Lasagna, house salad, dinner roll, and a caramel brownie.

This was the very basic yet much appreciated meal service we received on our flight from DFW to San Jose, CR tonight. Having grown up in an era in which airplane meals were commonplace, I was surprisingly happy to find a return to those times in this era of "$5 for pretzels".... I guess I don't fly internationally that often. As I was eating (and overappreciating) this glorified Lean Cuisine, it dawned on me that this would, in fact, be my last food pre-Sanctuary. Yikes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited about this whole thing. Really, I am. But look, I have to level with you..... I'm more Hilton than hostel. I absolutely love/live to travel, love the adventure and the new experiences, but I generally like to do it in a comfortable, familiar way. Nowhere is this more true than in the culinary department. When I travel, one of the first things I do is research all our dining options - what's near the hotel, where are some cool local must-dos, what does Yelp/Trip Advisor say we can't miss, etc.... I don't like wasting meals on vacation - they're a big part of the experience, and in some cases I'll craft a schedule around certain restaurants we just must try (none of this should be a surprise given the formidable nature of my ample waistline).

This trip is different.

In so, so many ways. Our meals for the next two weeks will essentially be (from what I can gather) rice, beans, and chicken a couple of times a day, and they're basically just something we do to refuel between sloth-based activities. This is, from what I gather, a microcosm of this whole experience. There will be no seven course meals, no midnight buffets, no umbrella drinks, no floor shows to attend. If I'm expecting turn down service, a refreshed ice bucket, and a 8 o'clock reservation (a booth, if you have one please!), I'll be sorely let down.

Yes, for all the traveling I've been fortunate enough to do in my life, the next two weeks will be like nothing I've ever done before. Rachel has had this long standing desire to come do this, to volunteer at the sanctuary, to disappear into the jungle with bugs and snakes and crocs and humidity and no A/C and.... ahem... anyway, I decided it was only fair. We've done the Hyatts and the Marriotts and the cruise ships, and it's time to take that leap and do something different. It's her turn to inspire our summer plans, an area that is often squarely in my domain. And so, tomorrow morning at sunrise, the folks from Interbus (a Costa Rican bus service) will pick us up here in Escazu for the 4 hour drive to Aviarios Del Caribe Sloth Sanctuary, where I'll get up before 6am each morning, work 9 hour days in a Central American jungle in July, and attempt to sleep with no A/C.....


.... and I couldn't possibly be more excited.