Day 136 (November 5): How we got here (to paradise)

Seen through any lens, this place is beautiful (photo by Sam Westover)

Part 1: The Backstory
This is a story about a man named Josh. Some of you know him but didn't know that he has a passion for travel. Some of you know him and his passion for travel but not his extensive and well-placed family of travel professionals. Now all of you can know that we are in a Costa Rican paradise because of his assistance.

Let's start this story in the middle, of course. It's late 2018 and my colleague Megan and her husband Josh have come over to tell us about Argentina. Megan has told me that Josh is from Buenos Aires and (insert long digression here) his family has an apartment that there might be available for visiting friends.

Megan, almost exclusively, knew about our plan but hasn't told her husband because he also works in our field and appreciates that I'm in a delicate situation. At first, on the premise of a hypothetical future trip to BA, Josh is telling us about his family, neighborhoods and activities. Later, once the bigger picture is in view, Josh lights up like a spotlight in a Broadway theater.

His cousin has a place in Costa Rica, Josh says in the manner of a parent who is actually going to buy their child a pony or a puppy. This place is a surf camp with wide, soft beaches. This place is a small resort that is campus or compound like, such that we wouldn't have to worry about the kids' whereabouts. This place is perfect for surfers to take their first lessons, young or old. This place has a reasonable number of rooms plus one apartment, which used to be occupied by his cousin, that can hold a family our size. Almost sight unseen, I have booked a week in "Joe's Apartment" at Witch's Rock Surf Camp within twenty four hours.

Part 2: A Snowball to the Beach
One weekend in January (2019), we are with family and friends celebrating Elise's 40th in Grand Style. One family, friends of about ten years since their boys and our "bigs" went to daycare together, has traveled with us numerous times. They hear about our surf camp plans and respond, almost instinctively, with "we're in." Now our six is ten. That conversation is loud enough that my cousin overhears. "We've gone to that resort three times in the last five years," they say. A few days later, our ten has become twelve. It's going to be a party. The fact that Henry's friend Alexander will be at surf camp for a week draws Henry forward through the lowest moments of the RV trip this fall, in fact.

Part 3. It Takes a Village to Reach a Village
Flying to Central America from the Northwest can be tricky. It's way down and way over, despite what you remember from middle school geography studies. It's possible - our friends are proof - that you can leave Portland in the early morning and arrive on the same day. But it will be dark and you will be tired. Instead, we did the first leg of our flight on Friday, November 1 and the second leg on Saturday, November 2. We didn't have to leave the house until after 10am on day 1, the first flight of the trip was short and easy (I'm a firm believer that early wins are good), we stayed at an airport hotel with a pool and we got to have dinner with my godfather in Los Angeles!

Cate, Ali, Henry and Lily. They've got the whole world in their hands...

Cousin Adele at center with Henry, Ali, Lily and Cate

Our official 12-on-6 photo at our first airport. One down, about 20 to go.

Jetway selfie!

Our kids and our luggage at an airport hotel in LA

On Day 2, we boarded an 8:30 flight to Liberia in western Costa Rica. The 5-1/2 hour flight was straightforward, helped by the fact that each kid had a clutch of halloween candy. We breezed through customs (separate line for families with children!), recovered all of our checked luggage and met the resort's shuttle immediately. We were whisked to the coast in about an hour on narrow, two-lane roads in excellent condition while the kids dozed. Our family and friends were on the beach when we arrived!

Long flights can be a breeze with handheld electtronics

We're on our way!

Airport #3 (I missed LAX)

I don't know what's happening here but it's cute.

Our first sunset in paradise (credit: Sam)

Tomas and Lily have been friends since going to daycare together 11 years ago (Lily was 6 months). They love sushi.

Truly, the worst thing that happened as we embarked on this phase of our adventure was that Henry left the case for his headphones on the first flight, which we didn't realize until the end of the second flight. Fortunately, it was just the case and a redundant wire. There was one small water spill but it was water and we had spare clothes. Oh, there was the brief episode in which we lost one of the kids in the first five minutes at the Portland Airport (before security, no less) because she followed a stranger she mistook as one of us. And here I thought we were unmissable and unmistakable.

I did find the luggage situation stressful. We have fourteen pieces of luggage, from the largest rolling duffel to the smallest purse. We are prepared for one or more children to quit carrying their backpack but, really, we're counting on them to pull their own weight. The suitcase with our traveling school weighs 54 pounds. The kids are not yet skilled at pulling (or pushing) their rolling suitcases around corners or over curbs. These are things that are humorously trivial and will be untrue in a matter of weeks or months. I was immensely happy with the shuttle service that the resort provided and with the personnel involved.

Part 4: Paradise Found

It's 24 hours after we arrived. All twelve of us have been in a surf lesson. Except for Ali and Cate, who chose playing in the sand over surfing, each of us has stood on a board and "surfed." There has been playing in the sand and playing on the beach. There are have been tropical cocktails. There has been dancing to live music. There have been gorgeous sunsets. There have been panhandling artists juggling fire next to the outdoor restaurant. I could go on (and I will in the next entry, of course).

Elise and Maria at sunset at dinner

Alex, Henry and Tomas heading off to their first surf lesson

Ali and I shared a Cha Cha with live music

All smiles with her new shades

One could do worse than we a swinger of [hammocks]

But let's go back to the beginning. There's Megan and Josh, sitting in our living room. Megan is keeping our secret and Josh is thinking faster than he can speak about the worldwide adventures awaiting us. In coming months, we will learn about more of Josh's adventures. Megan, a fellow urban/transportation planner, will share her perfectly-nerdy itinerary for enjoying BA.

What I learned from Megan and Josh is to pay attention and to ask open-ended questions. Since then, I have asked hundreds of people, "what would you do with a month if you could be anywhere in the world?" The answers have varied as widely as you would expect (although Manhattan is the median destination). I'm constantly remembering that Megan mentioned her connection to Buenos Aires in passing and if I hadn't been listening, hadn't been paying attention, we would not be here right now, in paradise. If Josh hadn't been so willing to share his knowledge and passion, we would not be here right now.

So there we were, eating dinner on the first night at the resort, when we heard a child's cry from our apartment above the restaurant. Elise and I both dashed for the stairs, fearing the worst, which couldn't have been further from reality, in fact. When we got back, a man and a woman were at our table, laughing and introducing themselves. These were Holly (Josh's cousin) and her husband Joe (the owner). They had made that exact same run when they lived above the restaurant in the apartment that now bears Joe's name.

If you need further proof, here are pictures from paradise. The credit for these pictures is shared with our travelmates, Tim, Maria, Sam and Shelley. Sam and Shelley are legitimate professionals and Tim is just a natural, especially with editing. Thanks to them for sharing!