The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Two Tropical Adventures: The Philippines & Costa Rica
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On this week's show we'll get some tips and insight on travelling to the Philippines. Travel Expert Onanta Forbes is there, so we'll join her live from the Philippines. Then we'll head to Costa Rica, a popular vacation spot for many people. Known for it's rainforests, sunny beaches, mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls and rivers. If you've been you know what I'm talking about so we'll chat with the co-founder of Anywhere.com who is an expert on traveling to Costa Rica.
The Philippines
SPEAKER_01Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast, a weekly travel podcast, where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. I'm your host, Randy Sharman. On this week's show, we'll get some tips and insight on traveling to the Philippines. I've never been, so I'm excited to hear about it. Travel expert Onanda Forbes is there, so we'll join her in a few seconds live from the Philippines. And then we'll head to Costa Rica, a popular vacation spot for many people, known for its rainforests, its sunny beaches, mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls, rivers. It's got it all. If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about. So we'll chat with the co-founder of anywhere.com, who just happens to be an expert on traveling to Costa Rica. But first, let's kick things off chatting with travel expert Onanta Forbes. You can follow her adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and ex at Onanta Forbes. OnantaForbes.com is her website by the magic of technology. Onant, you are joining us from the Philippines, live from the Philippines. So uh tell us exactly where you are and what you've been doing.
SPEAKER_02Right. So technically I I'm coming from the future because I'm 14 hours ahead.
SPEAKER_00Yes, you are.
SPEAKER_02Van Mountain Standard Time. And um I am very fortunate to visit the Philippines. And um, you know, it's one of those destinations that are quite complete as far as a travel experience because it's it it blends a lot of things together. It's a tropical island scenery, has great marine life, uh very friendly culture, and has a mixture of adventure and relaxation that you don't often get in one single place. So my journey started with Air Canada from Calgary via Vancouver to Manila. It's um over a 14-hour flight from Vancouver, and people are traveling. It was almost completely full, and it's uh it's it's a great destination to arrive in. You do arrive very early in the morning, like just before 7 a.m. And instead of waiting around till the usual 2 p.m. hotel check-in time, um, I booked an early access to our hotel. So technically I booked like an extra day because it's worth it. Like because you know how it's already a 14-hour flight, plus the layover in Vancouver, uh, you know, plus plus plus. So it was good um after a long haul flight to be able to go straight to the room and reset. Um, it makes a huge difference. Now you can go um to another island because the Philippines is made up of many islands. Manila, where you fly into, isn't uh a destination that I would say that most leisure travelers would um um enjoy as far as this is uh it's just a big city, it's probably more uh tends to uh business travelers. So you could go to um an island, another island, the same day, because you do have the time, but we stay, we chose to stay cautious in case of delays or if we're just too tired because it's already a long journey. Our our first um island or is Boracay, and it's probably one of the most famous islands in the Philippine. And when you first arrive, it really does look like the photos bright white sand, clear water, and those classic like tropical sunsets, but it's actually a lot more developed and more crowded than people expect, especially around White Beach, which is it centers a lot of the activity. And um, one of the things that you're gonna notice right away is like just like some Caribbean islands where they're divided into parishes, there this um island is divided into stations, which are just basically sections of White Beach. So station one is quieter, um, with um a more upscale area with wider beach friends and and luxury resorts. Station two is the busiest and most central where D-mall restaurants, um bars, and nightlights are are are concentrated, and station three is more laid back and budget-friendly um with more of a local feel. Now, um then there is another place called Station Zero. It's not an official station, but a nickname for the luxury resort just beyond station one, and this is where I stayed at the Crimson Resort and Spa. It's a five-star beachfront resort. Um, it's with villas, private beach access, infinity pools, and has a much quieter atmosphere. It's away from the chaos, but still close enough to go into um the areas um of activities whenever you want. Um, and getting around Borcake, um you can do it by e-trikes, and they're everywhere. It's cheap, it's fast, it's simple to use. The only real challenge is traffic around Dima, especially at sunset at dinner time. And you here you're well, here, everywhere in the Philippines, you're gonna um feel the heat, and it's no joke. So the combination of humidity and sun and the reflection off the white sand can drain you pretty quickly. So water and sunscreen are essential. Um, and so what we did um um pretty much the next day of upon arrival is going to island tour, and it's a good idea to do it because most visitors only ever see uh White Beach, and there's so much more to the island. So we we started by going to see a mangrove area, which