Catama ran off to San Jose

Remember that category “before and after” on Jeopardy? Well this morning I went on a catamaran ride and this evening ran off to San Jose again. Well not quite ran off, but I did happily take a bus with several other volunteers back to the capital so I can be there and ready to fly out tomorrow afternoon. I’m definitely ready to be back home! Still on the bus now as I post this. 

This trip was great though. From the volunteering, to hanging out with my cousins, to the down time, hikes and adventure sports the following week. It’s just the break, reset, and workout that I needed. And today we put a bow on the Quepos trip with the Catamaran boat ride this morning. The scenic views, music, jumping off boats, water slides and swimming were icing on the cake. 

But even with all that, I don’t think I’ll ever go on a trip like this again. I thought before this trip that my days of staying in hostiles or home stays in bunk beds with several students half my age were probably numbered and this trip confirmed it. I think the next time I take time away from work I’ll make a point to look for discounts, but I will definitely upgrade my accommodation and find another way to connect with local people and culture. I know connecting within a two week period with locals will be the most difficult part. But I think with advanced planning and preexisting connections with people leading up to the trip it could be possible. I could stand to be a little more challenged too. I don’t know if “challenged” is the right word exactly. Maybe I want more of a reason to be in the places I travel or a longer term project to participate in. We’ll see what’s next. 

On a lighter note though, I mentioned that I jumped off a boat! Here are some stills — I think it’s more dramatic than the actual video — of the jump into about 6 meters deep worth of Pacific Ocean. For context, 6 meters is about 20 feet and 20 feet about two stories. Also the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean is 10,935 meters in an area called Challenger Deep. So this is basically nothing. But it is deeper than the deep end of your typical pool at 8 feet deep. I jumped 3 times. First time I took a couple deep breaths then went for it! 

We’re about 30 minutes from the San Jose bus terminal. I’ll hop on another van probably after this and will be dropped off to another host family for a single night before I head to the airport tomorrow.