The Costa Rican Adventure - Volume 22 - Making Up for Lost Time - Part 1
(Picture - Spectacolar Cantina Bar-Restaurant - La Fortuna, Costa Rica)
Wow! It has been almost eight months since I have last written one of my adventure blogs. I'm trying to dig deep and think of a reason why I got away from it and can't seem to find one. I'm kind of sad really. Each month gave me a perspective on how I was growing as a person, or equally important, needing to grow as a person. Both are accurate.
Regardless, life went on and goes on and as the title says, I am writing again to make up for some lost time. So much has happened in just eight short months and I truly have learned some things about myself. I'll try to share some of those as the blog goes on.
I've come to be more comfortable with what are known as my border runs. For those of you not aware, if you choose not to apply for residency in Costa Rica, you are required to leave the country every ninety days. People refer to this time as a border run. For many it is a car or bus ride to the nearest border of Costa Rica. Many people chose to go to Nicaragua as their requirements are much less stringent and you can get your papers approved and your passport stamped, and still come back to Costa Rica the same day. From what I have heard, the Panama border is a little more strict and you usually have to stay in the country for at least a day before returning to Costa Rica. There are many exceptions and different situations, bu those seem to be the two easiest and most standard. One of my border runs I simply bought a flight to Panama, sat in the airport for five hours, got my stamp in customs, then flew back to Costa Rica the same day. Done, no problem.
Then there are those who chose to fly back to their home country and that too satisfies the ninety-day leave. That was the easiest for me as I have kids and grandkids in Wisconsin and it always allows for some great visits and quality family time. I usually get to see a handful of friends as well, so time is budgeted very carefully and I make the most of every trip. Another funny addition are the large Amazon orders I put in that also accompany me back to Costa Rica on my return flight. So I usually take a couple large, empty suitcases to accommodate those must have items. Some necessities and some simple pleasures that you just can't find here in Costa Rica. Some of mine...Miracle Whip, Catalina Dressing, Kraft 'Green Box' Spaghetti, Twinkies, and Crystal Light to name a few. To each his own, right?!
My life as a digital nomad continues to be my mainstay here as a career or life beyond teaching. I'll be honest, I don't miss teaching anymore. I had two of he most amazing years of teaching in my last two of twenty-three years in Mountain Village, Alaska. I loved it while I was there. I made some wonderful friendships with the villagers, I had amazing students and many wonderful experiences on and around the Yukon River. But my passion has always been writing, acting and filmmaking and I am now able to do the writing that my heart has always had the passion to follow.
I had an educational and interesting experience with writing and publishing which started while I was back in Mountain Village over the last year. I made the decision to write a book about relationships and how they could be more fulfilling and appreciated on a daily basis. I started writing that in January of 2021 and didn't stop until it was done just before the end of March. I committed to writing at least an hour every night for three months and it was finally done. The interesting experience I was speaking of was publishing the book with a professional company, Page Publishing. What a learning experience that turned out to be. Sadly, not the most enriching or as positive as I had hoped. It became a process that lasted from April of 2021 and was finally completed by February of 2022. There is a lot of waiting, the communication was not the best it could have been and as a result, caused many disappointments and frustrations over that time. Overall, I learned so much and found that it is just as simple to publish your own book through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) through Amazon. The book, Moments - Love & Relationships wasn't a huge hit as I only sold forty-two copies in the first quarter of sales (3-months). The reality, it was overpriced (sorry everyone, not my choice), and it just wasn't a topic that people were longing to read or rush to get more information on, lol. But there is a humble sense of pride knowing that I published a book and I truly believe that if it helps one person to have a better perspective on their relationship or helps them to want something more in a new relationship...then it was all worth it.
My newest passion in writing and a project that I am having so much fun with is a dramatic series that I created back in 2012. It started as a screenplay for a pilot, but didn't get the attention or traction that I had hoped, so I decided last year to start the project as a short book, series on Amazon. It's called Prime Cut and follows two brothers who own a meat processing and delivery business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They secretly include cocaine in some of their deliveries to restaurants and high end customers and have all the usual trouble that come with drugs and trafficking. I'm on Season One - Episode 6 now and am having a blast creating the story and characters who make up this fun and unique series. The comforting and exciting part of this writing is that there is no pressure from anyone or anywhere to meet deadlines, experience communication issues or have any stress associated with the writing. I am publishing the books myself, and they are exactly the way I created them and they are happily at a price that anyone and everyone can afford. ($.99 for the ebook and $5.35 for the printed book) I love it! Thank you Amazon - KDP.
