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!

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! 

When it comes to picking a hostel always always ask. If you have the room in your backpack you might have a lonelyplanet guide which will give you great recommendations, but for me, every place that you go you'll hangout with the people that you have the most similar mindset to. These people will know subconsciously which places you will like because they have a similar mindset. It's a great conversation starter and sometimes you'll ask and someone in the hostel will overhear you and chime in and then all the sudden you've made another new friend! 

One of the other reasons that I highly recommend asking is for the same reason as my last post. If you have to plan all the time, you lose time, you build expectations, and it's rare that your expectations will be met. That being said, I know that I am the kind of person that always enjoys flying by the seat of my pants. But I think most travelers can agree that they are here to experience new things, and I can assure you that not every good hostel is in the lonelyplanet guidebook, or even online. Heck, maybe you'll have to stay with a local family for a night because there aren't any hostels with room, but 9 times out of 10 you'll be happier that you experienced something for the first time. When you plan, your mind creates a scenario in your head, and you lose the authenticity. One of the most popular quotes that I've seen while traveling actually goes like this:


"When was the last time that you did something for the first time?"

The last reason is because of the mental tax it takes to always be planning, not to mention the time required, which can all be lost if something falls through. There are plenty of other things to spend that brain power and time on and who wants to be tied down to a strict schedule while traveling.

The last two days in Montezuma have been great! There was sun almost all day both days. The first day I went to the beach and hung-out with all sorts of new friends from my hostel. We swam and sang and two girls brought a ukulele and taught another friend of mine how to play. It was an awesome day, we all just relaxed and enjoyed eachother's company! 

The second day I went to another waterfall, but I went on horseback with my new friends. None of them had ridden a horse before but the horses were really laid back, just like the people. We saw monkeys along the way and then they served us pineapples and water after we swam at the waterfall. It cost 33$ but it was a really beautiful waterfall so I'm very glad that I went.

Tonight I have been thinking about what I will do next, my friends (the Swedish brothers, as well as Steve, an Englishman, and Cynthia, another American) say that San Juan del sur in Nicaragua is really nice and I would really like to join them while they are there. But I like being relaxed and not having to move so quickly. I will make a decision soon. First I need to do my laundry, all my clothes smell horrible haha.

I have also really started to notice my mind changing because a lot of times I have to speak in broken spanish, and the way that they say things in spanish is different from english. For example in the states you might say "Let's go to the beach", and here you might say, (vamos a la playa) "We go to the beach"? So when I speak in english again my brain still wants to say it in spanish.