The Journey

We made it to Costa Rica!  (Don't bury the lead, they always say...)  This post is interminably long.  That's because this process was.  You already know the end result, so please only read on if you enjoy cathartic venting. 

The move went smooth as can be, the movers were on time and efficient, entertaining, and even did some teenager counseling - assuring Vivian that communicating with long distance friends is easier than was "back in their day". They packed our things with what appeared to be great care - we'll see what happens after weeks on ocean waves en route, but luckily, since we have decorated our home entirely in the "Early College" style, we don't have a lot of "pieces" that can't weather a ding or two or maybe even complete submersion in salt water without ending up worse for the wear. 

Now getting into Costa Rica caused some stress.  They have some pretty strict entry requirements.  

1. You must show evidence of a negative coronavirus test where the sample has been taken within 72 hours of your flight day/time. We stressed about this for months.  I called lab after lab asking for any kind of guarantee of a 48 hour turnaround ("can we puh-lease just pay you more for expedited service?"  No, it turns out.) Even more stressful, they all claimed that 3-5 days was a typical turnaround, which would have us rescheduling the flight and re-sampling in some kind of infinite do-loop. Ugh... but then anecdotal evidence began to build that results were coming fast enough for our purposes.  This includes a test I took myself on 9/20 in response to some other kind of virus I picked up that was a great Corona imitator - fooling even the doctors.  Long story short - our samples were taken 71 hours and 53 minutes prior to our flight, and results came back negative within 48 hours.  Phew! 

2. You need insurance that will cover you both for $50K of medical expenses should you contract the Rona while in Costa Rica and also $4K of lodging.  This was a tricky requirement.  a) the insurance has to cover BOTH medical and lodging, which means that no matter how many CR government officials me and our Deloitte immigration liaison contacted, we could not squish the Philips health insurance I already have into this box.  b) it's meant for tourists who have an entry date and an expected exit date... so, exactly how much $11/day insurance should I buy? uh..... c) the national insurance that you can buy to cover this requirement only covers $25K medical and $2K lodging.  But is accepted, because it's the national insurance?  All told, I spent way too many hours trying to noodle all this one out.  In the end (far tooo close to the end, Mike would say), I finally punted and just bought into this CR government scam and paid through the nose for the "official" insurance that gets us in without any kind of arguing. 

3. You have to fill out a form that documents all of this including evidence of the state from which you hail.  This was the easiest part after hurdle 1 and 2, but had to be done after we had already moved out of our house.  My parent's printer to the rescue.  Thank goodness they were freshly stocked with ink and paper... I think I printed a small novel.

Getting the cats in... nearly as difficult. A vet had to examine them within 14 days of the flight and we had to send the paperwork off to USDA in California for "endorsement" and sent back.  Their rabies certificate had to be printed and signed - the original (this was more difficult than it should have been).  

So... we entered the airport with a pile of paperwork, two carry-ons with cats, 6 bags and 3 "personal items".    The cats turned were totally chill for the entire journey - something we didn't predict, but were extremely delighted about.  The American Airlines check-in agent had one heck of a time checking us in - we probably stood there for an hour while she tried to navigate what sounded like death by pop-up windows.  At one point, she was on the phone with the AA help desk and she said "I don't know, but they seem really organized, so it's probably fine".  Finally we were checked in, bags were rolling down toward Denver baggage handling and we were saying a teary goodbye to my parents.   

TSA Precheck was smooth, we requested a private screening for the cats, and the agent seemed delighted to meet Phoenix and Trixie who were totally chill - Mike held them in his arms upside down like a baby.  

Then, the final hurdle was getting thru Costa Rica immigration and customs.  Both a piece of cake.  Phew.  All the stress and worry was before the travel day.  I guess that's the way we like it.  If you made it this far, I owe you a Coke.  Please claim it when you come to visit us after we purchase a guest bed.