Manuel Antonio – Day 1: Shipping Woes & Reunion Bliss
MANUEL ANTONIO
Day 1: Shipping Woes & Reunion Bliss
January 25, 2023
By this point, I’d grown used to the shuttle-boat-shuttle affair. In around three hours, I found myself in Manuel Antonio – my next destination. Welcoming me at my hostel were Chris and Steph, whom I’d met back in Monteverde.
Instead of chilling out, I decided to head to Quepos, the nearby town. Admittedly, sightseeing wasn’t what I was after. No, this trip was driven by one seemingly impossible goal: shipping some of my stuff back to Malta. The more I travelled, the more I realised how little I actually needed to get by and how badly I’d overpacked.
In an effort to shed some extra carry-on weight, I’d been on a post office hunt ever since Granada, Nicaragua. Every single one told me either that they didn’t ship to Malta or that the cost would be absolutely extortionate. Amelia, on the other hand, had somehow managed to send around four kilograms of unnecessary baggage back to Austria for as little as $100, while I continued lugging around my massive, heavy backpacks. Luckily, the hostel receptionist assured me I’d definitely manage in Quepos.
So, full of hope and armed with a bag packed entirely with things I was ready to part with, I made my way to the post office. I took a bus into town, scrambled along the roads trying to find it, and then waited about half an hour for the staff to return from lunch – only to be told that Malta isn’t a country and that they don’t ship there – unless it’s some sort of express service that would cost an arm and a leg (per kilo).
As dejected as I was, by then it was an old story. Still, I figured I had to do something. So I gave away most of the things I could live without – extra tees I’d brought with me (now replaced by new ones I’d picked up along the way at various events), a cap and a bracelet Roy had given me (nice gesture but a fashion crime), and a broken jaguar souvenir a kid had given me back in Mexico (which was super heavy). I also ditched other bits of crap I knew I’d never use – like the pile of tickets and wristbands I’d accumulated throughout the trip. It felt like such a weight off my back – literally.
A Fateful Reunion
After that, I wandered around town for a bit before heading back to the hostel, where a huge surprise was waiting for me. Or rather, a small one – a tiny, tiny surprise that instantly made me forget all about my shipping woes.
It was Amelia – she’d finally made it! After ten days apart, we were reunited again. Just ten days – yet it felt like a lifetime after being joined at the hip for two and a half months. I’d missed her so damn much. Seeing her again made everything feel right with the world. I’d grown so used to travelling solo that feeling this way about having a travel buddy felt almost ironic.
We spent the rest of the day chilling by the pool and catching up – not that we hadn’t been doing that the entire time anyway. It almost felt like the strange part was being apart from each other, not the other way round, despite my original intention of travelling alone. But finally, all was right with the world once again.
