#BuyExperiencesNotThings: Costa Rica

In 2015, I bought a world map and pinned it to a cork board in hopes that it would motivate me to travel a lot more than staying in my bed and watching Netflix all day. My goal is to fill up the map as much as possible by 2020 and see all cylinders of the world.

... 

Taylor, Olivia, Trevor and I going zip lining
(Photo Credit: Taylor Gelbrich)

Last month, I went on a trip with 3 of my friends (Taylor, Olivia and Trevor) to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. I've never been out of the country beside Japan with my family so this would be my first big trip outside of the States.

Having this trip planned 3 months before we left, I was really antsy to leave since it's been 8 months after I went to New York and got the travel bug then.

When we finally got to Costa Rica, it didn't seem like it was all to be. From Liberia, the city we flew into, to Tamarindo looked like as if the country was in a drought and it was. The locals we meet told us that it hasn't rained hard for nearly 4-5 years. I guess California isn't the only ones having that problem.

Once we got to Tamarindo, it was like arriving to paradise. The beach, palm trees, surfers walking around with their boards, everyone in their swimwear. It was everything you could ask for in a vacation.

We stayed at a small hostel called Blue Trailz. Im glad my best friend, Taylor, booked us a room there instead of a hotel and here's why.

Blue Trailz I would say is about the size of a full NBA sized basketball court. At the front of the hostel, there are 2 entrances; one to the office/surfboard rental shop/pro shop and the other which leads to the rooms. Along the walk way that leads to the rooms, there were about 30 surf board lined up which you could rent through the hostel and also get lessons if you wanted. Then about 20 feet from the entrance, there is a decent sized lounge area with a wooden dining table, couple of futon chairs and 2 hammocks. Right behind the lounging area is the building where the rooms are located.

Hanging out at the little lounging area before a night out
(photo credit: @noemichlopecka)

The building is 2 stories with 4 units. The ones down stairs are a dorm style in which it could fit 6 people with 3 bunk beds, a shared kitchen and bathroom. From when I was there, I saw a lot of people spending the night in that room for a couple of days and then leaving after a couple of days; the one upstairs was label the "private" rooms which included 2 queen beds, 1 bunk bed, a shared kitchen and bathroom. Since there was 4 of us, we never had anyone come in and out of place,
though we did have one empty spot on the bunk bed.

What I think made this place unique was the lounging area that was in-between the entrance and the rooms. It was big enough to have a break dance battle but tight enough to where you didn't have to yell across the area to talk to someone. The hostel provided wifi but the connection was terrible in the rooms so the only place you can get some service was in that lounging area. You saw a lot of people hanging out there in the morning and during the night. This also allowed a chance for others to meet and greet instead of being on their phones, tablet or computers all day along.

During our stay at Blue Trailz, I never thought I would meet people in such a small area from different parts of the countries. Here are the people who we met when we got there.

Group photo of the first group of people we met at the hostel
(Photo Credit: Matthijs van der Graaf)

• Matt - a college student from The Netherlands who found out he graduated while he was in Costa Rica. From what he told me, he's travel to a lot of places but this was the first time (or at least I think he said) he was traveling alone for a long period of time. For 2 and a half months, he's traveling to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama then taking a boat trip to Columbia to meet up with his friends.
• Marc - a guy from Montreal, Canada. He stayed in Tamarindo for 10 days by himself. He was only suppose to take 7 days off from work but booked a 10 day trip anyways. He said he was going to go travel elsewhere with a friend but he bailed so decided to book a trip to Costa Rica instead. Told me it was worth it 
• Sam and David - 2 guys from Texas (one originally from New Jersey). They both quit their jobs and decided to take a trip to Costa Rica. David went back home to Texas after 2 days of meeting them and Sam went down to Nicaragua to be part of a surf camp. They are (hopefully) going to train for the Iron Man competition in Europe sometime this year.
• Camille and Alexandra - 2 best friends also from Montreal. Alexandra just graduated and is about to go get her masters in psychology and they both decide to take a vacation to Costa Rica before she started school again.
• Boaz and his friend - two Australians who were doing a surf tour of there own traveling from South America to Central America. We didn't really talk to them much but I hope they are doing well.
• Melissa - a girl from Toronto and was traveling because her boyfriend was on a volleyball tour and she just finished finals for school.
• Keegan and Taylor - two friends from east Canada (don't remember exactly where). 

