As a road warrior who clocks 100,000 miles a year, a spur of the moment vacation should be a no brainer. Most weeks I am on a plane somewhere. My schedule looks pretty much the same, but with different cities thrown in. Leave on a Tuesday and fly to any given city. Meet with client or interview candidates, visit our firm’s offices, return home Friday night and repeat again the next Tuesday.
When that rare week with no trips popped up, it seemed like a good idea to be spontaneous and go somewhere for fun. We asked friends for referrals, our only requirement being that we didn’t want to change planes and we only needed a golf course and a nice hotel.
Costa Rica is only three hours from Houston by plane and has a highly-acclaimed Four Seasons hotel, complete with an award-winning golf course. So what could possibly go wrong?
Several friends are big fans of Costa Rica. It is only three hours from Houston by plane and has a highly-acclaimed Four Seasons Resort at Peninsula Papagayo, complete with an award-winning golf course. So what could possibly go wrong?
This may not be the correct way to look at it. It hurts less to ask, “What did I learn?”
Northwestern Costa Rica is really hot!
Especially in March, the middle of the dry season. While Costa Rica is a beautiful country with warm and welcoming people, where we were was really hot—no, make that sweltering.
It reminded me of Houston in August.
We learned later that temperatures vary significantly throughout the country. Everywhere we went during our first 24 hours, we asked, “Is it always this hot?” only to learn, sadly, that the answer is pretty much “Yes.”
Meanwhile, we could not help ourselves from noting that it was a cool 70 degrees back home.
Wildlife is just not my thing
Costa Rica travel literature rightly touts the abundance of insects, birds, reptiles, plants and mammals. And it all sounded good. Good until I ran into my first three foot long iguana sunning on the side of the golf course. I shrieked only to be told "oh, it is an iguana--one of the reasons you come to Costa Rica."
I know others would be fascinated by the sight, but it just made my skin crawl.
And the howler monkeys, whose very loud howls kept me up at night, didn’t do it for me either.
For unexplained reasons, I woke up on our first day with 2nd degree burns all over my back.
Power outlets work differently in other countries even if they look the same
In an effort to thwart the heat, we turned the AC down as low as possible and I used my trusty heating pad, which is this travelers’ proverbial stuffed animal, as a buffer. My heating pad emits a gentle warmth in the U.S., but for unexplained reasons, I woke up on our first day with 2nd degree burns all over my back. Any thoughts of a dip in the ocean or pool as a respite from the heat disappeared.
Cut your losses
After two days, we decided to return to Houston. It wasn’t too hard for us as we didn’t prepay for our hotel and were able to change our return flight fairly easy. It is difficult when thoughts of “we came all this way” enter your head, but truly, life is too short and Four Seasons hotels are too expensive not to be enjoying every minute.
United Airlines is trying and succeeded with this traveler
On the 20-mile return to the airport, we encountered a multi-car pile-up on the two lane highway. After sitting in gridlock for an hour, five miles from the airport with our flight time only 20 minutes away, we sadly were wondering if there were nearby hotels and whether we could get out the next day.
United, all— well, almost all — is forgiven.
My cell phone unexpectedly rang and it was the local United ground crew calling to say that they knew many people on the flight were stuck in traffic and not to worry, that they would hold the plane as long as possible.
United, all — well, almost all — is forgiven.
Look for opportunities to end your vacations on a high note—literally
One of the best music documentaries to come out in a long time is History of the Eagles which I reviewed at Sundance. I made a mental note to see this iconic band of the '70s celebrating their 40th year together when they came to Houston. While beating the heat in Costa Rica by surfing the Internet, I googled "Eagles concert schedule" and learned they were performing in Las Vegas in 72 hours.
As the concert entered into its final songs and the band belted out "Take it Easy" I thought they were looking directly at me.
A friend was able to help me get tickets and within 24 hours after returning to Houston, we were once again on a plane for Vegas.
The Eagles — all in their 60s now — put on a high energy, polished performance that made the aging but still able to dance audience remember why we had loved them so much. The band played for almost two hours before 14,000 fans at the Garden Arena Theatre at the MGM Grand Hotel, singing all of the old favorites including "Hotel California," "Witchy Woman,","How Long," and "Lyin' Eyes," along with singles from Don Henley ("The Boys from Summer" and "Dirty Laundry").
Although they definitely weren't as cute as I remember them being 40 years ago, their voices and unique harmony had stood the test of time and probably a lot of alcohol and drug consumption.
As the concert entered into its final songs and the band belted out "Take it Easy" I thought they were looking directly at me.
Yep, not the vacation I had foreseen for myself a week ago but as they moved into "Peaceful Easy Feeling," so did I — ready to re-enter the less stressful work life.
We sat in gridlock for an hour, five miles from the airport, with our flight time only 20 minutes away.
The newly opened Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum includes a growing collection of memorabilia. Photo by Edmond Ortiz 