is quite different from the beach area. It's quiet, it's shaded, it's far removed from tourism. Um, we went to different beaches, including uh Bulla Bog Beach on the east side, which is it's it's kind of rougher and windier. There's some um five-star resorts here. It's known for kite boarding um and the morning light across the water, if you're a photographer, is really good. Um we also passed through Anti Village, which kind of gives context to the indigenous heritage of the island, um, and and something to see, because uh, you know, it's a it's a place where very old in tradition and um developed for a number of centuries, really. Um so it you should go and see it. And then um we went back to White Beach and visited one of Borquet's most iconic landmarks, it's called Willie's Rock, and it's a natural uh volcanic formation just off the shoreline, and it was a small shrine built on top, uh featuring the statue of the Virgin Mary, and at low tide you can walk out through the shallow water. So a key tip wear water shoes because you have to walk through water a lot when you're uh in the Philippines, whether it's getting onto a boat or uh walking along the beach or just going to see different um uh attractions. Um, and then we also went to Puka Beach, which is um known for being more open, less crowded, and and this is where the Puka shells are, so you see lots of vendors selling bracelets and um necklaces and so on if you want to pick something up. And then the next day our activity was para sailing, and it's um it's going on a traditional sailboat with no engine, just wind and water, and then it's it's quiet, it's slow, it's completely different than everything else on the island, and this is where people gather on um the beach um on diff and go on different uh boats and you go see the sunset, and it's quite nice, it's only an hour. You start around 5 in the afternoon, 5 to 5:30. Um, the sunsets are quite beautiful. Some nights are perfect, others are cloudy, so it always depends on the conditions, but it's just nice to being on the water, and again, this is where you would want to wear your watershoes because you do have to walk out onto through the beach to get onto the boat, and also um don't be afraid of being wet because sometimes the uh water kind of sprays back on you, so always have your um like a waterproof bag for your um belongings, especially your phone, so keep that in mind, and then the next day, um like we spent three nights in Borque before we flew uh to El Nido, and it's it's a completely different feel. It's it's um a little bit more rugged, more natural, less polished, but in a good way. I stay we were staying at Sida Leo, which is right on Leo Um Beach, which is quieter than there's another opportunity where you could stay in El Nido Town, but that's got a lot more nightlife and more noise and congestion. It's it's it's just crammed, um, full of people and activity. It's it's just buzzy, absolutely buzzy.
SPEAKER_01It's a busy place, in other words.
SPEAKER_02It is, it is. So we enjoyed um just walking on the beach from the resort um to this little area that had uh lots of um um restaurants and bars, um, and then you can eat there. So it was kind of uh affordable in a sense where you didn't always have to eat at the hotel if you wanted to. You could eat at these places. Uh people go and and watch the sunset. Um we're very near the airport, so there's lots of uh planes that would fly in and out, and I like seeing that. That's probably one of my most favorite sites in the world is seeing a plane take off and land. Um and it's uh it it it's it was a a good uh resting place and and place to um if you were thinking of a wedding, lots of weddings were happening here. Um and then the next day after we got settled, we went um to uh like a uh to hike um up to These Falls. And it it's like a short jungle trek with river crossing, it's very uneven terrain, but it leads to freshwater pools um surrounded by dense greenery. It's not difficult, but proper foot rear is important, and our friends and and and native people of Philippines are flip-flop um uh people, like they just or crocs. And I um I'm terrified to walk in flip-flops on this hike. It was really like I was I wore water shoes, and even that, it was um you have to be very, very careful because there was like exposed tree um roots and such. So it's um it it's it's quite um a lovely height, but keep mind we're not we're not locals that grew up in flip-flops that could just bounce along. Um but it is good because like the first level you come upon a waterfall and there's a pool for a quick uh cool-off dip, if you wish, and then you could walk up even to the second level, and but you do have to walk through like a knee-high uh water level. So you do it's best to have water shoes. And then after that, we went to this beach called Nat Pan, and it's a long stretch of golden sand, it's beautiful uh turquoise water, it's wide open space, so you never feel crowded. You can swim, sunbathe, just enjoy the refreshment from the shacks on the beach, or even enjoy clamping. If there's an opportunity to do that, a lot of people would rent uh mopeds and and just um head up there uh for the day. Um, and then after lunch or or for lunch, we stopped at this place along um the beach further down, and just you know, it it's quite an experience having lunch um and just watching the ocean. It's it's beautiful, like it just the food's good, um, the view of the ocean, and then you see the surrounding islands and such. So it was cool. And then from there, the next day, we went to visit um it's called Sipatam, and it's the side of Palawan, which is where El Nino El Nido is, um, that's different from the