday, which will be delivered to our door.

In the interim, we’ll continue to work on our taxes, financial, and business stuff and, hopefully, have that out of the way by the time we receive the car.  We’re just like you…at times we have business-related tasks that take priority over pleasure.

Instead, we spend our days working on the veranda, reveling in the sights and sounds of Atenas with the roosters crowing, the cows mooing, the birds singing and myriad other sounds we can’t reasonably determine as yet. A stop for a bit of sun and pool time is usually on the agenda as well.

The evenings? Purely delightful! We enjoy a fabulous meal with a few choice shows to watch on the giant HD TV in the comfortable and spacious screening room, all the while chatting, laughing, and treasuring this life we live.

May you treasure your today and always!

Photo from one year ago today, August 10, 2016:

This style of Buddhist statue is commonly seen in Thailand which was located in the vacation home we’d rented in Rawai, Phuket Thailand one year ago. For more photos, please click here.

All new photos of the interior of the villa…Making appointments and taking care of business…

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The view of the main pool from the master bedroom. These sliding doors and others on the adjacent wall open wide with fine screens to keep out insects. It’s such a treat for us to have screens! The louvered slats above the sliding doors allow cool air to enter the room when the doors are closed.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

This morning at 6:00 am as the clouds continued to roll in.

Since taking the above photo at 6:00 am this morning, the clouds and fog have rolled into a greater degree and we can’t see across the valley at 7:30 am as I sat down to begin posting.  The temperature is in the low 70F’s, (21C) but the humidity is high and everything feels sticky.

Other than the moisture we feel under our feet while gingerly walking barefoot on the somewhat slippery-when-wet tile floor of the veranda this type of weather doesn’t bother us a bit. 

The sauna/steam room is accessible via a door in the master en suite bathroom which also has a door leading out to the veranda to the cold plunge pool.

We have much more to face in the way of inclement weather in the many months to come, particularly in Antarctica and Africa upcoming in the next many months. 

As we observe today’s date of August 9th, we predict we’ll be landing in Mpumalanga Nelspruit-Kruger Airport six months from today or tomorrow, depending on which flight we choose.

This short walk from the sauna/steam room toward to the cold plunge pool for a refreshing event after the heat.

Now, reveling in this peaceful, relatively uneventful period in Costa Rica, as we spend time bird watching over the lush canopy of trees surrounding us, we’re on a mission to get a number of tasks accomplished that we’ve put off for awhile. 

Although neither of us is procrastinators, the nature of our lifestyle often leaves us prioritizing based on its level of importance and/or urgency.  Spending the last over two months in the US, left us little time or motivation to work on some of the project’s we’re mentioning today.

Even this hallway between the living room and screening room has ample closets and decor.

In the past 24 hours, we’ve handled the following appointments:
1.  Friday’s upcoming phone meeting with our accountant in order to get 2016’s taxes completed before October’s due date (we had to get an extension when the box of our documents was lost and later found).
2.  Dentist appointments for both of us on August 21st (a 45-minute drive from Atenas.
3.  A car rental for five days beginning on August 21st enabling us to drive ourselves the long distance.
4.  Found a hotel for the 31-nights in Buenos Aires from December 23, 2017, through January 23, 2018, plus one additional night when the Antarctica cruise ends on February 8th (after which we’ll fly to South Africa as indicated above).

Once the hotel booking for Buenos Aires is wrapped up at the corporate rate, we’ll share the details and the excellent pricing in what appears to be an ideal hotel for our needs over this extended period. 

The villa is not only tastefully decorated but has many useful special areas.

We don’t love staying in hotels for a month or more but we needed to be able to store our luggage since the round trips flights to Ushuaia Argentina where we’ll board the ship, have serious weight restrictions (smaller planes).

As for the dentist appointments, they’re long overdue.  The last time we had our teeth cleaned and checked was in Trinity Beach in July 2015.  Since that period, Tom had an abscessed tooth pulled (a wisdom tooth) in New Plymouth New Zealand in 2016.  At the time we couldn’t find a dentist that did cleaning or we could have had it done then.

This courtyard creates a pleasing entrance to the property!

Not only do we both desperately need a cleaning but Tom’s lost two fillings and I’ve lost one.  Neither of us cares to have more dental crowns so we’re hoping they can refill the teeth. 

Yesterday, we called and spoke and spoke to an English speaking staff member who explained it would be no problem to refill/repair the broken fillings.  They have nine English speaking dentists in the clinic and are highly rated by the expat community in Costa Rica.  This was quite a relief.  We’ll report back how this goes.

