Last month we spoke with Paige from Wilcox Wellness & Fitness and she was getting ready to embark on a month long journey to Costa Rica with her family (click here to read it!) She returned a few weeks ago and we caught up with her to ask her about her experience. She had such an amazing time and so many valuable stories and lessons to share that we decided to split this blog post up into two different posts. This week we will focus on her overall experience and day to day life in Costa Rica. Next week we will share some of her challenges, achieving goals, and a story about an almost emergency evacuation due to a FIRE!
True North Beauty: Welcome back. Paige!! We are so excited to hear about your travels! Overall, how was the experience? Was it more or less than what you expected?
Paige: We had an incredible experience in Costa Rica. I am so happy that we took the time with our family and made it happen. Our kids did such a great job traveling (overall - we had our moments and I have some funny travel stories to share for sure!)
In terms of expectations, I worked really hard not to set expectations for the trip. Traveling with 2 little kids (a 4 year old and a 1 year old) I knew a lot would be dependent on their mood, the lunar calendar (kidding) and which way the wind was blowing.
I did expect that I would be working much more than I actually ended up working. Which is a good think for this girl who LOVES her work. It was a really good shift for me - I was OK with doing less work and easing into the Pura Vida lifestyle. We also had a really fantastic team that was carrying our weight while we were gone. (Thank you guys! You are the very best!!!)
TNB: Traveling with kids can be hard! Can you describe what an average day looked like for you and your family?
Paige: It is difficult to describe a typical day because we quickly learned that our family did best when we were ‘adventuring’. ‘Adventuring’ meant finding a new beach, or exploring a new town, or driving in the jungle, or visiting an animal refuge, or just trying something new.
I would get up at 5am to get a little bit of work done before the kids woke up. Our rental was tiny - so that meant working outside on the patio just before dawn. It was so loud! We could hear howler monkeys, cows, birds, and the really loud grasshoppers (I think they are called cicadas). There were ‘condo cats’ - community cats that everyone fed but nobody owned who would keep me company while I worked.
The kids (blessedly) would wake up most mornings around 7 and from there it was off to the races. Brooklyn, our 1 year old would get up and look for her swimsuit, her sunblock, and her life jacket to indicate she was ready to go.
We would have a quick breakfast of the most amazing tropical fruit and yogurt then be out the door for a walk on the beach before it got too hot. I would carry Brooklyn on my back and we would walk and explore a new beach - picking out our favorite beach houses. Then we all would have a swim / play in the waves or we would explore rocky tide pools. After that, we would get Brooklyn back into the baby carrier and she would get a little power nap in.
We had to get out of the sun from 11-3pm. It. Was. So. Hot. So hot you would feel your body slow down to compensate for dealing with the heat. During this time, we would either let the kids sleep or drive somewhere for our afternoon adventure.
We had a really great pool at the place that we stayed and the kids LOVED swimming in it. It is really impressive to see how much confidence they gained swimming. Mike put Hazen’s life jacket on Brooklyn as a joke once and she LOVED it - seconds later she was peeling my death grip off her so she could swim on her own and the next day she was jumping off the side of the pool and holding her breath underwater. CRAZY.
Hazen made a lot of friends. He met a little girl Grace, from upstate New York and then his ‘best friends’ were a couple of Canadians in their 60s(ish) (Tammy / Earl if you are reading this I hope I didn’t overestimate). We would come back from our morning walk and Hazen would strain his neck walking down the path to see if his friends (60 years his senior) were there to ‘play’.
The sunsets in Costa Rica were absolutely spectacular but we didn’t see many. The sun would drop right around 6 which was when we were in the hustle to get cleaned up from the day, have dinner and get to bed.
Bedtime in Costa Rica was a breeze. The kids were e x a u s t e d and were so excited (just like we were) to get in their bed at night. I wish we could have brought a little bit of that home.
My most favorite day was when we went into the rain forest in the Monteverde area. It was so beautiful. It was a lot cooler - a great break from the heat we were experiencing - and I think I just love hiking. We walked across canopy bridges high in the air, stood on the continental divide where we could see the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, listened to the birds, and looked for monkeys. We didn’t see any- I am pretty sure that Hazen cleared out all wildlife within a 4 mile radius of us.
In Monteverde we rented an AirBNB from a family of dairy farmers. Their spot on the side of the mountain was probably one of the most incredible views / experiences of my life. We watched the clouds come from the rain forest roll over us and then evaporate into the air. We watched the sunset over the Monteverde valley. We drank the most incredible coffee that was grown and roasted by the grandfather on the farm. We talked with the family and learned about their lifestyle. Our kids played with their kids. We walked on paths in the jungle that the family cut themselves. We got to help with the milking of the cows. I got to bottle feed a 3 month old cow. It. Was. Amazing.
True North Beauty: Wow! That does sound amazing!! Well, everything except the insane heat! We can't wait to learn more about your trip in next week's blog post!
Join us next week to hear more about Paige's experience and what she learned about herself and her family.
Paige Wilcox and her husband, Mike own Wilcox Wellness & Fitness. Their clients are busy professionals who are looking to gain leverage in their lives through health and fitness. They work with people who are are looking to feel better, have more energy, and radiate confidence so that they can do [and keyword: ENJOY] the things that they love doing. They believe that health and fitness is a strategic leverage point to help you get anything else out of life that you want. Work on your health and fitness and a lot of other aspects of life - career, relationships, fulfillment - will start to fall into place for you. Learn more about Wilcox Wellness & Fitness here: www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com
Leave a comment