beaches. We first visited a generational organic farm run by a local family, and the far the farming is based on traditional knowledge, passed down over time, and this is all about um sustainability and natural cycles. Like the farm produces its own compost, organic fertilizer, like it uses um kitchen scraps or coconut husk, leaves, plant waves, or animal manure is is is used for um fertilizer. It's all about like um just being healthy, protecting the crops instead of chemical input inputs. It's really quite interesting. And then um and it she's the lady who explained it all was very passionate about um you know organic farming. Um and it was interesting because you know, you think there'd be electricity involved, but there wasn't no electricity at all. It's like solar panels, yeah. And then like um it was solar panels connect to batteries, batteries, if they need, and above the farm, uh the structure that we were in, they actually live on top. And the whole village um didn't have electricity either. So it was quite interesting um uh how how simply they lived, but how much they contributed to um like the community through, you know, selling their produce or so much. And it was good, it was really interesting. It brought you back down to earth. After um words, we had lunch on a beachfront um location, included like grilled meats and seafood and some of the vegetables that have been harvested from the farm, and then we had these six youth that um uh quite lovely were just did some traditional dancing just for us because we had a private tour. It was really quite nice. Um, and then we flew to uh or no, we didn't fly. We we drove, it was five hours from El Nido to Porto Princesa, and it is it is five hours, it's on very windy road, it's um fast and furious driving. Um I did have to take a half of a gravel because it was so windy. Um, and it's like the this is where um where we started off going on an underground river uh river tour. And it was um it's a it's a busy day. Like you get up super early in the morning, there's a drive to where the underground river starts, and then you could wait up to an hour waiting for the boat to take you out to the caves, and then there's a paddle boat that takes you into the caves, so it's not a casual half-day activity, and but it's worth it. We were lucky today, we hardly had any waiting time inside the cave. It's incredible, like massive limestone formations. Um, it uh when the uh the person that is paddling our boat turns off his um flashlight, it's complete that darkness. Um it's it's very like it it's a it's a cave formation that has um been created over time, and it's like from drips of water throughout the time that kind of starts as a dimple and then it makes it wider into stalamites and and um different cave formation. It's absolutely incredible. Like I've never actually um experienced this before, and it's subterranean. We only went two and a half kilometers um through it, and but there's more to go and see. Um and it's it's uh they give you an audio guide um that you can hear in English or a language of your um what you need, and you just listen to the audio guide um about the explanations, like just like cloud formations, like when you kind of see a cloud and you think, oh, it's uh I don't know, a football or whatever.
SPEAKER_01Is it spooky though? Is it spooky and do you feel claustrophobic?
SPEAKER_02Oh, it's huge. This place is absolutely huge. The ceilings are really high, it's quite wide in some places. Um, it is it isn't like you think maybe claustrophobic. No, you weren't. Um and there's other um boats going through it, so you see light.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It it's quite um they they encourage you not to speak and to just absorb the atmosphere and listen to the audio. Um, they you know, obviously they they sell before you um get on the boat to go to the cave, those plastic inserts that you can put your camera in so it doesn't get wet and it strings around your neck. Um and it's a good thing to have because if you drop your phone, there's never you'll never get it back ever because it's so dark.
SPEAKER_01In the dark, I guess not, right? That's it, it's done.
SPEAKER_02And there's bats flying around everywhere. So um they encourage you to keep your mouth closed because while looking up and around because there's always a risk of droppings. And then um, and it's just interesting. See, and then the different uh wildlife that's in there and so on, but it is quite interesting. I didn't take any pictures inside because I didn't want to lose my camera by somebody just hitting your elbow or whatever. Um everything's very uh well organized. Um and it it's it's it's quite um it's just uh I've never actually like I've been in a cave before when we went to Sicily and um we went under like underground just kind of walking through a cave. Um, but I've never ever been on a subterranean river. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and they do do a lot of um research there so that the integrity of the um the the underground water uh and the uh the caves are maintained and such. So that was today, and um it's it is uh it was really fun and and uh an interesting way to see another part of the world and especially the Philippines and such. So we um we are gonna fly to Cebu tomorrow for two nights and then onwards to Bohol for two nights and then back to Manila for one night before we fly home at the end of the week. So um lots more to see and do. And um here, as far as like if you were it's it's quite economical. Our dollar doesn't do so bad here. Um, it can go a long way as far as like going out to to grab a bite to eat, or if you're so inclined to go shopping and such.
