This is our new podcast that Marie and I have started so that we could share our past, upcoming and future travel adventures. This is our first episode where we are talking about Marie's first trip to Costa Rica and the Osa Peninsula. This first trip was transformative for her and the start a long journey that led to both of us going to Costa Rica earlier this year. Any many ways you might say that this is one of the starting points of our travel story.
For the video (YouTube) version of this episode, check out this link.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Kit ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Affiliate Disclosure: Links contained within our Kit.co profile page are affiliate links. That simply means, at no additional cost to you, we’ll could earn a commission if you click through and buy a qualifying product.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Place To Stay ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Probably one of the most amazing places to stay in Cabo Matapalo, Costa Rica on the Osa Peninsula is Osa Marmaris.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guides / Tours / Adventures ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Checkout "Cabo Matapalo Surf School", Eddie's surf school. Eddie was there to help us with anything that we needed. He also was our surfing instructor, led our night hike adventure as well as took us out for our sunset kayaking trip.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Place To Eat ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Martina's is a great place to grab some dinner after 5 or 6 and it is within walking distance of Osa Marmaris. It is also the local hangout on Friday nights where the locals come to sell items such as jewelry and even home made frozen ice cream.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- How To Get There ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are multiple ways of getting to Matapalo, Costa Rica - but the quickest is by plane. We flew SANSA Airlines, Costa Rica to Puerto Jiménez and then rented a car. SANSA Airlines is just a short was away from the Juan Santamaría Airport in San José (SJO), Costa Rica.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auto Rental ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are looking to drive around the Osa, our suggestion would be to checkout Alamo Car rentals. Their office is just a short walk up the road from the Puerto Jiménez Airport. Make sure to get a vehicle with 4-wheel drive, you will need it.
This is our new podcast that Marie and I have started so that we could share our past, upcoming and future travel adventures. This is our first episode where we are talking about Marie's first trip to Costa Rica and the Osa Peninsula. This first trip was transformative for her and the start a long journey that led to both of us going to Costa Rica earlier this year. Any many ways you might say that this is one of the starting points of our travel story.
For the video (YouTube) version of this episode, check out this link.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Kit ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Affiliate Disclosure: Links contained within our Kit.co profile page are affiliate links. That simply means, at no additional cost to you, we’ll could earn a commission if you click through and buy a qualifying product.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Place To Stay ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Probably one of the most amazing places to stay in Cabo Matapalo, Costa Rica on the Osa Peninsula is Osa Marmaris.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guides / Tours / Adventures ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Checkout "Cabo Matapalo Surf School", Eddie's surf school. Eddie was there to help us with anything that we needed. He also was our surfing instructor, led our night hike adventure as well as took us out for our sunset kayaking trip.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Place To Eat ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Martina's is a great place to grab some dinner after 5 or 6 and it is within walking distance of Osa Marmaris. It is also the local hangout on Friday nights where the locals come to sell items such as jewelry and even home made frozen ice cream.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- How To Get There ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are multiple ways of getting to Matapalo, Costa Rica - but the quickest is by plane. We flew SANSA Airlines, Costa Rica to Puerto Jiménez and then rented a car. SANSA Airlines is just a short was away from the Juan Santamaría Airport in San José (SJO), Costa Rica.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auto Rental ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are looking to drive around the Osa, our suggestion would be to checkout Alamo Car rentals. Their office is just a short walk up the road from the Puerto Jiménez Airport. Make sure to get a vehicle with 4-wheel drive, you will need it.
