Countdown: 31 days!

Has it been that long? Time flies when work becomes abusive!!

Well there's nothing new on the travel front except that I finally booked a place to sleep for the 2 nights where I will be left by myself in San José. Otherwise, I have been way too busy at work to even be excited about my impending departure or to go shopping for various miscellaneous items.

However, I want to share a weird string of little stresses that has happen to me.
It started last Thursday when I took the very bad decision (totally out of character for me) to book a San José hostel (not hotel) via email (not via Web). So, I first sent them ALL my credit card info via email on Thursday morning. Right after I press send, I start getting nervous. I'm not getting any feedback throughout the morning so I email them again in the afternoon saying that I'm getting nervous and why. I finally get and answer the next day (thank God) saying everything is booked and giving me all kinds of info. No need to say that I've been keeping a very close eye on my credit card account.

On Friday morning, between the time I take the bus and take the metro (Montreal subway), I loose my bus pass. What a bitch!!! I go the a bank machine to get money for tickets. My card is refused!!! It's Friday dude!!! I try 3 more times that day at different places. No luck. On Saturday, I get a message on my cell telling me that I need to go to my bank asap. Huh?

When I get to work on Saturday (yup! work on the weekend these days!), I get an email from Paypal saying that someone tried to access my account from abroad and that I need to press the link to validate, or not, if it was me, or my account would be frozen. I'm an idiot so I clicked the link. But, I'm also on MAC so my computer refused to do anything (MAC rocks!). I then forwarded the said email to Paypal and they emailed me back that it was a con. !&#?#%

On Monday, at lunch, I finally get to my bank for my stupid card. I wait in line. A long time. The teller welcomes me with a big smile until I show my drivers license from another province. Then I become a suspect. Well, for once, I planned ahead and brought my passport. Her facial expression completely changed and we are now friends again. She brings me to another lineup. Great. More waiting. I'm finally called and go through the longest verbal exchange with an unknown human being. I now know how many time this unknown person has been on vacation, that her son finally started going to the bathroom by himself etc...Geez. I have to go back to my insanely busy job lady! Between all these tid bits of info about her personal life, I learn that my bank card has been cloned but, thank god, it wasn't successfully used by the #?#&$*$#? crooks...

Is life trying to tell me something?!
Be careful? What?
Anyway, all is back in order now with the exception that I'm constantly looking for suspicious activity on my cards or in my accounts. Hurray for the 21st century and technology with witch I've now evolved from an adoration to a love-hate relationship.

Countdown: 51 days!

Today at lunch I had my shots. Only three, just to be updated, and (bonus) I will be too far south for the malaria scare. So no pills for me!
Another good thing is happening around me. People are starting to want to experience the same adventure. I totally understand. In my book, there is no hard decision to be made between going to a resort surrounded my a bunch of obnoxious drunk yahoos, that scream until the wee hours of the morning, and going in the middle of nowhere and actually experiencing a diffenrent culture. And to top it off, the money I'm spending is actually helping a community! What more do you want? Booze? You can get that anywhere you live? Sun? Same thing.
Anyway, that's just my opinion. This is more than a holiday, it's an adventure!

Countdown: 52 days!

Last week I paid the rest of my vacation in Costa Rica and today I booked my flight. The latter ended up being the most difficult one to do given that I have to be at a meet-up point at a specific time and that I will be back in civilisation at a specific time also. So, I ended up purchasing the tickets through a travel agent. It's ok for this time but next time, I will do it on my own.

The only other major thing I have left to do is booking my 2 nights sleep in the capital. The rest of the week, we will reside in the forest. We will stay in "cabinas" with enough electricity to recharge digital batteries and cold water plumbing. They say there is also a kitchenette but all of our major meals will be taken with locals at homes or at the community "town hall". I better try and learn some basic Spanish quickly. OMG I'm soooo excited!!! Here's some pics of the "cabinas".

After booking those 2 nights, my other big task will be shopping! I left all of my summer clothes in Calgary when I came here in December and since I don't know where I will end up in the end, I opted for leaving them there. So, I will have to buy new stuff. Darn it! ; )



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