My Costa Rican Adventure

Making my very own "sand" castle on the beach.

If you asked me two years ago how many countries I had traveled to the answer would have been pretty short...Canada, the US... uh....that's it.

A year ago I was enjoying my much anticipated 3-week whirlwind trip around Ireland, Scotland and England (read about it here >>). I finally felt like I had some international travel under my belt!

Six months ago if you asked me where else I was planning on traveling to I would have said nowhere. I'm just happy thinking up future trips years down the road.

Then along came the LOAS (link).

What is LOAS, you ask? It's short for the "League of Adventurous Singles!"

I had found an awesome, no-holds-barred, tell-it-like-it-is singles podcast, "Seven Minutes in Heaven (link)" by Kira Sabin an awesome singles/life coach, sometime last year and quickly devoured all the episodes that applied to me. I explored further and found her website and something caught my eye...Kira organized and led amazing adventure travel for groups of single women!

Skip to 4 months later and I was prepping for my first tropical destination trip!

In January I packed my suitcase and headed off an a crazy adventure to Costa Rica with a bunch of single ladies that I'd never met in person! Yes, it does sound a little wild and dangerous, and I had jumped in as sort of a last-minute addition to the group after someone else had to cancel. 

I was one of three Canadian gals and the rest ranged from all over the US. It was amazing to get to know every single one of them!

Day 1 - Seeing our villa's pool in daylight, so refreshing in the heat!

We stayed in a rented villa (yes, a VILLA!) on the top of a jungle mountain range over looking the distant Pacific Ocean. We were treated with a mix of local catered meals and awesome restaurants where I learned to love new dishes like ceviche, plantains and black bean soup. I endured the hottest day of my life hiking through a jungle park but was rewarded with glimpses of beautiful wildlife like sloths, monkeys and huge hand-sized spiders (yuck)! We zip-lined, we swam in the ocean, we talked and laughed and I chased geckos, leaf & stick bugs all over our villa. Despite the heat and the humidity I wish we could have had a few more days on the gorgeous Costa Rica beaches. The people were so friendly and easy to talk to and I'm sure I will go back someday.

The retreat portion of our stay was also satisfying and rewarding. On day one, Kira met with each of us and asked us our goals and what we want to get out of the week. We also had plenty of group discussions covering topics from being single, dating, communication, setting goals, confrontation, to how to have those hard conversations.

Day 1 in CR - traveling from San Jose over the mountains to our villa. Truck full of melons on the side of the highway. Stops for lunch along the way. A glimpse of the Pacific over the mountains (the pink hazyglow reflecting the sunset), and finally, our fantastic villa!!

Since we were staying way up in the mountains we were met each day by our local driver, Eduardo,  and his sturdy van. We packed in and prayed the air conditioning would hold out as we ventured over the rough 2 kilometer rocky driveway and onward to whatever amazing destination Kira had planned for us that day. Eduardo tried to play the strong silent type, only to have us break him out of his shell with music or some good-natured teasing or bonding over photos of our dogs back home. He turned out to be a gem of a guy and we loved hear tidbits of his life's story.

A few afternoons were spent in the small town of Quepos and the larger bustling Manuel Antonio. We poked around the small shops and I found the people to be so very friendly and hospitable. I even had a jewelry maker whip me up a free gift of a wire flower while I paid for a cute sloth necklace I had found.

Day 3 - Zip line adventures at Midworld with Josue, walk to a local waterfall...or trickle,
and a frog hopped inside during a fabulous locally catered sunset dinner at the villa.

We were also blessed with wonderful guides on all of our adventures. We even had the same guide, Josue, twice during two different excursions by random coincidence! He was our first guide on our jungle hike through the Manuel Antonio park reserve and two days later we showed up for zip-lining at Midworld and who was our guide for the day, but Josue!

The entire trip, from the humid heat, spectacular scenery, and new friendships will be something I will never forget. That week among total strangers helped me catalyze some big changes in my life. Changes that maybe were a long time coming. I loved Costa Rica and someday I'd love to go back and explore more!


Some of my fondest moments from the week can be summed up in a few more snapshots.

PS - And hey, if this looks super amazing to you, Kira has a few more Costa Rica retreats or just singles travel weeks planned for 2017. Check out her website for details!! >> 

Day 1 - Leaf bug inside the villa. The villa's main floor was totally open!

