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Published: August 17th 2011
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My new backpack
This is what my backpack looks like. How much space do people need with these things?! So I walked into my apartment today at 20:00, exhausted from going all over the world running errands. As I unlocked my door, a deep, weighty, sense of dread hit me...or maybe that was just the huge backpackers backpack I threw on the floor (my recent purchase from Academy Sports and Outdoors). In truth, it was less of a sense of dread and more of a mild freak-out. I mean seriously, what in the world did I call myself doing?! Traveling to Costa Rica by myself for 11 days with absolutely no plans, no friends, and no definite place to go?! To understand the scope of what I'm dealing with, you must understand my previous travel experience. While plentiful (we took a family vacation outside the country generally once a year), all our family vacations were planned to the 'T'. In fact, everything that I do is planned, structured, and usually pretty organized. I make personal to-do lists for the day on my dry-erase board, I have a sticky-note tablet in my car for any additional things I may think of, and when I go to work (I'm a Project Manager), I write documents, make presentations, and maintain schedules for over
Actual Size
For comparison, this thing is huge! However, it allows me to be mobile. Let's hope its just as comfortable with 30 lbs of stuff in it! 12 engineers...in short, compared to most people, I'm almost anal about plans. Even when we vacation, we research it months ahead of time, we search for the cheapest fare, we research the resort, we ALWAYS go All-inclusive, and usually our daily activities are planned as well.
Now that you know what the norm is for me, let's now throw in this vacation. I booked the trip (
which, really, is only the airfare) about a week and a half ago, I have no idea what to pack (I have to pack differently because of my extended stay and because I'll be "backpacking" and not staying in one resort the whole time), and I have no idea what I will be doing on a daily basis. I'll be all alone in a country that is primarily not english-speaking and I'll have to make the most of every day. Ahhh! I'm freaked out just saying it!
While this has all the writings of someone who's 1) Gone crazy. 2) In a mid-life crisis. or 3) Running away from home, I'm realizing that it's really more of my nerves talking than something that's highly outside my nature. After all, when we go on trips, I'm usually the first person that's ready to hit the 'unbeaten' trails, the first to want to meet the locals and live how they live, and the first to do daring and exploration things. Meeting new people is fun for me and I'm entirely OVER-TRUSTING...all the makings of a backpacker lol. As I'm writing this, I'm calming down for 2 major reasons...
Reason 1: I have this same nervousness before tests, before learning how to drive, before buying my first car, and before other major life decisions. However, afterward, I always look back and am glad I "took the plunge" additionally, overcoming these major hurdles are what life's about. It helps you grow, mature (if you let it), and gain life experience. After all, where would I be if I didn't take that plunge and drive home from Arlington to DeSoto in the middle of the night
in the rain at the tender age of 14? Actually, my dad made me do that, but the point is the same! 😊
Reason 2: In one of my fearful spurts, I did some research yesterday. As it turns out, there's a huge backpacker's hostel near downtown San Jose (the major airport in Costa Rica and where my flight will arrive at 12:15am). Soo...at least I know where I will be sleeping the first night when I arrive at some crazy crime-laden hour. Additionally, I have a friend from one of my salsa classes who has relatives down there. I've been going back and forth with them through email and I'm meeting them for lunch the second day I'm down there. They can show me the city a little, tell me about the customs, and help me experience San Jose. From there...well...it's open! So enough with the chatting- I have packing, shopping, and laundry to do!
PS- The hostel is called "Costa Rica Backpackers Hostel" lol pretty original huh?
A link to their site: http://www.costaricabackpackers.com/index.html
A review of the hostel: http://gocentralamerica.about.com/od/costaricaguide/gr/CRBackpackers.htm
Until then!
-Juleon
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