I just got back from another 10 days in Nicaragua. It felt good to be back in a country that I really have started to love. The atmosphere alone is worth the trip. I almost always travel with my brother (Joel) as well as our good friend Paul. When I arrive in the capital city of Managua I stepped off of the plane into an instant wall of heat. Since we traveled in May I hadn’t experienced much heat yet on the East Coast so it is always an adjustment to step into 90 degree humid air straight off of the plane. I welcome the temporary thermal shock though. The Managua airport is small despite being the main airport for the country. I am always greeted with pleasant faces of the local people and am glad to see things similar to when I last visited.

I had a driver meet us at the airport to take us to our final destination, Playa Santana. Its about a 3 hour drive from the Managua airport and I couldn’t imagine trying to navigate some of those roads on my own. A good portion of the drive is on dirt roads and through undeveloped green rolling hills so it is great scenery along the way.

This is the first time staying at this particular “hotel” and the location couldn’t be better. I could throw a stick from the restaurant (that is part of where we are staying) and hit the water. Our room is 14 dollars per night after splitting it three ways. The accommodations aren’t the cleanest I’ve ever stayed at but the location certainly made up for it. I put hotel in quotes simply because this building started out as a local farmers house and they have simply added on to it so that they could rent it out to surfers that travel here.

We stayed there for 8 straight days and never really left the immediate area. Honestly we didn’t really have a reason to. We surfed 3 times a day, ate incredible meals and slept in hammocks next to the ocean every single day. As always, it was just what was needed.

Part of the reason that I visit out of the way destinations is because I appreciate being fully disconnected there. There is no cell phone service, Cable TV or anything to connect with the outside world that we so easily are connected with in our everyday lives. To me this time of disconnect enables me to get refreshed for my return when I will be instantly back on the treadmill and it enables me to perform that much better in my daily life.

When I got back I was thrilled to see my family. I wish they could have been there with me (that was the only real downside to this trip). My wife did an amazing job of juggling all of the family duties but was definitely grateful to have me back in the picture to help out. My daughter was awake and waiting for me when I got home at 3 in the morning. I loved seeing both of their faces as I walked in the front door.

I’m sure I’ll be back again soon and I look forward to another visit to the beautiful Playa Santana.