How I Fell in Love with La Carpio, Costa Rica and the Power of Travel4Souls

Lots of tiny supplies for mini manicures.

Well the day has almost come and I never expected I would be gluing chunky plastic espadrilles to the bottoms of a Barbie doll’s feet in a frenzy. Thanks to all of the donations, support, and material contributions, I will be toting lots of goodies to La Carpio. Now one of my only worries is actually being able to fit everything. I’d love to give a few very special shouts of gratitude to those who went above and beyond, or gave in a special way (not like you all didn’t).

First and foremost, there are simply no words to express how indebted I feel to all who helped keep me on my feet and stay motivated over the past couple of months. The Lyme has taken a huge toll on my body and being. Without such an amazing supportive network of friends and family, new and old, I probably would have given up the hope to even travel to Costa Rica a long time ago. Thank you to my doctors for putting up with my demands for blood tests and a diagnosis, and for writing letters to the embassy in order to ensure my vitamins would cross the borders with me (fingers still crossed on that one). Thank you to all of my friends for understanding that during this debilitating period of my life, I have not been able to readily commit to plans. Each has been so accommodating by setting aside time for me knowing that I may either be late for lunch or not be able to make it to the movie after all. The little things you have all done, from sending texts to bringing tea, have been sunny reminders of the ridiculously selfless, caring friends I am lucky enough to have in my life.

One of the most difficult parts of this disease had been the day-to-day of not knowing how I will feel when (and if) I wake up. The very busy stylist Alexis Robinson of Vain Salon knew something was up when I was a no-show for an appointment the other evening and promptly had a receptionist call to check on me and squeeze me in the next day. The staff of Vain have been wonderful. Many have made personal donations and have certainly been cheerleaders for this trip in many ways.

I cannot express how grateful I am to my co-workers at League Lab and Underdog Sports Leagues who have quickly become family. Not only have they made generous donations and allowed me to shift my schedule in order to accommodate this trip, but they have allowed me the flexibility to work as my illness will allow as opposed to forcing my body to push itself, in essence making myself much sicker. They have been supportive, concerned, and easy to communicate with about how I am feeling. Without the support they have shown for me in the past few months, I honestly don’t know where I would be with all of this now. It’s a rare and wonderful position to have in a work environment and there is not a day that goes by that I take their trust and moral support for granted.

So what is that photo all about? After raising all of the money for the trip, Trenton and I started putting together toys and little gifts for the children to take away from the experience. We will be hauling down a bag of Barbies, lots of nail polish and glitter for mini-manis, about 25 boxes of Crayolas with quite a few coloring books, a bag of Hot Wheels, and about 400+ packages of laboriously assembled sticker packets. Each packet will contain a small bag full of hand-selected stickers attached to mini handmade matchbook-style sticker notepads. Laborious but worth it, for sure! They are looking great.

Special hugs to:

Dan and Maria Carpenter for their thoughtful donation towards materials.

Elizabeth V. and Ms. SJ Munsson who donated nail polishes and Barbies from a beloved personal collection.

Alexis Robinson for her kind donation towards materials.

Kimberly Ferencz, the human sewing machine, who has assembled the matchbook sticker pads, iPad covers, and big hat for my irregularly enormous head to protect me from the sun.

And of course, Trenton Silva, for trading Honolulu sun for Seattle weather to take care of me this past month and become a sticker cutting pro. ❤

Love you all! Don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter (at right) to keep tabs of the trip and see your gifts in action. The first 75 to subscribe will receive personalized packages via snail mail upon my return, and one lucky reader will receive a gift pack full of Costa Rican goodies.

To make a donation via PayPal to help defray my personal costs and/or to buy additional goodies for the children, please click this button: