Welcome to Costa Rica

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The first sign you see when arriving in Costa Rica reads as follows.  “Welcome to Costa Rica: Any sexual activity with a minor is punishable by imprisonment.”  It was not the welcoming sign I was expecting to see; I had clearly entered a third world country that was very far from home. 

The airport in Liberia was a small bunker, the high hanging lights over head where being dimmed by the huge swarm of insects all around them.   Every two to three seconds an insect would land or crash into you.  I  breezed through customs that seemed more like a welcoming committee then anything else.  Because of my 4 hour delay the last bus for Tamarindo was long gone and it was either going to be a ridiculously expensive cab ride or maybe get lucky with some improvising.  “Anyone going to Tamarindo?”

What happened next is the reason I love traveling on a complete whime without any set plans what so ever…..

Opening Lyrics to the Movie The Beach

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There is a certain satisfaction in completing a good pack.  When everything is done and everything is ready: the journey begins.   That about sums up my morning today.  I am beginning a new journey towards the unknown, with no plans or schedule, no itinerary, or idea of what the future holds; I am completely free.

I thought I would leave you with a couple quotes from the two movies I decided to watch before my trip.  I hope you enjoy…. 

 Opening Lyrics to the Movie The Beach

” My name is Richard; so what else do you need to know?  Stuff about my family or where I am from? None of that matters.  Not once you have crossed the ocean and cut yourself lose; looking for something more beautiful; more exciting.  And yes I admit something more dangerous.  So after 18 hours in the back of an airplane; three dumb movies; two plastic meals; six beers and absolutely no sleep.  I finally touched down…”

“…So never refuse an invitation; never resist the unfamiliar; never fail to be polite; never over stay your welcome.  Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience: and if it hurts it’s probably worth it.” 

“and as for traveling alone; fuck it.  If that’s the way it has to be; then that’s the way it is.”

The movie Pointbreak

“I must be crazy.”

“but are you crazy enough”

See you in Costa Rica

Surfing to be Free. Hang ten surfing these amazing new enlightened vibrations from the surfing soul of a backpacking genius in Costa Rica

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A two minute Escape to Surfing beautiful beaches, hot bikinis and a never ending party from the road least traveled.   This is Idream Now Travel Blog.  Above, is what you can expect over the next month from my new Travel Blog.  I tried to think of a creative way to explain my motivations for this trip and the reason I picked Costa Rica.  So, I dug up this little excerpt from one of my previous travel journals that explains my desires to surf from one town to the next in Costa Rica.   I wrote this entry into one of my travel journal while in San Sebastian; a beautiful town in Northern Spain.  I got lost, and happened to arrive at this surf competition and  promo party. 

The Surf Competition 

(There is just something cool about surfing that I cannot really explain.  I know that one day I will surf and be a beach bum.  It is a way to become one with the Ocean and lose yourself in that majestic place.  I got lost on my way today but ended up just where I needed to be.  I always say, Fate, while traveling has a way of bringing you to the right place and time, so that you may savor a special moment.) 

Surfing to be free… 

(They wait in the water like a floating colony, hoping to catch the perfect wave where they lose themselves, only to become free.  As they rip across the surf, for a brief moment their soul’s become alive.  There is no longer any need to think, it is a time to just be.  Be free from the world and all its stressful bull shit.  Be alive, be content, be one with their soul.  Someday just like them, I will surf to be just me, me who is free. “  ) 

Taken from Old JMH Travel Journal archives  

Today, I purchased a new backpack for my trip to Costa Rica.  It’s light weight with with track wheels, zip way harness strap, and a zip away day pack.  I love it.  For me the backpack is a universal symbol of freedom and exploration; a traveling colony of brave adventurers wishing to see first hand the different marvels of our world: indulging in the pursuit of pleasure and the adventure of the unknown.  

Seven Days and counting to Costa Rica

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Seven Days and counting to Costa Rica…I can feel the fear setting in a little more each day: a little hint of the unknown before me.  With every journey to a new unknown place; you must realise one thing.  Something that is scary to most people.  When you leave, everything around you is going to be very different: and when you return, nothing will ever be the same again.  The journey will force you to change by challenging you each step of the way.  It will unveil your true character, because that is all that you will be left with on the road.  Your true self. I leave in 7 days for a month in Costa Rica.  I should probably make a list of the all the things I need to get done before I leave; but that isn’t my style.  I’m a fly by the seat of my pants type of traveler, allowing a mixtures of spontaneity and fate to guide me.   Give me any starting point in the world and I will inevitably end up where I need to be at the precise time I need to be there.  True, your probably thinking bullshit because that would be impossible.  Impossible for only those who plan to arrive somewhere on their trip.  For me, it’s not an arrival or a departure; it’s a journey.  The only time and place I need to be is here and now with the road least traveled before me.  To be a free soul on the open road living only for the present moment.  Stay tuned for upcoming stories from the Costa Rica Trail….  

The road least traveled

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“All I could think of was that in two days, I was going to relive, here in the latter part of the twentieth century, something of the great human adventure that had brought Ulysses from Troy, that had been part of Don Quixote’s experience, that had led Dante and Orpheus into hell, and that had directed Columbus to the Americas: the adventure of traveling toward the unknown. ”

Coelho   The Pilgrimage  p.14

10 Days and counting until I will be traveling towards the unknown.  It has been 7 years since my last journey.  7 whole years….. Wow.  My last backpacking adventure took me from England to Athens.  It was the most magical journey of my life.  My soul grew and I realised that it was my dream to become a writer.   When I reflect upon my trips backpacking across Europe; it is the feeling of absolute freedom that I remember most.  All the weight that the world has ever put on you leaves and this sense of oneness with everything sinks in.  The world becomes this grand and vast feast for you to enjoy!    

 I have been scrambling around all day to get my license renewed and a new passport.  With only 9 days left it will be a tight squeeze.  I have yet to book a place to stay in Costa Rica or even a ride to the airport, which is 3 hours away in Seattle. I lost my last true backpack  for traveling; so I will have to buy another.  Oh, and I need to find someone to watch Alchemy my Cat while I’m gone.  So maybe I should get moving and quit writing….For now of course….Cheers