Costa Rica - La Pura Vida

Life is exhausting when all you do is nothing.

I'm writing to you from Montezuma. A sweet little town nestled in the lush green jungle at the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. The living is easy. Everybody moves at a lethargic pace, drunk on the sun's potent rays.

My day goes a little something like this: Get up anywhere between 6-7am, make breakfast, read book or chitchat with hostel mates, lay on beach, swim in ocean, shower, read, nap, make dinner, chitchat some more with a cerveza in hand, go to bed.

Rinse and repeat.

See told you – EASY. LIVIN’.

On Monday we took a boat ride to Isla Tortuga where we went snorkeling and soaked in some rays on a beautiful pristine beach.The crew made us a delicious fish lunch and afterwards I found myself a sweet spot under a shaded tree and took the best nap ever experienced in life!

Hate me yet?

Just as I sat down to start this blog post, I finally saw my first Monkey. Well, I have seen monkeys before like at the zoo or in picture books, but these were three live Monkeys’ in the flesh! White-headed Capuchin's to be exact. Also known as “Marcel” because of Ross' Monkey from Friends. I've heard the Howler Monkey's frightening call but I have yet to see one. They are scary sounding mofo's!

See Monkey - Check!

I've already met some pretty cool peeps from around the globe! It's always great to meet like-minded people and learn a thing or two about where they are from or where they have been.

I met Jason from Québec QC. in the Customs line in San Jose. We shared a cab and took off on our separate ways. As fate would have it though, I met him the following morning on the ferry at Puntareina on my way to Montezuma. I'm sure this is just the beginning of bumping into people I've met in other places as we all carve out adventures and establish “the route” through Central/South America. It always seems to happen.

At Hostel Luna Llena, Dr. Nic gave us a lesson in Aussie music. Brother by Matt Corby is now playing on repeat in my head. Check it out - you won't be disappointed. Brother - Matt Corby. You are welcome.

Ben the Swiss-German taught us how to say naughty things in German and is a T1 Diabetic like myself! Mom is breathing a sigh of relief as I type this. My sugars and my hair (I would describe it as fabulous) have actually never been better.

Andres is a native Costa Rican and he answered my question as to why Costa Rican's are called Tico's. It's actually due to their way of speech - they mostly add -tico or -ito at the end of their words. ie: "Hola Chiquitos!" We also found out that the other Central American countries also have monikers. Guatemala; Chabines, El Salvador; Cuzcatlecos (try saying that 3 times fast), Nicaragua; Nicas (Nicarao) - all stem from indigenous tribes within each respective country. Though you have to be careful of how you use it because it can become an offensive slang word. Lastly Honduras; Catracho - Which comes from the name of Florencio Xatruch, the general who led the Honduran expeditionary force against William Walker in Nicaragua in 1856. Dina giving a history lesson? No big deal. *I'm sure Angèle is already googling the above and will correct me if I'm wrong!.*

In addition to the above, special shout out of Katie "say it like it is" from Colorado, Roxanne my little hipster from LA, Simona from Switzerland, Courtney and "Snapshot" Cory from Baltimore & Julia and Hannah from Germany. All of the above mentioned people have made my time in Montezuma a great introduction to this whole traveling alone business.

Felt "Lost" after our 30min hike to Playa Grande

It's now however time to move on. Roxanne and I are headed to Nosara which is up the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula where I might try my hand to a little surfing.

Hasta luego amigos!

How much is too much?

7?....14?.... really, how many panties should one bring when planning on traveling Central/South America for 7 months? Socks, footwear, tanks, memory cards... the list goes on!

As I've been basking in the glow of my self-imposed retirement, i've put quite some thought into this.

My first instinct was to make a list of Needs vs. Wants. This way, once packed, if I still had room I would be able to transfer over some "Wants" into the pack. Once completed, most of the list was Needs and only Tent, Air Mattress, Sleeping Bag & Phone made it onto the Wants list. Well, let's be honnest, I really didn't even want the Tent, Air Mattress or Sleeping Bag. That was me trying to be a hardcore adventure traveler. Definitely not there yet.

Over some drinks, Brooks shared advice a friend had once bestowed onto him. "Pack everything that you may think you need, then live out of your backpack for 3 days at home and see how you fare". At the time, this seemed like a pretty solid plan. However there are flaws to this "plan". I'm living at home with my parents. I want to eat, I go to the fridge. I want to cook, I open the cupboards. I want to visit a friend, I hop into my car. Clothes dirty? Into the washing machine you go! Living at the Kitchen Island is NOT synonymous with Buget Island Living. Not even close. Imagine the look on my parents face watching me eat dinner with my Swiss Army Knife! I'm way too spoiled here to be able to only live out of a pack. Plus, our house is tempered. T-shirt and joggers are all I need.

I realised I should seek the advice from experienced travelers. So off into the World Wide Web I go!Obviously 9 bloggers out of 10* say you will ALWAYS pack too much. (*Not a proven fact, but common, dentists do it, why can't I?) I can only assume the reason we overpack is because of the unknown. I can only assume again, that I WILL overpack. Let me tell you a little story about underpacking. Two years ago, my Best Friend Kyla and I packed our bags for Ecuador. I was thinking South America is the furthest south I've been to date... we're actually hitting the equator, so its GOT to be HOT!

WRONG! ....very wrong. See folks, you should always do your research before heading somewhere. Did you know that Ecuador lays on a cloud belt? As per quoted from Wikipedia "Because of its elevation and its proximity to the equator, Quito has a fairly constant cool climate, with spring-like weather year-round. The average temperature at noon is 18.7 degrees Celcius." ...ya, layering my 4 bikinis did not help maintain the heat in my frigid limbs. I wore my only pair of pants and only sweater the entire trip. Looking back at the pictures, it's almost funny.

That Sweater and Those Pants - Isla de la Plata, EC.

So ok, I will overpack! I am ok with this. But as the title of this blog stresses... How Much is TOO MUCH!? I guess only time will tell. Trial and error will be the name of the game and I think I'm ready for it. If I have too much stuff, I unload and leave some items behind. Should more garments be needed, all I would have to do is stroll into a market to find what is suitable. Trust me, I can rock Alpaca from head to toe!

6 days remain until I head off to begin this incredible adventure. A mixture of fear and excitment is corsing through my veins. For now, I must chanel that adrenaline into completing my pack (and yes mom, cleaning my room). Next time I post, it will be that time!

p.s. If you're curious about Kyla and my trip to Ecuador, check out http://dinakylasexcellentadventures.tumblr.com/

À la prochaine,