(upbeat guitar music)- "Between Destinations" is a podcast dedicated to all things travel. From our past adventures, to our expectations, and plans for future trips. We are here to share our stories and our advice. We are your hosts, Dan and Marie.(upbeat guitar music) So welcome to the "Between Destinations" podcast. I'm your host Dan and Marie. And today I thought we would talk about Marie's journey, or her, what led up to her going to Costa Rica the first time, and sharing that experience, along with, you know, some of the expectations that she had when she originally thought about going, as well as, you know, kind of what experiences she had there. Did she come back experiencing the things that she had hoped to experience? Did it meet her expectations? Just kind of all of that. So, I guess first off, what was it that made you want to go to Costa Rica in the first time? I mean, a little backstory so everybody knows, is that her cousin invited her to go to Costa Rica, right?- Yes.- Yeah. And her cousin runs a wellness retreat. So this was a wellness, an adventure retreat for women only, which is cool. But anyways, so what kind of led up to that?- Her inviting me?(Marie laughs)- Yeah, what led up to her inviting you? I mean, how did it come about that you got invited?- I don't know. I'm pretty close with my cousins and I think Anne just shared with me that she was gonna have a wellness retreat for ladies only in Costa Rica. And I was like, oh, that sounds good. I'd never been to Costa Rica. And she said, okay, we gotta get you signed up. I was like, okay.(Marie laughs) So, I was like, I just, I love spending time with them, and she explained that it was about just getting away for a week, and treating yourself to healing things that are gonna just make you feel better about yourself, and I'm all about that, so.- This trip to Costa Rica was the first time that you had been to someplace other than Mexico, other than when we went to Pat and Ruth's wedding in Bonaire.- Yes.- So that was probably pretty exciting. And maybe a little, like, stressful at the same time,'cause it was an all new experience.- Nope, not stressful at all.(Dan laughs) Seriously.- Just looking forward to it.- Yeah. I don't get stressed over trips.- With that trip, there were kind of a lot of new experiences in some regards, like, basically taking the puddle jumper to go from San Jose to Puerto Jimenez. That had to be a new experience.- Mm-hmm, little bitty plane.- [Dan] Little bitty plane.- Yep.- And, so when you went to Costa Rica, kind of, what were your initial thoughts when, when you got to San Jose for the first time?- My initial thoughts? Just, I'm gonna have a great week.(Marie laughs) I don't know, I just, I mean, I knew the trip I was going on. Anne had told us what to expect, and what we were gonna do, and so I was just looking forward to having a week away, literally off the grid. Part of her experience is to make a break from everything, and just focus on yourself. And so, I was looking forward to just cutting everybody off for the week, no phone, no social media, no, just expectations from anybody, and I was looking forward to that. Just not having to deal with anything.(Marie laughs)- And so, the hotel that you stayed at, I've been fortunate to be able to see that hotel. What were your thoughts? Because I'm sure that was kind of a different experience too.- Oh, it was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And so we, you know, she wanted us to have the full experience of a, you know, really nice trip. So it's not like, you know, we were just staying in a motel overnight, just til the next day when we flew out. So it was just a amazing hotel. Just, the flowers, and the scenery, and the history behind the hotel. And it's actually on a coffee plantation, you know, it used to be a coffee plantation, and so they just have plaques and stuff you can read about things, and so there was history to the hotel, not just a room to stay in overnight. It was beautiful.- Yeah. So when I got the chance to go, the one thing that I thought was kind of interesting about it is, we were walking up the stairs, and there was a bird nest, like, literally through one of the openings you could reach out and like, grab the bird, and it was kind of like the hotel was completely open to the world in some regards. That was a new experience for me. But, that's a, Costa Rica seems in some ways to be like that, where you're just kind of exposed to the elements. Not completely, but.- Yeah, it's just a very, it's a eco-friendly country, and they want sustainability, and they wanna be able to just keep everything as natural as they can. And that's part of what I loved about it is, it's just so different. They care so much about everything, and keeping everything natural, and healthy, and beautiful.- So you guys got on the little puddle jumper, it was a dual prop kind of little small plane.- A 12-seater.- Yeah, a 12-seater, not very big. So you got on the plane, and you flew in to Puerto Jimenez.- [Marie] Mm-hmm.