Yes, I travel a lot, but I surely don’t vacation enough (when still living/working in Germany, I made sure to use my full 30/35 days/year, but that is now over 10+ years ago…) Thankfully next week that is about to change as we are packing our bags and are heading to Costa Rica. On those treasured vacations, I rarely return to the same place twice, because there are so many more places I long to experience, but Costa Rica has held a special place in my heart for a long time. Our first trip was pre-marriage, pre-company, pre-baby and before I started planning other people’s journeys to foreign lands. It was also at a time where I worried a whole lot less about unplugging or where we would stay, eat and play – because it was just us grown-ups and a beach or bar was never hard to find. This time however, little T. soon to be known as Tica, is coming along and with her newly caught interest in travel, the stakes are high and the challenge will be to make sure everyone will have a great time. As big T. and I recently reconfirmed, we are not the all-inclusive resort kinda travelers and while a kids club surely sounds like a great option for T., that one pro (assuming she would even want to go after a quite sad first club experience at the Club Med Sandpiper – and don’t get me started on the food there), does not outweigh the cons. So back to the drawing board as traveling the way we used to, by just getting to a destination, maybe book the first night and then explore, does not work too well with little ones in my opinion. And while I have NO problem deciding for others where they should stay on their trips, for me personally finding that travelicious hotel is always the hardest part. To make a long story short, I could not be more excited about the places we will be staying at – and what a dare – I even left one night open to be decided on later, the very last one!
The biggest difference I noted when traveling with young ones is that those long scenic car rides that I just love are no longer the way to go, and also changing hotels each night is not recommended. If T. likes a place, she never wants to leave again (working on a post of our recent stay at the Intercontinental Berlin), so the one-nighters are always really hard on her, but for us, meaning her, two or three nights seems just about right. So next Tuesday will be a real #traveltuesday for us when we wake uo in the highlands of Costa Rica’s central volcanic range at “El Silencio Lodge“. Cannot thank Rebeca and the team already enough in advance for the most pleasant reservation experience to date and I keep going back and back to the website and through the materials provided . Since we already hit the classic tourist must-sees last time, from Arenal to the Monteverde Cloud Forest, to Jaco (never again) and Manuel Antonio, this family adventure is part of my personal quest to be a traveler as much as possible and not just another $%^& tourist. Surely looks like “El Silencio” gives us a lot of that rainforest nature experience that we are seeking to re-experience with our daughter, but without having to fight the crowds and being just another visitor. This video surely got me all excited – and the idea of an eco concierge on site is just brilliant. The photos are all taken from ww.elsilencio.com and showcase some of the experiences we are most looking forward too.
This post will be continue later today – as it is time to hit the gym for the first time in forever…