The blog is back people!!! After a brief hiatus (ok, ok, a never ending pandemic) I got back out into the world and to a new country. And after being fully vaccinated in early February and finally seeing a decrease in cases in the spring, I felt comfortable making plans. My last trip out of the country was to Copenhagen, about a month before COVID hit the US. In fact, my travel buds and I still remember that SAS airlines in Copenhagen asked us if we had been to China within the past 14 days before we flew home to Chicago. So little we all knew about how our world would change.
A Change in Plans
If we turn back time to 2019, Marissa, Adam, John and I were busy planning our trip to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. After a full year of waiting in virtual ticket lines, trying to find reasonable flights, and booking a teeny tiny apartment for $2000/4 nights, COVID rained on our parade. With the Olympics being pushed back a full year after that, we cancelled our flights, planned to re-book, and waited for any Tokyo news for the next 9 months into 2021. Finally in March, all international spectators were banned and we knew we had to cancel everything. We were lucky to get the majority of our money back, though every refund was a bigger twist of the knife in our Olympic wounds.
Meanwhile, my college friend Mike was going through his own cancellations, as he had planned to head to Tokyo as well. During this entire saga, he met the lovely Bethany and they were also suddenly without plans.
"Hey Mike, do you and your girlfriend I've never met before want to go somewhere else with us now that the Olympics is cancelled?"
Much to my surprise, he replied: "Absolutely, sign us up!"
We now had a group of 6 travelers and the world at our fingertips. Okay, a very abridged version of the world that would let impatient Americans in their country.
Traveling Internationally During COVID-19
Traveling during COVID means a lot of researching and planning. With the way COVID protocols change constantly in other countries, I felt safest finding a country within a few hours flight. Costa Rica had fairly loose protocols to enter the country during the entire past year, so it was the best bet on no big changes prior to our flight.
As a requirement to enter the country, we had to pay for travel health insurance (about $40 per person) and submit all the info on a health pass 72 hours before the flight. We received a QR code and presented it on our final leg of the flight.
We flew into Liberia, Costa Rica on Southwest Airlines from Midway (MDW) with a layover in Houston (HOU). The wait in customs was the most grueling part of the trip, about an hour and a half. After grabbing our tiny rental cars we were free!!!
El Mangroove in Guanacaste
As the loyal Marriott member that he is, Adam found the El Mangroove in the west part of Costa Rica, about a 20 minute drive from Liberia International Airport. It was a small-ish Autograph Collection hotel, on a black sand beach along the coast, with amazing views and a picturesque pool. Food here was pretty good, though pricey. It was the drinks that just blew us away though. Cocktails on cocktails on cocktails, no complaints here.
Beer Tours & "Pura Vida" Life
Something we love to do on every trip is an Airbnb Tour with a local. We tend to gravitate to the beer and food tours, for obvious reasons. On this particular tour, a big limo showed up and took us around the coast tasting local beers.
Our favorite part was the chiliguaro, a Costa Rican shot similar in taste to a Bloody Mary, made with guaro, a Latin American liquor, and chili spices. You can ask for this at almost any bar and restaurant... you absolutely will not be disappointed!!
We also learned that "pura vida" is a catch-all term for "hello," "goodbye," "life is good," "everything's great," and even "it is what it is."
Surfing & Sailing
Another must-do tour is a sunset snorkel and sail off of Guanacaste. For about $150 per person including tip, we had a sailboat to ourselves with plenty of food and drink included. It was a gorgeous night to be on the water and a great start to the trip.
Along the coast, the surf town of Tamarindo is not to be missed. After lessons and surfing in several difficult destinations, this beach is the best for beginners. I surfed many more waves on my own here than all previous destinations combined. Highly recommend for first-time surfers!
Hiking & Waterfalls in Guanacaste
I am legitimately the furthest thing from a hiker. I dabble in outside workouts, but have always fancied myself as an indoor athlete, where the bugs are limited. I usually opt out of most hikes, because WHY. Well after John did some serious research into a nearby volcano trail that led to a waterfall, I was intrigued. As the locals say, I guess "Pura Vida" I guess???
Marissa and I have done a few waterfall hikes in Hawaii. They always ended in 50+ people crowded around with a life jacket requirement, which is a big buzzkill. We were nervous this might be the same.
After a 3.5 mile hike to the waterfall, we encountered many interesting species including spider monkeys and beautiful butterflies. But we were in for the best surprise. Once we got to the waterfall, there was absolutely no one in sight.
Testing & Coming Home
So traveling during COVID isn't a walk in the park, but it's definitely doable with some planning. The US is requiring negative COVID tests before coming back stateside, and we were worried we needed to do this about 72 hours in advance, as some destinations require a PCR test.
Luckily, we found out that the US only needs an Antigen test, not your typical PCR test (which needs a longer lead time), and the airport was administering these for $65 per person. We booked these for the day before our flight, as we were driving past the airport from our hike. The testing center had no line, and we received our tests via email with the hour. This truly made me feel 10x more confident in traveling internationally during COVID, knowing that customs in the US would be that much more simple.
I highly recommend doing your research regarding safe traveling during COVID. As of September 2021, many countries are requiring vaccinations to travel and very few require a 2 week quarantine. My rule of thumb is to thoroughly read the US Embassy website for your country of interest.
We all want to move on with our lives and travel freely. Do your part, GET VACCINATED.