- Did they say anything to you about what landing there was gonna be like, and what happened to be right there at the end of the landing strip?(Dan laughs)- No. I mean, when we, our very first trip there, we just experienced it all. So they didn't, you know, Anne wasn't flying with us, we were all flying in on our own.- Yeah. And so, it's not like we, and none of the ladies had experienced it before. Well one had, but she had come in later, you know, she wasn't on my flight, so, no, they didn't, it was all a new experience, so. It was fun.- It was fun.- We landed right next, the airport is right next to a cemetery, and, and the airport is literally one room big, so. Well, two rooms 'cause you have where you put your luggage in, but.- [Dan] Yeah.- It's literally, it's tiny. It's tiny.(Marie laughs)- So, you get to Puerto Jimenez, and, from there, 'cause your experience going to Matapalo was different than our experience, just because, it seems like there was a lot more that had been done as far as the roads, and everything like that. You want to talk about how that experience was going to Matapalo the first time?'Cause you had water crossings and all that, where we didn't. Well honestly, I didn't pay attention, because I didn't have to. So, we've been three times now. I just went with Dan back in January, but I've been to my cousin's wellness retreat twice now, the first time we're talking about, and then again another time. But, Anne has everything planned out completely. So that's another part of the wellness, part of this is that, you don't have to be concerned with any logistics, any transportation, any, where you're gonna eat, what you're gonna do, where you're scheduled, nothing. She has everything planned out. So I never even paid attention the first two times I went, to how we got from the airport to Matapalo, because I didn't have to. And so, so this last time we went, yeah, it was different because we had to figure out where we were going. But it's not like in the United States where, you know, they have paved roads, and markings, and you just know where your destination is, and turn here, and go that far, and you'll go through water crossings, you'll go through, pass, you know, all kinds of animals. And that's the other thing too, we had drivers, and so the drivers knew where, you know, they would stop and show us, hey, look up in this tree, there's a sloth in this tree. Hey, this is where we are doing this. And look over here, you can see, you know, toucans, and this and that, so, we were more focused on just enjoying the ride, I never even paid attention to the roads the first time I went.- So, you got to Matapalo, Cabo Matapalo, which is on the Osa Peninsula, it's near the southern end of the Osa Peninsula. So what was that like the first time going there, and, you know, experiencing like, this completely off the grid world, essentially? And did you, you stayed at Marmaris that time, right?- Mm-hmm.- That had to be, like mind blowing at some levels.- Oh, it was just beautiful. Marmaris is the house we stayed in, and, it had different rooms and different cabanas, and so we pretty much had booked which room we were staying in before we went, and had all that scheduled. I also got to go with my cousin, Mary, and sister on that trip, and so we stayed together in our room. And I will admit, when I first got there, I was concerned because there was no air conditioning, and, you know, no locks on the doors. It just, it was all out in the natural, and, there were screen doors, and ways to close your room, and then there were safes inside the room. So you did have a way to keep your valuables, you know, secure, it's just, you didn't lock your rooms because there were no locks, and it's in the middle of the rainforest, and so you don't, you don't really need to lock your rooms, because there's nobody there except the locals. That was, I was just in love with it from the time I got there to, you know, experience it all. And then there's one big community area where all the ladies would, you know, meet and hang out. And then that's also where we had yoga in the mornings, and stuff like that, and it was a view, our view was to the ocean, and so, it was just, beautiful. And the first time we went, it literally, there was a, they call it monkey highway in the backyard, that we would see the ocean with, because the monkeys would just swing from tree to tree to tree, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. That was really cool.'Cause even if, if you're sitting around just drinking coffee, doing nothing, you're watching the monkeys, and the animals, you know, that happened to come through your yard every now and then, but not like lions, tigers, and bears. These were little innocent animals that you didn't have to be worried about.- Nobody was stopping by to eat the guests for lunch.- No, no, no. But the monkeys were really, it was really cool. Yeah.