The Month Of San José: March 2024 Recap

And with that, 1/4 of 2024 is complete. Wow. And I only got used to saying “2024” instead of “2023” recently. Oh well 🙂 . Anyway, let’s see what I got up to in March!

I Explored San José, Costa Rica

We moved to a new Airbnb in another neighborhood! I’ll post pictures of it with all the financial info like I usually do on Insta after we leave so y’all can see it. In the meantime, here’s our last place:

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Overall I was shocked that we had already been here 1.5 months and only had 1 month left. Our new place is further downtown so it was easier to get to the heart of the city while still running in my beloved La Sabana park. However, the highlight of the month was this baby sloth encounter:

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I Learned New Tech

Today Weather

So I have an Android phone and I’ve become frustrated with the default (Google) weather app. It didn’t have the specificity or customization options I wanted. So I went to Reddit to see what weather apps people love, downloaded a bunch of them and then easily found my favorite: Today Weather.

It’s clean and super customizable and it includes specifics I like, such as UV by hour and air quality. There is also an awesome widget and an option to get daily weather updates as well as real-time rain alerts so you have time to find shelter or an umbrella. Perfection 🙂 .

Bluetooth Sharing

Now this is a little embarrassing 🙂 . I obviously upload a lot of photos to my computer for this blog and that is often a drawn out process that takes a long time if the files are large (which they always are).

So I’m not sure why I didn’t realize that a MacBook and an Android phone can share things via Bluetooth. Maybe I realized AirDrop wouldn’t work since I don’t have an iPhone anymore and left it at that. Anyway, it doesn’t matter why, but I realized that I could do this and my life is changed.

All I have to do is make sure my MacBook has Bluetooth Sharing turned on (Systems Preferences>Sharing) and then go to the Bluetooth panel on my MacBook after making sure Bluetooth is turned on in my Android phone, connect the two and then when I select photos on my phone, go to Share>Bluetooth and watch them automatically download to my computer. This blog just got way more efficient!…and it only took like a decade 😉 .

I Continued My Nail Strip Obsession

Exactly that 🙂 . I continue to be obsessed with my Dashing Diva nail strips and continue to find new things out about them. For example, as an update to the below post, I’ve figured out how to easily file in a down motion only – there’s a tapered nail file that came with my a few of my nail strip kits and that makes it really easy to file downward for some reason. So now that’s my method of shaping these stickers.

• Review: Dashing Diva Gloss Nail Stickers – A Nomad Beauty Revelation

I also did an experiment this month to see how long these really last included weekly updates to y’all in my Insta Stories. I was shocked to discover that despite being recommended to wear for 2 weeks because the strips might lose their adhesion, mine still looked good after double that time.

A month after applying these, the only differences were some of the strips missing at the tips of my nails (probably from all the dishwashing I’d been doing) and obviously new nail growth . And then I found another hack: I can clip my nails and then the tip problem isn’t there anymore and a month in, these nails still look brand new. I suspect I’ll be wearing each set for a month going forward.

I Played Video Games

Finally I’m fulfilling my promise from last year to play more video games 🙂 . The Sims 4 had a sale and I snagged the Get Famous Expansion Pack for 60% off. Thinking back, I don’t think I’ve bought any of their Expansion Packs for full price. Interesting. But don’t ask me how much I’ve spent on these packs despite that 😉 . I also discovered that I’m approaching 1,000 hours played in that game. Honestly I thought it would be more.

I also obviously got a little wild with a new-to-me game, Sea Of Thieves. I bought it during a 50% off Steam sale and I’ve had a blast playing this game in Safer Seas. I was only disappointed by its lack of direction, so I’m writing down all my tips both for me to remember and to share in my “Best Video Games I Played In 2024” post. Here are my tips last years’ video games post in case you’re curious:

• The Best Video Games I Played In 2023

I Hung Out With People

This month involved some of my usual virtual meetups, such as that weekly Spanish call with my Mom and Weekly Movie Nights where we watched the below. If you’re curious about my ratings of movies, I have a Letterboxd account here.

