Vorfreude

Vorfreude (noun) Origin:  German | The joyful anticipation that comes from imagining future pleasures.

Two more weeks and I’m off on vacation!  Woot Woot.  I have built in a couple of mandatory road trips.  Last year, I flew in and out of my home town with the expectation that I would take a short road trip during my time with my family.  2020 ended up being all about dad and due to him being sick, it never happened.  So this year, I am flying in and out of Seattle which will force me to  drive from Seattle to Spokane.  It’s a great 4-5 hour drive through some beautiful country.  Valley to plains to mountains to rainforest to ocean.  My second trip will be to Oregon to check out some areas for future reference.  No solid plans, just a solid plan to hit the road with some fun tunes and a carful of random gas station snacks.  Nothing makes me happier.  I mean in general.  A lot of things make me happier but road trips top the list.  From childhood to my most recent years, they are my favorite memories.  I can’t wait!

“Map out your future – but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.” – Jon Bon Jovi

“Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.” –Jerry Seinfeld

“I get emotionally attached to the cars ahead of me on long road trips.” – Unknown

“That’s why I love road trips, dude. It’s like doing something without actually doing anything.” – John Green

“It doesn’t matter how old you get, buying snacks for a road trip should always look like an unsupervised 9-year-old was given $100.” – Unknown

Vorfreude:  Imi; moom; Andreas; Ab; lauren; sexy; moms; 365reasons; glen; raeventure; stephen; Faye

Another Cup O’ Joe- Nigeria

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. T. S. Eliot

Coffee does indeed seem to be an obsession of mine.  Past coffee posts for which I sipped coffee while writing:

A Simple Cup o’ Joe – Venezuela; I have a confession to make – Venezuela; Morning Reflections – Everywhere ; Definitely a first world problem – Costa Rica; Costa Rica – Land of... – Costa Rica; Fantastic Kids – Nepal:  Coffee Break – Turkey

I even have a favorite coffee compilation:  40Songswithcoffee

So here I go again down that road…

So a coffee tour in Nigeria.  It was pouring down rain right before we left so I dressed accordingly.  I assumed it would be like my past coffee tours and I would be stomping through a coffee farm in the pouring rain.  I was rather looking forward to it.  Well, not so much.  It was a very civilized tour of a roasting facility.  We were able to look at some great photos, machines, hear about the history of how coffee was discovered, how it arrived in Nigeria and how it arrives today.

We were also shown how to grind, roast, taste and rate a variety of coffee bean varieties.  We sampled coffee from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and a couple of other African countries.  It was delicious and informative.  I was very impressed with the baristas‘ knowledge about all aspects of coffee. It was also super impressive to see the many different ways you can roast and prepare coffee.  There were even folks who didn’t drink coffee on the tour.

I hope you enjoyed the tour and thanks for stopping by.

“What do you want?”
“Just coffee. Black – like my soul.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

Other posts I enjoyed

Afrika; Lena; Ouch; Ohm; Lens; Solitary; Wooly; Pimp; LeDrake; Minimalist

Travel theme: Circles

This week’s Travel theme is circles.  Most of my favorite circles surround the theme wine.. and If I’m wining, I’m usually dining.  Enjoy some of my random circle art finds as well.

All my life’s a circle;
But I can’t tell you why;
Season’s spinning round again;
The years keep rollin’ by. * Harry Chapin in “Circle” 

A circle is a round straight line with a hole in the middle. **

Mark Twain

Related articles

• Travel Theme: CIRCLES OF LOVE (picturesinlivingcolor.wordpress.com)
• Travel Theme: Circles (travelwyse.wordpress.com)
• travel theme: circles (starlight427.wordpress.com)
• Will the Circle Be Unbroken? (Travel Theme: Circles) (fourdeeroak.wordpress.com)
• travel theme: circles (alwaysbobswife.wordpress.com)
• Travel Theme: Circles (imissmetoo.me)
• Travel Theme – Circles (chittlechattle.com)
• Travel theme: Circles (humantriumphant.wordpress.com)
• Travel Theme: CIRCLES (smartntrendymom.wordpress.com)
• Circle of Gilt (thewanderlustgene.wordpress.com)

Costa Rica – Land of…

Costa Rica, which means “rich coast” in English, has definitely earned its reputation as a lush, green, semi-tropical oasis of adventure and beauty.  It has enjoyed a stable democracy for over 100 years and hasn’t even had an army since 1948.

With only 2 seasons – rainy and summer – you will be able to visit and enjoy this small mountainous country that is filled with, and I quote,

“friendly people, spectacular birds and flowers whose intense colors rival those of an erupting volcano, activities ranging from white water rafting and surfing to sport fishing and golf, and more than a thousand lodging options to choose from, including everything from cozy bed-and-breakfasts to luxury five-star hotels. With so much variety, there’s guaranteed to be something to suit everyone’s taste!”

Now having led up to an awesome photo-filled blog about the stunning-ness that is Costa Rica I have to be honest.  This was my last trip in South America and after spending the last couple months traveling through Venezuela, Peru and Panama I had ran out of steam.  So my very worthy travel companion through Colombia, Panama and Chile and I decided to just chill in the Costa Rica’s main town of San Jose.

I will say that if you ever go to visit Costa Rica, don’t stop in San Jose.  Take the next flight to the rain forest, a mountain area or any of the beautiful beaches that cover every other part of Costa Rica.  San Jose does have some interesting sights for a day or two, which is all we had to spend there, but the beauty that exists in this country really lies outside of this city.  We were able to visit a coffee plantation, drink wine and disfruta la vida regardless but we definitely missed some of the best of what makes this country such an amazing get-away.  I hope you enjoy my relaxing and quite un-eventful visit to paradise.

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A few articles that highlight the better part of Costa Rica

• 30 Day Challenge in Costa Rica (ticavida.wordpress.com)
• Costa Rica touring (swomackadventure.wordpress)
• Self-Sustainable Lifestyle in Costa Rica is Booming (prweb.com)
• A Fish out of Water, November 16th (insidecostarica.com)
• Costa Rica (sunflowerhistorian.wordpress.com)
• Learn How Costa Rica Became a Medical Device Hotspot (medcitynews.com)

Definitely a First World Problem

So I am preparing to end my time in Venezuela. It’s been an amazing two years and I have been preparing to give this beautiful country an awesome blog closure and analysis. Sadly my WordPress account has not been functioning (along with several other Internet based programs) so I have been stymied. I started to feel myself getting frustrated and actually angry. Howe dare the wireless tech gods conspire against my Internet follies!!

I had to actually give myself a talking to…I refuse to let this get me down and out. It’s truly not a crises. I see around me others who have bigger problems than I do. This is a new-age problem. Strangely though we live in a generation that is so very used to the 20 second commercial followed by immediate gratification and my initial reaction is/was an all too common emotion these days. The tiniest setbacks these days seem to inspire the most instant and profound rage in so many usually level-headed people.

The truth is for me… I am on vacation in Costa Rica.. Sitting on my patio.. Drinking some amazing coffee.. Sun is shining.. I am typing on my iPad.. Which is not the Easiest thing to do.. But life is good.

A reiki master friend of mine sent me this awesome diagram that is a wonder for solving problems. I hope you try it out and it works for you as well!

I was going to add the diagram..however it is not loading.. It appears that I am being told by those crazy wifi gods to put this tech down and just go out and enjoy some of the local natural life.. And that I will….

OK here’s the diagram I could not upload before… Enjoy..

Pictures will follow..at some point!