Pura Vida 2017 (1/8) – Introduction

1. Introduction
2. Costa Rica Logistics
3. The Other San Jose
4. Arenal & La Fortuna
5. Horses & Waterfalls
6. Hanging Bridges & Toucans
7. Food
8. The Big Day

Hong and I went on another trip without kids, to Costa Rica, to attend her cousin’s destination wedding.

It took us a few days after the RSVP to even look up exactly where it was in Central America.  But hey I love geography lessons.

According to Google, Costa Rica is northeast of Jurassic Park

The trip planning initially included a lot more people, since it was for a family member’s wedding.  Then the grandparents decided that it was too much hassle for the toddlers, and volunteered to babysit while the two of us represented the family.  We wholeheartedly obliged.

Airline miles were a lot easier to use with only two in the traveling party, and we easily snatched business class tickets on Avianca (operated by TACA and LINEAS) to San Jose via San Salvador.  Departing at the end of Valentine’s Day on a red-eye, we stayed for five nights in the tropical country before returning late on President’s Day.  There was no lie-flat bed or onboard shower or private suite, but the comfort in business seats made the short trip less hectic than it could’ve been.  We were fed on every flight, even the one-hour trips within Central America.

There were a lot of wheel-chaired passengers on our 150-seat flight

Yay for flying up front!

I normally don’t care for commercials on airplane TVs.  But this one really spoke to me:

Air travel is where social class inequality is at an extreme.  You either starve on the entire flight, or you get ceramic plate, napkin, tray, and white tablecloth under your breakfast croissant.

Breakfast on the flight an hour before breakfast on another flight

The wedding turned out awesome, seeing family and meeting new friends was great, and the few activities we enjoyed were also a blast.  Despite the briefness and the lack of dinosaur sighting, Costa Rica left a wonderful impression and we won’t hesitate to go back.

Amber & Indraneel

Pura Vida is the motto of Costa Rica.  Literally translating to “pure life”, it’s a happy-go-lucky way of life that I suppose is similar to “hakuna matata”.  Hong and I are stressful type-A urbanites with whom this philosophy doesn’t resonate, but we enjoyed slowing down for a few days.