Visitors

The funny thing about slow traveling is that I thought we would have a lot of people come to visit when we were staying somewhere for a while.  The biggest problem with that is that we could never tell people "hey, we're settled in for a while, come on down!" - they needed time to adjust to the idea, get vacation time arranged, buy tickets, etc.  Plus, I think they were a bit uncertain about just how settled we were :-).

We finally did get an apartment on a long-term lease in Costa Rica, and have had a few people come for visits.  We're right in the middle of introducing my parents to life here, with the help of my brother (who has been here several times).  We're mixing in side trips to the beach and mountains with a few days here and there of shopping, cooking, relaxing, museum-hopping, and participating in cultural events.  Visitors give us an added incentive to do things we had put off, and to rediscover things we enjoyed - we see everything all over again with fresh eyes.

We will be spending a few months in the states soon, and expect have visitors there as well!  Hopefully, we have learned a bit about how to make sure friends and family are comfortable coming along with us on our trips (or at least for part of them).

Costa Rican Pork Roll-Ups

Pork Roll-Ups

Preheat oven to 450 F
Make your favorite savory stuffing (but even a box of stove-top will do)
Stir in
   - chopped pineapple
   - chopped pecans
   - cut green beans (about 1/4 inch pieces)
Place a scant cup of stuffing mixture into pork loin fillets (1/4 inch thick or less) and roll up
Place pork roll-ups in a casserole dish; add any remaining stuffing mix around pork
If pork is "natural" (no salt solution added), salt the top
Put dish in oven and reduce temperature to 325 F
After 10 minutes, drizzle honey over pork
Cook till done, approximately 10 more minutes

Part of the joy of travel is to discover new foods and what to do with them!

Extreme Slow Travelin' - Costa Rica

For the past 6 years, we've been traveling and then living in Costa Rica. If Slow Travelin' is a month or two of living as much like the locals as possible, then I'd say our change of residency to Costa Rica would qualify as Extreme Slow Travelin' :-).

From beginning to end, here is where we captured the saga:  JulieAndRickInCostaRica