What an Adventure!

Time flies, start now!

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Why this, why now?

As mentioned in the About section, my life started out typically. Then, it took an unusual turn. My husband, Mark, and I did an unlikely thing and bought a hotel in the middle of the jungle in Costa Rica. “Why?”, you ask. You’re not the 1st or only one to ask that question, so I started What an Adventure! to tell the whole story about life in the jungle, owning a business in a foreign country and all its ups and downs (literally the way-downs, which you’ll find out if you stick with me).

The Why

The saying goes, ’life’s too short’, and many of us wait until it’s too late to do whatever. When I was 35, my mother passed away. She was 58. She didn’t make it to retirement. My father-in-law died at 62, shortly after his retirement. It struck me as unfair that neither got more time to do whatever.

Fast forward some years. Late in 2016, my father passed away. My kids were both in college, so we were now empty-nesters. After getting rid of all my dad’s stuff, Mark and I spent the month of January 2017 binge-watching 7 seasons of Game of Thrones! No kidding. We got the 30-day free HBO trial, and watched 2 or 3 episodes a day. (I mean, we HAD to finish it before the 30 days were up!)

Photo by Reiseuhu on Unsplash

Mark and I were college sweethearts and we’ve been married a long time. More than once in our marriage, he has said, “I have a crazy idea”. When he says that, I cringe a bit, as that truly means something a little crazy. 

At age 48, after watching 30 days of non-stop GOT, we thought, “Is this it?”, prompting him to bring out the, “I have a crazy idea” statement. He said, “I think we should consider moving to Costa Rica now”.

We had been to Costa Rica with our kids in 2008 and 2010 and we were familiar with the country. Costa Rica is unbelievably beautiful. Live in a foreign country was on our bucket list, but make it a reality? Hmmm…

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

I said, “Sure, hon, you look into that.”, figuring he’d do just that-’look into it’, and it wouldn’t get far.  But I know him, all crazy idea and such. 

He looked into it alright. He started looking at homes for sale in a town we hadn’t visited, but one that had both mountains (for him) and the beach (for me).  As we tried to visualize a snowbird lifestyle, we realized that after about 2 weeks of relaxing, we’d be bored and would need something to keep us occupied. 

Then he found it.  He came across a listing for a small, boutique hotel for sale. It was a high-end place with a restaurant, bar, spa, beautiful pool, and the most incredible views! Never mind that neither of us had any background in hotels, restaurants, bars, or spas.  We spoke very little Spanish and hadn’t owned our own business.  We knew no one in Costa Rica.

Early March, we stayed at the property as ‘secret-shoppers’. As we sat on the plane back to Chicago on my 49th birthday, he looked at me and asked, “Well, should we put in an offer?”

I make decisions weighing all the scenarios.  I had been thinking about this decision those 3 days, and could not come up with a good reason to say ‘no’. In fact, my parents and my father-in-law all came to mind, and I thought, time flies, start now!

Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

I’d love for you to subscribe for free to follow this crazy idea, What an Adventure! You’ll get an email when I post new content, and I promise not to flood your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time, but if you stay, you’ll get all the laughs, legends and lessons of this adventure and maybe some other unlikely adventures along the way. Thanks for reading, and as we say in Costa Rica—Pura Vida!