Reflections and Recommendations 8/23

Wow, 27 posts.--what a year! For particulars about Spain and Costa Rica, refer to the FAQ pages. After being home for over a month now, here are some things we might have done differently, some places to go and things to do that we'd recommend, and how to set yourself up to take a year off like we did.

1) WHAT ARE A FEW RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PLACES TO VISIT AND THINGS TO EXPERIENCE?

In Spain, Granada and the Basque region (Bilbao to France) were our favorite spots. We also like Barcelona and Figueres/Cadaques but we did not visit those places this trip. On the southern coast, Malaga is a nice and easy ancient/modern city to visit with direct public transportation, lots of history and plenty to experience--especially beaches between May-October. We also enjoyed Nerja along the southern coast complete with great beaches and caves. In southern Spain your money goes far, especially if you avoid pricey chiringuitos (beach restaruants). There are plenty of deals to be had.

There are exceptional places to hike, rock formations and caves to explore, and ancient sites to learn about. We recommend visiting an olive oil farm and press, especially in the harvest season between October and March.

In Costa Rica we recommend going on a tour of the country. Aside from that, Corcovado National Park in the south offers the possibiliity to see almost every type of creature you'd want to see there including jaguar, puma, and tapir. Be sure to take a boat or otherwise get to the middle of the park like playa Sirena.

Waterfalls near Uvita were also a highlight. We experieneced exceptional beaches in Manuel Antonio national park, and at an obscure drive and walk near where we lived called playa blanca. Otherwise boat and catamaran cruises will take you to beautiful beaches. We've also seen pictures of great beaches in Guanacaste region though we didn't feel a need to visit there with all of the high end tourism and nothing unique to offer.

Jaco is a nice town by day and has a large and safe beach for families.

Inland, La Fortuna was great for hot springs resorts and also had decent restaurants, offered white water rafting, chocolate and coffee tours, etc. Monteverde was a neat little mountain town with great ziplining. And Cartago provides exceptional weather, good history and the Mt. Irazu volcano.

In Mexico we loved the water, beaches and snorkeling in La Entrega, Santa Cruz, Huatulco. It was also exceptional where we lived in Puerto Escondido and we visited a fun little beach town in between called Mazunte. We also highly valued our experience and tours in and around Oaxaca city.

In Greece, we only visited Naxos outside of Athens. Great beaches and swimming there without the cruise ships or large airport that bring the crowds which other islands experience. Inland they have some mountains and history we'd like to explore as well as a couple of wineries.

If you're up for a more exotic/chaotic and busy experience, full of colorful sights, sounds and smells, we highly recommend Marrakech and Istanbul.

Overall the best food we experienced was in France and Mexico, though the quality and tastes of Spain, Isatanbul and Greece were also very memorable and will be missed.

2) HOW CAN I TAKE A YEAR OFF TO LIVE AND TRAVEL ABROAD?

The first question is: Can you leave your job and come back to it or easily pick up another one? Or can you continue to do your job while you travel? If not, be sure that you are either confident that you can become quickly employed (or making money) during or after your year of travel, OR that you have plenty of assets/money to fall back on such as a rental property or investments, OR that you have a support network such as parents and friends who will let you live with them to get back on your feet. Many younger generations are comfortable with online sidehustles and computer based contracting gigs to keep them afloat.

You don't have to have 100k in the bank in order to make this happen.

Though our original plan was to find work in Europe, we ended up abandoning that idea because it was too difficult for us at the time. Getting a job in Europe is not easy, let alone even getting a response from an application or interview. So for us, we were able to leave our jobs for a year and come back to the same jobs after a year, and we recognize that is unusual. We could afford to do this about every 5 years. but with kids growing older and becoming financially set back each time, that may not be feasible.

About half of our money came from savings, and about half came from borrowing. Our 11 month trip cost us about 90,000 dollars (includes private school tuition) and we feel like we did good, and our experience was well more than worth it. We lived in 3 different countries and visited 5 others.

Do your research and be sure that you can afford it. Many places in Europe and around the world are significantly cheaper than the US while others are similarly priced and higher. For example, a single person could live a simple, healthy and beautiful life in southern Spain or Mexico for about 25,000 dollars a year. While that same person might live a similar life in Tokyo, Sydney or Paris for 75,000+ dollars a year. (in 2023)

As seasoned travelers In the end, you will most likely spend more than you planned on and that's when home equity loans and 0% credit card balance transfers can be your friend in the short term.

