Mar 2007

so pops is gone and im back to flying solo. id didnt seem right to have to say goodbye to him again 8 months after the initial farewell. i had an amazing time with the family and though we might have been set back a bit by the robbery we were still flying high on how much fun we were having jsut beeing around each other after so long. every conversation was something new and exciting to talk about whether it be stories from my trip or the folks fillking me in on what iv missed back at home. the first week was soent mith mom, kate, dad and kate's friend brittany. the girls left after a great week of relaxation and plenty of family debauchery. it has been boys week for the past 7 days and the fun we had was insane and it was so nice to be able to catch up with my best friend and travelling mate(pops) who just left about an hour ago. we started off the week with a four day road trip wiht our friend matt who runs a bar here. we headed about 7 hours south to a surf spot called dominical and made our way back up the coast to nosara. it was great seeing another part of the country that we havent seen before. the water's edge was met by rainforest and the inhabitants included howler and whitefaced monkeys. pops and i spent our last ferw nights together taking it easy and talking about future plans , mostly stuff i havent wanted to think about on my entire trip such as school and whatnot. when am i coming home? well wouldnt you like to know and so would i. i dont have a ticket out of costa rica so ill be sneaking up on everyone when you least expect it. who knows maybe im in the airport now with pops waiting for our flight..... PURA VIDA!!!!

As I hug my son out in the lineup at Guinnoes my heart is filled with joy. As a parent this adventure has swung to many emotions during the past seven months. A trip that was hatched here in Costa Rico last january is almost complete. The blogs, calls, and e-mails are now replaced with stories told firsthand from the road. These stories have one thing in common, that is the great friendships Nick has made with so many wonderful people. Laura and I want to take this time to send out heartfelt thanks for all of you and you know who you are THANKS THANKS THANKS! So much of his joy comes from the people he has met while traveling. Those of you who have kept Nick in their thoughts while he was gone thank you as well. While there have been times we have questioned our sanity for offering this experience the payoff is without question tremendous. The boy who left on August 2nd is now a mighty fine young man with a presence of a man to be reckoned with. Expect some great things from Nick Fairman and remember how your interaction with my boy has shaped his future, again thanks. There are some personal notes to be sent by us but to all of you our house will always be opened. To be sure this is something Laura and I are looking forward to. Now I have the pleasure to take a Costa Rican roadtrip with my favorite American ambassador, can't wait to create a few stories from the road with my main man.
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though it seems it should be the opposite this entry will be one of the most negative ones i have written.

so saturday rolled around and the anticipation was unreal!!! towards the evening around the time the folks should have already been there the anticipation was to much so i went for a surf and still couldnt stop thinking about seeing them for the first time in 7.5 months. would they look different? did they miss me as much as i missed them? would me and kate get along seeing that she has had my parents all to her self for all that time? well jsut as the sun was going down and i was in the water i see the silouete of pops carrying his board on his head down to the water something that i would always remember. i was so excited just staring at him paddle out and made my way over to where he was to give him one of the most emotional hard hugs of my life under water and we were screaming and hooting. we both caught a wave together and went in to where my mom was waiting with tears in her eyes and a big hug. it was so amazing to finally see my family and esepcially my sister who has grown up so much. we sat on the beach to watch the sunrise and i introduced them to my friends i have been hanign out with lately. we had dinner and drinks at blew dogs a place we know so well. with about 15 people and my dad at the head of my table we sat till the place closed exchanging stories and the smile on my face never receded. after the bar closed my folks went to bed and i headed to town with a few of my friends to the discoteque along wiht ktes friend brittany whom she had brought along. we had a great night dancing a i was still going on the high that i was getting from knowing that my best friends whom i havent seen for so long were so close.

we woke up`the morning to low and behold have one of the worst discoveries you can have while travelling. someone while we were sleeping had come into our house and stolen jsut about everything we need for this trip. all of our passports, credit cards and cash. the worst part for me is that they got my camera, back pack, and a stack of about 15 cds with ALL the pictures from my ENTIRE trip. it makes me sick to think that i wont be able to show my kids in 20 years the fun i had through pictures. all my memories from my trip such as letters and books, and pictures are things that i wil never be able to replace. imagine how we all felt to know that after all the time i had on the road i never had one negative thing happen to me and the first night i see the folks which should have been one of the best times of my trip was cut to crap by these theifs. the one thing that this trip has taught me and what i am passing to my parents is to jsut go wiht it, there is nothing we can do. we still have had a great time and the smiles havent been missing. we of course had to cancel all of our credit cards and on wed. we need to travel 5 hours to the u.s. embassy to get reissued passports. the scary thing is that i never had a plane ticket home so it might be hard for me to get one now wiht no access to money or without a passport. our friends here in town are helping out alot and we have still had some great ngihts together.

today we had an amzing surf an hour away at a place called marbella with heaving barrels and a good road trip. tongiht is a few of my mates last night so it should be a good one. stay tuned for more to come from the worst part of my trip!!!

i had an awsome sole surf session for three hours this morning in some amazing waves. no more solo seshions after sat. cuz my pops wil be here cant wait. life down in paradise is rolling on as usual. just hanign out wiht old friends whom i have met during my prior trips. pina coladas by the pool in between surf. not a bad life huh?
and as the saying goes PURA VIDA(pure life)!!!!

so yes im back in nosara costa rica. after 4 days of chillin in hollywood and a day in a half of travelling i made it to costa rica my home away from home. came in the country with a one way ticket so i have no idea when i am coming home. though i know it wont before next saturday because that is when my folks are coming!! damn i am so excited. today is 7 months on the road and though it doesnt seem that long i know it will have felt long when i finally see my parents. though i dont know if it is because i here been here so many times or becasue of how much i am missing taranaki (new zealand( but it jsut doenst seem the same here anymroe from when i have been before. that means i could be crusiong on home with the folks in a few weeks or maybe get back into the niche of life here and not want to leave. except to go to new zealand of course.

also i really need to sayu thanks to austin and lisa my awsome hosts in l.a. they made my transition back to the reality of life in the states real easy and i met some amazing people while i was ther. i also got to reunite with two travel mates i met. sam whom i met in australia and robby form indonesia.

there will def. be pics to come from my time here in costa rica. and sstay tuned for what will be an amazing reuniting between my parents and i.