That day in January, the question popped into my head again as I sat staring out of my office window. For fun, I did a google search for ‘hotels for sale latin america’. The third link that came up was a cute boutique hostel in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, called Tamarindo Backpackers. To my surprise, it was affordable. I contacted the real estate agent selling the property and booked a holiday to Tamarindo for April that year.
Immediately, I fell in love with the area. This area of Costa Rica has beautiful rolling green hills on one side and long stretches of amazing surf beaches to the other. Tamarindo is a cute surf town small enough to be intimate, but with enough tourists for local businesses to thrive. The taxi dropped me off in front of a beautiful yellow hacienda. The manager opened the door and I walked into a little oasis with a pool, hammocks beautiful gardens and even monkeys howling in the trees! I felt this overwhelming sense of calm and happiness.