costa rica: why it took us so long?
Costa Rica has this reputation for being the first international trip many families take together, and honestly it makes sense. It’s one of those rare places where adventure, nature, and ease all line up perfectly for parents and kids.
It feels adventurous… but still easy.
Costa Rica gives families the thrill of being somewhere truly different—rainforests, monkeys in the trees, volcanoes in the distance—without feeling overwhelming. Tourism infrastructure is strong, transportation is straightforward, and English is widely spoken in many travel areas.
As a family that has been traveling with kids for 13+ years, why the heck haven’t we gone yet?
logistics and timing
The ideal time to head to Costa Rica is somewhere between January and April, depending on when you want to visit. Because we have school-aged kids, we only have one week in that window.
The traditional first-time Costa Rica itinerary involves three stops: La Fortuna / Arenal Volcano, Monteverde Cloud Forest and Manuel Antonio. Visiting all three of these spots in one week is tight. Real life driving experiences are often way longer than what Google Maps shows. I have struggled between: wanting to experience Costa Rica and the pura vida vibe and NOT wanting to be stuck in a car with whiny kids.
getting over fomo
My Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and desire to travel slower has made me hesitate when it comes to Costa Rica. I finally decided that 2026 is our year. Instead, we are traveling slower and openly stating that we will have to miss something and that’s OK.
Since I have a 4 night stay minimum in a single place, that means we can only do 2 stops in one week. In the case of Costa Rica, we will miss one of those three stops in order to make the trip more comfortable for our family.
how we decided our stops
After lots of research and discussion with friends, we decided to focus on Manuel Antonio to get a beach break and then EITHER La Fortuna OR Monteverde but not both. Since we been to other jungle locations and not as many volcanos, La Fortuna won out.
We also decided to book all our transport with a local travel company so that travel days can be more relaxing.
embracing jomo (and potential return trips!)
Acknowledging that we are missing a key stop in this triangle, let alone the entire Pacific Coast and so many more special locations, we are labeling this “our first trip to Costa Rica.” We will embrace the JOY of Missing Out (JOMO) instead, wondering what other cool experiences Costa Rica holds and dreaming about “next time.”
This approach also allows us to acknowledge that just because we visited a place for a couple days, we don’t really “know” it. There’s still so much more to discover and this humility is actually the type of travel style we want to teach our kids.