Costa Rica’s Tourism agency has an answer for all the work stress in America with their new “Save the Americans” campaign at savetheamericans.org and this MUST SEE VIDEO CLIP with singing animals:
The Mailing Addresses
I don’t think I’ve shared them on the blog yet, though you may have received my new bus. card and Christmas post card with the new mailing addresses:
REQUIRING AN INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE STAMP AT $1.15:
Charlie Doggett
Hacienda La Jacaranda
03-4013
Atenas, Alajuela 20501
COSTA RICA
I PAY A COURIER SERVICE TO FLY IT TO COSTA RICA ONCE A WEEK:
PO BOX FOR MAIL & MAGAZINES ONLY:
Charlie Doggett
PO Box 025-331
SJO 170066
Miami, FL 33102-5331
STREET ADDRESS FOR PACKAGES ONLY:
Charlie Doggett
6703 NW 7th St.
SJO 170066
Miami, FL 33126-6007
If interested in knowing, these two Miami addresses are with Aero Post or Aero Casillas in Spanish, which is a courier service helping residents of all of Central and South America to have a U.S. address which is needed for some internet orders and other purposes. They fly to San Jose (the SJO code in the address) once a week with accumulated mail and packages and take it to my nearest Aero Post desk which happens to be in the town of Alajuela in the same province as me, also Alajuela. It is also the location town for the International Airport and about 20 minute drive from where I will live.
AND A LITTLE SERENDIPITY:
One of the two young men who came in a truck to pick up my boxes for Craters and Freighters of Nashville today was born in Alajuela and lived there until age 7 when his parents brought him to Nashville. Now how about that for a coincidence!
Two Weeks from Today!
Yep, two weeks from today I fly to Costa Rica and spend my first night as a new resident! After going to a small church Christmas Eve Service. It doesn’t photograph like the Catholic Church on the Plaza which I hope to go pray in at times. Here’s two shots of it with part of our tour group crowding around.
Most Searched Travel Destination
According to Bing’s December 3 report on searches by people in the U.S. Costa Rica is the most
 |
| Sign on Playa Dominica |
searched travel place in the world. Read the article. It also says that more U.S. citizens retire in Costa Rica than any other country. No surprise to me, but an interesting report.
These photos I made in August on our tour as we stopped by Dominica Beach in the South Pacific. I just liked their sign! This particular spot was near the mouth of a river, thus the drift wood abundance.
 |
| Playa Dominica |
Hoping for a Christmas Tamal!
 |
| Christmas Tamal, photo from Inside Costa Rica |
I’m hoping to get a Christmas Tamal (in Spanish that is singular for Tamale) this year on Christmas or maybe even Christmas Eve when I arrive. Tamales are the big thing for all families at Christmas in Costa Rica with most families having their own special recipe. Unlike the Mexican tamale that is small and wrapped in a corn husk, these are large as a full serving and include lots of vegetables along with some meat. They are also wrapped in a large green leaf, said to be banana leaves, but more often another kind of leaf. Read this article about Costa Rica Tamales in one of the Costa Rica English language newspapers today, Inside Costa Rica.
5 Suitcases Are Ready!
 |
| The 5 Suitcases Are Lined Up Ready To Be Packed |
They have been lined up in my living room for quite a while and soon I have to do a dry run packing to see what will actually fit in them. I got the three hardbacks in a large size to go with my two life-time warranty soft bags. In the meantime I’m still trying to sell furniture and this weekend started packing my art collection. Books and art are what I really want to take. Furniture is so available there and with really nice woods. Though I may decide to stay with furnished apartments and not worry about furniture at all. Simplify!
 |
| On the landing strip in Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica by Charlie |
Well, I’ve been including photos of Costa Rica, so I had to find one to go with these suitcases! How about when I don’t want to ride a bus to a national park across the country, I fly in one of these little regional airline planes? This is what I flew to Puerto Jimenez for my trip into Corcovado National Park. One of the newer regional airlines is called “Nature Air” which I like just for the name! 🙂 Most trips like this cost about $40. Not bad if in a hurry! But $5 for the bus is better!
The adventures are soon to begin! And I’m ready!