- I guess from my experience with Marmaris, OsaMarmaris, that's the place that we stayed at. It's an amazing place. I mean, you don't realize how freeing it is to be in a place that doesn't have four walls. It has, kind of four walls, but then it has, like, screen windows and doors that you can pull shut. But in general, you're basically exposed to nature. You basically have these screen doors so that you don't have the bugs flying in, and nagging you all night, or during the day, or whatever. But otherwise there's nothing keeping anything from coming in the rooms if they really want to. For me, that was a huge, like, oh this is, this is on one edge, a little kind of, maybe a little nerve-wracking, but at the same time it's like ultra cool. What did you think about that?- I had no problem with it. I'm just that type of personality. I know Anne isn't gonna put us in danger, so I wasn't concerned. You know, there were other people that were concerned about, you know, the openness of the house, and even if you have the screen doors closed, it's still the openness between, like in our cabana we stayed in, the roof is still separated from the walls, and so, you still have an opportunity for something to get into your room.- Yeah.- But, I wasn't worried about it,'cause she's not gonna put us somewhere that there's gonna be something deathly that's gonna, you know, get into the room with us. So, I wasn't worried about it.- Yeah,- It was just, it was more of the natural environment, and, I loved that, the peace of it, so.- A little background, Marie and I just came back from going to Costa Rica in January, but to get into that story, I figured we needed to get through the backstory for the trips that she went on. So it all kind of made sense to how that came about. So we'll get to that whole kind of story about our last trip, or our trip to Costa Rica in January. So one of the things, while you were there, your meals were, I don't want to say they were necessarily catered, but they were prepared. There was an onsite chef that fixed all the food. How was that eating experience different than say, you know, your typical meal at home? Because I mean, back then, as I remember, you were not in the experimental phase of preparing food at home and that type of stuff. It was kind of more the, here's recipes, I'm just gonna do this. And, what was it like kind of being in that environment where somebody was kind of throwing something together every day?- Yeah, I started going, my first trip to Costa Rica was probably six years ago. And prior to that, you know, I have cooked from recipes, and just your basic stuff every week, you have the same thing every week. Spaghetti, one night, tacos another night, you know, steaks another night, maybe. You know, it was just very much a pattern, and didn't really vary very much. Although I eat anything, I always have, I've never been a picky eater. So I'll try stuff and experiment, experience new stuff if I've given the opportunity, but as far as I go, I never really did, never really went out of the box there. So, my trip to Costa Rica opened my eyes to some more healthier foods, and a bigger variety of foods. So the nice thing there was that our chef for the week, she would come in and she would create, you know, breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us while we went out and did stuff with, you know, that Anne had scheduled for us, Desiree would be there making our meals for us. And you know, we'd get up in the morning, and we would just have fresh fruit, and natural, just food from there. So each morning it was something different. Pancakes, plantains, fresh fruit every single morning. Fresh mango, just unbelievable. And I don't eat mango here, you know, but it was, it was so good.- I don't eat mango, period.(Dan laughs)- He's a picky eater, I'm not. So, so it really opened my eyes to, you know, the opportunity to eat different, you know, we'd have rice with some meals, and then, she'd make fresh vegetables with every meal, and it was just, it was really good food. And so when I came back, I was just kind of like, oh, I should try that. And plus, too, the cooking shows, you know, I love to watch cooking shows, and the cooking competitions and stuff, and I realized that I can just throw anything in the refrigerator together, and see how it comes out. I don't have to eat it if it sucks, so.- She hasn't made a sucky meal yet.(Marie laughs)- But, so it kind of opened my eyes to buying different, and, making different meals, and enjoying new food, versus the same stuff all the time.- So one of the cool things about going to that part of Costa Rica is that it's solar power, you're pretty much off the grid, you have wifi access, but you're probably not getting much of a cell signal. Of course, you probably don't even use cell while you're there, I mean, we didn't. That whole being disconnected, did that mean, in a lot of ways, that had to be completely liberating.- Oh yeah.- And at other times a little bit like, oh, you know, I miss some things like my show that maybe I'd watch once a week, or whatever.