28

I turned 28 a few months ago and I forgot to keep up with my briannual tradition of blogging about it. I've been busy! Better late than never ;)

Growing up in the land of opportunity I always had something to work toward. I spent 12 years working toward the next grade in school. While I was in school I worked to buy a car, so I could drive myself to work in the evenings after spending the days working towards college. Then I worked to pay rent while working toward my degree. Then I worked toward getting an internship - then a job - then a better job, so I could work to pay off my college debt. Before I knew it I was 27 years old and working was all I knew how to do.

I'm blessed by the opportunities to provide for myself, but in the year 2017 I believe there's more to life than just grinding. In one of my favorite songs Get By, Talib Kweli says

    just to get by
    We commute to computers
    spirits stay mute while your egos spread rumors
    We're survivalists, turned to consumers
    just to get by

My values don't align with consumer culture, but as time goes on I've found myself increasingly succumbed to its pervasiveness. 27 was the year I decided that I didn't want to be a supporting actor in my life's story. Transitioning into the spotlight doesn't happen overnight, but when I revisit this blog decades from now, hopefully I'll be able to say that this is when it all began :)

I needed to change my habitat in order to become the person I want to be. We were living comfortably, but I felt like I didn't have room to spread my wings. We wound up purchasing a fixer-upper house with lots of space for activities - a basement, a garage, and a big yard with room for a greenhouse. The house will get a post of its own when we're done remodeling, but the introvert in me is excited about all of the growth opportunities I'll have access to within my home.

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The real goal of this paradigm shift is to maximize my time. The house is complimentary to that because I don't need to travel in order to enjoy my hobbies, but I'd like to make bigger strides in my routine.

There are 168 hours in a week. I spend about 56 sleeping, 45 working, and 13 commuting. That leaves 54 hours/week that I'm in charge of. Subtract 5 of those for my morning routine, 5 more for errands and let's say 10 more for time spent cooking/eating. 34 waking hours per week remain. Right now I spend about 6 working out, 5 hours hanging out with my friends, 10 hours relaxing, and the other 13 are miscellaneous. Right now we're pretty busy with the remodel, so a lot of that time is spent at home depot or answering questions for the contractor.

I'd like to reallocate some of the work/commute hours into the other half of the equation, and I'd like to make the work hours more meaningful. Just like buying a home, career planning has proven to be a time-consuming and meticulous process. Thankfully I don't hate what I do now, so I can afford to be patient and selective with opportunities. I used to be thrilled by any job that came my way, but now I can't keep up with the messages that I get from recruiters looking for software engineers in Seattle. It's a bizarre feeling, but a welcome one for sure.

27 was the year I decided to make some big lifestyle changes. Maybe I'll fully turn the corner on these things before I hit 29.

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I almost got lost in all that introspective stuff and forgot to mention my actual birthday. I had an amazing weekend with my family on the lake in Coeur D'Alene. I don't get to see my dad or brother very often, and their better halves are outstanding company as well. It goes without saying, but the icing on the cake was getting to spend some quality time with my favorite niece.

TGIB!

A Special Weekend

Corporate holidays are really backloaded in America. January through April are a real slog while you recuperate all the PTO that you spent at the end of the previous year, especially in the miserable Seattle winter. But when May rolls around the sun comes out, and the only thing raining on us is good news!

Felicia and I went to Arizona to celebrate a bunch of things with our families, and we had a blast. First up was Andrew's college graduation. He's truly a special young man and he's overcome more than you could imagine to reach this point (with a degree in Electircal and Computer Engineering, no less). We're so proud of him - I had to stop myself from crying at the speech that he gave when he walked. Congratulations, brother.

The next day we celebrated the marriage of my brother Randall and his amazing bride, Alyson. We couldn't be happier for them. We spent a day at the Westin La Paloma resort swimming in the pools, getting drinks at the swim-up bar, and riding the waterslide a million times with my favorite neice. Randall and Alyson are a fiery couple and they bring out the absolute best of eachother. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for their little family. You can keep up with them musically at https://www.facebook.com/Swindymusic/

After that was Mother's Day. Felicia and I are lucky because our moms live in the same city. Our families got together for a casual brunch and just enjoyed eachothers company. Moms get taken for granted a lot. Make sure to appreciate yours :)

While all of that was going on, Felicia and I spent hours working remotely with our Realtor up in Washington. We were happy to deliver some good news of our own - we bought a house! Much more on that soon.

