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Once I realized that I had a 3 week break after the end of my Contract and before the start of a contract renewal or another round of interviews I quickly jumped at the chance to travel abroad and salvage some adventure from what little was left of a semi-disappointing 2009. The question was where to go that was not too far away, too expensive and with tolerable weather. As a long time traveler I always have 5 or 6 trips floating around in my head and when given the opportunity I make a last minute decision on which to take based on length of travel, the latitude/geography/season and cost. For this time of year Russia was out, and Morocco was way too expensive and far so I opted for Central America. Since I have traveled through every country there but Panama I had my sights set on seeing it but the costs of a direct flight to Panama City at Christmas were prohibitive and so I ended up with a $450 cheaper flight to Costa Rica and had a mental plan to make my way down overland to Panama. Although Costa Rica is not my favorite destination in Central America due to it being very touristy and expensive in the most popular destinations I felt the savings were more than worth it and I could spend my Christmas in Manuel Antionio which I had not visited on my previous visit two years ago.