After a few days of exploring the mountains and rainforests, we arrived at our home for the next few weeks in Bejuco. It's a small, sleepy beach town that is exactly what we were looking for.
The whole idea for this experimental adventure stemmed from neutralizing housing and airfare costs and then living our regular daily routines in a different locale.
We succeeded in neutralizing our airfare costs by working Southwest Airlines' point system. Our flights were next to nothing (explained here: Free Flights). We were hoping to get our house listed on AirBnB, but just didn't get around to that, so we didn't quite neutralize those costs. Next time (there will definitely be a next time). A cost that I hadn't factored in was the price in renting a vehicle for a month. It was way more than I was expecting. We had contemplated using public transportation or hiring a driver when we needed to go somewhere, but ultimately landed on needing a vehicle of our own to get around. Thankfully, we were able to rent a big van from a friend here, so it has made traveling more comfortable with all of our stuff.
My amazing wife Sara heads up the schooling responsibilities for our kiddos. It's awe-inspiring watching her do her thing. As a former Montessori educator, she is uniquely gifted at meeting all of our kids where they are at and helping them grow their minds. She's been doing it for years now and just continues to wow me at the curriculum she develops. Our kids are so lucky!!
When we dropped anchor in Bejuco, we got into our school/work routines the next day. We want to make sure to experience our adventure here, but we also have school/work responsibilities. We've tried to find the middle ground of those two ends of the spectrum by committing to schooling/working from 8am to 1pm each day for four days each week. Our AirBnB has a pool, so the kids affectionally call their schooling, Cool Pool School. Sara works with one while the other two swim, and they just rotate in and out of the pool all morning. They're loving it. :)