Day 1 - Hottest Day of my LIFE! Hike through the Manuel Antonio jungle with Jose showing us wild animals.
Supper at a resort right on the beach!

So many interesting types of palm and palm-looking trees!

Day 3 - Zip lining ladies at Midworld. Some of us conquered our fears and some just had a blast whipping through the jungle canopy! Midworld was an excellent company and provided us with an awesome local lunch and great guides!

Day 4 - Amazing local food, boat trip to a secluded beach.

Day 5 - Meet Chewbacca - cutest baby sloth being hand fed at the Kids Saving the Rainforest animal sanctuary.

Day 5 - Morning at "Kids Saving the Rainforest" sanctuary, lunch and gelato at trendy eateries, then an afternoon at an amazing beach! Sunning scenery, warm waves that I could've stayed in for hours! And of course our trusty van rides home with good conversations and lots of laughter.

Day 5 - Amazing afternoon at a gorgeous beach! "Is this even real?!"

Day 5 - Beach for miles! Unreal! The postcards and screensavers are real!
Eduardo climbed a palm tree, cut open some coconuts with his under-the-front-seat machete and served us right there!
He also pointed out a sleeping sloth in a tree nearby!

Day 6 - Our villa from the top of the driveway, finally saw a toucan, fresh fruits, stick bug on our wall,
traveling back to San Jose with new friends and Eduardo!

The amazing and colourful flowers and plants of the tropics!

Travel day home - I touched down in FOUR countries!
(Costa Rica, Mazatlan, Mexico to refuel, Dallas TX US, Vancouver & Victoria BC Canada)

What travel plans do you have for the future? 
- I'd love to go back to Scotland & England, maybe Cornwall, Liverpool, Outer Hebrides and see more of Edinburgh.

Or where was your favourite destination so far?
- I also recently visited Mexico with some close friends and I'll have to write about that soon, too!


You can find more of my adventures on Intagram @keblackstock.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2015 was quite the year for me and my little corner of the world.
I had awesome family times, fun with friends and even a dream trip for 3 weeks to visit Ireland, Scotland and England!

I am welcoming 2016 with open arms, ready for all of the new adventures set before me.

I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and happy and ready for the new year ahead.

I plan on writing much more in the coming days, so watch out!

Scotland Adventures - Days 4-5 - Companions and Castles (Edinburgh and Alnwick Castle)

I'm baaaack!! It's been a busy week but I'm back to let you know what I've been up to on my adventures.

The morning was Wednesday and I got up quite early, looking forward to my Mom joining me on the next half of my UK travels!

I guess I could have taken the subway then airport bus to the Glasgow airport but instead I called a taxi for a quicker ride. (A taxi company my lovely rental flat hosts so helpfully provided!) 

I arrived and waited at the gate and shortly my Mom emerged. Yay! 

She was joining me for two nights in Scotland then six nights in London and Ashford before we headed back home via Dublin. 

Scotland Adventures - Day 4 - Jacobite Steam Train

After quick instructions on a shortcut the night before, I found the subway station on my own. It's about a 5 min walk from my rented flat. An easy walk but boy my body was so tired!! I've been go go going for almost a week!

I used an automatic ticketing machine and paid for an all day pass and found the right stop for the downtown Buchanan St station. It terminated at about a 3 block walk to where the tour buses parked downtown. On the way I found an open cafe and bought a small orange juice and cookie for the road. 

A few fellow passengers were waiting and I met a nice mom and son duo from New York who were bound for the same bus.

The weather was overcast and a bit chilly but I didn't need to put my jacket on, after walking a ways I always tend to run a bit warm. ;)

Scotland Adventures - Day 3 - Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart, Culloden (& maybe some whiskey!)

After another excellent nights sleep I packed up. I tried a different method that a customer at one of my Saturday markets told me about. Lay everything flat and just fold the extra edges up the sides. But it was about the same as rolling it all. I still haven't worn about half my clothes.

I'm headed downstairs to the eating area over looking the luscious grassy backyard sporting a pair of brilliant pheasants pecking for their breakfast and the green hills in the background. I ordered a full cooked breakfast. Poached egg over "black pudding", bacon, sausage, tomato. Tea and oj. Everything was delish! Even the black pudding! I sort of knew what it was but I refrained from looking up its' ingredients until later. (I'll let you do the same in case you are eating right now.)