Fountain in the center courtyard.

It feels good to finally be addressing these issues.  That’s not to say we don’t have plenty of work ahead of us to get these items wrapped up but at least the ball is rolling after a lengthy period of distractions.

At the moment, Tom’s sitting in the screening room watching US news he found on the TV while I’m comfortably situated outdoors on the veranda on this cloudy damp day.  Perhaps, I’m preparing myself for spending entire days on the veranda as we contemplate doing the same upcoming in Marloth Park.  Bugs?  Snakes?  Heat?  Humidity?  Bring it on, baby!

Plants and flowers in the entrance center courtyard.

Enjoy the beginning of a series of interior photos of this amazing villa in Atenas, Costa Rica!

Happy day to all!

_______________________________________

Photo from one year ago today, August 9, 2016:

Memorial markers at a local cemetery in Phuket Thailand.  For more photos, please click here.

Learning as we go…The language barrier isn’t easy…

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Tom was walking in the yard. We’re in Alajuela, the canton with mountains surrounding the Central Valley, and the yard has many elevations.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

For several hours, this bird family hung around in the yard. It’s easy to tell who the parents are.

Yesterday, our new driver, Henry, picked us up promptly at noon to take us to the health food store. Tucked away in a difficult to find a location, luckily, our property manager Marian had carefully explained to Henry in Spanish where Macrobiotica Atenas is located in the tucked-away location.

The owner of the Macrobiotica Atenas spoke a little English, and with my few words of Spanish, we managed to communicate well enough for me to find US $35 (CRC 20,095) worth of products.

I was so excited to find almond flour, Himalayan salt, baking soda, and raw nuts that the high cost didn’t make either of us raise an eyebrow. Unfortunately, they didn’t have organic apple cider vinegar (with the “mother,” the stringy residue adding to its medicinal value), but I didn’t complain. That’s one product we definitely won’t find here.

Bird of Paradise, commonly found in the tropics.

Now I have all the necessary ingredients to make those delicious low carb, grain, sugar, and starch-free hamburger buns I raved about while we were in Henderson, Nevada. (The recipe may be found at this link). 


My mouth waters, thinking about these buns to use with the grass-fed “mince” (ground beef) we purchased at the market at our next stop. We’ll be making hamburgers and these buns later in the week when we finish a delicious casserole we made yesterday.

When our property owner Bev explained we wouldn’t be able to dine out in most Costa Rican restaurants (based on my way of eating), we decided to make delicious meals in this fabulous well-equipped kitchen. With every pot, pan, bowls of varying sizes, and utensils, cooking is so easy here, and I’m enjoying it more than I have in most countries.

Gorgeous purple flowers are blooming in the yard.

The tricky part is finding ingredients to make our favorite dishes when so many everyday items are hard to find. So, after the Macrobiotica store, we asked Henry to take us to MaxiPali, a Walmart-owned small warehouse type store with household goods and groceries.

Since my flat iron had died a few days earlier, shopping at this store instead of the Supermercado Coopeatenas was the logical solution for this week’s groceries. If anywhere in the small village had such an appliance, it would be there. 

Upon entering the MaxiPali, with hardly a car in the parking lot, compared to the commotion and crowds at Coopeatenas last Wednesday, I was a little worried we wouldn’t be able to find any of the items on our grocery list, let alone a flat ceramic iron.

This appears to be a Zinnia.  Any comments?

Since no one spoke English in the store (why would they?), I used my hands to show the female cashier what I was looking for. It didn’t take her but a second to know exactly where to send me…to the electronics department where all small appliances were kept under glass and lock and key. There was one such item, and I didn’t hesitate to acknowledge that I wanted to buy it. 

The young man behind the counter wouldn’t let me put the item in the cart. So instead, he took it to the cashier, who’d hold it until we checked out with our groceries. It was priced at US $34.83 (CRC 20,000), not too different than the Remington brand would have been priced in the US.

From there, Tom and I perused the remainder of the store, looking for items on our list.  I’d hoped we’d find whole natural cream, but each time we’ve asked for “crema,” we were directed to the powdered Cremora in the coffee aisle. No thanks. 

Double garage below the screening room. The maintenance man and groundskeeper, Ulysses, has an apartment to the left of the garage. Otherwise, there are only the main living quarters where we’re living.

