We have officially reached the halfway mark in our family gap year journey. The surreal feeling of “wow, we are actually doing this” has faded, but still sneaks up on me from time to time. It usually happens during unexpected moments of adventure, like an almost secluded beach on Guam, or riding home in a…
Category: Costa Rica – Jaco
Costa Rica Recap
As our time in Costa Rica comes to an end, we have been talking about all the memories we have made. I have had several people ask me if we would come back here again, and the answer is absolutely yes! There really is something about their Pura Vida culture that is calming. We rarely…
Happy 2nd Mother’s Day
Half way through school this morning, Dave got a notification from Uber that they were running a special for Mother’s Day. Confused, he looked to see if the date was wrong on his phone and discovered that today is Mother’s Day in Costa Rica. Not long after that we were sitting on our patio, and…
School in the Morning, Pura Vida in the Afternoon
Our first week of school has gone fairly smooth overall. There were a few power struggles, but nothing we didn’t anticipate. The kids worked hard on all of their subjects! Alexis completed a paper on the history of Costa Rica and Braxton wrote an opinion essay on his experience at El Miro. We all enjoyed…
Homeschooling Begins – Learning Where Our Feet Are
Today was our first day of school! Our original plan was to start in September once we were settled in Japan, but we changed our minds. We realized we would like to have more flexibility to take days off throughout the year. The state of Colorado requires that we log 172 days of school and…
Exploring the Town of Jaco
Whenever we have vacationed at the beach, I feel an immense pressure to go to the beach every day and soak it up as much as possible. Being here for a full month relieves that pressure. Although I love the beach, I don’t feel the need to go there every day. I wonder how often…
El Miro Hike – Free For The Win Again
A couple days ago we hiked to a free local spot here in Jaco called El Miro. El Miro translates to ‘He Looked’. The back story of this location is a bit of a mystery. Some say it was a hotel, some say a mansion. Regardless, the project was never finished and has since become…
When The Days Are Long
The author Gretchen Rubin coined the term ‘The days are long, but the years are short’. We were experiencing a good dose of the former yesterday. I told Dave when we went to bed that the day felt like it lasted 100 years. We were all feeling like this and I can’t pinpoint exactly why….
Saltwater and Schedule-Free – Living Light in Jaco
We have been in Jaco for almost a week now and we are LOVING it! When we were planning our itinerary for the year, we wanted the Costa Rica portion to be our ‘summer’ before we start school. This definitely feels like summer! Our days consist of a combination of activities. Going to the beach,…
Welcome To Jaco – A New Scene In Our Ongoing Journey
Bumps, Curves, and A Bare-Bones Grocery Run We have safely arrived at our next destination and are slowly getting settled. The shuttle ride here was LONG! It took 4 hours and the roads were no less forgiving than our previous shuttle ride. Alexis had the worst of the motion sickness this time, but we all…