- Oh, I didn't miss anything. No, there's no TVs there at Marmaris, there's no TVs. There's, of course they have TVs there, but. No, I didn't miss anything all week. We stayed so busy, and we were so exhausted by the end of the night, and you know, we'd get back and have a glass of wine with our dinner, and just sit and visit, and watch the beautiful sunsets. And like I said, on the wellness adventures retreat, Anne had everything scheduled. So every evening we had, you know, some quality time doing something, whether it was walking, you know, taking an extra walk, or just sitting out back talking to our friends we were there with, and the other ladies and stuff there. I didn't miss anything. I didn't miss TV at all.(Marie laughs)- So talk about some of the things that you did, some of the adventures, activities that you, that you did while you were there on your first trip.- Okay, so again, there's a schedule for the week, and, again, the liberating thing is you can do what you want and you don't have to do anything. So that's part of Anne's wellness, is, this is about you. So if you're not active and you don't want to go climb a tree, then you don't have to. You can do, you can do, you know, your own spiritual time, or, you know, just journaling, walking, doing whatever you wanna do. Just sitting at home and resting. I mean, a lot of people don't ever get to rest, and so being on the trip, that's what it was all about, is, what's gonna make you healthier and feel better. I'm not that person. I wanna do everything that's planned. So she had different things planned for us, and hikes to waterfalls that had natural exfoliant mud for your face, and that was a lot of fun. And then we did nature hikes, you know, with Andy and Eddie that would teach us all about the environment and how the environment, you know, its defenses and offenses about how it all just takes care of itself, along with the animals and everything. And then we did surfing one day, I had never surfed before. That was fun.- So I'm, yeah, just, eh. It pains me, it hurts me that she surfed. I got over it though, but yeah. I was so, I was so like, yeah.- So he's wanted to surf his whole life, I got to experience it, so I did. And that was a lot of fun. And then we went on a hike to a waterfall, and repelled the waterfall, along with, in the same hike we got to climb a tree, it's called the vining tree, and, that was a new experience for me, and it was very motivating because Anne did warn us, you know, this is a very, what do you call it? Very active trip. So I did plan on the trip, and it was motivating for me to get in shape before I went on the first trip. And I did, I mean, I knew about the trip a year before I took it, so I, you know, 10 months to a year or so, I had time to get my butt in shape. So, and I'm glad I did because the tree, climbing the tree was just very, very fun and motivating for me. And once I did it, I just felt so successful, and then repelling down the waterfall? Wow, that was really, really cool. And then we went zip lining that week over the rainforest, and that was just amazing. And then, we would just hike and go walking a lot. And then we did kayaking, sunset kayak tours. And then after we'd go kayaking in town, they have a pizza place, it's a local pizza place that they've had there for years, and we stopped there and had pizza, and homemade pizza, it was so good. But yeah, that, I mean, just a lot of activities for the week. We also did, you know, massages at the house, she'd have some masseuses, a masseuse come in and give us massages and stuff, and that was cool. Yeah, a lot of stuff.(Marie laughs)- So one of the things, so the tree that she was talking about, the vining tree, they actually gave it a name and it's called Tree Beard. So one aspect of that tree that I always find interesting is that, that seemed to be a motivator when you went on the trip the first time, and then ever since then, that tree has been kind of at the center of like, okay, we're going to Costa Rica, I'm climbing Tree Beard, and that's just it. I'm going to do it, I'm gonna get in shape, or whatever I have to do to climb the tree. So talk about, why is that tree, and climbing that tree such a motivation for like, transformation?- I don't know, it just is.(Marie laughs) I just, I mean I've always been the motivated kind of person, something motivates me, I'm gonna do what it takes to get it done. And I just, I was outta shape when I found out I was going on this first trip. I weighed more than I had ever weighed in my life. And, I knew that trying to climb that tree was gonna be very hard for me, so it motivated me to lose some weight, and in the meantime, I had torn a ligament in my right shoulder, and I was gonna have to have surgery on my right shoulder. And I'm blessed with the fact that I go to a chiropractor. When I mentioned to him that I was gonna have to have surgery, don't mess with my shoulder, he discussed with me the fact that I didn't have to have surgery, that he could help me get through it that year. It would be a long process, but no longer than surgery. And then physical therapy for six to eight months, and a lot cheaper. So I told him, you know, okay, let's do this, because I also have a trip to Costa Rica, I wanna get prepared for, and I've gotta be able to climb that tree. And so that, along with just, you know, wanting to be ready for this trip that I had been warned, is a very active trip, just motivated me to get myself in shape, so I lost about 40 pounds that year before the trip, and I got ready to go, and I climbed that tree with no problem at all.