The Invitation

And All My Feelings!

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my Substack, What an Adventure!

So far, I’ve written 40 stories from our Costa Rican hotel journey, and there’s more to tell. Thank you for reading along on my adventure!

It seems somewhat fitting that today’s post is about a special invitation.

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Photo by Ronnie George on Unsplash

Have you ever sold a house and later been asked by the new owner to return? Probably not.

But here Mark and I are. Only days away from a trip back to Costa Rica.

The new owners have invited us to return.

Back to the hotel we owned for 5 years. Back to our mountain, our town, our neighborhood, the people we knew, and the country that was home for 5 years.

Months ago they told us they were doing some remodeling, and they wanted us to be the 1^st visitors of a new room they were unveiling. (Really, more remodeling? It apparently is a thing with this place! 😂)

Back to see what they’ve done.

We’ve been in contact with the new owners over the last 2+ years since they bought the hotel. I’m glad we have a relationship with them. Unlike the non-relationship we have with the previous owner, Gomer.

But the invitation has conjured up a lot of feelings. Mark and I didn’t think we’d return for a long time, if ever.

How do I feel?

Nervous. And excited.

Nervous and excited!

I can remember everything about the hotel. Everything. Maybe more than any other place or home I’ve lived.

Why? I’m not exactly sure. Was it because it was the most recent, most stressful, most impactful? Sure, I remember all our homes. Our kids were raised in them. We built one of them.

This one was different.

I’m nervous.

Will I like the new changes? I’ve seen some of the hotel’s changes on their social media feeds. Subtle changes that probably only I (or Mark) would notice.

A new light fixture here, a new table there. Those decorative pillows I spent so much time looking for…gone.

Will the flowers that I planted so, so long ago still be there? Will they have grown to make an arch over the walkway like we envisioned? I don’t know. I’ll find out.

Our vision, ideas, and choices. Our little labors of love. You create; you choose.

Paving the way for the new. That’s how it is, right?

We did the same thing when we bought the hotel. We re-created, changed.

For the better.

Nothing I have is truly mine. – Dido

I always knew that those things weren’t really ‘mine’. We created and chose things for the hotel. For the guests. For others and not for us.

And I’m excited!

To see the new, the improved, the better.

To see the things Mark and I didn’t get the chance to do.

To see someone else’s vision for a place we all love.

I’m nervous.

How will I feel seeing the people we left? Our team members.

Some of our team members have moved on – replaced by unfamiliar faces. How will the hotel, my former home, feel to me with new faces? Like visiting your old home with new people living there.

And how will it feel to be a hotel guest and not the owner? Strange, I’m sure.

But I’m excited!

To see the people we spent so much time with.

To reconnect with them and hear how they’ve been.

And to meet the ones we didn’t know, the new faces.

I can already feel the hugs, the embraces. I might cry. Maybe I won’t.

I feel fortunate for the invitation. For the opportunity to return.

To the beautiful country of Costa Rica, to our beautiful hotel.

To see the things I miss, and the people we met.

So here we go! A little nervous but incredibly excited!

Pura Vida!

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Stay tuned for The Return post in a few weeks.

Wish me luck and leave me a comment! What things do you want to know about our return visit?