Viva la Vida

As I said in a previous post, I am on vacation in Costa Rica with my family. Today, we went to Manuel Antonio National Park to see all the tropical animals that live here. I was walking with our 12-person tour group and found myself seperated from my family. I looked to my left and noticed I was walking next to this 50-something year lady. She had very tan, blotchy skin from years of sun damage and wore those official "travelers clothes". You know, with the cargo pants and neutral colored outfits. She turned and smiled at me and before I knew it, she was telling me about her experiences in Tunisia, Patagonia, Australia, and more. I was only half-listening however, I more more focused on how I wanted to be like her one day. To really experience life and not let fears and worries hold you back. To learn about other cultures. I don't even know what this woman's name was, and she probably doesn't know mine, but man was she cool. Little does she know that I will remeber her forever.

Arriving in Costa Rica

Hello readers. I am with my family on vacation right now in Costa Rica. Gosh, it's lovely here. The people are so friendly and the landscape is marvelous. When my family and I arrived in San Jose, our driver met us and we prepared for a two hour ride throught the windy mountain roads to our resort. So, the first thing I noticed was that the roads do not compare to the roads we have back in the U.S. They are narrow and bumpy, but this didn't bother me a bit. Matter of fact, I liked it because it made me feel a tad bit like my idol, Anthony Bourdain. The first little town we rode through was so cute. The buildings and houses were low and colorful and they all had gates out front. Many people were walking from place to place and a couple of them weren't wearing shoes. Collarless dogs roamed the streets and cows and horses grazed in the little land they had. As it turned out, every little town from here on was exactly the same as the last. But I never got bored. It seemed like we drove around, up, and down every mountain in Costa Rica. The steepness of the moutains and the guardless roads combined with the spuratic driving of our stick-shifted car made for a very nervous me. After what seemed like 24 hours, we arrived at our resort which turned out to be way worth the tough and rough journey here.

My Inspiration

Anthony Bourdain is my first and last love. Anyone who can bash on Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay without being the number one story on E! is my hero, no doubt. I can't get over the way this picture epitomizes his very existence. Gourmet food, yet still keeping his rough-around-the-edges, painfully-blunt self clearly visible. If you do not watch Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, you need to look it up pronto. On the show, he goes all over the world and experiences the people's traditional lifestyle. But what just puts the cherry on top for me is that he says the things that you are too afraid to say. I can remember last week, I saw an episode where he was interviewing people to be his personal guide during his adventures and he came across a woman who wanted to show him, and all of the people in the world with cable for that matter, her own country of Saudi Arabia. He simply said, "Why should I go to Saudi Arabia? It doesn't seem like a rollicking good time." His face was without the slightest bit of kidding.

As a thank you to those who are taking the time to read my posts, I will let you know a wee secret of mine... I have a list posted on my metal bed hung up with magnets titled My Goals in Life (I never share it to people by the way). Number one reads 1. Meet Anthony Bourdain and be the next "him".