Minimalist?
 |
| Catarata Falls, Trogon Lodge, by Charlie |
In addition to receiving Christianity Today, now digitally, I also get their weekly blog which ties you into articles on their website. Today’s pulled me into this neat article about getting rid of stuff as I am doing right now: Stockpiling Treasures in My Junk Closet.
And if you guys prefer articles written by men, check out this minimalist blog by Joshua Becker, Becoming Minimalist, who in this post points us to 8 other simple living blogs. Wow! Too much, but my new simple living seems to be popular again. And it is fun to read how others are struggling with it too.
I sold my wonderful Relax the Back Zero Gravity Recliner tonight to the nicest young man who was buying it for his mother! He already has one! And it is fun meeting new people who are all so interesting! This guy has a small car dealership and gives a portion of his profit to give used cars to poor single mothers in the community! Now isn’t that neat!
What neat person will God bump me into tomorrow?
POSTSCRIPT: In 2021 a woman wrote and asked me to add this link to her site on how to ditch cable TV (I did) and yet get streaming or other valuable shows for free or cheap. I do that now in 2021 with no TV but streaming of free YouTube videos and a documentary streaming service called CuriosityStream. The requested link to add is: https://www.killthecablebill.com/ 🙂
Will Costa Rica Be Surrounded by Canals?
Everyone knows that Panama is just south of Costa Rica with one of the busiest and most important canals in the world that many American businesses have greatly profited from. Now Nicaragua, just north of Costa Rica is planning an even longer and wider canal – or should I say that China is planning a canal there that will of course greatly help the economy of Nicaragua, but of China even more, just like the U.S. profited most from the Panama Canal. They break ground on the Nicaraguan Canal in December.
 |
| It will go not far north of the Costa Rica border through Lake Nicaragua, largest Central American lake. |
Those of us who care about the environment and clean water are opposed to it, but “green” people still don’t have that much influence in the world, beyond Costa Rica that is. In contrast to the U.S., China and Nicaragua, Cost Rica is one of the greenest and most ecologically sound countries in the world with 25% of its land set aside as National Parks and reserves. They planning to become the first carbon-neutral country in the world and already produce about half their electricity with renewable sources. Ecology and preservation of nature is one of many reasons I’m moving there. Hopefully the neighbor to the north won’t let greed spoil our pristine Costa Rican environment with spillover affects through overlapping rivers and forests.
Costa Rica’s “Psychotropic” Pop Music
With Salsa music big on Costa Rica’s west coast and Reggae/Calypso popular on the Atlantic/Caribbean coast (for tourists in particular), and a world-class symphony orchestra in San Jose, I haven’t really experienced specific Costa Rican pop music. But one local band, Sonambulo, is trying to help the world experience it with a new album “Psicosonorama.”
Read the Tico Times story about it or to just see the YouTube music video of one weird single, “La Maraca,” on their “Psychotropic” (Voodoo-like) album that is also being released in the United States. It is the most popular group among youth in Costa Rica, selling out all concerts. Interesting! Though not exactly my taste in music. (My age maybe?) 🙂 I suspect that U.S. youth will like it!
A Testimony of Living in Atenas
 |
| A Rural Road Near Atenas, Cost Rica (copied) |
I’m guessing she is a 30-something girl who wrote this descriptive testimony of living in Atenas where I will live in less than 8 weeks.
Check it out to get a different description than I have shared yet. One of her photos is a road outside of town which I expect to find near my apartment. We’ll see!
This morning’s activity was another “Moving Sale” day in the McKendree Village Treasure Shop. I did fairly well, a little better than last Saturday.
This afternoon I will be doing laundry and culling down my files to what I really need to take with me to Costa Rica. And I saved one of my books from sale or disposal which I thought I might read first, Richard Foster’s Freedom of Simplicity (click for excerpts) then I discovered it is available on my new Kindle Fire which I got to avoid carrying so many heavy books to costa Rica. It was just instantly loaded on my Kindle – how cool this is! I’m going to live in the rainforest while building my new library electronically! 🙂 As usual, I’m as excited as a little kid about all of this!
And as has happened before, my post on His Spirit Blog today relates directly to this, the removal of stress by depending on God and simplifying my life as getting rid of all this stuff is doing already!