Hi! We are Thomas (the German) and Sarah (the US-er.) We travel through Costa Rica with seriously good vibes while sticking to a rather tight budget. Want to know how we ended up here? We’ll get to that in a minute, but first, we’d like to share with you a little about Costa Rica Vibes…….
Costa Rica is the most expensive country to travel to in Central America, but that does not mean it shouldn’t be on your list of destinations.
Unfortunately, when you start researching a Costa Rican vacation you will likely be bombarded with info about expensive tours and 5-star hotels. Our goal is (and always will be) to give you the best tips on having a great budget vacation in Costa Rica without skimping on seriously good vibes.
It is possible to travel to Costa Rica on a budget and we will show you how!
This is not your typical travel blog. You will never see us accepting payments or free stays in return for promoting a business. That’s just not how we roll. All the accommodations, restaurants, activities, products, and services we recommend here are things we actually use and love.
We want to always give you the most authentic and genuine advice and we don’t think it’s possible to do that if hotels are paying us to write good things about them as most travel bloggers do.
Instead, we make money by partnering with companies we love and recommending them to you in return for a small cut of their profit. This is always at no extra cost to you and it allows us to continue to run this site, so if you are booking your trip soon please consider doing so through our resources.
Hey! We just partnered with our fave rental car company to bring you guys a 10% to 20% discount on your rental car! Here’s the dealio!
We also have a section of detailed ready-made itineraries which include suggested activities, accommodation ideas, transportation info, maps, and a pdf version of the itinerary so you can print them out for your trip. You can access all of our itineraries for a small one-time price. These itineraries have been fully tested by us and are designed to give you the best experience possible.
Now on to our story….
Us crazy kids met in 2010 while volunteering for a year in a community for adults with mental disabilities in Virginia. Sarah had just graduated college and wasn’t really interested in the whole 9-5 thing yet and Thomas had to complete nine months of civil service which was required by the German government at that time. He figured, why not combine his civil service with a new experience abroad?
At the time Sarah was in a relationship and Thomas had come to the US with the mindset that he wouldn’t meet anyone in the US so it wouldn’t complicate things when he went back to Germany.
Sometimes life has other plans….
We fell in love over craft beer, late night walks, and lightning storms. After just a few months of being together, we had to decide what would become of us. Thomas only had a visa to stay in the US for a few more months. He asked Sarah to come back to Germany with him and being the spontaneous person she is, she said, “Yes, definitely!”
A few months later Thomas moved back to Germany and found a job. Sarah spent the summer living in a yurt on an island in the Boston Harbor as a park ranger and then she packed everything into two suitcases and moved to Germany.
We spent four years together living it up in Germany and traipsing around Europe before deciding we were ready for the next adventure in our life.
Thomas was offered a job in San Jose, Costa Rica and as is standard for us, we just moved without having ever visited Central America.
Luckily it turned out that we love it here! Thomas has a good job that allows tons of travel time. Sarah runs this website and her other site The Wanderlanders from home when we aren’t traveling.
What You Can Expect From Us:
Sarah is the writer. Thomas is the man behind the camera.
Sarah is the one planning the trips. Thomas is the one picking up the pieces and ironing out the details (how very German of him).
Sarah is the dreamer. Thomas is the practical thinker.
As far as traveling goes, we are a bit of a contradiction. We like to have everything such as transportation and accommodations arranged ahead of time but tend to go with the flow as far as activities.
We love to see a lot of the places we are visiting, but we also like to stop and just enjoy the moment. It is not unusual for us to spend a whole day drinking margaritas on a beach and then spend the next day doing a five-hour long hike and wrapping up the day by kayaking.
We like to get the best deals possible (which we, of course, will always share with you) but we also like to find the coolest places with the best vibes.
We are all about finding off the beaten path activities and supporting small local businesses.
Oh and we love to be outside!
Our Costa Rica Goals For 2017:
Sarah: I really want to explore more of the national parks here in Costa Rica. I’m also dying to take some surfing lessons (although I’m not very coordinated and will likely be horrible at it). I’m also on a quest to find as many secret beaches as possible, which I may or may not share with you all….ok fine I’ll share them! I also have a weird obsession with starting the day with watching the sunrise on the Caribbean and ending the day watching the sunset on the Pacific. So, that’s def. on the list of goals for the year.
Thomas: We’ve traveled a lot in the middle of the country, but have somehow missed the edges. I guess the thought of driving that far has just turned us off from it. Anyway, I’d like to get up to the North West corner of the country as well as the South West corner to explore Corcovado National Park. Also, I’m hoping to do more kayak fishing, in particular in Mal Pais. Since I work during the week I’d also like to take more weekend trips and discover more great places that are an easy drive from San Jose.
Here is some guidance for planning your trip….
Destinations: If you are trying to figure out what areas of the country you would like to see, head over to our destinations section to get a better idea of some great areas to travel.
Some popular places are Manuel Antonio, La Fortuna, Jaco, and Playas del Coco.
Our favorite places are Tortuguero, Cahuita, and San Gerardo del Dota.
Itineraries: Once you have an idea of what kind of things you would like to see, head over to our itineraries page. Here we have detailed itineraries for all your travel needs. These itineraries include suggested activities, accommodations, transportation info, maps, and a pdf version of the itinerary so you can print them out for your trip.
Must Know: After your trip is planned, head over to our must know section for some insight on things you should be aware of before traveling here; such as how to protect yourself against Zika, what you should pack, how to stay safe, the common scams etc.
Lots of great info, we have connected on Girls love travel. I was wondering about SIM cards from the airport for my unlocked Samsung, any suggestions? We don’t plan on doing much calling but like having text option and Uber option. Ty leaving in a couple weeks plan on heading directly to bus stati9n to catch bus to Cahuito so getting from airport to bus station on Uber might be the way to go. Thanks for your info! Kimberly
Yes definitely use Uber! Its always A LOT cheaper than taxis. There is free wifi in the airport (or at least there used to be but I was there picking up some friends the other day and I had trouble connecting to it sooo hopefully it was just a temporary problem). After you go through Customs in the baggage claim area there is a Kolbi counter (a phone company) where you can buy a SIM card. It will take like 5 minutes to register there. Its about $4 for a card and that money is applied to your account. If you need to check your balance ever just dial 8888 and press 2. You can also buy a Kolbi top up card at literally any mini market in the country. Hope that helps! You’ll LOVE Cahuita! its great!