Would you be happy living here?

Jump Over the Back Fence

Thoughts about travel

"Who has not felt the urge to throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence?" ~ John Muir

John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892, and people also know him as the father of the national parks.

This quote explains a lot about life. Take a minute and read it again and think about what it's really saying.

Twenty years ago, I arrived in Costa Rica for a short visit

I didn't know anyone here, and I didn't speak a word of Spanish. I couldn't even order a cup of coffee, but I soon learned how to say café negro, which means black coffee.

That solved my biggest problem. I could live without a lot of things, but I need my coffee in the mornings.

I stayed for three months, went back to the U.S. for Christmas, and came back and stayed for another three months.

Almost every year after that, I came back. Most of the time I stayed for three months. Then, I started staying for six months. Someone asked me why I kept going back to the U.S. Why didn't I stay in Costa Rica? I didn't have a suitable answer.

When I went back to the U.S., I sold my motorhome and car, got rid of my storage unit and everything in it, and moved to Costa Rica. That was two years ago.

I came with two storage bins small enough to check as luggage, plus a small backpack.

Note: After two years here, I still have not unpacked the bottom half of each of the two bins. That tells me I brought twice as much stuff as I needed.

I didn't have a plan, and I still couldn't speak much Spanish.

I just knew that there was a different life waiting for me if I was brave enough to go for it.

I had lived and traveled around the U.S. for the last 13 years in a Class A motorhome, so doing something different wasn't new to me, and once again, I was ready to do something different.

Nobody warns you that the hardest part of moving abroad (or to any new place) isn't the logistics—that part is simple. Just get on a plane and go.

The hard part is finding the courage it takes to live a different life from the life everyone expects you to live.

Bottom line: You don't have to have it all figured out. Just do as John Muir said. Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea into an old sack and jump over the back fence. Where would you like to go if you jumped over the back fence right now?