SPEAKER_01Um I was gonna ask actually the about uh cost, not necessarily looking for specific prices of anything, but just comparable to uh because you were in Europe not too long ago and you've been other places, so the cost comparison to uh other places.
SPEAKER_02Um it's quite it's quite affordable here. Very, very affordable. Like what I like to um I like food, and there's some of my favorite foods here. Like right now we're in mango season. So like you can have a for 150 pesos, maybe not even$4. Like, you know, probably$3, you can have a um a lovely drink, like with um fresh fruit, like going out for dinner with um uh you know, a couple of alcoholic beverages and maybe an appetizer and such. Um, and the main courses are around$40 Canadian. Oh wow, that is yeah, yeah, it is very, very good. Yeah. Because, you know, at home or even in Europe, it's a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars for going out for just a dinner meal. You know, and uh and we arrange a lot of the um travel um components ahead of time and prepaid them. So really the cash that we're using is just for tips.
SPEAKER_01Mm hmm. Incidentals and like you say, a few meals here and there, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Mm hmm. Um because breakfast is always included and it's usually like a full buffet with different um like Filipino dishes as well as North American or European dishes. Um, and such and coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolates included, as well as like fresh juices and such. You know, one thing I do notice, um, yes, there's a lot of foreign visitors, but there's more domestic tourism um here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And people can always check out your social media uh pages, Facebook, Instagram, X at Onanta Forbes. There's lots of great photos. I've been following you. And uh yeah, looks looks amazing. So uh excited to hear more uh on next week's show. Onanda Forbes is a travel expert. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, X for all those great photos and videos at Onanta Forbes and OnantaForbes.com is her website. Uh always great to chat, Onanta.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Thank you, Randy.
Costa Rica
SPEAKER_01This is the Informed Traveler Podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, theinformed traveler.org. That's where you'll find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the show. You can also email me too with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at theinformtraveler.org. And you can check out our social media pages too at facebook.com slash informed traveler, Instagram at informed traveler, or on X at InformTraveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and reels from our adventures throughout the year, audio clips from our past shows. Plus, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter too. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our May issue is available now. Just go to our website, theinformtraveler.org, click on the newsletter button, it'll take you right there. Or better yet, you can subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox each month. So let's head to Costa Rica now, known for its rainforests, its sunny beaches, mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls, and rivers. It's got it all, which is why it's a popular vacation spot for many people. So joining us now to help plan that perfect getaway to Costa Rica is Zach Smith. He is the co-founder of Anywhere.com. That's the website, and he happens to be an expert on traveling to Costa Rica. Hi, Zach. Thanks for doing this.
SPEAKER_03Absolute pleasure, Randy, and uh excited to connect today.
SPEAKER_01Tell me a little bit about anywhere.com, uh, how it came about, how you got involved.
SPEAKER_03Well, in fact, Anywhere is more or less a natural organic expression of what me and my business partner were trying to do. And the origins of that actually go back to Costa Rica. In 2007, we launched a website called anywherecostarica.com. And at that time, we really wanted to create an online guidebook for the country and connect people with all different categories of hotels or experiences, so really broaden people's awareness about the country because although it's small, there's many, many different locations that are truly beautiful and have amazing things to offer a visitor. However, of course, lots of people get into the you know top destination funnels and stuff, and of course, those are great places, but I just wanted to also help people know that there's more beyond those places.
SPEAKER_01What is your general philosophy then about just travel in general? And we will get into more details about traveling to Costa Rica and some tips and and uh places to visit uh in Costa Rica, but in in general, what are your thoughts about travel and and how you how you look at it?