Since we arrived in Atenas last Tuesday night on August 1st and grocery shopped on Wednesday and then again on the following Monday, we’ve already spent (including the flat iron) US $460.33 (CRC 264,307.68).

We have enough food on hand to last another week or even a little longer, especially if we head out on Friday to the farmers market to fill in on fresh veggies, which never seem to last longer than about a week anyway, especially those that are directly from the farm without the use of preservatives and other chemicals. 

After all the bugs I’ve picked off the produce when washing it so far, I don’t expect pesticides are frequently used in this area. From the uneven look of most of the crop, it doesn’t appear that any chemicals were used, except on what seems to be imported (from Mexico) tomatoes. 

Another entrance or exit to the main quarters.

Most tomatoes offered at traditional markets in the US are also imported from Mexico and are highly processed, resulting in a bland taste and uniform look. Maybe we’ll do better finding tomatoes at the farmer’s market on Friday. Talking to Henry, the driver was tricky. He spoke no English at all.  


We attempted to exchange a few words to no avail. The awkward silence in the car was an oddity for us when usually, we become very friendly with our drivers throughout the world, chatting on and on about local customs and our mutual adventures. But, unfortunately, that’s unlikely here in the Central Valley. 

Sure, we can say enough to get general information across but engaging in a full-fledged conversation is difficult. Although, when Isabel, the cleaner, was here, she and I managed to find out a little about each other with my few Spanish words. We had quite an enlightening “conversation” that made me smile, and I’m looking forward to her return on Saturday.

This flower has the shape of an Iris but is a bright reddish-orange.

After all, we’re in “their” country, and it’s up to us to learn the language. Because I know French reasonably well, I’ve managed a few words in Spanish and Italian, which have some basic similarities. 

After spending three months in Boveglios Tuscany, Italy, beginning in June 2013, where no English was spoken, we realized we could manage for extended periods in non-English speaking countries.

Many travelers may scoff at our discussions of language. However, when staying in hotels and resorts that cater to tourists for a one or two-week vacation/holiday, where most staff members speak English along with their native language, it’s an entirely different scenario. 

Living in a vacation home with a staff that speaks no English and shopping in the same markets and shops the locals frequent presents a different situation in trying to communicate. Indeed, it is equally frustrating for them that we aren’t able to speak their language.

Usually, after 2:00 pm, the skies become overcast with low-lying clouds.

No matter how many times a day we look up words on Google Translate or an app on our phones, we’re only going to learn a handful of words in this short period without a structured classroom environment. 

I even contemplated taking an online course, but with the hours I already spend sitting at my laptop each day, I can’t get myself motivated. So in the interim, we’ll figure it out as we go.

Tomorrow, we’ll include photos of the property’s interior, which has some exciting and unusual features we’ve fallen in love with!

Have a fabulous day!  We plan on it!

Photo from one year ago today, August 8, 2016:

A coconut stands in Phuket, Thailand. Neither of us cares for the liquid, but the meat is delicious. For more Phuket photos, please click here.

Willing to let go?…Minnesota Vikings Football season…A must for Tom to see..

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Starfruit only has six carbs per fruit.  A little slice of this might be nice in my water.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

This morning while we lounged in bed at 6:00 am, the sounds of the early day were music to our ears; cows mooing, roosters crowing, birds singing, and church bells chiming.  Magical.

Undoubtedly, traveling the world without an end in sight has given us both a degree of happiness we never anticipated at this point in life and a purpose far beyond our wildest dreams.

However, life is an amalgam of trade-offs, and to accomplish this dream we-never-knew-we-had-until-it-happened…we gave up so much. The opportunity to live this nomadic lifestyle was astounding; on our terms, in our own time, at this particular time of our lives, as retired senior citizens with the financial means (in a relatively economical manner with a strict budget).

Gnarly tree in the yard.

In the process, each of us had to decide what aspects of our old lives we were willing to forfeit (beyond being with beloved family and friends) as impractical, costly, or inconvenient. Incorporating those items, we refused to forgo became a continuing challenge in one way or another.

Years ago, a reader wrote a private email suggesting I cut my hair, stop doing my nails and pedicures, and dispense with wearing makeup. Wouldn’t that make traveling more accessible, they offered? 

Starfruit that has fallen from the tree to the ground.

I laughed. Good grief, I gave up having a home, my family and friends, my worldly possessions, and a plethora of conveniences to living this life. Why would I give up who I am and have always been?  I’ve always prepared myself for the day by my standards, on my terms. 

