Packing before a 10 day trip to Costa Rica

I swear there are two kinds of trip packers in this world. The week in advance or the night before people. I would say I fall into the week before people. Just because I have to start thinking about what I really need and begin the process by throwing those items at the suitcase until the day comes around when you actually have to fit it inside. Makes sense Right? Can’t be just me.

Anyway, in a few days, I’m heading to Costa Rica for the first time with my best friend Samantha and we are ecstatic. Costa Rica has been on our bucket list for years. Like we have straight up talked about visiting Latin America for I think 2 years. But as I was living in London at the time and she was based in Cayman with a short stint in NYC. The timing was just not matching up.

This time around we opted to make it as simple as possible by signing up for a semi-schedule tour group. The reason is half because I thought I was going to have to go on this trip alone (would have been my first solo adventure) and the other half is that Samantha was extremely busy early on in the year with work and athletics that I knew I would be planning this thing alone (don’t tell her I said that).

The tour operation is Contiki and while I’ve heard pros and cons about there structured style trips what really stood out for me that they organize transportation, accommodation, and offer featured activities you can decide on at the moment. So this perfect as we’ll be visiting 5 stops in the 9-10 days we’ve been there. Amen Amen.

So to prepare for this trip which is taking place in Costa Rica’s apparent rainy season I have purchased a rain jacket. Am I excited to wear said jacket? Yes and no. Will I be sharing how stylish I will look? If you’re lucky.

Anyway, a few other random goodies I picked up for the trip are a new iPad case which I’m feeling pretty exceptionally clever about ha!

In addition to my new case, I went a bit Amazon crazy and also ordered a foldable water bottle, some cool clip-on lenses for my iPhone and my book for the trip The Circle.

You can expect the regular bits and bobs of leggings, sneakers, shorts, swimsuits blah blah.

Wait.. so I’m not a hypochondriac or anything but I have also brought my little baggie of meds. Honestly, you don’t want to be trapped on a 5-hour bus right with nausea or a headache.

Last but not least snacks. SNACKS. Airports are weird, sometimes there is food worth eating and sometimes you wish you just had a pack of watermelon sour patches. So I’m definitely bringing a few snacks for the transportation.

Anyway, we’ll see what happens next and hopefully, I’ll get to update as the days go on.

– Tobi

PS. I was told I also have to mention I bought water/rock climbing shoes because I’m embarrassing and also don’t want to slip from a waterfall and die. Sue me.