"We gotta turn around"
We were a mile from the house & realized I forgot my Spanish-English pocket dictionary. That might be useful with my rudimentary grasp of the Spanish language. Not sure if you know this but they have a different word for everything.
Timmy whips the car around and a block or two later I find the book in a separate pocket of my backpack.
"Ahhhh never mind, I found it. My bad"
And just like that we're back on schedule. It was only a minor detour and a minute later we're on the highway and cruisin.
Until we weren't.
"Oh shit. We do actually have to turn around"
This time we were a mile from the airport and I realized I had left my proof of vaccination form sitting on my desk. Yeah I'm definitely gonna need that.
Yikes
Luckily everywhere in Tulsa is 15 minutes from the airport and about half an hour later we're right back at Tulsa International. This time with proper documentation.
Timmy drops me off right at 7:50. My flight is at 9:00. Anyone currently reading in a big city is probably growing anxious at this point.
I breeze up to a United kiosk, type in my reservation number, flash my vaccine form, and I'm through security by 7:55. No joke. The Tulsa airport is amazing. I'm at my gate by 8:00 with 30 minutes to spare before boarding.
Glad I had enough time for my little detour.
The flight to Houston is short & uneventful. I make my way to Terminal E and have to show my vaccine form once again at the gate. I get on the bird and I'm ready to set my watch to Pura Vida standard time.
Only one small problem, the flight crew isn't here yet. Their flight getting to Houston was delayed and we have to wait on them. After about 20 minutes the pilot shows up in a cheery mood and lets us know that we're all set to go.
Except one more small thing. There's some weather in Costa Rica and the captain wants to top off the gas tanks in case we have any difficulties getting in. He relayed this information to the fuel crews 20 minutes ago when he landed (at least that's his story, he seemed like a good guy so I'll believe him) but something got lost in translation and the fuel crew never got the message.
Another 30 minutes waiting on the fuel crew and we are finally ready to push back. We're about an hour behind schedule, but honestly I have nowhere to be. I'm on holiday.
And when I say I have nowhere to be, I really mean it. I booked a flight to Costa Rica and a return flight 3 weeks later. That's it. Well, actually while we were delayed I caved and booked a hostel for tonight in San José that was well rated and allegedly in a quiet neighborhood. But other than that, no plans whatsoever. Let's see where the winds take me.
San José
I land in San José and zip through Immigration and Customs - I guess that's one of the perks of coming during the slow season. I depart the airport and expect some sort of cafe where I can grab a bite and a cold beer. Instead I'm assaulted by people trying to get me to use their cab service. Since there is nowhere to eat I dump myself into a cab and head to the hostel. It's about 45 minutes through some shit traffic before I finally arrive at In The Winds hostel in the San Pedro neighborhood of San José.
The proprietor gives me the tour of the joint and suggests a few places I can grab a bite. I drop my bags and head to the closest one, a blend of Costa Rican, Peruvian, and Japanese food. I end up ordering the arroz con pollo and warsh it down with a ginger ale. Something about a soda out of a glass bottle just hits different.
I then make my way to Fito's Bar and enjoy a few beers* while reading a hard-boiled detective novel that my good friend and consigliere Will gave me in Boston last weekend at 3 AM. After that it's back to the hostel and I turn in for an early night.
* All beers referenced herein are Imperials (a damn fine Costa Rican beer brand) unless otherwise noted.
The next morning I wake up and plan to check out a few museums in the city that I've read about. The hostel has freshly brewed coffee and they whip up an enormous pancake that I shouldn't have finished but I did anyway because it was so damn good.
While at desayuno I meet a fella from northern Spain and another guy from Cuba. The Cuban guy is in the middle of a journey headed for the US - he started in Venezuela, made his way through Colombia & Panama and now he's about to set out through Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and a long trek through Mexico. It's pretty humbling to see the sacrifice that someone will go through to achieve what we take for granted.
My friend from Cuba has to take a phone call and I wish him luck on his travels. Just as I'm about to head back to my room a fellow traveler plops down next to me at the breakfast table. I grab another cup of coffee and we strike up a conversation. Cécile is from the west of France and has been traveling through Mexico for a month and arrived in Costa Rica the day before I did. She just finished her Masters in Civil Engineering at 2 AM the night before on a video call with Paris so she's operating somewhere in the tired/excited/relieved space.
While we're talking another girl from Switzerland sits down for a pancake & a cup of coffee. Cécile & Mia begin chatting and it turns out they're both headed to Puerto Viejo, a small town on the Caribbean coast that they've heard great things about. I hadn't considered making my way to the Caribbean on this trip but fuck it - I ain't got nothin else to do. I ask if they mind if I tag along and they are amenable to add a third to their newly founded travel party. Mia checks her watch & we have 15 minutes until we need to catch a cab to the bus terminal and I am not packed in the slightest. I sprint upstairs and throw all my shit into my bag as quickly as possible and meet them in the lobby with a minute to spare. We pile into the cab and off we go to the bus terminal.
Let the adventure begin...