Freedom of Choice to Travel

In the spirit of travel dreaming but in the reality of #socialdistancing, I thought I would take my own trip down memory lane.
This picture is not my favorite memory of my past travels. But it does speak volumes as to why I continue to travel. And why I will again and again.
Swimming on the Pacific shores of Dominical, Costa Rica on Easter break, my foot met the demise of a Sting Ray stab that sliced my right foot open and resulted in a temporarily paralyzed leg…
In a state of fear and shock, I shook the beast loose, pulled myself up out of the water, bleeding, and crawled to the closest open air cafe on the beach.  The bartender stared at me soaking wet,  gave me an ice cold Imperial and a Panadein forte and swooped me up and carried me to the kitchen.
What ensued next was a trashcan, boiling hot water, a machete and aloe plant and this surfer on the scene forcing the poison that had now reached my hip out of my open wound.

Good times! Traumatizing and painful as it was, I was touched literally and figuratively by everyone around me who came to my aid, even fetching my personals off the beach and gathering to watch the Gringa in the trash can. Once sensation returned to my right leg, a couple Tico’s walked me to my guest house…where compliments of the beer and codeine, I slipped into a 12 hour deep sleep. So much for my first day in Costa Rica.
The moral of the story is when I woke up, I took a swim in the Pacific ( After a short visit to clinic) and with a new a greater appreciation for the culture and the teeming sea.

Fear of another painful chance encounter was not going to soil my intentions of the journey…And it shouldn’t for you either.
Pura Vida!
If you are interested in a Costa Rican adventure, please contact me at How Far Adventures and learn more about the Virtuoso Perks.