Plucky Tree

1. Hanging things on a clothes line is not for drying them; it’s for conducting mildew and mold growing experiments. 
2. Wearing seat belts while driving on rough gravel roads can cause more injury than not wearing them.
3. Too warm? Underwear is optional.
4. Stop signs are for aesthetic purposes only. Who doesn’t love a splash of red?
5. Being driven through heavily trafficked areas by a native driver is as exciting as any ride at Great America.
6. It’s not bugs crawling on you, it’s just sweat dripping on your skin.
7. I lied. It’s probably bugs crawling on you.
8. Dead Toucans sometimes drop from the sky. Seriously, I have a picture of one.
9. Toucans are assholes. At least according to a German massage therapist specializing in foot reflexology.
10. Costa Rica is an amazing and beautiful country with the highest concentration of wildlife I’ve ever seen. You should go!

When traveling, the following things sometimes used to happen:

• We feel rushed and get tired
• We drive too much
• We have stomach issues
• We don’t feel connected to where we are visiting
• It’s too crowded where we are visiting
• Not feeling like we are getting a good value for our money
• Feeling overburdened with carrying so much stuff

We made some rules before our 2007 New Zealand trip that worked well and we’ve refined them with each trip we’ve taken and here’s what we now follow.

• Minimum overnight stay in one location of 4 days

This cuts down on so much driving, feeling rushed packing and unpacking so often. Also, you get more immersed in your local area and make more of a connection.

• No chain store food

Fast food makes everyone feel bad but even chain store food is essentially fast food that takes longer and costs more. You’ll feel better and more connected to go to a local restaurant.… READ THE REST