I bought the land in 1999. And then it sat. I entered law school and hadn't the funds to visit CR. And then there was a move to Boston, a new job, and years passed. In 2005, Jeremy called one day. He told me he was going to CR, that he needed a vacation. I know a call to rally. Ian and I got our respective sh*t together, and we all met in CR for a week of surf.

It was a great week. It is not necessary, though attractive, to go into the surfing here. We did make it out to Nosara, and stayed for a couple of days with the intention of checking the land and perhaps finding someone to build a cheap ranchito. Ian, who has a affable ability to make friends with all warm blooded mammals, made already settled in with some people at the bar when I finished my shower. One of them was a real estate agent. We got to talking and I told him that part of the plan of the trip was to check in on my land. I was imagining red tape and squatters, but Josh asked to see the plano, and then he sat back.

"when were you last in CR?" he asked.
"1999."
"yeah, well, a lot has changed since then..."
"sure, I figured as much". Crashing dissapointment.
"How much did you pay for this land?, if you dont mind me asking"
"36k"
"its appreciated".

Well, that changed everything.

The Ranchito, once a quaint idea, now was potentially, a waste of an investement. I had all kinds of ideas. Josh encouraged me to sell. I surfed and thought about that. I remembered paddling out into the surf in 1999 with my favorite T shirt tied to a rock. I threw it in the water and promised I would be back. I didn't buy the land as an investment. It made sense fiscally, but not spiritually, to convert it to green now.

I decided to head back to the States and think about it.

Back in Boston, i hired a financial advisor. he not only thought the idea of building was rational, he thought it was a good investment decision. With that, I decided to build.