So since the beginning of my trip I have been hoping to find a beach town that has a supermarket near the beach so that I could stick around, maybe tent for a couple weeks, buy a surf board and go to the beach everyday. Puerto Viejo seems to be almost everything that I was looking for...The only problem is the price here. Realistically it's not that bad, but having just come from Nica it's hard not to complain about prices here in CR. I found a hostel in the heart of the city that's very quite, the dorm I'm in only has 4 people total so I don't have to worry about being woken up by people watching movies and can actually get some good sleep! There is also EXTREMELY HOT water in the showers. All done and said, it's 12$ a night, with good internet and good accommodation, no free breakfast but you can only ask for so much when backpacking. If you're come to Puerto Viejo I definitely recommend Hostel Pagalu!

The town/city is located right on a beach-front, however if you want to surf you need to walk about 20 mins down the road where there are other hostels, food, and board rentals. If you just want to swim though you can just hop into the water. There is a huge Caribbean influence here. Life is a little slower, people aren't quite as pushy about selling you stuff, and there is usually some reggae blasting from somewhere! This town really has everything that you could need to live, and has made me start to think about other ways, off-line that I could try to make money to stipend my spending down here, but I still want to pursue work online for the future, so that I can be location independent (there's a lot more world out there to see). 

There are lots of friendly people here at the hostel, and it's very hard to pull myself away from the social aspects of my journey to write and focus on these kinds of things. But it's always nice to meet people, and people are always the best means to finding work/volunteering and for learning new things. Like I just mentioned a few blogs ago, there are all sorts of people who travel and work, and they are the ones that I need to meet to understand how to do it. Since I'm on the East coast now there aren't any sunsets here, but if I get up early enough to catch a sunrise I will try to add some pictures!

Gotta love the long bus rides...I spent about 13 hours on buses within the last 24. I know that South America will be even longer rides once I make it down there as well. Still, I woke up at about 7:15 a.m. in SJDS two days ago after being woken up at 11:30 p.m. and not being able to fall back asleep until 3:30 a.m. because 5 people decided to start watching How to train your dragon 2 with no headphones in our dorm room?! Oh well, they could have picked a worse movie, haha, and I just went into the lobby with my laptop to watch Guardians of the Galaxy after not being able to fall back asleep. Getting back to the story though, I woke up at 7:15 a.m. and the same people that were up watching the movie were all taking off for Costa Rica. They invited me to join, but the combination of my tiredness/bitterness from/towards them made me decline. Then I remembered that one of my friends mentioned that there was a girl whom had mentioned that she wanted to travel south that day as well. I waited around until 10:30 and didn't see her anywhere so I finally ran to the bank to exchange my larger U.S. bills for smaller ones (the border requires exact change or else you have to over-pay). This border crossing was much less expensive than when I was going the other direction. Nica charges only 3$ to leave and Costa Rica is free to enter!

Prior to leaving I had been told by many people that you needed proof of onward travel so that Costa Rica knew you wouldn't try to stay in their country without any money to get home. I had been told by a few people however that they weren't asked for anything. If you know me, I'm a bit of a cheapskate and I hate to plan so of course I "winged it" and went without buying a bus ticket out of CR. At the Nica side of the border they didn't ask for anything other than money, and when I got across I got on a direct bus to San Jose. I thought I was clear and done! Nope, I needed to pass through CR immigration as well, a large group was in-front of me at the second border and I was watching to see if they asked, it seemed like everyone got through fine...but then the girl right in-front of me got turned away and my Spanish wasn't good enough to understand why. I passed my passport across the desk, and BAM! STAMPED! He hardly even looked? Maybe they have a biased towards U.S. passports? Anyhow, I wasn't asking questions, back onto the bus!

On the bus I started a chat with an older fellow whom had moved to CR from the States some 30 years ago. Since then his entire family had moved down, including his two sons, whom were now both married to Ticas (local CR women). Originally I had been told that even through marriage a U.S. citizen couldn't obtain CR residency or citizenship, but the idea seemed far-fetched, so I asked the man more...He seemed pretty sure that his kids were now residence and on their way to obtaining citizenship, he also mentioned that through adoption you can get these as well. He also told me that if you try and border hop like he has been doing for a long time now, the border offices get really strict because they don't like people hopping the border without spending money in their country. The man offered me some advice towards working online as well and was all around happy with his life. It's always nice to hear from people whom have left the comfort of their home country and adapted so well to a new one!

The older gentleman got off the bus well before San Jose, and there was construction and traffic everywhere. I got nervous that it would be quite dangerous in San Jose after dark. Even the old man had told me that this was a bad month to be in CR because if you work all year here then the government gives you an extra month pay as a bonus to go towards Xmas shopping and for being a good working citizen. Petty crime becomes really prominent when everyone has their extra money in pocket. I looked around the bus a few times, and thought that I was the last Gringo on the bus. The sun went down two hours before arriving in San Jose, great...I walked to the front of the bus to ask where we were even going to end up in the city. Right as I was about to ask the driver, I turned and saw one other traveler, I leaned over and tried to not be awkward as I asked him if he knew where he was staying, and if he knew how to get there..."No problem," he said "I'm staying at CR Backpackers Hostel and I think I can find it." "If you want we can walk that way together?" It's funny how I was completely lost only 30 seconds before that but now I had a pretty solid plan because of a simple question. 

Every day that I end up in these situations it makes me realize how much more I can take on in the world. It honestly makes me excited to wake-up everyday because I don't feel like I HAVE to do something just to be safe. That being said, we'll see how I feel as my money starts to run out, haha! More to come about Puerto Viejo too!

One of the first things that I noticed when I came to Central America was the immense amount of poverty here. In general people seem to be happy and content here but there are many that do not have much of anything. The closer that you get to cities here, the more you notice it. It's very hard to come to a country and enjoy things that many of the countries own inhabitants cannot. While it is difficult to walk past elderly and children that are begging for money, I have sometimes bought crackers/snacks and given them to those who I can. Many people believe that giving money can lead to future problems for begging children because it is a temporary fix that encourages them to beg or makes them jealous and encourages theft later in life. As I stated earlier it is difficult to walk past those who have next to nothing and not feel guilty and even food may encourage begging, but you never know when things are out of desperation or something else.

There is some solace and peace of mind to be had in backpacking however. For me, I am encouraged daily by the number of smiling faces that I see behind countless shops and hostels. A sure sign that tourism has brought some economic prosperity to a region of the world with little left. The spending of developed countries wages in undeveloped areas works as a distribution of wealth. Meanwhile "we" backpackers receive more services for our wages. 

As more tourism enters these regions it can raise the prices of common goods and create more income inequality withing the country, meaning that more and more can afford less. This is why I try to avoid solely for profit organizations when possible. Although I am a supporter of business, I also believe in helping as many as possible. Many hostels and tour organizations pay their workers fair wages, pay their rent/overhead, and donate all additional income to other NGO's (non-governmental organizations). These NGOs also hire volunteer workers (often backpackers) which allows more cultural dispersion and a greater understanding of the world as a whole.

So look for non-profit organizations when you can, and travel as often as possible. Even if it seems that you may not be doing much good, and although you might feel like you are helpless to the poverty, I believe that a lot of good can come from world travelers! 

Have you ever been stuck on a cramped bus or a plane ride with no leg room? Well, after yesterday's bus ride I don't think I will ever complain about buses or planes in the States again...The day started out with me and three friends cramped into a small sedan taxi with our 4 bags, this was a short ride, no problem at all! Then we arrived at the bus station where we were told in Spanish that we needed to take a micro-bus instead of the larger school buses because the other buses would take us to the wrong bus station in Managua (the travel center of Nica). This involved us putting a bag under our feet, my two bags in-front of me in-between my legs. Once again, it was only an hour and a half and it felt very safe, so it really wasn't much of a problem. Then we got to Managua and people told us that we still needed to go to another bus station, but that it was close. 15 mins later and another tight-quarters cab ride we had arrived at the other bus station.

This is where the real story began, we got there essentially as the bus was pulling out. We quickly had our large backpacks without any real valuables put under the bus. Then we walk onto the bus with out small packs...Every seat was taken on the bus...the aisle was full, but not just with one person in-between each seat. You were literally smushed against another person between each seat, but don't worry, the locals still managed to pick-up more passengers on as we made stops along the way. Then at some stops local vendors selling waters/chips would get on and walk the entire length of the bus like a jigsaw puzzle, one person squeezing past another, then a shuffle to make a small gap, and the guy who collects money on the buses had to do the same.

4 hours later, and after I had gotten a seat for 5 mins, but then given it up to some women who were standing I was exhausted, but finally we arrived again in San Juan del Sur. I rewarded myself with some American-style pizza ($5 split with one friend) and a large Gelato ice-cream in a waffle cone (3.20$). The rest of the night my friends and I watched South Park at the hostel which was included with breakfast and fast internet for 10$ each in a 4-bedroom private at Hostel Tadeo.

When I embarked on this trip a little over a month ago, I was really wishing that I knew someone who wanted to travel with me. Every day since then I have been realizing that traveling alone was a blessing in disguise. Now don't get me wrong, if you have a really good friend with similar ideas/opinions or is just open minded, then sure it isn't that big of a problem to travel with someone. However, when you're alone you don't have to please anyone except yourself, and when you just finished a long day of traveling and you feel like chilling and your buddy wants to go and run around the city or party all night, you can end up in some mentally exhausting situations. 

For example, over the last few days I have been relaxing in Leon again. I have met some really great people who have stuck around for a few days with me here. We all heard of a festival going on in Masaya called "Los Aguizotes". Up until this point in my travels, with the exception of one time, I have just made decisions in the moment. So if I felt like doing something, then I did it. When it comes to planning where to stay I have just always asked people for recommendations before I take off and then I ask around in the new place once I get there. However, because there were so many people here interested in the festival, as well as other friends that I had met on my travels, I spent almost two whole days trying to find hostels online, sending requests for reservations, sending messages to friends only to tell them something entirely different a moment later. 

By the time that I had finalized some plans, a hostel sent me a message online and told me that the festival had occurred last weekend...I inquired around and surely but slowly I found out that the locals of Masaya do not like to associate their festival with Halloween, so they moved their celebration ahead one week. The end result was a loss of almost two days to planning. Now don't get me wrong, I was still experiencing some great things and was happy to try and plan a few days with new friends, but it was EXTREMELY mentally taxing. I raised my hopes up well above where I should have and it lead to a disappointing end.

Solo travel alleviates some of this mental tax, and when you're packing your life into a bag daily to go to a foreign place and experiencing things you have never done before, trust me the less you have to think, the better!

P.S. I am getting back on the road again so hopefully I will have some new places to take pictures and make some videos. Stay tuned! 

In an attempt to save some money while traveling I brought a tent and sleeping bag. Unfortunately these two things take up 50% of the space inside my backpack. If I store these on the outside of my backpack the bag becomes to wide to fit into overhead storage in buses etc. so I have to carry my small backpack on the front of me and the larger one on my back. It makes backpackers look pretty goofy, but many have to do it. Here is an example of it:

However the difference in price for camping instead of staying in a dorm can be $2-$5 instead of $8-$13 dollars per night. That cash adds up fast and if you really want to live on a budget it's a great option. So after two nights at the lodge I decided that I would try and camp, especially since the food on the island was expensive (but very tasty). But my night was about to get real weird...

So here I am tired from a great day at the beach, hanging out with new friends and filled with new experiences. Tired from all that I took in a said goodnight to my friends and headed for the tent. Of course the first thing that I dealt with while trying to sleep in a tent on the beach was the sand...lots of sand, then I realized that I had no fan so not to get too graphic but I decided it would probably be more comfortable to sleep without clothes (it's like 90+ degrees). That was when it started...

I wake up with the feeling that something just brushed against my butt, I swing at it with my hand to brush it away. What I felt next made no sense to me at all. Disoriented, exhausted, and in the pitch-black I reached out again to feel what was unmistakably a crab...WHY is there a crab in my tent? How do I get it out? How big is this thing? Why did I take my clothes off? Why did I lock the two zippers of the tent together? A flood of questions popped into my mind, and the only answer I could think of was find some light and fast. So I start searching for my flashlight on the floor of the tent. Grabbing around in all directions in the tent and every fifth grab touching the crab that was running in circles around the edge of the tent. I had forgotten that my flashlight was up in a pouch on the side of tent...For what had to be 15-20 mins I am feeling around, unable to find any light. I'm just about ready to fall back asleep with the crab inside the tent when I feel something else familiar under my sleeping bag. MY CELLPHONE! Perfect, once I have light the first thing that I do is find where the crab is...I corner it in the front of the tent next to the zippers, this thing is huge (like 6 inches) and I have no idea how it got inside. I find my keys with the light from the phone and finally escort my new friend out. The rest of my night of sleep was interrupted in waking fits of terror that something else like a scorpion was going to find it's way in too. 

Luckily and unluckily no-one else joined me in the tent for the rest of the night. Certainly one of the last things I was expecting while traveling though.  

Today I took off from Montezuma, it was hard to leave because I had such a good time, the atmosphere was really laid back and Erika, David, and Marcos really made me feel like family! I had to leave lots more friends, and some friends that I really connected with which is never fun, but maybe I'll meet up with them somewhere else in my journeys. 

When I left at 6 a.m. this morning I took the bus and boat to Putarenas with the girls (Fortuna and Sophia) who sing and play the ukulele. When we got on the boat I saw a few people speaking english and I forced myself to ask them where they were heading. I got really lucky because they were going North to Nicaragua just like me. They were all heading to different places, but we shared a cab and helped eachother getting across the boarder. It was a little overwhelming and I was really glad someone was with me.

Once we got across the boarder I went onto a tica bus which is a local bus. It was packed to the brim with people and bags and food etc...I asked the bus driver in broken spanish, "You say when I get to San Juan del Sur" and he said yes, then I asked a local on the bus a little while later and he said that I missed the stop. They made me run off the bus and jump onto another local bus heading the other direction. They grabbed my second backpack and ran it up to the roof of the bus. I didn't want them to take it so I tried to ask if I could go up as well. He said no, but we were just standing on the back of the bus with the door open going like 45 mph until the second guy climbed back down off of the roof and told us to go in. I didn't plan well and assumed that San Juan Del Sur would be the same size as Montezuma. It turns out that it is much larger and when I asked about my hostel almost no-one knew it. Luckily I found a women that spoke english in a shop and she knew where it was. There were plenty of other hostels but I wanted to find my friends.

I was happy when I found my friends sitting at the hostel as I walked up the street! Then I went to a local restaurant to get food and go for a swim in the dark at the beach. The city looked really pretty and there was a glowing statue on a mountain out on the small peninsula. My friends told me that it is the second largest, only smaller than the one in rio de janeiro. It was glowing green and I wish that I could take a better picture but the lighting wouldn't be right so you wouldn't see anything. We wrapped up the night relaxing in the very small but warm pool at the hostel and sitting in the hammocks.

I thought a lot and chatted with my friends at dinner. I think I may take off to do some hostel camping soon and try that. I don't know if I will have internet though so I may not be writing anything for a while...

I have been in Montezuma for a couple days now, there are lots of things to do but the rain has kept me stuck at the hostel mostly. My friends met some other people at the hostel and on the bus and my friend from hostel bekuo (Monique) came to join us here. We have all been cooking together and singing while relaxing because of the rain. 