1. Dune: Part Two
2. The Congress
3. Poor Things

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I Read 25 Books

Here were my favorite reads this month:

1. Money Out Loud: All the Financial Stuff No One Taught Us by Berna Anat
2. Wool by Hugh Howey
3. Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons

I suspect my reading pace will slow down significantly next month given that I’m about to start fast traveling instead of lounging by the pool all day 🙂 . It was good while it lasted. To see the other books I read this month and my ratings of them, I have a Goodreads account here.

I Wrote 4 Posts

In case you missed it, this month I published the below posts:

1. The Month Of Costa Rica: February 2024 Recap
2. Review: Down Under Cruise And Dive – A Great Barrier Reef Snorkeling Adventure
3. Slow Travel Review: Puerto Vallarta, México – The Land Of Beaches And Birds
4. Review: Milford Sound Flight And Cruise Experience From Queenstown, New Zealand

In addition to that, I recorded a Podcast and did an interview for Bloomberg. I’ll let y’all know when both of those are live. As for random and strange companies that I declined working with this month, here are the highlights:

• A company that wanted me to be a host on a streaming service to talk about movies
• A moving company, which is funny since…I carry all my belongings on my back
• A company that wanted to help me create a finance education course

Physical

Sleep

My sleep was really good this month! I expected to have a harder time since we moved closer to the heart of downtown and I thought there would be a lot of street noise, but our Airbnb was basically magically situated so that I couldn’t actually hear any street noise. Wild 🙂 .

So I slept well and ear plug free. My Partner and I decided to start getting up at 6am to workout, but I often awakened naturally before that when the sun came up around 5:45. I never would have expected to be a person that enjoys getting up early to workout and start the day, but retirement is full of surprises 🙂 .

Food

Food this month was lovely. My new system of taking days off keto to eat non-keto foods while exploring new places is still going well! I expected this kind of freedom to cause me to want to take days off all the time, but it’s kind of been the opposite.

I only took 2 days off keto this month so I have been eating keto for 94% of the month. And I found myself getting excited to get back on it because of how much better I feel when I eat keto. Wild 🙂 .

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Exercise

Running has been going really well! It seemed to take me a hot second to get use to the almost 4,000 ft elevation in San José, but this month I didn’t feel any effects at all. In fact, I hit a new 2 mile PR and 48 hours later almost beat it!

However, my running did decrease this month from 3 times a week to 2 times a week because I also started Lifting Heavy 3 times a week for a grand total of working out 5 out of 7 days a week (or 7/7 if you count yoga as I’ll talk about below 😉 ) .

Seriously, who even am I right now 🙂 ? Our new Airbnb has a gym with an actual squat rack instead of those ineffective Smith Machines so my Partner and I took full advantage and got back to one of my favorite types of exercise!

I restarted the Stronglifts 5×5 program using their free app and was loving it…after my muscles recovered from that initial workout. Unsurprisingly when I started lifting again, I could barely move the day after – I had forgotten about that fun perk 🙂 .

But hopefully I can just keep moving to keep that at bay going forward. Anyway, after that initial healing round, I’ve been making PRs across the board and am really proud of myself! Here are the exercises I’ve been doing on alternating days:

• Squats
• Bench Press
• Barbell Rows
• Overhead Press
• Deadlifts (my favorite 🙂 )

I also looked up how I can do a lot of these with dumbbells if a squat machine isn’t available even though it’s less ideal, but it’s something! And otherwise I’m going to keep running and do some bodyweight exercises and yoga!

My Yoga streak continues! I’ve done yoga 1-2x a day since I recovered from injuring my knee in February. So 56 days and counting! Our previous Airbnb had carpeted sections so I did yoga on the carpet without issue. However, our new place has fancy hardwood floors and I was looking for a solution to protect my knees when putting weight on them (the only part of me that protests when doing yoga on the floor).

I thought I was going to have to buy a travel yoga mat, which is basically just a regular yoga mat size that folds differently. But instead, I found a solution! I started using my Travel Towel to cushion my knee (or knees) when they have to bear my weight and I’m good!

