Cool Pool School

 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. :)

We intentionally chose an AirBnB with a pool, because our oldest LOVES swimming. With her getting out of her normal routine, we thought that having a pool would help any anxieties that might develop. Her autism causes a need for routine, and disrupting that can lead to other challenges. Oddly, she hasn't loved swimming in the pool as much as she usually does. Though she is loving her time at the beach! Special shout-out to our friends at Logan Center for setting up some virtual therapy that she has been so excitedly engaged in!

I was nervous leaving my business for so long, but my ability to do most of my responsibilities remotely has proved to be an easier transition than I was expecting. I've got an amazing team that is carrying on our day-to-day activities to serve our customers with the same level of service as normal. THANK YOU LUCIE, SAM, ASHLEY, AND NOAH!

Once 1:00 hits though, we are done working/schooling for the day and return to exploring this beautiful country. We've got several beaches within a few minutes of us and have spent every afternoon thus far exploring them. So far, we've explored Playa Bejuco, Playa Esterillos Oeste, Playa Esterillos Centro, and Playa Esterillos Este.

We said farewell to our first visitors this week. What an absolute joy it was to have my brother Samuel and sister Mary join in on the adventure! My mom, dad, and brother Tim are here for a few more days!

We scheduled surfing lessons for myself and my son Owen for next week. Pretty nervous about that! Heading into the weekend, we are heading north to Jaco for an afternoon and south to Manuel Antonio National Park for a day. Pura vida!

Mapping It Out

Costa Rica (the red country on the map below) is about the size of West Virginia and is positioned between Nicaragua and Panama, with much of the country having coastlines along the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Numerous volcanoes, rain forests, cloud forests, and coffee/spice farms populate the terrain. 

There are two main airports to fly into in Costa Rica: Liberia and San Jose. Both offer a wealth of activities and sights to see within a couple of hours. We ultimately chose to fly into San Jose (#1 on the map below), because that's where a personal contact lives that is going to assist us with renting a vehicle. Once we figured out which airport, it was then easier to put together our itinerary.

We are spending the first few days of the adventure by being tourists with the whole McD clan. My siblings and parents will be joining us in Houston for our connecting flight into San Jose!

We've got a couple days in Alajuela to explore Poas Volcano (2) and a waterfall. Then we will head to La Fortuna for a few days to check out Arenal Volcano (3) and so many other fun things in that area.

Then we hope to settle in a little bit into our work/school routine at our main base in Bejuco (4). Bejuco is right on the beach, nestled between the popular destinations of Jaco and Manuel Antonio. 

Because this is a longer trip, we had to structure in time to work and school. We are hoping to stick to a schedule of doing that 8am-1pm each weekday. That will hopefully leave further adventures for the late afternoons and weekends.

Our bags are mostly packed and we are getting some final trip prep items checked off the list!