The fun part about my writing this new series are the locations and times in which I have the opportunity to write. As I became more comfortable and acclimated with La Fortuna, I started to have some favorite places to write. I eventually fell into a routine during the week and it became my writing workday that I looked forward to everyday. Each morning I would walk into town and back out to the edge of town where I live, approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers). I would come home, swim, shower, make breakfast and do some small tasks until about 11:30 am. At that time I would pack up my bag - notebooks, computer, umbrella and miscellaneous supplies and head back downtown, always walking. This more or less covers what I did from September to the end of December.
On Mondays, the twenty-five minute walk would take me to Pollos La Familia. It is a small family restaurant with some of the best fried chicken in Costa Rica, possibly some of the best I have ever tasted. I would get my usual booth by the wall (with the only outlet available to charge my computer), order my usual three-piece chicken, French Fry and Coca-Cola combo and start my work lunch. Over the course of the next five hours I would write and write and write. Two more Cokes, several glasses of water and five hours later, I would pack up my things and head home.
Tuesdays would involve a similar morning, but would also include two new restaurants I became very fond of. My first stop would be a bar-restaurant called Fusion Latina. There I would order my usual guacamole and chips, and depending on my mood, would rotate between Cokes and Imperial Regular beers. Not in the same day, but from week to week. At 5:00 pm I would head up the road to a third favorite place called Spectacolar. Like the word Spectacular only spelled Spec-taco-lar. It is a two story, open windowed bar-restaurant that has some of the most amazing tacos (Taco Tuesday), hamburgers and shrimp cocktail. Three of my usual and favorite things to order. So on Tuesdays my workday would continue into the evening at Spectacolar. Another great thing about Spectacolar is that they have live music every Tuesday night. I became friends with a local musician named Jimmy Loop (Jimmy Salas) and each Tuesday night, I would sit at the bar or my favorite spot in a corner and would write while Jimmy had his gig. It was the coolest thing in the world to just write my stories and have the soothing Latin music playing in the background.
Wednesday was similar to a Monday, same morning routine, but on this day I would pick between two of my other favorite restaurants, Alita's and La Fortuna Pub. Alita's is a fun little open air restaurant that is known as a sports bar. It has at least ten or more tvs spread throughout the small space and was a fun place to write, grab one of my favorite hamburgers in town and peak up at some sports once in a while. There is another story of Alita's which involves my weekend travels to come watch the Green Bay Packers, but I'll save that for another blog. The second possible Wednesday stop is the La Fortuna pub. Another open air restaurant, but more like a picnic table setting. Good burgers and good chicken fingers too. It became a fun place to write and hang out and they have some original beers I couldn't get at any of the other restaurants (Dirty Raccoon Beer). Essentially, I would take turns from week to week between these two places and both were very satisfying.
My Thursday writing days were very similar to Tuesday in that it would be a full day. Jimmy Loop had another venue on Thursdays and I never missed it. On Thursdays I would mix things up between Pollos Familia Restaurant, Fusion Latina or La Fortuna Pub. From one of those, at 5:00 pm I would head up the road again to a place called Mercandito. Mercandito was a multi-faceted common area that serves five different restaurants. They have a big stage and Jimmy always plays to a full house. I would find a small table off to the side and would again, do my writing to the peaceful sounds of Jimmy's music. Pizza was my favorite here and I would always grab a pizza and beer for dinner before writing or a night of editing. Although, it was my go-to place for Pepsi since it was one of the few places in town that served it. (I finally quit pop or soda as some of you call it, on January 2, 2022 - haven't had a drop since).
Fridays and Saturdays became a half-day of writing and I would only write until 5:00 pm most times. I mixed things up between all of those restaurants on most days, and would do so for the weekends too. It was a really nice routine to fall into and was exactly what I wanted when I came here; to live a simple life and follow my passion of writing in a warm and humble location. I've said this before and I don't know if I need to say this as a disclaimer, out of guilt or as an obligation, but not a day goes by that I don't' take fifteen minutes or more to think about all the things I am grateful for and how lucky I am to have gotten to this place in my life. Thank you so much for reading.
Until next time...stay tuned!
