Turbulent Flow

Prologue

5 years ago I took a surf lesson in Mexico. Since the moment I got up on the board and experienced the shore zooming toward me for a very long 3 seconds or so, I've been hearing a voice in the back of my head shouting AGAIN! Next month I turn 40. What better excuse to satisfy the voices than that? So here I am on my way to a beach in Costa Rica. The general plan is to spend a week learning how to surf. Simon and I have put together a sort of do-it-yourself surf school. Rented a beach house and signed up for 5 days of surf lessons. I don't have high aspirations. As an almost 40 year old not out of shape, but not in omg 6-pack abs shaped Canadian mother living in a landlocked province I'd be kidding myself if I came here with visions of hanging 10 with any degree of impressiveness. My hope is to become a vauguely competent beginner. Getting up on the board and experiencing another 3 seconds of flying above the water will be good enough for me.

DAY 1

Sitting on an airplane to Houston and then on to Liberia, Costa Rica! Unfortunately, Simon isn't sitting beside me. We learned at check-in that Costa Rica requires a 3 month buffer on passport expiry and Simon's was short by 1 week. So while he spends the morning getting a rush passport renewal I'm travelling solo to Central America. If all goes well he should be joining me for Day 2. I'm both terrified and excited to be travelling on my own. Thankfully our plans were to stay at the airport hotel the first night so all I really have to do on my own is fly in, get through customs and take a shuttle to the hotel. Not exactly epic travel!

...

After two (late) 4 hour flights and 5 hours of wandering around the Bush International Airport arriving in Costa Rica was feeling much less like a fun adventure and much more like a dull slog. By midnight I was at the hotel searching for wifi with little on my mind beyond contacting Simon and collapsing into bed.

I'm here!