Single Mom Traveling: Central Valley, Costa Rica

The word ‘unmarried mom touring’ does have a cute ring; however, upon my daughter’s start, I became wholly devastated by the idea that it might not be possible to retain my traveling approaches with my child. But like the seasons- thoughts, opportunities, and those trade. After a year and a half of settling into motherhood, I determined that journeying as an unmarried mother with my nineteen-month-old using my side was no longer impossible in the end. Our first actual ride becomes Costa Rica for 35 days. We visited five special places, beginning with the Central Valley, then on to the Caribbean Coast, the Northern Central Valley, and subsequently to the Pacific Coast. We encountered many hours of journey, new locations to evolve to, and unforgettable memories.

I think journeying stays in a child’s psyche and shapes their individual conscientiously and finely. I noticed firsthand how wonderful the experience has become for my daughter Natalia, and I plan to travel as much as possible. Natalia becomes ecstatic when we arrive at our new vacation spot after hours of journey. She could check out our new home and say, “Natalia’s house,” we’d gracefully ease into every new vacation spot and journey scenario we encountered.

The Central Valley was the first place we settled for seven days. I wanted to peer where in Costa Rica we might probably want to settle down for 12 months or two in the future. I could be coaching and dabbling in real estate, and Natalia might be getting bilingual schooling and basking inside the solar. I changed into pining for the beach. However, I did not need to limit my alternatives to simply the beach. Most of the roles in Costa Rica are within the Central Valley, and I wanted to get to recognize the Central Valley firsthand so that I may want to compare my experiences once I ventured out to the coasts. I also wished to peer what could be more exciting and sensible for both folks, with an awesome task marketplace, appropriate colleges, and a kid-friendly ecosystem. I would then determine the best option for my toddler daughter- discovering her existence and development, and for me- a teacher, global traveler, and amusing-loving single mom.

The Central Valley is a huge region with many cities, including San Jose, Heredia, and Alajuela. When I study these cities, I get recommendations from people and the internet to avoid them. I have in no way been to Central or South America. I did not need to overwhelm myself with a huge Central American town, while I might already be beaten with my small travel accomplice. If I had been traveling unmarried or with pals, I would gladly look at the massive, sprawling cities, but with a baby, I felt that I should be extra low-key. I desired a homey small city experience with a bedroom vicinity and a kitchen so that Natalia and I could acclimate to living day-by-day in the Central Valley just like the locals.

We selected a small village in you. S. A. Hills called Pan de Azucar because of this ‘sugar bread’ in Spanish. Pan de Azucar is inside the outskirts of a secure little city called Atenas. Atenas has an important part in the middle and is surrounded by quaint family-run companies and restaurants called Sodas. Atenas has an easy cathedral, Tico-style residential homes, and rolling mountain degrees inside the historical past. It is a mellow town with kid-pleasant shops, including a candy save, a toy keep, and a delicious bakery from the park. It had treats that Natalia loved to devour, just like the carrot bread. Atenas also boasts that it has “the quality climate in the international”, which is a deal breaker for me. There is something very healthful and extraordinary about the “first-rate weather in the world,” and I desired my female child to enjoy it.

After many committed nights of research, I located a cozy-bedroom residence online through a comprehensive website that rents holiday homes by the proprietor. In my opinion, when staying for longer durations and touring with youngsters, a home kind of surroundings is the best option. The belongings wherein we rented our residence is Japanese owned and is referred to as ‘Casa de Megumi’. In Spanish and Japanese, it means ‘House of Blessing’. ‘Casa’ means residence in Spanish, and ‘Megumi’ way of blessing in Japanese. Finding a Japanese-run holiday condominium in Costa Rica became a wonderful accident because of my current Japanese-oriented beyond. I lived in Japan for 12 months and a half, became pregnant in Japan for five months, and it was the ultimate location I traveled to before going to Costa Rica. Since I am profoundly fascinated with Japanese matters, Casa de Megumi became routinely kind to me. Moreover, once I was given to know the earnestly beneficial owner of the belongings, Hisano Bell, a Japanese lady from Yokohama, I knew in my intestine that Casa de Megumi turned into the right area for us to begin our Costa Rica adventure.