SPEAKER_03The way I look at it is travel is about people, and often most visitors are focused on places, and so as someone who has traveled through Central America and South America and Southeast Asia and different locations, you realize people really make the experiences, and so I always wanted to empower the local uh insiders, the people of that geography, to be the ambassadors and hosts of the visitors and help design and co-create an experience that really matched. So that is where the intention lies is that of course you can get a top 10 list of places to go or most popular locations, but to really seamlessly connect an entire experience in someone else's country, a place where you're sort of an outsider, when you can show up with the plan designed by an insider who is trying to make sure every moment of your trip is amazing because they love their country, they love showing visitors their country, and when you're part of that network, travel feels different. And so I always wanted people to feel really comfortable in these faraway places, even if they didn't speak the language, even if the customs were different, even if they came in with certain expectations that they would relax into the experience and really get to get a sense that this is a peaceful place, people are really wonderful. And again, this independent-minded traveler has always been our focus rather than the traveler that you know just wants to be confined inside a resort and or you know, a cruise ship and just sort of you know be in that bubble. Um, we really want to empower the people that want to have more engaging experiences around the country. And so our our our our platform and and what we try to design is just make that seamless and make that easy.
SPEAKER_01And I think people are looking for that more and more these days, right?
SPEAKER_03They want that authentic experience, they want to be with the the locals and learn their culture and and that sort of thing, don't you find well it it by the numbers, um mass travel is definitely a lot more popular than the top you and the just talked about. So, you know, um yes, it often gets talked about. However, it's hard to execute. And and you know, the way that travel is is typically marketed is is still very Patrick uh package oriented or uh individual bookings where you as a visitor are totally accountable for how you know getting there and showing up. And if something goes wrong, like the contract doesn't really support you, and you can just look at the reviews of the large, you know, big vending machines, as I call them. You know, they're not that customer-centric, they're very great at facilitating a one-way transaction. Like you can give them money and they will gladly take it. But that's that's not, I mean, there's more to travel than that. So our position is, yeah, we want to open up uh and broaden people's perspective um about these places rather than funnel them into you know something where we have scale economies. So each each trip is its own creation. Uh, so we really want to align ourselves with each client, understand their needs, preferences, desires, budget, all the constraints, who they're traveling with. Sometimes it's multiple families traveling together. Those trips get kind of tricky, and there's a lot of pressure on that single person to coordinate for the group and make the group happy. And we just find, and our clients you know seem to say this a lot, that we just make it easy. And so that that person that is tasked with planning their family's trip actually gets a great experience, also because they're not the ones stressing about all the choices that they made. They had a co-pilot along the way.
SPEAKER_01Very true. Uh, and it's an interesting perspective, uh, now that you mentioned it about you know, people say they're looking for you know that uh unique uh experience, cultural experience with the locals, but in reality, as you said, the numbers don't really show that sometimes.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, and and partially, I mean, again, it can be hard to sort through all the content that is put out and surfaced. And so it's understandable um why you know people are saying, oh wow, I can I can go here for seven nights and you know it's only this much and everything's included, great. And so, you know, it's but again, you have to take that into well, am I traveling around the place? Am I experiencing the place? Or did I just cross borders and show up in a place where there's multiple restaurants for me to eat and drink? So, you know, like it it you have to have the intention that you want to travel around the place, and then you have to seek out how to do that.
SPEAKER_01And so that's where you come in. We're you know, we're making it a lot easier because yeah, it it is time consuming and it can be problematic. Uh so it's it's it's nice when there's uh somebody out there that can kind of hold your hand when you when you want those experiences.
SPEAKER_03Right. And um, you know, one one thing I mean I I have to say is that yes, it it's if you value culture, you have to almost you have to invest in it, right? So these these some of these places will adapt to the preferences of the visitor. And some of that is good, and some of that goes to an extreme where they're just homogenizing some experience that you could find in many different locations because those are the choices the market is making. And so, you know, you you'll get more inclusive resorts that are bigger and bigger every year, you'll you'll get bigger cruise ships, you'll get more of this sort of you know closed uh container for the visitor experience rather than opening up the the country for the free and independent traveler through a trusted trust network. You know, that's that's where we don't really consider our ourselves as like a travel agency. We're we're more as if you're your partners in travel and we have a network that supports you as the visitor.
