After finishing up doing the Master Cleanse a few days ago (I never, EVER want to see saltwater or lemons.... at least not until next year, when I'll probably do this again), I'm getting uncontrollably excited about my upcoming trip. I could have writen an entire story, blog, or something similar about doing the cleanse.... but I'd rather not. I'm glad I did it, and I would honestly recommend it. Let's leave it at that.

My goal after college graduation was to travel, to actually see and experience different parts of the world. I never really had the opportunity as a kid, besides the obligatory trips to Florida, New Orleans, Washington DC, etc.

Next week I'm leaving for the Osa Penninsula in Costa Rica and I'll be there for the month of February. I went to Costa Rica last year, and it was amazing. We stayed well off the map, for the most part, and this year it'll be even more remote. Never mind that last year I also contracted a violent five day case of food poisoning and a half-body outbreak of black sand fleas. It was a small price to pay for the experience. And now I know better: Do not eat in an empty restaurant in downtown San Jose, and absolutely do not order ceviche (marinated raw fish) from said restaurant a mere two hours before taking a tiny four passenger plane across the country. Do not take naps on the beautiful beach where no one is swimming or even daring to go barefoot; there's probably something bad in the sand.

The geography, landscape, plants and animals are beyond incredible (especially for someone who is obsessed with local architecture and environmentally sustainable development: me). Fishing in the surf, hiking in Corcovado (National Preserve), and best of all, PEOPLE. I've managed to keep in touch with some of the families I met last year, and I can't wait to see them again. This is one of those benefits of working with a primarily hispanic workforce - my Spanish is at least good enough to get by. If I follow through with Tahiti (en route to New Zealand) next year, I hope the language barrier isn't a big issue....

Hopefully I'll actually remember to take some pictures worth posting. Now I'm off to pack a month's worth of stuff into a backpack, including but not limited to: vast supplies of motion sickness meds, a dose of broad-spectrum anti-bacterial, topical anesthetic, my faithful Tevas, and soap.