All Packed and Ready to Go!

Well, Brandon and I have finally finished packing--notice the cool DSA luggage tags? For those of you who know me, it's probably not much of a surprise that I finished at 10:30 PM the night before departure. In fact, that may be record early!

For those of you who are traveling with us that don't know me, one of the students has affectionately named me "Auntie Costa Rica." If I were a betting gal, I think I'd take the bet that the name is going to stick. So, Auntie Costa Rica it is!

I'm excited to be a part of this incredible journey with some amazing students from the East Tennessee area. It is sure to be quite an adventure. I'm really looking forward to ziplining the most. For those of you traveling along, what are you most excited about?

See you tomorrow morning!

Travel Preparation for Costa Rica

So, packing for 7 days in Costa Rica has become half the fun of getting ready for the trip. I am trying to limit myself and have one bag (a rolling carry-one) plus my backpack for the trip. Every item I'm packing has to do at least 2-3 things- and YES I am already packing!
Forget normal shampoo & condition- I went to REI & found these great little "sheets" of soap that are 1x2 inches in size- talk about light packing! And to top it off, there are 30 in the little packet- I hope I don't have to wash my hair that many times.
I bought the "large ziplock" packing bags that you put your clothes in and remove all the air- 5 shirts (2 long sleeve & 3 short sleeve, for layering) take up less space than 1 normally packed shirts.
I found the perfect backpack- which has built in pockets on the waist to hold my camera, phone, and video player- so that they are never in the back and out of reach! It even can hold a water bladder if I want to use it-some new inventions are just great.
I'll update as I increase my "packing" and will get a couple pictures out for everyone to see how I'm doing- pass on your helpful hints too!