Anyone who knows The Applegath Group, knows how much the team loves to travel. After two long years, we finally got our long-awaited Costa Rican trip under our belt.

 

Costa Rica is a beautiful country, filled with rainforests, beaches, river valleys, and incredible bio-diverse wildlife. It also has amazing food, restaurants, bars, gorgeous luxury and  boutique hotels - and wonderful people to boot. For all these reasons, Costa Rica seems to be on everyone’s list of late – as it should be.

 

International Living kicked off the year by naming Costa Rica the best place in

the world to retire – highlighting amongst other things Costa Rica’s great weather,

natural beauty, great health care, warm people and the physical and emotional

well-being that comes from the Costa Rican lifestyle

 

We stayed in a small boutique hotel, Rancho Pacifico (www.ranchopacifico.com) for its incredible location- up high in the forest but close enough to the beach should one want to visit. Driving into the Ranch for the first time is an adventure in itself as you are driving up a mountainside, higher and higher into the clouds until you finally arrive in paradise.

 

The view from our bedroom was literally in the forest - completely surrounded by a balcony . We would sleep with the windows open (screened) all night and feel the gorgeous breeze and smell the incredible forest. We would wake up with the howler monkeys and the tropical birds each morning - our own personal symphony of nature. We counted nine different birds the first morning and by the end of the trip had seen 25 different species of birds just from our balcony! We spent days touring the mangroves, spotting alligators, three different types of monkeys, gorgeous birds, snorkeling and surfing, beach visits and hiking during the day.

 

We come from a family of foodies, with a chef in the family so, our standards are extremely high. RP's food was incredible and exceeded all our expectations. From the delicious and colorful avocado breakfast toast, the incredible tuna ceviche to the creamy daily soups and special dinners, our family totally enjoyed the chef's creativity. Costa Rican coffee is by far the best I have ever tasted!

 

One of the best-known Costa Rican mottos is “pura vida,” which means

“pure life.” And Costa Ricans really take this to heart. The cultures and the

people are quite diverse, but many like to live by this simple sensibility to live

life to the fullest, and this is probably why the country is considered the happiest,

according to the Happy Planet Index.

 

Costa Rica and Rancho Pacifico was everything and more than what we expected. We would highly recommend it, without hesitation. Spending quality time with family, in beautiful locations around the world has always been our family’s aspiration. It truly was a dream trip.

 

Taking care of your aspirational money is so important because it gives you permission – once everything and everyone is secured – to pursue your personal dreams. We believe your surplus money is there for a purpose. We are hear to help coach you to help define that purpose. At it may just be to give yourself permission to follow your bliss and pursue your own dreams.

 

To learn more about your aspirational money, and other elements of our LifeWheel™ click here.