Hisano has become our travel mother or father angel inside the Central Valley. Before arriving in Costa Rica, Hisano and I had been in regular touch. She made all styles of provisions for us, like getting our groceries before we landed. When I despatched Hisano on my grocery list, I forgot to put the coffee on the list. However, Hisano gave nearby Costa Rican coffee to her visitors; I did not even have to fear that. On the nighttime we arrived, we enjoyed a conventional Tico meal that Hisano arranged for us with the prepared dinner at Casa de Megumi. Hisano’s thoughtfulness becomes countless. She could even pressure us into the city occasionally and provide knowledgeable travel pointers, like wherein to exchange cash for the first-class charge. That is what I name Japanese service and hospitality. The Japanese human beings pleasure themselves on how properly they serve others. When I began living in Japan, I discovered a lot about imparting honest, great services to my customers, college students, and anybody I chose to assist, paid or not. These same features of excellent providers that I determined in Japan were the equal qualities that Hisano shared with us. The accident of Casa de Megumi became a true blessing.

Come to think about it, more coincidences were observed during our stay at Casa de Megumi. I view these coincidences as omens or warning signs that even though I traveled to an unknown land with a child alone, these omens had been like familiarities alongside our adventure, to make us experience at ease and prefer we have been at the right course. I am a huge fan of Paolo Coelho’s philosophies and religion, so the exceptional coincidences at Casa de Megumi have been magical and welcomed at every step.

On the Casa de Megumi assets, we stayed at Casa Verde, a pristinely easy and newly made two-bedroom residence with all the amenities, access to fertile gardens with avocado bushes, awesome crucial valley views, and a glowing pool. Hisano lives in Casa Grande, the other house on the property, along with her family. I became enamored by Hisano’s mother. She is an elderly girl with graceful mannerisms and always wearing traditional Japanese regalia. Natalia and Hisano’s dog, Jon-Jon, had been quite inseparable at some point during our entire stay at Casa de Megumi. It felt like we had an automatic pet upon arrival, and it changed into heartwarming to peer my daughter, creating a bond and caring for an animal. She had many more possibilities to keep in touch and care for animals during our experience in Costa Rica. Animals and pets are part of an integrated and populated blend in Costa Rica. Kids love animals, which is one major cause that makes Costa Rica so child-suitable and fun.

One of the perks of staying at Casa de Megumi was mastering Hisano’s family and having the traditional Japanese dinner at Hisano’s house. Hisano prepared an array of tempura, miso soup, and mochi for dessert. Hisano gives this precise hospitality to guests who live at Casa de Megumi for three nights or longer. It becomes an incredible treat to be in Costa Rica in the tropical mountains, having a conventional Japanese meal with a Japanese family, overlooking the vistas of the lush valuable valley- an experience of an existence time truly.

Another putting twist of fate at Casa de Megumi turned when I began searching for a trustworthy and desirable-hearted babysitter to care for Natalia, even as I could be out interviewing or running at home. Hisano brought me to Stella. As quickly as she stated the call ‘Stella’, it added to Japan in my thoughts. My delightfully dynamic Australian roommate in Japan changed into Stella. Stella took exquisite care of me once I became pregnant for the first five months. She went with me to each doctor’s appointment and emergency room at midnight if I thought something was wrong. She was always looking out for me, buying scrumptious meals and constantly being there for me and my little bump throughout our fun and crazy instances in Tokyo. It became a placing twist of fate to pay attention that Natalia’s capable babysitter in the Central Valley could be named Stella.

The Costa Rican Stella becomes no longer Natalia’s babysitter but prepares dinner at Casa de Megumi. Stella makes conventional Tico food with rice, beans, salad, protein, and a fantastic vegetable soup. When Casa de Megumi guests do not cook, they could order a Casado from Stella. Her meals changed to clean, proper, and made with love. After ingesting Stella’s homemade food, assemblingng her, and spending some timg with her, I knew she would be high-quality with Natalia. She easily lived across the street, and they might come over with her granddaughters and take care of Natalia even as I was out interviewing or busy operating domestically. When Stella became unavailable, her daughter, who was also coincidentally named Natalia and became an unmarried mom, got here to help out. Having Stella and her family over and mastering them immediately made me sense a part of the community in Pan de Azucar. We were gaining knowledge of the locals, making the adapting technique familiar and easy.