When people ask me what brought our family to Nosara, I tell them, “I googled it.”
It was May of 2011 and our son would be turning 1 year old in July. One evening, I climbed into bed and said to my partner, “I guess I better think about going back to work full time soon. We’ll need to start looking for a daycare.” My partner stayed up all night contemplating options that would not include putting our son in daycare.
By the time morning broke, the idea was to move abroad.
My partner worked a remote job at the time, and as long as we stayed within a certain time zone we could make the move. We are from California and decided we wanted to go south – Mexico, Central or South America. The two places that came to mind were Costa Rica and Mexico.
We had both traveled through and loved Mexico for its rich history and crazy good cuisine. We had also been to Costa Rica and appreciated the friendly culture and simple lifestyle. We also knew that we could easily find a family friendly town that offered one thing we each liked to do—surf and yoga.
So I googled it: Yoga Surf Costa Rica Mexico
Our search results were Nosara, Costa Rica and Sayulita, Mexico. We started [virtually] knocking on the doors of rental properties in both towns and the only doors that opened were in Nosara. So the decision was made.
Our plan came together in just three short months. We sublet our house, purchased our plane tickets, I quit my job, we had a yard sale and moved the rest of our personal belongings into our garage. Our families agreed to take care of our cat and cars while we were away. Our plan to stay in Nosara for the next five months came together easily. It was October 1, 2011, when we arrived in Costa Rica.
As I sit and draft this blog, it is October 1, 2016. Exactly five years later.
This makes me smile. Perhaps that is why the green season is my favorite time of year in Nosara, it’s when it all started. Little did we know that on this day five years ago when we left California in pursuit of more quality time with our son, we were writing the preface to our next life chapter.
Our initial move to Nosara was a time of a lot of “firsts” for our son.
At 13 months old, he was proudly using his newly acquired walking skills for impromptu explorations down the dirt roads, pushing a large toy truck through rain puddles, playing in the warm ocean and tide pools, and he especially love cold Pipas during our morning time at the beach. He would nap in a hammock in the afternoon, followed by a bike ride to the main road to watch cars go by. He also loved stroller dancing with his arms in the air, bobbing his head to the beat of the music playing at a nearby cafe.
My heart still overflows just thinking about this time in Nosara.
Being able to stay home with my son and share in his ‘firsts’ was the second greatest gift from my partner (my son being the first, of course). I have so much gratitude for that special time.
We enjoyed our stay in Nosara so much that we extended our stay from five months to eight. During those eight months, we made lots of like-minded friends, deepened our appreciation for Costa Rican culture and their regard for children and family, and rediscovered how beautiful life is when we choose to enjoy nature, allow ourselves to be in the present moment and to live simply.