We are road trippers. We try to get out and explore our state, returning to favorite locations and driving farther and farther to discover new places. As a one income family with four children, we have been limited to places we could reasonably reach by car. We are fortunate to live in a beautiful state, full of parks and rivers and beaches and interesting cities, and we have tried to explore them all.
However, this year marks our 25th wedding anniversary. We wanted to celebrate big. I understand there are people to whom a trip to Europe is an annual event, and hopping on an airplane is an irritating inconvenience. We are not those people. This may be our trip of a lifetime. We're making it happen.
When we originally discussed how to mark the occasion, we talked about sun and fun in Hawaii. We talked about Fiji. The hubby pulled up picture after picture of beautiful atolls on his phone. (What? He doesn't swim!) One day, however, he came home from work asking, "What about Costa Rica?" An acquaintance had recently traveled there and had regaled my husband with photos and stories of this pura vida paradise.
We looked into a trip, and it looked like it was going to be cost prohibitive. I mean, the airfare alone was over $700 each! So we started looking again at Hawaii, although I could tell hubby's heart wasn't really in it. Then we got slammed with some medical bills and stopped looking altogether.
What changed our mind?
I think we remembered that we only walk this path once, and the climb becomes steeper as we go along.
My sister and her husband are celebrating their 25th this year also, and when she asked me what we were planning. I realized that I sadly did not have an answer, so we began searching again. (Thank God for the internet and Tripadvisor!) We looked at Costa Rica and drooled over the placid forest scenes and the beautiful beaches. We got excited over volcanoes and rappelling canyons and zip-lining. We agonized over locations. North or south? Which beach? What were people saying about various locations? We saw a cute little B&B with a five star rating and only one night available within our time frame. We looked at each other, and took the bait.
From there it's been sheer planning madness. It was a week of perusing locations and filling in reservations, watching airfare rise, then breathing a sigh of relief when it fell to previous levels. All the tough stuff is done, and now it's a matter of filling in the middle.
This may take a huge bite out of our budget, but so have many other things. Home repairs. College. Cancer. Through everything, there is one truth that remains. You can't put a price on memories.
Costa Rica, here we come!
This may take a huge bite out of our budget, but so have many other things. Home repairs. College. Cancer. Through everything, there is one truth that remains. You can't put a price on memories.
Costa Rica, here we come!