(Marie laughs)- [Dan] So tell me about when you got to the top of the tree, and rang that bell, what went through your mind?- Oh gosh, I don't know. It's just so beautiful, and you can see the ocean once you're up at the top of the tree, and, I was just very proud of myself for the fact that I got up there, and I had worked so hard for that, that whole trip. So I know I was just extremely ecstatic that I made it to the top.- [Dan] As I remember, you were the first volunteer to climb.- I honestly don't remember the first year if I was. I am probably, because when they say who wants to go, I'm usually the first one to say, I'll do it. So I know the second year that we went, I was the first one that volunteered to go, but I don't remember the first year, honestly.- [Dan] So you did all of this stuff while you were there and there was a lot of conversations about going before. Did you have any expectations before going on the trip, or any hopes? I mean obviously, you hoped that you could climb the tree, but was there anything that maybe you were concerned about, and it didn't turn out to be the case? Or was there anything that you had hoped that would happen, that either happened or didn't happen?- A long time ago. I can't remember stuff that happened last week, honey.(Dan laughs) Don't, yeah, six years ago? I don't know. I'm not the stressed out type of person, so I knew that I was just gonna go and experience whatever Anne had scheduled for us. So I didn't really have any expectations of the trip. I did expect to go and relax, and to be off-grid for a week, So, you know, when I left, they use WhatsApp and I told Dan, I said, you're not gonna be hearing from me. I said, if there's an emergency you can contact Anne, I said, but if you don't hear from me, then don't worry about it, 'cause I'm okay. And, then I did check in at night, you know, with him, and just said, you know, had a great day, good night, you know. You know, I think I checked in every night, but otherwise, that was right before going to bed, and I was so tired every night, I went right to sleep. So, but no, I can't say there were any expectations that weren't met,'cause I didn't really have any. I just really, really enjoyed the trip, and, I loved the fact that I didn't have to plan it, schedule it, do any of the logistics. It was all like, just laid out. So all you had to do was wake up in the morning, and go to bed at night. Otherwise, everything was planned for you, so. I highly suggest if you have any opportunity to take any kind of trip that somebody else plans it and schedules it for you, you do it. It is so worth it.(Marie laughs)- Sometimes when people go on trips, like wellness adventures and stuff like that, they come back transformed in some way. Do you feel like you came back transformed in any way?- Yeah, definitely since my first trip to Costa Rica. I've, you know, the fact that I was experiencing such a natural environment, I had never experienced anything like that before. So yeah, when I had gone outta the country before, it was to very touristy locations, so I had never experienced anything so local, and locals that are there are just amazing people, and so kind, and generous, and so laid back just, you know, life is good, and I got to experience that as well. So I think I came back transformed. I think I did definitely. The whole experience that Anne was wanting us to experience was to take care of ourselves. And I did, after that trip, I did come back and realize that I over-commit too often, and that, you know, I don't let people down, so I over-commit, but I always follow through with everything, and I'm just exhausted all the time. And then I realized when I came back that it was time to make some changes, and it was okay to say no to things, and to help take care of myself. And I didn't feel bad about that anymore. I can't do it all, all the time, and I was okay with that. And I just, you know, I would say that's probably the biggest thing I learned from it, is that, we've gotta give ourselves mental time and not always be go, go, go, go, go. So.- So if you had to pick one thing from that trip, that was probably the highlight of the trip, what would it be?- As far as the experiences? While we were there, the activities or whatever?- Yeah, just like that. If, when you think back on that trip, if you had to pick one thing about that trip, what would it be? Is your strongest memory?- Oh wow, that's hard. Sorry, I don't know how to answer that. There's not one thing.