Why would traveling dictate that I suddenly change my way of putting myself together? It would be as incredible as someone who’s never used mascara or lipstick and, happily so, to start doing so just because they’re traveling suddenly. We are who we are, and we have the right to be so.

The view of the Central Valley is constantly changing based on weather conditions.

So what if every few weeks, I do my nails with products I buy from the US and have shipped in our usual box of supplies once or twice a year? Who cares if I shop at the local market for the cosmetics I now use instead of a department store as I did in my old life? No one. No one cares.

As for Tom, he too, gave up “things” he enjoyed…reading the physical copy of the daily and Sunday newspaper, owning a car, putzing around in the yard, stopping at Super America in the morning for a delicious Super Mom’s doughnut, and most of all…watching Minnesota Vikings football games and following all the hoopla that surrounds it.

A side view of the villa. The outdoor kitchen is located below the veranda.

During our first Vikings season of world travels, Tom signed up at NFL Game Pass with a bit of frustration over its inconsistency and nuances yet to be corrected by the service.  We’d written an earlier post on this topic four years ago on August 8, 2013 (coincidentally, almost to today’s date), which can be found here. 

Over these past years, we’ve written about this topic to some degree every year, as Tom deliberates whether or not he’ll sign up again. The original pricing for the season for only one team (excluding possible playoff and Super Bowl games) was US $169 (CRC 97,388).

We’ve heard their hilarious clicking sounds and seen plenty of gecko poop, but this was the first I’d seen. Earlier that day, Tom spotted the colorful Gold Dust Day Gecko, our favorite, as shown in this photo below that we took in Maui in 2014.  
This is a Gold Dust Day Gecko that we found on the wall in the lanai during a storm. He looked at up me as I shot this photo. Hopefully, we’ll find such a colorful species here in Costa Rica.

Last year NFL Game Pass gave him a special deal when they no longer offered the “one team only package.”  They gave him all the NFL teams package for the previous year’s price of $169 (CRC 97,388).

This year as he prepared to sign up again, he noticed the price had increased to US $199 (CRC 114,676), and he hesitated to sign up. However, he had it set up in their system to perform an automatic renewal.  When he tried after several attempts to cancel the automatic renewal, it wouldn’t allow him to do so.

Finally, he had to contact them to cancel his automatic renewal. They instructed him to follow the steps he’d already completed to no avail. Again, he sent them an email, asking he be removed entirely, which they did.  Frustration set in. Was this worth it?

We’ve seen these flowering trees in most tropical climates.  My friend Colleen wrote and reminded me that this is the Africa Flame Tree. Thanks. dear friend!

On Friday night, I signed up under my name for US $124 (CRC 71,456), and now he’ll be able to watch all the teams if he so chooses. Most likely, the price will increase next year under my name, but for now, this is fine. 

(By the way, this service only works outside North America. We have to turn off our VPN showing we’re in the USA for the app to work for us).

The first preseason game will be on August 10th, this Thursday evening. We’ll watch it on the 80 inch (203 cm) flat-screen TV in the screening room by plugging in our HDMI cord from his laptop. With only a one or two-hour time difference from locations where the games will be played, we’ll be able to watch the games live.

Another view of low-lying clouds in the early morning.

When we spent from 2015 to 2017 in the South Pacific, the time differences were different by hours and by one day due to the International Dateline. For example, Tom would often begin watching a game around 10:00 am, Australia time, on a Monday instead of when it may have been playing in the US on a Sunday.

In any case, he’s good to go this Thursday. In November, he’ll miss several games when we’re on a 30-day back-to-back cruise in South America. However, he’ll be able to watch the games on the app after they’ve played, once the cruise ends in Buenos Aires on December 23rd (coincidentally, Tom’s 65th birthday).

Today, we’re planning to head out by taxi around noon. It appears there’s a Walmart store not too far from here. My flat-iron broke (it lasted five years), and that would be the most logical place to replace it (yep, one of my “necessary devices” even though I travel the world) and hopefully, if they have a grocery department, we can find some whole cream for the coffee.

Enjoy your cup of coffee or tea with us today or next time you have a chance to stop by and read our snippets of daily life “in the world.”

Photo from one year ago today, August 7, 2016:

After narrow two lanes roads in Bali, these wider roads in Phuket are more accessible to maneuver, especially with less traffic than in Bali. Phuket wasn’t quite like I remembered it when I traveled there for three weeks, 30 years ago (before Tom). For more photos, please click here.