What Costa Ricans seem to grasp more than anywhere else in the world is the ability to appreciate the elegance in simplicity. It’s easy to let our lives embody stress, anxiety, and worry. How many times have you stayed awake at night worrying about something that happened yesterday morning, despite the fact it no longer matters? How many times have you been kept up stressing out about something so minuscule that you’re most likely the only one still thinking about it? Like I said, it’s easy to allow a false perception of control set an undeviating direction to live the rest of your life. Surrendering yourself into the ocean of the unknown, giving yourself the opportunity to ride endless waves of adventure and being content without knowing what is coming next – that’s what’s hard.

We all have our own perception when it comes to living our lives; different people value different things. Sometimes the important things will match up, sometimes they won’t…and sometimes, listening to an individual tell you about what matters to them can change your entire perspective altogether.

It’s no secret that travelling opens your eyes to new ways of thinking, to new ways of looking at the world. You find yourself talking to people you never knew existed, learning things from them you never knew you needed to learn until you did. From the moment you arrive at Room2Board, it is clear that although everyone has something unique to share and offer, each person has one value in common: the desire to travel, the need to discover. It’s necessary, it’s something we can no longer control, the wheels have been set in motion and staying in one place is no longer an option. Here you can find someone from one end of the world to the other, just throw a dart on the map and you’ll see.

A spontaneous decision and a plane ticket landed Gil at Room2Board coming from further than his University in New York City. Gil is originally from Israel and traveling to Costa Rica allowed him to be in a place where he feels people have mastered the art of truly enjoying their surroundings. Here, people have learnt to appreciate the things that have always been around, the ones that we’ve forgotten about.

Gil (Israel)

Where the sound of waves crashing to the shore is everyone’s favorite song, you become part of their personal timeless piece of humanity. When you find yourself in a place where people recognize and appreciate the sun as its warmth sinks into their skin, you realize you can’t continue through life taking its organic beauty for granted.

Having the chance to finally sit back and enjoy himself wasn’t the only thing that Gil loved about visiting Costa Rica. One thing that all of our guests seem to agree on is the fact Room2Board attracts people from all over the globe; developing the building blocks for a couch surfing trip around the world can easily start here.

Fast forward to Siri, flying into the US from Sweden on December 23^rd, had no idea she would eventually be backpacking through all of Central and South America with a group of Canadians. Once she got to Belize she finally realized that this trip would lead her all the way down the continent. When asked if she had a plane ticket home, she replied: “no I absolutely do not,” because the best days of her life have always derived from days she had no idea were coming.

It’s not very often we allow ourselves complete freedom with our lives, and more frequently than not we are the ones responsible for feeling trapped. Individuals who have given themselves permission to do what they want and go where they want, are constantly finding themselves peering inside beautiful hidden diamonds throughout the world.

Room2Board is a place to make friends from one ocean to another, a place to make memories you won’t remember, and a place to relax too.

Cam came to Costa Rica from Australia during his last month of travelling. Surfing, for him, couldn’t have been easier considering the beach is seconds away from the hostel. Not only that, but he finally got the chance to kick back and “chill out.”

Cam (Australia)

He isn’t the only one who came here to catch some peace, Aryanne from Holland loves hanging out in the hammocks on the terrace. But who doesn’t?

Aryanne (Holland)

Although we attract people from separate parts of the world, Costa Rican residents seem to find Room2Board one of the best places to come during their days off too. “It’s the people, it’s nature, it’s music,” that keeps them coming here. If they could choose anywhere in the world, they would spend their last days here, in Costa Rica. But this doesn’t come as a big surprise, why would anyone not want to spend their last days in paradise?

Steban & Gabriel (Costa Rica)

An environment like this doesn’t only have to be set aside for vacation. It can become a lifestyle, a place where passion and travel collide. Take Sam, who has been a guest at Room2Board for over a month. Escaping the winter in North Carolina, Sam owns a company called Front Line Free-Diving. People from around the world have been coming to Costa Rica to take free-diving lessons with Sam as their teacher. In addition, he can snap the perfect under water shot of your spear-fishing, free diving, shark swimming adventures.

 

Sam teaching a free diving lesson

Sam (United States)

Dan ended up checking in a few days ago with a passport the thickness of two fingers. In Alaska, he spends two weeks working and has two weeks off. During the two weeks off, he tries to make the most of his time. Before living in Alaska, he spent a year in Singapore and Malaysia. Dan talked about how most people live out their lives doing the conventional go to school, get a job, buy a house route, but when you look at the happiness ratio you’re not getting the same value for your money as you do when you travel.

Because seeing the world is when the life changing events start to take place.

 

         Dan (United States)

Sara and Anna seem to agree. They’ve already been in Costa Rica for 2 months living with local families in Heredia. They’re here to study Spanish, but come to Room2Board on the weekends whenever they can. They love that there are always new people here, and how easily they can form friendships. Costa Rica for them has found a way to eliminate the pressure they constantly feel back home. Here, they can just be happy.

And isn’t that everything we all want?

Anna & Sara (United States)

Cassandra & Jesleme (Canada)

      Troy (Australia)

Our guests at Room2Board each have their own story to tell, something unique driving each one. Our eyes have no borders. Any view in the world you can dream up, someone here has seen it. It’s an environment to learn and remember, and environment to forget and get lost, a place you can’t find anywhere else. Each person who stays here will say the same thing: that for a moment in time, during their stay here, they felt like part of an unbounded family. Room2Board is for the wanderlusts, the adventurers, the discoverers, the found and the lost. It’s a place for everyone, and now is a perfect time you come and be a part of it.

Huge thanks to all of the guests for sharing!