(Dan laughs) I mean, if I instantly, what comes to mind, is climbing the tree, and the sunset kayak. We went through the mangroves. We kayaked through the mangroves that year. It was so peaceful, and just so relaxing. I would say that's probably just the highlight, is how relaxing it all was. Even just walking. You'd go out in the mornings and, you know, to spend quality time with yourselves in nature, and, just seeing the morpho butterflies just walking and experiencing the quiet time in such a natural place on this world, and, in this world. That's probably my biggest takeaway.- Yeah, that's cool. So if you were going to give advice to somebody or make a recommendation to somebody about going someplace, say going to Costa Rica, other than, if somebody's planning it, go for it, what would you share with them? Would you say that even though maybe it's more of a challenge going to Costa Rica in some regards, is it well worth it compared to say, going to someplace else?- Oh, I think it's well worth it anyway. I mean, just traveling in itself. The biggest piece of advice I would give you is, never stress yourself out over travel. Make sure you give yourself enough time to get to your locations. So don't book flights right next to each other, or, you know, have the fear that you might miss a flight because they're booked so close together. Like I said, we fly into San Jose, and we stay the night, and then we fly out the next day to Puerto Jimenez, because you know, if you're, you get there, and then you gotta rush and get to the other, you know, the airport for Sansa is right next to the big commercial airport, but still, you gotta walk over there, get your luggage, walk over there, and especially if you're going out of the country, you've gotta deal with, you know, customs, and, just take it all in stride. That's my biggest advice is, don't get yourself worked up over it. Expect to take time to have to get through everything, and to do everything. And then, you know, sometimes we've gone to Costa Rica and there's been a huge lines in the customs line. Last time we went, there was hardly anybody. And that wasn't COVID related, that is just the timing of the trip that we took, so, you know, you're just gonna, you're just gonna experience it. But just experience it and enjoy it. That's my biggest advice is, don't stress over it. And don't cause yourself stuff that's going to make you stress over it.(Marie laughs)- So that was making me think about something with that, Costa Rica is, natively, a Spanish speaking country. As somebody that doesn't speak Spanish, or doesn't speak it fluently, did you find that in any way, like a hindrance for the trip?- No, not at all. Everybody spoke English,(Marie laughs) so they're just, they're accustomed to us coming there, and so everybody speaks English pretty much in Costa Rica, so you might have, you know, some dialects that are stronger than others, but no, I didn't find any, any kind of issue with it at all.- Cool.- Even at the grocery store, you know, you don't have, like the grocery store clerk didn't speak English, but the the bag guy next to her did. So, I mean, you're not gonna find yourself in a position where you can't communicate with people.- So I guess final question, and I already know the answer to this, but, if you had the opportunity to go back to Costa Rica, to Osa, either on a wellness retreat, or basically, like we did this in January, figuring it all out ourselves, would you?- Absolutely, yeah. I'd go back in a heartbeat.- Wait, would you be motivated by Tree Beard?- Oh, always, yeah, yeah.(Dan laughs) And just the locals, we were starting to make friends there, and we know them, and now with social media you can keep up with the friends that you're making, and, it's just very enjoyable. All of our guides there are just amazing people, and they keep up with you the whole time you're there. And like I said, the last time we went, Dan and I weren't with Anne, we didn't have her doing all the planning for us. So we really had to count on the locals to help us out and get us, get things done, and they stayed in contact with us all week. Even when we didn't have things scheduled with them, they were checking on us, just to make sure everything was okay and did we need anything. And that's how they are there. It's just a very local community. Love it.- Cool. So any closing thoughts, comments?- No. If you get the chance to go, definitely go.- Cool. In the show notes, we'll leave links to Andy and Eddie, also, we'll leave links to our YouTube channel.(upbeat guitar music) This has been "Between Destinations" with your hosts Dan and Marie. We hope that you enjoyed this episode and if you did, it would be amazing if you left us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you watch this episode from our YouTube channel, please give us a like, and hit the subscribe button, along with that little bell so you can get notifications about future episodes. Please share this episode with others that would enjoy sharing in the adventure. And feel free to let us know if you have any questions. We just might feature an answer to your question in a future episode. Thank you, and see you next time.(upbeat guitar music)