TGIB

Pura Vida

In an intro college Spanish class, I had a project to create a travel brochure on a Latin American country, and "sell" it to the rest of the students.  I was arbitrarily assigned Costa Rica.  I learned that they have a ton of flora and fauna, free public education, a strong economy supported by tourism, and that they produced an astronaut in the 80's.  I developed a mental image of the country as paradise, and promised myself that I'd visit someday.  After letting that image bake in my head for almost a decade, I finally went there, and I'm thrilled that the experience met my idyllic expectations.

Compared to my other international trips, I felt at home in Costa Rica.  The smaller timezone difference might have something to do with that, but I think the bigger factor was being able to speak the language.  I refreshed my Spanish skills with a 94-day Duolingo streak before we arrived, and I leaned heavily on my ability while we were there.  Being able to have nuanced conversations with locals really makes the world feel like a smaller place.


The country is tiny, but it's overflowing with natural beauty.  Costa Rica is the convergence zone of several ecosystems, so there's a lot of variety between terrain and the animals that live there.  The Costa Rican people - Ticos - are aware that their environment is special.  It's hard to go very far without hearing the colloquial term "pura vida" which kind of means "hakuna matata."  The weather is warm year-round, and the availability of fresh ingredients makes the local cuisine simple and delicious (Felicia fell in love with the casados - plates composed of rice, beans, salad, fried plantains, and some kind of protein).  It's easy to understand why the Ticos celebrate just being alive.


Arenal is an active volcano in the northern central valley.  It last erupted in 1968.  We were drawn there by the mountains and rainforests, and the plethora of activities that are offered by tourism companies.  On our first day we went swimming under the La Fortuna waterfall, then took a zipline tour through the canopy hundreds of feet above it.  The next day, we shared a raft with a German couple and toured the class III whitewater of the Rio Balsa.  We also learned how to process sugarcane on a local farm, and took shots of the sugarcane moonshine.  We spent most of our third day in Arenal hiking the Cerro Chato trail.  Cerro Chato is a smaller volcano in the shadow of Arenal.  The hike was rugged and challenging, but we were rewarded by the lake that fills the crater on top with colorful mineral water.

the trail to Cerro Chato

we made it to the crater!

Arenal is basically Death Mountain, minus the Gorons

The lava beneath Arenal provides heat for several hotsprings. We visited a different one each day we were there. My favorite spot was Rio Tabacon, which is a 100+ degree river that flows from the volcano into the expensive resorts nearby. It's kind of a hidden place that you can only get to if you know where to pull over on the side of the highway, but the search is worth the alien experience of bathing in a heated river.

Arenal was an amazing way to explore the inland volcanoes and rainforests, but Costa Rica is also renowned for its beaches.  We decided to visit a place called Drake Bay (named after Sir Francis Drake) on the southern Pacific coast.  We decided on Drake Bay because of its remoteness. Recent travels have taken us to Paris, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and we were ready for a change of pace.

There are pros and cons to visiting an isolated place.  The biggest downside was the difficulty in getting there.  We spent most of one day driving, flying, shuttling, and boating from Arenal to into Drake Bay.  On one hand, I missed the efficiency of Japan's bullet trains.  On the other hand, there's a real sense of adventure flying at low altitude on a tiny plane, and riding a small boat down a winding river in order to reach your destination.  We found lodging at a lovely B&B just a short walk up the dirt path from the boat landing.

Corcovado biological reserve is about an hour's boat ride away from Drake, and it's an animal lover's dream.  The reserve is heralded as the most bio-diverse place on Earth.  In one day there, we saw five different species of monkeys, two-toed and three-toed sloths, coatis, acutis, tapirs, a bull shark, and lots of exotic birds including toucans and macaws.


On our last day, we took a snorkeling expedition to the warm waters of Cano island.  We swam with turtles, sharks, sting rays, and tons of other exotic fish.  We took a midday break on the crabbiest beach I'd ever seen.  A full day of boating and snorkeling left my back with a wicked sunburn, but thankfully there are few better places to nurse a sunburn than Seattle in January.

Costa Rica didn't feel like the most foreign place that I've ever visited, but it was the best vacation I've ever taken.  When (not if) I go back, I'll make it a point to visit the Caribbean coast.  I'd love to visit a turtle sanctuary, and apparently rafting the Sarapiqui river is a must-do.  I've also been told by multiple people that the food on the Caribbean side is incredible.  The only question is, who's coming with me?

Pura Vida!
TGIB