Yesterday it was sunny in the morning and so me and the rest of the guys took off to go to a local waterfall for a swim. Some of the girls went swimming and took surfing lessons. When we were walking to the waterfall a stray dog came up to us, it was strange because he almost had a human personality, we found out from a tico (local) that his name was Burt, and he lead us all the way up to the waterfall which was a good 30 minute hike or more. The waterfall was a blast to get to, you have to cross back and forth on the river and climb steep slippery rocks. Frederik almost grabbed a spider the size of his hand without seeing it and we saw an iguana that Burt tried to eat. At the waterfall there was a rope swing and rocks to jump from. After some fun at the waterfall we went back to the hostel and took a nap. Six of us had decided to go to Nicaragua tomorrow because it was so rainy here, but at the last minute I decided to stay here. So we all decided to go to the town for reggae night to dance, and I had to say goodbye to a lot of my new friends. 

Here is a link to a video i made of some of my activities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DVejzXv4gE

Today I am traveling to Montezuma to meetup with my Swedish friends. Free breakfast was great again, you can never have too many pancakes and Costa Rican coffee! I talked to my bank again, then went to the Mall right up el calle (the road) where there are many ATMs and banks. The card worked! 

I spent most of the rest of my day re-packing and preparing for the bus trip, which takes 5.5 hours. 

Es un pequeno mundo (it's a small world) and I meet two girls that stayed in hostel Bekuo last night on the bus. They are friendly but my spanish is bad and they don't speak any english. As soon as we left the city the rain started again (it rains everyday here during rain season). I can't believe how beautiful the scenery is here, everything is mountains and rainforest. The rain got pretty heavy for a while and lightning struck all around the bus, so close that you could feel it in the floor of the bus. First the bus took me to a coastal city where I transferred to a ferry. The ferry ride was awesome, there were pelicans flying around and the sun was setting, off in the distance you could see huge mountains rising out of the water. The ferry was playing reggaeton and there was a bar on-board. Then I got off the boat and back onto the bus which dropped me off in a small town. They told me that there would be another bus but then two local kids said to come with them. I saw them loading packages from the bus into their car but I didn't really trust them, so I asked if there was a bus coming and they said no, so I just had to jump into their car. They kept swerving around on the dirt road and when they would get near the sides of the roads they would slow down, I was ready to leave everything and run if they pulled over and stopped but they drove me right to my hostel where my friends were waiting for me! (total cost for bus/ferry/bus was 14$ and change). 

Here are pictures from my trip!

Only two other people were staying in my 10-bed dorm room, they are two brothers from Sweden, Kristofer and Frederik. These guys were awesome to have around, they both speak English and have only been here a few days as well.

8a.m. was FREE breakfast, pancakes, freshly cut pineapple, and coffee/tea. The fruit was delicious and fresh, pancakes were slathered with maple syrup, and coffee to die for. The coffee is way less bitter than typical coffee, it's more like a cocoa almost!

Kristofer, Frederik and I went back to the Mall, I tried my card again in one ATM, no luck, I'll contact my bank and try again later (tough without a phone). They are now leaving for Montezuma (5.5hours via bus and ferry approx. 12$), there they will go hiking, swimming in waterfalls, and surfing...I hope to join them tomorrow but didn't want to waste my paid night here at Hostel Bekuo. 

I ended up going downtown in San Jose with another traveler. The downtown isn't quite like an American city, downtown is just a place to buy lots of things, not skyscrapers, so it's hard to tell when you are "downtown". The food here was cheaper and more local. I had chicken, rice, veggies, salad, bread, and a refresco (soda or juice) for 2800 colones (5$ and change).

At night I went to el cuartel for live salsa music, lots of beautiful people and everyone was very happy, I may have had a few too many cervesas but I had a good time and stayed safe haha...I'll be heading to montezuma now