Know your tolerance and threshold for daily living. In fact, test it. The more flexible you can make yourself, the better. Some people choose to travel and live on the cheap in tents by the beach, while others feel they need resorts and pristine conditions while traveling. Your standards are the difference between living on 1000 dollars a month to 10,000+ dollars a month. And flexibility will also give you a more authentic experience. We've seen how the rich are regularly ripped off for food, housing, transportation and sense of security that is only slightly better and not truly worth their much higher costs. We've also paid for expensive experiences that we've regretted in the end as they've often catered to ease, service, comfort and taste rather than experience and adventure.

Traveling doesn't have to be expensive. Fly during off peak season and mid week. Find properties that will rent a monthly rate instead of a nightly or weekly rate. Property managers on Airbnb may negotiate for longer term contracts that they don't advertise. You just need to ask and you could rent for 1500 a month instead of 150 per night.

Avoid overpriced restaurants (unless it's a special occasion). Why fill your tummy at the fru fru 4.9 star place for 160 bucks when you can experience quality local flavors from pedro's taco truck for 7 bucks instead? It all comes out the same in the end, and money adds up quick. Go to local groceries and markets, and cook. Buy that crazy looking vegetable and fruit, google what it is and how to prepare it. You might love it or at least have a lasting and fun memory of the experience.

Get involved in local facebook groups. Ask questions and take local recommendations. Get to know your neighbors, other travelers, and get involved in local organizations like churches and yoga classes. What you can learn from and share with others in person will be invaluable and will become an important part of your overall travel experience. You may even form relationships that will last for years.

The best advice we can give is this: have no fear, and don't cling to the comforts you're used to. If you are afraid, continue in the direction of your dreams with courage. You don't need to spend a lot of money for security while traveling and living abroad. Avoid resorts. You can live with the local populations while continuing to have reasonalbe amenities such as a/c, hot water, bug-free living, equipped kitchen and comfy bed. People are people are people. Though customs are different, kindness is universal. Most of the world is safer than what you see and hear in the news. In fact, much of the world fears what life is like in the United States.

But having said that, it's important to stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Make smart choices and use common sense. You are not invincible.

3) NOW THAT WE KNOW BETTER, WHAT WOULD WE DO DIFFERENTLY?

Not all that much. It's important to note that we intentionally chose to live a slow pace of life and enjoyed walking, observing, relaxing, eathing/drinking, and being present in our neighborhoods without always having something to do. We made a point to change our lives so that we were not busy all of the time.

Moving to and living in Costa Rica for 3 months was costly and hot. But we ended up making several meaningful relationships and exploring the country, making memories that we wouldn't want to trade. Staying in Europe would have meant a cool winter without swimming or warm beaches.

We enoyed the weather, beaches, swimming, costs of living, and food much better in Mexico. Perhaps next time we would spend more time in Mexico and maybe avoid Costa Rica all together.

Although we studied Spanish we weren't all-in committed. We would spend more time studying and practicing Spanish with locals to increase our fluency. Now that we're back in the states, we'll probably lose most of what little skills we've gained.

We regret not visiting other places on the Iberian peninsula like Cordoba, Valencia, Barcelona, or spending more than a day in Madrid. With the boys in school we aren't sure how we could have made that happen unless we had stayed there year round. It also would have been nice to explore Portugal--maybe someday without kids.

Todd would have liked to spend time backpacking (like he did in the Pyrenees 18 years prior), possibly with the boys, but did not have any gear. If we were there longer, he'd make an effort to find a backpack, sleeping bag, tent and all other necessary equipment to make it happen.

Other than a couple of late night dinners as a family and a flamenco show in Granada, Todd and Amber rarely went out to experience nightlife, a show, or live music. That is something we'd do differently especially because there were many clubs within our Torremolinos neighborhood.

Lastly, Todd and Amber spent much of their time planning trips, enjoying outdoor activities, and taking care of our apartments and the boys. However we also spent a lot of time relaxing and doing nothing in particular. Committing to develop/learn a new skill (or completing a specific task) everyday would have given more meaning to our time and something to show for it. We may choose to do that next time, but are content having had nothing to do for a least a few hours a day for this past year.

4) Final thoughts

Overall we're very thankful and feel blessed to have had this opportunity to enjoy living and traveling abroad with our boys. We all increased our knowledge and experience of the world while making lifelong memories together. Parker and Drion have had an experience that have changed the course of their lives. Though we'll still be paying for this trip for a little while, both the financial price and the choice to be away from family, friends, career and home for a year has been worth the cost.

We thought perhaps we'd be interested in living somewhere else for more years to come but at no place or time did we feel like settling down more permanently. But our experiences sure have us thinking. If we had both found work and lived in a community of expat teacher families, for example, that could have been a different story. For now, we are embracing our return to Seattle and our school communities and friends.