This group stayed together, hung out and went out at night for 2 days since we got to Tamarindo, but once those 2 days were up, we saw travelers checking in and out of the place on a daily bases.

Trevor getting ready to go down one
of the 10 zip lines in Vandara

Once you are in Tamarindo (for vacation), there's not much to do during the day but to hang out with friends or people you meet, and/or go to the beach. Our hostel did provided us with a brochure with variety of excursions that guest(s) can choose from. Taylor, Olivia, Trevor and I choose a package that included a horse back ride, zip lining, a water tubing, a hot spring and lunch. 

The excursion was about a little over an hour away from the hostel and the place is called Vandara Hot Springs and Adventures. When the shuttle arrived to pick us up, our tour guide gave us a second option.

Originally, we were suppose to go to Buena Vista, which was the name of the package we chose, and also the name adventure park. Our tour guide, Eugene, told us that the Buena Vista Lodge and Adventure was about 2 hours away and it was an all day event compared to if we went to Vandara, it was only an hour away and we would be back in Tamarindo before sunset. Shout out to Eugene for that recommendation!

Mama Trunk Lady selling her food
on the street of Tamarindo

For food, we ate a couple of restaurants like the Nogui's and Green Papaya, but the food I really like most was sold on the streets. 

Before going to Costa Rica, Taylor, Olivia and I read about a lady that sells a plate of food from the trunk of her car (we called her Mama Trunk Lady for some reason). I didn't really believe it until I actually got there. She had about 5 pots in sitting in the trunk of her car that consisted of chicken, pork, white rice, a chicken fried rice type, and beans. My favorite thing to get there was the chicken fried rice plate with some cole slaw, beans and plantains. For those of you who know me, I eat massive amounts of food. I couldn't finish this in one sitting.

Also, as we walked around town, we saw multiple people seeking chicken and pork skewer on street corners. We didn't really think much of it until we bought some. Each screws come with about 4 small pieces and I crushed 5 screws within 10 minutes. The person that sells it usually have their own type of hot sauce and I recommend you getting the hot sauce brushed on the skewer the you order some.

One thing that amazing me, besides the chicken skewers and Mama Trunk Lady, was how warm the water was. I've never been to any other beaches besides the ones in the South Bay and Santa Barbara and the water is always cold. 

When I first stepped foot in the ocean at Costa Rica, it was like take a lukewarm bath. It was amazing. I could have been in it all day long. I would even be out surfing but would just lay on the board and watch the sunset without freezing to death. The water was clear and was unreal how warm it was.

The night life in Tamarindo was eventful. There is 4 or 5 bars that held an event on different nights such as karaoke night, ladies night, reggae night and live DJ and Salsa. And me, of course, not wasting any time went out every night I was there.

So the breakdown of my trip, besides the day of the excursion went like this...

• Woke up around 8 am.
• Went to go grab a cup of Cappuccino from the coffee shop next to our hostel called Santa Rita.
• Hung out and talked to other guests at the hostel in the lounging area.
• Headed down to the beach around noon.
• Got to the beach at 12:05 pm.
• Either surfed, played smash ball or just hung out until about sunset.
• Went back to the hostel and showered.
• Went down and hung out a little more in the lounging area.
• Went to the supermarket just down the street to buy a lot of waters and alcohol (we did this about 4-5 times a day)
• Went to go buy a smoothie from a little place right next to our hostel.
• Drank the smoothie and showered again.
• Went to go grab something to eat for dinner.
• Came back and laid in the air conditioned rooms (no matter what time of day it was, when you were outside, you sweated like Niagara Falls).
• Went down to the lounging area at 9 pm, where we would play card games and pregame before we went out for the night. 
• Head out to the bar of the night at 11 pm
• Headed back to the Hostel around 1-2 am.



Sunset at Costa Rica (Photo Credit: Trevor Clemons)

• Some nights, we would go out to the ocean after we get back from the bar.
• Go to sleep around 2:30-3 am
• Wake up around 8 and do it all over again.

The 8 days I was in Tamarindo, Costa Rica was an unbelievable experience. I've never been on a true vacation and this trip definitely set the tone. From surfing in the warm ocean to going up to the volcanoes and go zip lining; going on a trip with old friends and making new ones along the way. I hope my next trip can be as good as this one. 

Thank you to the town of Tamarindo for bringing endless amounts of joy to us!

Pura Vida!

Jun