Scotland Adventures - Day 2 - Circling Skye (Kilt Rock, Portree & Fort Augustus)

Kilt Rock cliffs

Time for a whole day on the Isle of Skye, Scotland!

Agnes, my lovely B&B hostess made me an excellent full cooked breakfast: poached egg on toast, beans, two big pieces of juicy bacon, two yummy sausages, a little cooked tomato, orange juice and tea. I slept so well! My first real full nights sleep since arriving in the UK.

Scotland Adventures - Day 1 - The Isle of Skye (Fort William & Castle Eilean Donan)

So, I left off getting up super early (3am!!) on a crazy noisy night in downtown Dublin, Ireland for my back-up flight over to Glasgow, Scotland.

From the noise beneath my room as my alarm went off at 3, I heard them shout out "last call". At least the majority of merry makers would be off the streets by the time I had gotten up, ready and packed to go around 4am. Here's hopin'!

Irish Adventure - Day 4 - The North (Giant's Causeway & Titanic)

I started off my final day in Ireland with a conundrum: I waited at the place where my day tour said the first pick up point would be, in front of a certain Starbucks. There were regular bus stops right at the curb but no "WildRover" tour buses anywhere. However, directly across the street there were four "Irish Day Tours" buses. Now I had seen the WildRover buses and they are clearly marked. Conundrum!! 

Ok Conundrum averted. I asked the other buses and got the correct side and went away on my tour bus! Yay!! I love it when a plan comes together!!

We were going to Belfast in the North of Ireland. They use British pounds instead of Euros. I'll do the amazing new Titanic Exhibit built there. Then we drove to the Giant's Causeway and thw awesome Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge!!

We had a totally full bus!! And it had wifi!!

We had  a very amusing bus ride to Belfast. Our guide was a short, ginger headed man in an old brown blazer who drone on and on, spewing facts and statistics and barely took a breath after each section of his expansive epic historical recitations. Sure enough, later he admitted he used to be a history professor. He was very nice and organized and truely knowledgeable, but not at all fun to listen to. A shame, really. 

Irish Adventure - Day 3 - Ring of Kerry

On to Day 3 in Ireland.

I was catching a train again, only a few blocks away. Soooo...somehow I mixed up my times when setting my alarm and thought I had to be there by 7. I got up, got ready and walked to the station thinking, no problem. Buuuuut I WAS supposed to be there by 6:30!!! I got there at 6:55 and they literally had to run me onto the train that left the station literally 5 seconds after I set foot on board! But I was on my way.

I had to walk through 4 train cars until I found the rail tour guides in their yellow shirts and jackets. We had a whole car reserved for us. I sat next to a lady and her friend from Edmonton. Across the aisle was a group of four (grandma, mom, 2 daughters in their 20s) from Florida. All very nice and friendly. 

Irish Adventure - Day 2 - Bunratty, Cliffs of Moher, The Burren

Well, it's just been so crazy busy and I've been so super tired that it's taken me a few days to recuperate and keep updating you on my amazing adventure! 

My I slept marvelously in my fancy Bunrattey Castle Hotel room! The self-serve breakfast spread they put on was top notch! I love that cooked mushrooms and tomatoes are always available. The local sausage and bacon were so tasted as well! My new friend from the medieval feast came in and joined me and had an excellent chat about our families. 

Irish Adventure - Day 1 - Galway & Medieval Banquet

I'm finally here!! I'm in Ireland!!

I arrived in Dublin with no further troubles or hiccups. I stopped into a restroom at the airport to brush my teeth, comb my crazy hair and generally wake up a bit. 

My last flight from Toronto direct to Dublin took me from sunset to glorious sunrise and I didn't get much sleep, thus felt a little groggy when I arrived. 

I sought out the Airlink bus where I bought a ticket to connect me to the train station half an hour away. There, I was meeting my Irish Rail Tour that I had signed up for at 10:30 am. 

The bus ride took us all around and through the downtown area so I had a good look at the area. Dublin is a neat, bustling city with many people walking, bussing or biking to work.