About Me

 

My name is Jessica. I was born and raised in Costa Rica. When I was 13 years old, my family decided to move to North Carolina, United States and I've been living here since then, but my heart has always been in Costa Rica.

 

I'm a divorced mother of two beautiful young ladies. They are my whole world. I'm now engaged to a wonderful man, who was my first crush when I was in school and still living in Costa Rica back in 1995. After 26 years we found each other through social media, we started a relationship, and we will be getting married soon.
 
 I've always loved to travel and explore new places.  As a child my family used to take us camping all the time, sometimes we camped at the beach, Tortuguero to be more exact and I loved it. I got to see huge turtles come out of the sea and laid their eggs and I also got to see the eggs hatched a few times. We also camped at the mountains right next to a river. I enjoyed the morning hikes and to watch the wildlife. As an adult, the love for traveling and exploring hasn't change. We have traveled to different cities, beaches, mountains and places of interest throughout the United States. 
 
My passion to travel to Costa Rica started when I went back to visit my family in 2013. On that trip I was able to visit different places such as Puntarenas, my hometown Limon and Alajuela. But it wasn't until 2021 when I went back, and I really got to explore more of my beautiful country. Since then, I've been going twice a year and stay for several weeks. I'm in so much love with the country that I've decided to relocate permanently.
 
The reason why we've created this page is because we love Costa Rica, and my goal is to help everyone that visit this country to fall in love with it as well.
 

We want to share our passion for Costa Rica so that you can discover this amazing country. I've personally seen a lot of people so confused and nervous about traveling to Costa Rica and I don't blame them. Traveling abroad can be an exciting experience but at the same time it can be intimidating or a whole host of other emotions, depending on the circumstances you are in.

 

On one hand you get to experience the new culture and environment, meet different people, and explore unfamiliar but beautiful places. On the other hand, it can be overwhelming there's a lot of anxiety about being in an unfamiliar place with different customs and language barriers to overcome. 

 

Something very important to note is that I am writing this from a Costa Rican AND "foreigner" point of view since I've lived in Costa Rica and visited it as a foreigner. 

 

Traveling back to my country was a long cherish dream and when it finally came true, it was too much to handle. I had butterflies in my stomach when I landed. I was so confused about the immigration procedure, which lane do I follow? what category do I fall into? Coming out of the airport finally was a truly relief, but at the same time, it was just the beginning, so now what is next?

 

Luckly for me I've had already arranged someone to pick me up, but it still was scarry, because I didn't remember this person much since I didn't see her since I was a teenager, somewhat she still was like a stranger to me.

 

Also, currency handling was a nightmare and safety was my biggest concern, and even though I can still speak fluently Spanish, it was scary since I've lost my Costa Rican accent after living in the United States for 18 years, and not to mention my Spanish vocabulary was limited compared to Costa Ricans since they use different terminology (informal language) most of the time. But overall, it was a great experience.

 

So, as you can see these guidebooks are full of personal stories and advice based on experience, and through them I want to inspire you to take a life changing trip to Costa Rica, not to only have a wonderful time while you are there but to experience for yourself the Pura Vida, Costa Rica Lifestyle!