Travel

For anyone who may have been hoping for updates live from Costa Rica, my apologies. It was too lush, too beautiful, and too wild for me to dream of cooping myself up in an internet café to blog about it. Now that I am back in the urban jungle, here are some highlights from my journey (inner and outer).

My first impression of Costa Rica was "wow" about the friendliness of the people, and their laid back attitude. A taxi driver from the San José airport informed me that the country has no army, over 500 years of independence, which they celebrated the day I arrived, and more beauty than I could see in a week's time. I was pleased to brush up on my Spanish so early in the trip, and load up with political and historical facts as we passed by the Museo Nacional, which boasts crosshatches and bullet holes several hundred years old.

Costa Rica is quite the jungle. Wouldn't you know it, it's heavy rain that makes plants grown on plants. I laughed at my choice not to take an umbrella, and delighted in the many unexpected turns of this trip.

The past two weeks have been short work weeks for me, first with Labor Day spent with family up in Ojai, and now with my preparations to fly out to Costa Rica this Friday. I've discovered two things: preparing for something like a big trip is a great way to "force" myself to be pristine about my systems of productivity. When time is of the essence, there's no room for me to get lazy about the process. My inbox has been empty every day, and deleting items from my task list is a breeze because I'm plowing through them so quickly. Stay tuned for: my thoughts on using a daily to-do list, a subject of (unnecessary) taboo amongst Getting Things Done followers.

Second awareness: Checklists can be a Godsend. Tonight I sat down with my traveling companion at around 8:30 PM to finalize some details of the trip. I was fried from a busy/highly fulfilling day (my days are becoming increasingly both of those things). Acknowledging my low energy, I decided my brain was not going to be my strategic planner. I began making a list. I suppose that's a typical response, since human beings are natural organizers/sorters/association-makers. David Allen has spoken about "inveterate list makers" to acknowledge how common it is to make lists but not go back and use them (as effectively as we could). Tonight I will toss my list in my inbox, print out my personal travel checklist, and hit the hay. The message I'm sending to my subconscious/basic self: Not to worry, I'll take care of this later, when I can give it the attention it deserves.