2018 was a year we will never forget. It was a year marred with tragedies, disasters, adventures and triumphs.

Tragedies:

2018 started off with the loss of my Dad. (super heroes aren’t supposed to die). It was then followed, seemingly every couple of months with the loss of another loved one. The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that these precious souls had shaped me into the person I am today. I will always have a piece of them in me.

Disasters:

In 2018 we witnessed the worst Christmas winds to hit Costa Rica in decades. The winds started up before Christmas 2017 and lasted an unprecedented three months. We had to endure winds of 45-55mph winds blowing every day, all day, with gusts up to 75mph. It toppled trees and blew down our fence.

We also had the opportunity to experience not 1 but 3 earthquakes. The strongest registering at 5.7 on the Richter Scale. Some people would freak out but we found this rather cool watching our concrete home sway from side to side.

Adventures:

We found 2018 to be an epic year in terms of encounters with nature. We were stalked by a monkey that didn’t like the way we looked at him…chased by an iguana…awakened at 4:30am by a family of Howler monkeys above our jungle home…accosted by these giant ants that didn’t appreciate being disturbed by the stranger who beckoned us to follow him into the jungle and watch him beat a stick over their mound. (I know what you’re thinking, “Stanger Danger”)

Triumphs:

In 2018 we learned to live without the very things we thought we needed in our lives to be happy – electricity, cell phone, internet and television. Now that we have experienced hours, sometimes days, without these 1^st World comforts, we’ve come to know what life is truly about. It’s about LIVING. It is not about EXISTING – living paycheck to paycheck, barely keeping your head above water, trapped in the American Dream.

It’s about waking up every morning to watch the sunrise on your mountain hikes, strolling hand in hand with your best friend on the beach, sitting at the park during siesta conversing with the locals, watching the sunset every night behind that mountains as the city lights illuminate the valley below, traveling to new places and experiencing new things.

It’s time to wake up from the America Dream and start living life. Here’s to 2019, to new adventures, new foods, new friends and new places.