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Don’t hate me, but while the US is starting the long cold winter, I’m still wearing shorts and flip flops. The weather has been incredible lately, and we’ve taken advantage by traveling and seeing more of Nicaragua.

A few weeks ago, we traveled to the beautiful island of Ometepe, located in the middle of Lake Cocibolca. This lake is the largest lake in Central America and the 21st largest in the world. The island of Ometepe is large enough to take several hours to travel around via car or boat. It is made up of two volcanoes, one of which is still moderately active. I wish I had pictures of all the modes of transportation, but we were so rushed there and back that we couldn’t stop to breathe let alone take pictures. We took the bus from Granada to Rivas, a taxi from Rivas to San Jorge, and a ferry from San Jorge to Ometepe. From the ferry port, we took a taxi to the hotel. Two days later, we took the same trip in reverse. Travel time took about 5 hours in total. We left on Friday afternoon, and came back on Sunday afternoon. The ferry ride was my favorite part, as we were able to get a lot of pictures of the island from the distance. Mid way to port, a rainbow appeared in between the two volcanoes. It was so incredibly beautiful. As the hubby put it, “When in your life are you guaranteed to see this again?” I can’t describe how amazing it was to slowly chug through the water watching the rainbow shimmer and shift through the clouds.

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We’re moving not once but twice in the next 30 days.

The first time will be this weekend to a friend’s house. She moved to the beach and is letting us stay (rent free!) in her house for the next month. Which includes access to her pool and extensive land with a lake (daily swims for the dogs!). This move requires separating everything we own into three categories:

• Things we will take to Nicaragua
• Things we will sell or donate - anything that doesn’t have real meaning to us
• Things we will store - one dresser, one side table, four chairs, one table, keepsakes, office supplies (paper, envelopes, printers, cutters, etc.), kitchen supplies.

The second time will be our move in late August to Nicaragua. Everything we need will be brought on the flight as cargo. We are taking the following:

• 4 lockers, measuring 32″ x 17″ by 12″
• 2 suitcases, carry on size
• 2 laptop bags

That is the sum total of all our necessary belongings for the next year. We ran into a problem when we realized the lockers (small enough to meet airline requirements) are too small to contain our printer. Which isn’t a true necessity (like, for instance, high thread count linens), but we really need access to a good scanner to transfer documents back and forth from the States.  Shipping is incredibly expensive (about $500 for the printer, not including customs). So we are trying to decide whether to buy a smaller model (really do not have the funds right now considering our vaccinations alone are $750, tickets are $1500, shipping the dogs is another $1000, emergency flights are $2000, medical flights are $1000…you get the picture), find a way to package it and pay for the extra luggage, or just leave it and take the risk that we can eventually pick up a suitable printer/scanner in Managua.

Oh, and I quit my job so our sole income is my husband’s graphic design business. Yay!

At the same time, we are meeting with a friend who is designing our future studio. Are we crazy? Yes! However, it’s really helping to have a short term goal (moving to Nicaragua) and a long term goal (building a studio and eventually a house). It’s allowed us to part with items that have no potential future use, and to truly appreciate the items we are keeping and/or able to take with us.

All I can say is that I am very happy to have read this book before the move, rather than after.

I absolutely love Central America.  I’ve been to Honduras and Nicaragua, and hope to get to Costa Rica later this year. A friend who knows of my love sent over the article “Costa Rica Anyway You Want It” from the NYTimes and it confirmed my desire to travel there.

Photography by Michael Nagle.

Photography by Michael Nagle.

You can find the full slideshow here.

The article highlights the diversity of Costa Rica.  From upscale resorts to camping, rain forest to beach, ziplines to yoga, Costa Rica (much like the rest of Central America) has it all.

One of my favorite people in the world frequently travels to Costa Rica.  He’s a sound engineer for several big name bands, and has the dream schedule for a single person who loves to travel.  I loved the NYTimes article, but knew it wasn’t how I would choose to travel in the country.  So I asked him for his best travel tips and this is what he sent over.

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On this chilly day, I’m wishing I was somewhere very warm and sunny. Morgan’s Rock, an ecolodge in Nicaragua, looks like it would be the perfect escape. It’s dry season in Central America, so there would be plenty of beautiful sunsets.

Offering gorgeous beaches, mountain bike rides and kayaking, this resort looks perfect for a romantic trip for two.  Le Sigh.  I’m 100% sure they have never even heard of an ice scrapper or snow shovel.