I have come up with a new fad diet; broccoli and cocaine. One day you eat as much broccoli as you want, the next day you do cocaine. And so on.
I road tested this diet back in the 1980's, only I did gin instead of broccoli. And I did gin simultaneously with the cocaine. A lot of both. My dietician would have been appalled. The diet worked, I did lose weight. But I gained it right back when I started to eat, you know, food.
My lovely wife and I were Moderna-sized in March of this year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure, whatever. Vaccine this and holy crap that.
We were sugar cube kids back in the 1960's, and hey, look Ma, no polio!
We, um, don't give a lot of credence to dis-informational propaganda, Facebook memes, or internet hyperbole. Holy cow, the ocean of notions being peddled out there is truly staggering. What's even more staggering though is the fact that a fairly large amount of people are actually swimming in it.
We also have medical doctors in the family. We believe in facts and science. It was not a difficult decision for us to make.
We also get the flu shot annually. I was sick with the flu about six years ago and for one day I don't think I moved at all. Not a blink, not a twitch, not a sigh. Not even a down beat disco move. And that scared the hell out of me. Not that I couldn't disco, but that I couldn't blink. I've gotten an annual flu shot ever since and guess what? No flu.
I did have mild flu like symptoms after Moderna shot number one. My lovely wife felt fine. The night after Moderna shot number two we both had chills and muscle aches something fierce. But the morning dawned favorably, and except for a day or two of mild fatigue we were fine after that.
And so it was, near the end of March, fully vaccinated and feeling fine that we decided to book a relaxing, tropical vaxication. Get the heck out of Dodge. The travel industry was still reeling, there were deals out there. So I started to do my normal travel deal searching routine.
I mainly use Hotwire. I sometimes use Priceline. When looking for a tropical locale, I also check out SouthwestVacations and Riu.com.
Whoduwhat is Riu?
Well, they are an all-inclusive resort chain operating all over Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. My lovely wife and I were first turned on to the chain by some good friends when we went with them to the Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas back in 2013; Someone Put a Cabo in My Caboodle.
We enjoyed that experience so much we did it again (by ourselves this time) in 2016 when we returned to Puerto Vallarta for the second time. (We honeymooned there in 1975 for our first marriage. Yeah, there's a story there. Elizabeth Taylor's in it too!)
The one thing we learned from that trip is that when booking a Riu, always book a Riu PALACE!
Typically there's a couple Riu's at any one location. One's for party animals that don't care what they eat, the palace is for those with a discerning palate. We discovered this on our Puerto Vallarta trip and will now always book a palace. As it happened on this particular Pura Vida trip, the palace option was only about $15 more per person for the entire week.
We were looking at a return to Cabo, but then my lovely wife decided she wanted to go someplace new. And lo and behold, the Riu Palace on the Guanacaste coast in Costa Rica came into view. They wanted us there so badly they flew us there for around $600 each round trip. And that included seat upgrades.
Nobody seemed to care about the fact we'd been vaccinated. The airlines didn't care, they didn't even require a Covid test. Costa Rica didn't care about those two things either. But there were a couple hurdles we did have to jump over in order to get into the country during these covid times.
The first thing Costa Rica required was a health insurance policy for a minimum of $50,000 (if bought through an American carrier, only $20,000 if bought through a Costa Rican carrier) for hospitalization. It also had to allow for a possible extended stay if quarantine was necessary.
All the US Carriers we looked at were substantially more expensive than the Costa Rican one we chose, Sagicor. That link is in English, and the site is very easy to navigate. I think we paid about $80.00 each.
Then we had to fill out a health questionnaire online within forty-eight hours before arrival in Costa Rica. That was real easy too, here's that link to get you going: Travel Costa Rica. Once completed, their website gave each of us one of them square squiggly things, you know, sorta looks like this:
Some of the insurance was moot. The Riu offered us a free ten day extension if either of us got sick. They also Covid tested us for free for our return flight to the US, which was a requirement by our customs.
Once the details were hammered together, it was time to dream about palm trees swaying, roasting flesh in the hot tropical sun and endless dining on wonderful cuisine. Which we would not have to prepare at all!
We also began packing, which is an organizational exercise of the utmost importance for me. Yes, Adrian Monk is one of my guys. I even have his bobble head.
I am an early packer. I have to be. There's a lot going on that has to fit in that small tiny space that is called a suitcase. And I don't want to be caught on the other side of the world without proper under garments.
Gone are the days of tossing a t-shirt, boxers, a pair of socks and some no-sweat into a paper bag before running out the door a couple hours before departure. Hell, I semi-remember a couple out of town weekends where a wallet with cash and cards were all I took. LOL. There's some stories there too..if only I could remember.
These days I'll have my suitcase open a couple weeks before travel, especially international, tossing in things here and there as I think about them.
I also travel with a day pack that always stays with me and carries some very important stuff, like travel docs, reading material and the aunties.
You know, aunt acid, aunt ihistamine and aunt i-diarrhea pills. I have found those three items, as well as aspirin and a couple band aids can cover most non-serious urgent needs. I also carry a small first aid kit that contains enough grit to take care of a few serious situations. Ex-firefighter, what can I say?
Then I have a big old fat suitcase that gets checked. I have noticed many of the advance items getting tossed my suitcase way these days generally have to do with me being in my sixties. And I'm not early sixties anymore. I'm actually getting close to leaving the mid-sixties even. At any rate, my advance items include but aren't limited to things like fiber gummies, vitamins, an ace bandage, orthotics, ankle brace, eye glass cleaner. You know, important old man stuff.
A tropical vacation is much easier to pack for than say, an adventure excursion to Europe. Those require good walking shoes, shorts and pants (depending on the time of year), long and short sleeves, coat, sweater, lederhosen and a Saint Bernard with brandy.
Tropical usually doesn't take a lot of room either. Shorts, button down shirts*, swim suit and a pair of sandals. Oh, and two freaking pairs of deck shoes.
Two pairs of decks shoes! Just who the hell do I think I am? Imelda Marcos? I own more shoes now than I ever have in my life. I used to own like four or five...now I own like five hundred.
Consider this; I have a pair of flip-flops or crocs by all three exterior house doors. Because ya know, ya never know if you might have to go a wanderin.
And then I have two pairs of deck shoes. Hiking boots. Work boots. Rain boots. Snow boots. High heels.
Help! Where does it end?
*In summer time when the heat is on, I always wear button down, short-sleeve cotton shirts. I have found t-shirts and polo shirts too hot and confining. The button down, besides looking a little more stylish, is the absolute coolest shirt one can wear. In more ways than one.
Just ask me.
Now that we are just about packed, let's go to Costa Rica!
