Last year it seemed like every other story I read was about someone who had managed to transform their work-from-home situation into a permanent work-from-the-road state. As an avid traveller, let’s just say I was jealous! For example, there was the family we met in Moorea over the holidays who was on a 6-month trip around the world. How were they managing it? Surely, I could do the same especially since my company had gone permanently remote over the summer. No excuses, right?
So, when my friend invited us to spend 10 days in Costa Rica I seized the opportunity and turned it into a month-long, work-from-anywhere trial. It was glorious.
It’s a relatively small country, but with so much diversity in every regard—people, geography, wildlife, activities – that deciding what to see and do can be really hard. However, with a month, I felt like we were able to cover a lot of ground while still giving ourselves ample time in each place to appreciate its uniqueness. Our trip naturally divided into three chapters:
Chapter 1: Lodge-to-lodge through the Osa Peninsula, Northern Zone, and Caribbean Coast
We built a 10-day itinerary around three amazing Böëna Wilderness Lodges that took us to three corners of Costa Rica.
Each lodge reflected the spirit of its location and was all-inclusive, with the exception of Monteverde Lodge, and gave us three amazing experiences. Honestly, if our trip had ended at this point, I would have felt satisfied. (But it definitely would not have been my last trip to Costa Rica!) From Lapa Rios, deep in the Osa Peninsula rainforest, to Monteverde Lodge & Gardens in the Northern Zone’s cloud forest, and finally Tortuga Lodge & Gardens situated between the Caribbean coast and the canals of the Tortuguero River, each site offered an immersive encounter with its distinctive ecosystem.
Short on time but want to hit the highlights of Costa Rica? Read more about our lodge-to-lodge itinerary here.
Chapter 2: Kicking back in San José, Peninsula Papagayo and the Nicoya Peninsula
We bridged Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 with a short stay at the Hotel Grano de Oro in Costa Rica’s capital, San José. It turned out to be a nice way to break things up, and allowed us to work comfortably during the day and walk around in the early evenings. From there we flew to Liberia and met up with my friend to kick off the next segment of our adventure. This part of the trip felt like a warm bathrobe: luxurious, cozy and familiar. With three nights at the Four Seasons Resort Peninsula Papagayo and eight nights at the more intimate, but no less pampering, Tierra Magnifica in Nosara, we settled into a routine that bookended our working hours with lots of playtime. Evenings were capped off with fabulous meals in surroundings that made us aware of just how fortunate we were to be there.
Looking for a laid-back, but no less adventure-filled, time in Costa Rica? Read more about our trip to the Peninsula Papagayo and Nicoya Peninsula here.
Chapter 3: Work and play in La Fortuna
The last chapter of our trip was also planned at the last minute. By this point we had spent three weeks in Costa Rica. We had been to both coasts and the interior mountains, hiked, surfed, kayaked, paddle-boarded, zip-lined, and spotted lots of wildlife. What we had not yet seen was the iconic Arenal Volcano!
With three days left, we decided to make our way back to San José by way of La Fortuna. I love road trips and the 135-kilometer drive from Liberia to our Airbnb just outside downtown La Fortuna was a journey made for a car. With multiple routes to choose from, we opted for one that followed the northern shore of Lake Arenal before dropping us off at our destination.
Since we had already seen and done so much by the time we arrived in La Fortuna, it really took the pressure off and allowed us to be singularly focused on working while enjoying views of the volcano.
Interested in seeing one of Costa Rica’s most iconic landmarks? Read more about our short stay in La Fortuna, home of Arenal Volcano, here.