On social media, people often only share the best of times, especially during vacation. Let's get real here, however - our Costa Rica trip (summer 2024, finally publishing this previously drafted post for future reference!) did not all go as planned. We usually work through some hiccups on any trip, but this was the first time in a while that we had major airline delays.
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| Before the "embracing" part |
Here's a short list of the problems on our trip:
- 8 delays in the flight from Charlotte to Costa Rica, ending in an overnight delay
- Decided to make the best of the airport hotel by swimming, only to find the pool was closed
- Wasted a bunch of time finding a working ATM when the airport one was broken
- Took way too many wrong turns trying to follow Waze shortcuts on a stressful drive through terrible San Jose traffic
- Missed one of our two nights in the cloud forest
- Almost flooded a cabin bathroom with a misfiring jet on a whirlpool tub
- One of us got sick for a day and a half
- Wasted an hour due to a misunderstanding with a vendor
- 10 delays in the flight back to the US, ending in a rerouting through Miami in the middle of the night
In our family, there's no other real choice than to roll with it and make the best of a bad situation. Bill taught the girls years ago to "embrace the suck", a phrase he hears most in the context of researching long thru-hikes like the Appalachian Trail. I've read that the phrase first became popular in the military during the Iraq War. For us, the phrase means that when you're truly stuck in an annoying or difficult situation, there's no point in moping around and complaining the whole time. Better to just accept it and make the best of it.
How so? Even in the airport, we could play Uno (of course we played some Uno, we do not travel without Uno), get some steps in, try some local IPA and ice cream, laugh about how ridiculous our group of fellow passengers looked tromping through the Miami airport at 3:00 am trying to get through customs and back on our plane to Charlotte.
Ruth says one of her core memories was another "embrace the suck" day about 5 years ago when we had walked to dinner and got surprised by a major downpour on the walk home. We stopped, drenched, for cupcakes in hopes of waiting it out, but it was clear that the storm wasn't going to end anytime soon. We ran home through rivers of rain, laughing the whole way at how hard it was raining and how ridiculously wet we were. Maybe one day we'll look back on these travel delays in the same way - a funny family memory of making the best of a bad situation.
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| Embrace the... cupcake |
Two years later, as I reread everything I wrote here long ago, I remember some of these problems but not all. What stands out more from that trip: relaxing in a small private pool near a waterfall in the rainforest, the beautiful beach in Manuel Antonio and all the animals we saw up close, enjoying coffee while watching for birds and monkeys from our patio, delicious meals with great views of toucans and macaws. Ruth's hatred for American Airlines may last forever, but so will the good memories. :)