Thoughts from working and travelling outside the USA
It was about a 120 miles drive from Arenal to Tamarindo Beach, took about 4 hrs with a short detour in the town in Liberia. Not much to see there, but if you are only going to Tamarindo Beach you can fly there directly and save several hours driving. Good beach town, more on the... Continue Reading →
Didn’t do a lot of research on Arenal – just watched a youtube video on Costa Rica and decided to spend a couple of days in the mountains & rainforest to try something different. Even picked out hotel from the video – it was a recommended place to visit because they had hot springs on... Continue Reading →
Sharon and I went to Costa Rica last May. We chose this week back in February 2022 because a) cheap airfare and b) likely the only week I knew I could get off for sure for 2022. We did not investigate the weather situation – we would find that May is the start of the... Continue Reading →
I had done a similar trip with a one day layover on my own back in 2014, so when the option came up to have a one day layover from San Jose on Copa Airlines, we took it. To start, we had a rough departure from San Jose – upon arrival they advised we missed... Continue Reading →
We weren’t on a timetable so we stopped in several places – one was Hermosa Beach which is renowned for its volcanic black sand beaches. We parked and had miles of beach to ourselves – it was about 95 degrees and we walked out on the beach. It was clear why we had the beach... Continue Reading →
Pretty simple trip logistics – saw a cheap airfare over holiday weekend that allowed for a stop in Panama City on Copa Airlines, booked first/last night with hotel points and after some research settled on Jaco as it is a 1 hour drive from San Jose and booked two nights in a beach hostel (at... Continue Reading →
A quick business trip to Lima and due to the flight timing, I had a overnight layover in Bogota on the way back. I got to hotel at 2am in Lima on the way out with meetings the following 2 days and leaving Lima at 5pm to Bogota. While in Lima I did get out... Continue Reading →
The trip to Buenos Aires starts at the Brazilian – Argentinian border town of Puerto Iguazu where we caught the bus for the scheduled 17 hour trip to Buenos Aires. A little perspective, Rio is located at the same relative location as Havana Cuba, Iguazu Falls at Fort Lauderdale. and Buenos Aires at Charlotte. So... Continue Reading →
After we got the passport situation squared away and properly checked into the “Iguazu Eco Hostel” things dramatically improved. One of the seven natural wonders of the world. I am lucky that right after I booked the framework of the trip I saw a post on FB with a friend at Iguazu Falls. So we... Continue Reading →
Sometimes a plan just doesn’t come together. The original plan was to wake up in Rio and have until about 2pm to hang out at Copacabana beach and then catch an Uber to the airport - scheduled relaxation. The side trip to Buzios now puts us back to the Rio AirBNB at 11am – but... Continue Reading →
Alexandra had the idea for Buzios from her friends – I had never heard of it. We checked on getting a tour up but none fit our schedule so we decided to rent a car and drive. We didn’t factor in “Brazil time” on the rental car pick up but we on the road by... Continue Reading →
Very impressive and one of my favorite cities that I have ever been too. We stayed at the intersection of the Ipanema and Copacabana beaches…they are actually located in the near suburbs of Rio as downtown is 30 minutes away. A concern going in was street crime, we were probably overcautious but didn’t have any... Continue Reading →
A couple of things came into alignment for taking a trip at this time – Alexandra and I both are “between things” and me avoiding surgery on my arm (doctor's advise – if it isn’t broken, don’t break it!). This was planned to be more of backpacking trip than a vacation (e.g. – try to... Continue Reading →
The highlight of the week was getting an email from Sharon that Annelise had been named one of the “Girls to Watch” for the area for the forthcoming volleyball season. I am happy that she got the recognition as she has worked hard over the last couple of years. This week I had a trip... Continue Reading →
Back in 2012, before moving to Korea, we had a family trip to Machu Picchu and Cusco. Very impressive but not an easy place to get to (maybe that is why no one knew about it from the Western world until mid-1800's). The trip in 2012 entailed a flight to Lima, transfer and second flight to... Continue Reading →
Sharon and I went to St. Martin for our honeymoon in 1993 - still our only time in the Caribbean a and one of only two times we did have done the resort vacation where we stayed in one place for a week. Pretty relaxing week, did the standard parasailing, jet ski, and hanging out... Continue Reading →