And so it begins...

I find myself in San Jose, Costa Rica contributing the first "real" entry to my blog. It's been a long past 36 hours or so as my flight departed San Francisco at 1:30 am. Got an hour or two sleep on the plane and took a power nap (you'd be proud Anthony) once I got to my hostel. I'm staying in San Pedro which is where the nation's main university is. Wandered through campus a bit and was impressed when I stumbled upon a wildlife preserve directly next to the student union. The rest of San Jose isn't too impressive. Lots of pedestrians, crazy drivers, and massive craters in the roads/sidewalks.

Tomorrow I will be off to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coastline. I'm hoping to go snorkeling, take a surfing lesson and explore some wilderness.

For those of you who were asking, here's the cliff's notes version of my trip:

• August 7-18 Costa Rica
• August 18-28 Peru (with my Dad)
• August 29-September 19 Brazil
• September 20 - November 6 Europe (flying into Portugal, and out of Greece)
• November 7-17 Thailand
• November 17-27 Vietnam
• November 28 - December 18 Australia