What is the best thing to do when you’ve been married a couple years and literally have no money? Our answer was to head to Costa Rica.

With our travel dates set for only a week, booking a 5:05am flight from LAX seemed like a great idea to maximize our time. And staying awake all night so we could sleep on the flight seemed like an even better one.

Nope.

With the time change, flight length, and van ride to our first lodging – we ended up spending the entire day traveling and were exhausted.

Luckily, the place we booked for our first three nights was amazing.

Birdsong Villa Arenal had incredible views of Arenal Volcano, Lake Arenal, and the forest, but the volcano has been inactive for a few years so there was no lava to be seen.

The b&b was a bit remote, so we probably should have rented our own car – our host Allan was nice enough to give us a ride when needed though.

If you go to Costa Rica, ziplining is a must. We zipped at Sky Trek, who have one cable that is nearly 1/2 a mile long. The basic layout of their course has you going back-and-forth over a valley that overlooks the lake and volcano.

We also took a guided hike in the National Park, which was definitely worth the fees as our guide pointed out spiders, birds, trees, plants, and everything else we would have otherwise walked past unknowingly. It also took us across a couple of the old lava flows and to a much closer view of the volcano.

After our time in the northern part of the country, we made our way to the Nicoya Peninsula for some beach relaxation. We flew on NatureAir from San Jose to Tambor, which was basically a single landing strip cut into the forest. From there, we took a Taxi to Esencia Hotel in Santa Teresa.

This part of the trip was completely different than the first. Instead of hiking and adventuring, we mostly just relaxed on the beach, which was made easy by the fact that it was only a few minutes walk from our hotel.

Because one beach wasn’t enough, we headed on a boat cruise out to Isla Tortuga for some more relaxation and snorkeling. Perfectly sunny day while there; drenched by rain on the way back. Crazy how the weather works.

Food-wise, Santa Teresa offered the best options of both places we stayed. We definitely ate at Kika a couple times. The Bakery was a great place for coffee and pastries.

Costa Rica is a very beautiful country! Here are some photos from the trip: