Monday, December 20, 2021

Costa Rica 2021: Prologue

 I have been struggling to collect my thoughts to write about Costa Rica.

It strikes me as odd as I have not really felt that motivated the way I have for other vacations.  I am not sure why that is, really. I can tell you any number of facts:  The population of Costa Rica is about 5.1 million people and 7 provinces, the largest of which is San Jose and includes the capital city of San Jose.  Their major exports include medical devices (two kinds), pineapples, coffee, and bananas.  They are one of two countries in Central America that has no armed forces (Panama being the other).

But facts are not what really make up a vacation.

As I have continued to think on this, what I have come to realize is that for me, this was an atypical vacation.

Most times I have taken a vacation in the last 10 years (at least), I have been effectively an "active participant in the event.  In going to Japan, I go to train.  In the Grand Canyon, I hiked.  In Montana and in Iceland, we drove and did things:  hiked, walked through museums, looked at things. Which we did in Costa Rica.

But in Costa Rica, it was much more passive.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that, of course.  It is nice to not have to worry about your room or your luggage or at least (some) of your meals or getting from place to place.  But at least for me, I found it some enervating.

I thought less.  I sat and looked - sometimes for hours out a bus window (roads in Costa Rica in the areas we were in were narrow, winding, and not always the most direct route.).  It seemed...like a movie.

But movie or not, that is no reason to not post about it.  Certainly not the fault of the country or the people - lovely, green, verdant land with all kinds of agriculture.  And so, deep thoughts or not, let us visit Costa Rica.

14 comments:

  1. Interesting observation about yourself, TB. Sounds like this trip was a more "laid back," as they say.

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    1. Leigh, it is. I never thought of it until I started writing on the trip. To be fair, I also feel like there were not moments of self discovery on this trip. Almost more like "reporting" what we saw - which, I have to remind myself, is a form of writing.

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  2. My younger brother spent a month in Costa Rica when he was in high school and I was always fascinated with the stories he told upon his return. But I guess I forgot all about it until you mentioned your vacation there and now, I think perhaps it should be back on my radar again.

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    1. Ed, I defintely would. I think your daughters would enjoy it as well. Mine certainly did.

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  3. Anonymous11:32 AM

    A vacation of participation vs a vacation of being passive leave very different experiences.

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    1. It does, and I had never really thought of it until I was writing about it - or perhaps, because I have been doing "participation vacations" so long the difference was never apparent.

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  4. If you enjoyed it, that's all that matters. :-)
    Be safe and God bless!

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    1. Overall I did Linda, and we did get to spend time together as a family.

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  5. raven7:51 PM

    "Imports"? Typo maybe?

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    1. Yup, you are completely right! Fixed and thank you!

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  6. Got a small 1 BR studio down there w/Middle Country... all us US DotMil Contractors (leastways in the Esparza/Punterenas Area of operation) are sorta-kinda- part of the Federales. The feeling you get is "La Pura Vida" which is the Costa National Motto... "The Pure Life"...

    Laid back, no stress, no strife

    Which is why a HUGE number of us worn out war dogs went there to retire... Jes' Sayin'
    Hope you enjoyed...

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    1. BCE - We did tour through a few places that our guide commented had a number of ex-pats living there, so we may indeed have passed your location. As in fact there are no military forces, I can see why having DotMil as part of the Federales would work to everyone's advantage.

      Our guide made the point of saying "Costa Ricans only have situations, not problems. Situations one can talk through and resolve; problems one can just commiserate over. I certainly like that point of view.

      I can certainly see where that country and its lifestyle would have an attraction to folks that have seen War.

      We did enjoy. It was very nice place to visit, and it was first family vacation in 5 years, so it was a novel place to have it.

      Thank you both for the comments and stopping by!

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  7. I had to think about this one for a while.

    I wonder if the change in perspective is not only due to the non-participation travel, but because the last few years of high stress and the uncertainty of your parents, Covid, and the current political situation have in a real sense made a permanent change in who you/we are.

    A properly designed and well engineered spring can be permanently when it is stressed too far, and the analogy to resilience and humans works well enough for me.
    That means I still need to do some hard thinking about the nature and rate of change.

    I don't mean that we are damaged or broken, I mean that as we come out from the tunnel of dark change, we aren't exactly the same as when we went into the tunnel.





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    1. John - That is something I had not literally considered until last night (odd enough, almost the same time you were typing this) as I started thinking about my year in review. This year was absolutely nothing like I though it would be.

      Your spring comparison is apt (and far more elegantly stated than I would have said, which would have been something like "Springs break because of things"). I can tell you that the stress of the first 4 years of my job have done things to me that I am still sorting out - some fundamental things about how my mind works and how I concentrate.

      As you say, perhaps more thought needs to be in this area - as well as figuring out what areas - if any - can be brought back into original alignment.

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