SPEAKER_01So let's talk about Costa Rica and use it for an example. You mentioned it, that's where uh anywhere.com sort of all started. Um, so uh and I'm looking on your website too, anywhere.com. There's lots of examples of uh itineraries and things for people to experience Costa Rica. But in it to start, how like how does it work? Am I on I'm on my own, but I do have someone that I meet there that's guiding me through, or is it a guided tour? Explain how it works. Oh, sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so no, it's your trip. You are an independent traveler, so you're not in a group, but maybe you're on a day tour, you'll join a group because you're going to a pineapple farm or you're doing a uh a zip line, for example. Uh where our service comes in is the itinerary design process to make sure that how your 10 days or two weeks are spent really makes sense for you and your travel companions. So that's a communication that you have with a local insider. And then you know, we have a network of private drivers, shuttles, um, you know, various hotels, hundreds of hotels to choose from of various um sizes and quality. Um we like to work with you know upper middle, um, definitely plenty of luxury as well. However, you know, sometimes people want to save a little money on hotels in one location and then spend more money in another location. And we adapt to that. So it's not like okay, all trips have to be luxury and everything's five star. Sure, we can do that, but maybe it's a three-star place in one location and a five-star place in another location. Cool with us, you know, there's plenty of really nice boutique hotels that will treat you really well, but don't have a five-star rating. And so we co-create that with each of our clients, and then it's their trip, and they have real-time communication with our team throughout their entire trip. So anything comes up, flight gets delayed, okay, no problem. We we there's like an adjustment to every single service down the chain. So it's just one message. Uh, if if someone gets sick and they need to cancel something, no problem. We adjust everything. So they're not dealing with someone that doesn't have context on what they're going through. There's always a shared context of where the traveler is and how we are communicating with our network.
SPEAKER_01Is there uh some general things that always come up, though, with your uh clients when it comes, and we'll use Costa Rica for an example. Uh there seems to be a pattern. Oh, yeah. There a lot of people tend to want to go here or want to do this or want to experience that.
SPEAKER_03Well, oftentimes the top destinations are top destinations for a reason. So places like, I mean, in Costa Rica, for example, uh the Manuel Antonio National Park is very famous. It's it's it's been famous for a long time, has a beautiful beach, lots of hilltop hotels, you have you know verdant mountain going into the ocean. It's very picturesque. And but it's just one of 300 beaches in Costa Rica, and it's in fact one of the smallest national parks in Costa Rica. So in some cases, it can be a little crowded and a little dense. Uh yet it shows up as being, hey, gotta go here. And so listen, we don't want to take that experience away from people that insist on doing it. We also just want to show them there's other places to go. Uh and and again, some places have an amazing capacity to host lots of people and not feel crowded in Costa Rica, a place like the R volcano area, where you have yes, a volcano that's sort of anchored the destination with hot springs all around it, waterfalls and river rafting all nearby, and hundreds of hotels that are spacious and spread out. There's not really congestion there that you would find in a beach destination where the attraction is a strip of land, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_01Do you find uh a lot of people have sort of preconceived notions on certain destinations? And again, we'll use uh Costa Rica, and you have to kind of go, no, it's not really like that, or some weird quirks of about destinations.
SPEAKER_03Well, uh frankly, there's there's so many interests that people come with, and Costa Rica, as an example, at its roots is an eco-tourism destination. It's evolved from that to a little bit more of a luxury, eco-chic, surfing, vibey place. So you have a spectrum there, and it just really depends. I mean, some people are very passionate about identifying birds and going around into different national parks, going down to Corcovado, going into the San Gerardo de Dota, and going to these places where, hey, there is very rare birds, really cool guides that know the terrain and can really educate people on what they're seeing. Other people are, hey, I just want to catch some waves and hang with my family and eat fruit every day. And maybe they just want to, you know, be in one nice place and set up. And so there's a real range, and we're just there to make it easy and seamless for them to get what they want. Of course, you know, for example, I'll use a we had a client that was in Greece. I'm gonna just deviate a little bit, and and they were they spent a lot of time in Greece. Uh, they had a few weeks, and so they were moving around the country, and at the end of the day, everyone was asking, Hey, what was your favorite place? What you know, what where should I go? And they said, Well, it's really hard to pick a favorite place, but we definitely know what our least favorite place was, and that was Santa Queen, the most popular place, the place where it was overcrowded, lots of people, and definitely marketed to everybody. They're like, that's for sure a place I don't want to go back to. So oftentimes, um again, like it's it's a it you have to understand that over tourism is a real thing, and and some capacities change the experience that you're gonna have, particularly during different seasons of time where where lots of people are trying to get the same experience that they were marketed to when no one was there. Or it was a really early morning shot and you know the streets were empty. But in reality, what a visitor might experience is yeah, like a crowd, which again, it's hard to romanticize what that is like when you're just you know in a in a queue or trying to you know soak up the vibe, but it's just all these foreigners are sort of around it and messing with the sort of state of the place that made it famous. So again, I think there's there's issues in in travel that um certainly exist you know, even in uh ecotourism natural place like Costa Rica. However, I do think it is a lot more set up than than almost you know than some of the more urban, you know, hot spots like Barcelona or um places where you know it's just the the volume of cruise ships that can show up or visitors in summer that can show up, you know, really affect the locals in a way that that hurts. Um Costa Rica, there's a lot of people that participate in tourism. There's many, many small businesses involved. So, for example, a trip with us, there's maybe 15 or 20 small businesses that are participating in that trip. So there's a natural ecosystem of support that enables um you know the client to feel really comfortable. And again, that that that money's being distributed around the country. And I think when people are moving around the country, maybe not every day, but every three or four days, then they they have the ability to have more you know memory-making experiences, they're changing the the scenery, they get to see how dramatic the shifts can be between even short distances. And again, a tiny little country like Costa Rica, you can be very impressed with the different terrains and landscapes that you'll encounter, but you'll never really get that unless you you move around the place.