Mental

Learning

So it’s time for my favorite segment: Fun Facts Nobody Asked For! Here’s what I learned and explored this month:

Flora

I saw a lot of beautiful plants this month, mostly because of that lovely tour we took with a botanist and biologist. They helped us identify the below:

Hibiscus, Cereus Repandus, Tabebuia Rosea, Callistemon Pungens, Cortez Amarillo, Medusas Head, Azara Microphyll, Bottle Brush, Grapeleaf Passion Flower, Strangler Fig, Purple Guaria (Guaria Morada), Trumpet Tree, Roupala, Lime, Banana, Papaya, Mango, Purple Passion Flower, Peacock Flower, Red Ginger, Coconut Palm, Pink Banana, Tropical Milkweed, Firebush, Sea Almond, Brazilian Red-Cloak

I also learned these fun facts about the above:

• Air Plants that attach themselves to trees take water from air and can even live on wires
• If you crush a leaf of the Bottle Brush plant it smells like eucalyptus and looks really cool if you look at the leaf in front of the sun to see the oil pockets within it
• Azara Microphyll smells like vanilla
• A Trumpet Tree can be identified by horizontal lines on its trunk and large leaves that look like fingers and it’s one of the favorite trees of a sloth to hang in
• The Roupala tree smells like tuna – it’s so strange 🙂
• The Purple Guaria is a type of orchid and the national flower of Costa Rica
• Costa Rica is ranked 6th of the countries in the world with the most precipitation – one of the reasons the plants are so cool here
• Purple Passion Flowers smell like cake

Fauna

I saw some awesome wildlife this month including the wild sloths and baby sloth I can’t shut up about 🙂 . But here’s a full list for posterity:

Brown-throated three-toed sloths (+ a baby 😉 ), Hoffmann’s two-toed sloths, Variegated Squirrel, Conga Bee, Carpenter Bee, Owl Butterfly, Glasswing Butterfly, Monarch Butterfly 

And here are some fun facts I learned about these animals:

• According to the Butterfly Sanctuary in San José, there are 1,570 types of diurnal butterflies and 14,000 types of nocturnal butterflies
• Some butterflies are carnivores…this freaks me out for some reason 🙂
• Male bees don’t have stingers – I feel like I learned this in elementary school and then forgot
• Sloths swim 3x faster than they walk and can hold their breath for 40 minutes underwater
• Sloths poop once a week and can lose 1/3 of their body weight doing so. They also do a little wiggle dance before they poop. It’s hilarious and adorable:

Birds

I did a lot better at birding this month! I’m still not close to spotting all 500 species in Costa Rica, but I’m taking the win 🙂 . Here’s what I saw this month:

Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Orange-Chinned Parakeet, White-Winged Cove, Great-Tailed Grackle, Melodious Blackbird, House Wren, Rufous-Collared Sparrow, Lineated Woodpecker, Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird, Social Flycatcher, Baltimore Oriole, Summer Tanager, Inca Dove, Red-Billed Pigeon, White-Tipped Dove, Black Vulture, Vaux’s Swift, Blue-And-White-Swallow, Brown Jay, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Boat-Billed Flycatcher, Yellow-Bellied Elaenia, Tropical Mockingbird, Rufous-Naped Wren, Yellow-Throated Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Palm Tanager, Blue-Black Grassquit

I also saw these guys, which are only in this part of the world:

Lesson’s Motmot, Blue-Gray Tanager, Clay-Colored Thrush, Cinnamon-Bellied Saltador, Crimson-Fronted Parakeet, Montezuma Oropendula

And here are some bird fun facts I learned this month:

• A Woodpecker’s tongue wraps around its brain and protects it while it’s pecking trees
• Montezuma Oropendula nests are enormous hanging teardrops that look wild
• A hummingbird’s nest is adorable:

Creativity

My creativity was flowing this month. I was cranking out words on here and on Insta. On the blog specifically, even when I think a post will be short and to the point, I check after writing it and it’s 2-5K words. Oops! I guess I have a lot to say 🙂 . My word count has been increasing since I retired and it looks like that trend will continue this year.

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Emotional

I was a bit down at times this month and I think it was because I missed my Mom 🙂 . She went to Thailand for 3 weeks and I was excited for her, but the 13 hour time difference meant that she was up when I was sleeping and vice versa, which made real-time communication difficult.

