Throughout my travel experiences over the years I have been fortunate to have glimpsed life and the world through a myriad of cultural perspectives. When I was 18 I experienced Southeast Asia, later I found my way to Europe and Scandinavia, then China, Korea and Japan, and of course, Costa Rica.
I have learned this: Perspective is everything.
We are so very limited in our experience and understanding of life and the world around us when we are only exposed to one culture and one perspective in the whole mandala of life.
Perspective.
It is now Friday, Viernes, and I am already experiencing such a huge shift in my own perspective of time. Life in Costa Rica moves very differently in relationship to time. There is nothing that is ever happening quickly. Time is like air or space here. It seems endless. There is never a shortage of time. It is only in how we orient ourselves toward time self created schedules and calendars and the way that we experience the world in a dramatically different way.
I have always been fond of saying to people that a week in Costa Rica is like a month anywhere else in the world. This has proven to be true once again on this journey. I have been here only 5 full days and time seems endless and the hours and days do not move in a linear or structured way.
The early morning sounds of exotic birds, monkeys and nature in movement begin to gently pull me from my sleep.
Faint memories of my dreams fade as the sunlight begins to make its way through the thin curtains of my window. Instead of sluggishly wanting to pull the covers over my
head and go back to sleep, I am inspired to move and meet the day.
Follow Kirk’s Adventure from the start
- The Start – Five years ago I was quietly living in a small 1100 square-foot home just outside my native hometown of Austin, Texas.
- Day 1 – My journey to Costa Rica, the Rich Coast, began at 4 AM on a crisp Sunday morning.
- Day 2 – Arrival into Costa Rica was quite smooth and seamless compared to my recent experiences in Japan where things are done to another level of precision and detail
- Day 3 – This morning I woke naturally at 5am as the light was already beginning to make its way through my window.
- Day 4 – There is a stretch of beach to
- Day 5 – Last night I drifted off to sleep while reading The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
- Day 6 – I heard the morning songs of exotic birds I had never heard before
- Day 7 – I have been quickly reminded once again that one can starve in Costa Rica if one does not know the local routine
- Day 8 – I was abruptly awakened before 5:30 am to the sounds of what I can only imagine to be monkeys in the trees just above my house.
- Day 9 – I began my walk toward the mountain, noticing the blisters on my feet
- Day 10 – I was reading back through some of my old journals I packed with me from the last few years
About the Author
Kirk Lee is a Writer, Meditation teacher and nomad currently living in Costa Rica. Kirk has been an explorer on the journey for over 25 years having traveled to 14 countries culminating in a year living in Kyoto, Japan. Kirk writes about travel through the lens of simplicity and kindness to be found in people and places of every culture. Explore Kirk’s travel journals at https://zenandink.substack.com/
