Tag Archives: Traveling

I’m in Love with Costa Rica

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I have been to Costa Rica more times than any other country in the world. Why? Because I love Costa Rica! I was just on the border in Panama and had to stop in Costa Rica and explore Puerto Viejo. This is a fantastic little beach and surfer town and it was a fantastic way to end my trip.

Let me start by saying that I am not a surfer. I have been on a board and surfed a few times but would never consider myself a surfer. The hostel has a surf outing everyday where they give you a board and drive you to a surf spot. We were dropped off and told to have fun! The waves were not that big but they were big enough to give me a hard time so I sort of stuck to riding the white water.

I don’t know about you but I think sloth’s are adorable and I wanted to take them all home! This little guy was on the side of the road just trying to cross the street. He was totally lost! Fun fact, a sloth only comes out of a tree about once a week to use the restroom. I must have spotted this guy just after his weekly constitutional. A local finally stopped and grabbed him and put him back in a tree. I would have not been mad if he decided to attach to my back and come home with me! If you want to learn more about sloths I suggest watching the new season of Planet Earth on Netflix.

This sloth was just enjoying eating the fruit out of the tree and I honestly sat and watched him for like 30 minutes. He was just so happy in the tree!

Everywhere in Costa Rica you will hear people say Pura Vida. It is really a way of life and can be used as “hello” or “goodbye” or just “what’s up?” It started raining while I was on a walk and I thought it was the best time to stop and buy a hat and keep my head warm. Plus I absolutely love the idea behind the saying.

The rain. The rain. The rain. There is rain and then there is rain in Costa Rica or anywhere tropical. It can be a beautiful and sunny day and out of nowhere an incredible amount of rain dumps from the sky. Usually the rain only lasts about 20-30 minutes and you can move on with your day. This was not the case on this day and I was stuck at Tasty Waves for a few hours eating delicious tacos and drinking some beers.

Signage in the bathroom

Costa Rica has so much to offer and I only touched on a tiny part of you but you can go zip lining, white water rafting, hike a volcano, trek through the rainforest, rescue sea turtles and so so so much more! This absolutely will not be my last trip to this country!

I’m in Vegas…I Mean Macau

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After a glorious night of sleep (10pm-11am) I felt like I was ready to take over the world! Let’s be honest, I was still feeling jet lagged and could probably have slept for another day. Leslie and I got our day started and headed to lunch at Festiva in the adjacent hotel. This was no ordinary lunch! This was a Vegas style buffet with a bottle of Portuguese wine for less than $10! (The wine was less than $10, not the buffet).

After a glorious 2 hour lunch, we moseyed our way back to our room to get ready for an evening on the Cotai Strip!

With the promise of unlimited fun we took a transfer to the Studio City Hotel. Whenever you ask the concierge or front desk how to get somewhere, they think anything 15 minutes or longer is just too far to walk and always suggest a free shuttle. Anyhow, Studio City is the end of the strip so we could wander our way towards the show at the other end and take in everything Macau had to offer!

A mini Eiffel Tower at the Parisian

Cotai Strip is a mini Vegas and continuing to grow. The difference is there is no smoking in the casino and everyone is drinking tea instead of alcohol.

Leslie treated me to see The House of Dancing Water which is a spectacular acrobatic water show created by Franco Dragone who also created quite a few Cirque du Soleil shows. The show does not allowed photography but is full of fun acrobatics and a great story line and we were in the splash zone in the 4th row!

We grabbed a quick bite at Tastes of Asia and headed back to the hotel for a good night of sleep!

Books travel just like people

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When I travel I always have an actual book with me and not just a nook or a tablet. When I finish the book I leave it wherever I finished it and I leave my email address in the book with a little note. I have probably left over 50 books around the world and this was the first message I received. I have never been to Paros but I have been to Greece. That means my book went on a little adventure!

Hi Jenna,

Just thought I’d drop you a quick line as I’ve just finished reading this book on the island of Paros, Greece – not sure if that’s where you left it?
I’ve been eating books this holiday and had run out of reading material, I’m a believer in books that have paper pages rather than electronic ones!
As we’re staying in a holiday apartment rather than hostel there was a distinct absence of books – in fact nada!!
We chanced your book in a hotel/cyber cafe in Limivadia, Parikia Paros on Sunday afternoon whilst trying to find a place to print something else of the internet – we couldn’t find any place here that has a book swap – maybe an opportunity here in the future, who knows!
So, where ever you are – you might still be in Paros yourself, or maybe you’ve never been here, but where I chanced across your book – so thank you! All read in two days and 8 pages missing but nothing to interrupt the plot, so I’ll pass it on too!
Happy Reading!