But it’s all good because I get to see her very soon for our own roadtrip adventure. Otherwise I was happy once again to be in a warm climate. Sunshine, exercise and daily pool lounging really helps my mood.

Money

Oh dinero – it seems like monopoly money at this point 🙂 . I hit another all time net worth high this month of $791,100. I’m only about a percent increase away from hitting $800,000 for the first time ever so that’s fun.

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As you can see below, I had a lovely second month in Costa Rica and surprisingly it didn’t cost me a lot to live a luxurious life with my pool, gym and giant air conditioned apartment:

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Q1 is over so I also received my dividends for this quarter and getting that ‘free’ money never ceases to amaze me:

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And in case you haven’t heard, my Partner shared with y’all this month that he hit his FIRE number in November! I’m over the moon for him 🙂 .

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Conclusion

And that’s what I got up to in March! It was wonderful having these months in Costa Rica to decompress after the fun, but hectic holiday season surrounded by family, but now I’m rested and ready to take on our wild plans for the next two months.

I’ll be visiting Texas (for the Total Solar Eclipse!!!), California, Arizona and New York before heading up to Montréal, Canada for the summer. Until next time!

If you’re interested in the other weekly and monthly retirement updates I’ve written, they’re all here:

Weekly (2020)

1. Early Retirement Week 1: The Freak Out
2. Early Retirement Week 2: The Vacation
3. Early Retirement Week 3: The Whiplash
4. Early Retirement Week 4: The Heartbeat
5. Early Retirement Week 5: The Election
6. Early Retirement Week 6: The Trophy
7. Early Retirement Week 7: The Train
8. Early Retirement Week 8: The Challenge
9. Early Retirement Week 9: The Question
10. Early Retirement Week 10: The Game
11. Early Retirement Week 11: The Recharge
12. Early Retirement Week 12: The Holiday

Monthly (2021)

1. The Month Of Rest: Early Retirement Month 4 (January 2021)
2. The Month Of Birds: Early Retirement Month 5 (February 2021)
3. The Month of Change: Early Retirement Month 6 (March 2021)
4. The Month of Atlanta: Early Retirement Month 7 (April 2021)
5. The Month of Portland, Maine: Early Retirement Month 8 (May 2021)
6. The Month Of New Hampshire: Early Retirement Month 9 (June 2021)
7. The Month Of The Northeast: Early Retirement Month 10 (July 2021)
8. The Month Of New York State: Early Retirement Month 11 (August 2021)
9. The Month Of City Hopping: Early Retirement Month 12 (September 2021)
10. The Month Of The Southwest USA: October 2021 Recap
11. The Month Of Santa Fe: November 2021 Recap
12. The Month Of Family: December 2021 Recap

Monthly (2022)

1. The Month Of Freezing My Balls Off: January 2022 Recap
2. The Month Of Thailand: February 2022 Recap
3. The Month Of Spring(?): March 2022 Recap
4. The Month Of México: April 2022 Recap
5. The Month of Mérida: May 2022 Recap
6. The Month of Seattle: June 2022 Recap
7. The Month of Washington State: July 2022 Recap
8. The Month Of New Hampshire: August 2022 Recap
9. The Month Of Maine: September 2022 Recap
10. The Month Of Acadia: October 2022 Recap
11. The Month Of Argentina: November 2022 Recap
12. The Month Of Holiday Cheer: December 2022 Recap

Monthly (2023)

1. The Month Of Snow: January 2023
2. The Month Of New Hampshire: February 2023
3. The Month Of Sea: March 2023
4. The Month Of California: April 2023
5. The Month Of Seattle: May 2023
6. The Month Of Chicago: June 2023
7. The Month Of Montréal: July 2023
8. The Month Of Troy, NY: August 2023
9. The Month Of Australia: September 2023
10. The Month Of New Zealand: October 2023
11. The Month Of Puerto Vallarta: November 2023
12. The Month Of Warmth: December 2023

Monthly (2024)

1. The Month Of Family: January 2024 Recap
2. The Month Of Costa Rica: February 2024 Recap

What’s a fun fact you learned this month?