SPEAKER_01And just getting back to your point about uh you know your client saying remembering what they didn't like, I guess it's easier to say this is what I don't want. Like when you get someone who's who says, and we're using Costa Rica, for example, I've never been, I don't know what uh I'm looking for, but I know what I don't want, right? Certainly easier, yes, yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Uh process of elimination is really helpful in travel, especially since there's a tyranny of choice, let's be honest. There, there's pick the destination, and you're gonna get a list, I mean, of hundreds of options. Um, different activities that can be coordinated no matter where you are in the place, and they they don't really disclose it. It's a four-hour drive away, but hey, you could you know you could purchase it. And so again, like having someone that really wants to put themselves in your shoes as a traveler and has the deeper context of their country is just a bit it it changes what's possible.
SPEAKER_01Give me one or two tips about Costa Rica now, just in general for someone who's thinking about going, uh, just off the top of your head, I know I'm might be uh asking a difficult uh question here for you to answer, but uh uh I'm you know, if you're you're at a cocktail party or something like that and someone says, Hey, I'm interested in Costa Rica, what what should I know?
SPEAKER_03You should know the people are amazing and they are so uh in tune with just being relaxed and not um passing stress around. There's there's a sense there that the pride that exists in that country um that is it's just beautiful. Uh they they they made very, very hard but visionary decisions, disbanding an army in 1948 instead of going all in on cattle farming as their neighbors were doing all through the 50s and 60s, which you know they were on that path, they did it, they shifted and nationalized their parks. They brought clean water, free education, and health care to every citizen. So there's a fabric that connects them as a people that is unique to their country. And I think that's true in many places around the world. But there's a there's a there's a beauty to what Costa Rica has done. I mean, 99% of their energy and sometimes 100% is is renewable energy. I mean, they set the standard as far as how to build a sustainable country and where its people are also participating in the economic development.
SPEAKER_01Any uh final thoughts or anything I might have missed you might want to add?
SPEAKER_03Well, I would say just dig a little deeper. There's places I can rattle off, like the Osa Peninsula, Porto Viejo, places like Rincón de la Vieja, places like Cerapequi, places like Dominical, that really have just great options. You're you're gonna get a almost like a turn back the clock of Costa Rica a little bit, you know, and of course you have amazing accommodations that have started to sprout up there that I think are set a standard for this this eco-chic tropical beauty. And I would say that since there's so much independent business and creativity happening in that country, it's it's very different than some of the other destinations that you might be considering, like a Cabo or a even a Tulum or a uh Dominican Republic or something like this, where there's a lot of control on the tourism uh in those places where they just built very large tourism zones. In Costa Rica, the whole country is a tourism zone, and the people are participating, and it's great.
SPEAKER_01Zach Smith is the co-founder of Anywhere.com. You can check out the website, uh, not just about Costa Rica, but anywhere on the website anywhere.com. Uh it was uh real fun chatting with you, Zach. I do appreciate your insight.
SPEAKER_03Thank you so much, Randy.
SPEAKER_01Really appreciate the time. And that is our show for this week. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is Randy at theinformed traveler.org. If you like what you heard, tell a friend. You can check out our website too at theinformedraveler.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveler.