The past few days have been pretty sucky. Like, probably the suckiest that we have had in the past three + years of living and traveling abroad. We weren’t going to mention anything on the blog about it for a little bit, but the incident has been weighing pretty heavily on our minds. As a result, a couple of the details are coming out here. We have some really positive things to share as well, though, so we promise not to dwell on the negative bits for too long.
It’s best to start by saying that we just had one incredible month of traveling around Colombia. We were continually moved by the generosity and hospitality of the locals, and we can honestly say that Colombia will always hold a very special place in our hearts. But on our very last day in the country, in Bogota City, we were robbed.
On Getting Robbed In Colombia
Three young men jumped us from behind. It was noon on a Sunday, a beautiful day with families going for walks and kids playing outside. It happened just feet away from where a police officer was standing on the side of a busy road. We won’t go into all the details, but at the end of the incident, the thieves managed to take our two MacBooks, our iPad, and our iPhone. Like I said, pretty sucky. We still have hope we might track down something.
We made a handful of amazing Colombian friends who have been helping us. They are in Bogota continually checking in with the police, trying to put a bit of pressure on them to do something. We have a friend in Brazil trying to track down our Brazilian SIM card still in the iPad. We were also able to identify photos of the guys who robbed us at the police station, and we have all the GPS tracking on to locate any of the devices when they connect to WiFi. SO we are hopeful, even though it’s more likely than not that we will never see our devices again. We’re in Panama now which makes it a bit difficult to do anything ourselves.
That’s all the sucky stuff. Well, most of it at least. We won’t go into all of the other ridiculous factors that conspired against us in the incident. Instead, we are trying to focus on the positive, like how we had all of our work backed up online and how we have incredible support from a community of people spanning South America. And luckily, we have really, really good news, too: In just two days we are finally making our long-anticipated return to Costa Rica – and, more specifically, Blue Osa.
In just two days we are finally making our long-anticipated return to Costa Rica – and, more specifically, Blue Osa. It has been just about a year since we last stumbled upon this yoga retreat in our favorite part of Costa Rica, and we have been thinking about it ever since.
A lot of our blog readers probably know by now that I’m pretty into yoga. Well, since we lived in Taiwan, I have wanted to participate in a Yoga Teacher Training Immersion Program. After visiting Blue Osa last year, I knew if I was ever going to do it, it had to be here. I was so moved by the space, the jungle, the people, the farm-to-table food, the tangible ways that Blue Osa was making a difference in the community… I felt a gut instinct that I had to return here in the fall for Yogi Aaron’s annual teacher training program. And I am incredibly grateful to say that on the 18th of October (just a few days!) I will be beginning that very yoga teacher training program.
I’m kind of freaking out for a bunch of reasons. I have all the usual doubts and fears that I won’t be good enough or that waking up at 4:30 am every morning for meditation will be the death of me. But I also can’t wait to wake up to the sounds of howler monkeys, to have macaws flit by, and to see the ocean from my downward dog. More than anything else, I am just crazy excited to finally practice yoga with a community. After all the stress of the past few days, I couldn’t be more ready to return to paradise, surround myself with good people, and spend some serious time connecting on my mat. Without all of our computers and gadgets, it doesn’t look like I’ll have a huge choice in the matter, anyway.
Things might be a little bit quiet on the blog during the training. We will have updates every Monday with all the recent happenings at Blue Osa, and we have a few awesome guest posts from fellow travel bloggers scheduled to come out, so keep an eye out for those. Dan will be solely responsible for just about all of the blogging responsibilities, so we apologize in advance if it takes a little longer than usual to respond. But we promise we are still reading all comments and emails, and we will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
That said, we are going to be sharing tons of live updates on all of our social media sites, and we do hope that you’ll be part of our Blue Osa journey. As Dan has less of an interest in yoga, he won’t be participating in the training, but he will be there as the official photographer. That means we will have tons of visual updates on both our Facebook and Instagram.
That’s about it from us here at the moment. This isn’t quite the blog post we had planned for today and please excuse any typos as I am typing on a keyboard that’s doesn’t work while simultaneously attempting to convince the Colombian police to go to the spot where our iPad was last detected via GPS…
So, it is with insane excitement that we say: Blue Osa, here we come!!
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Looking forward to the pictures of the yoga classes that will ease your stress from this latest experience! Hugs and prayers sent your way. Love you both
We are looking forward to a lot of yoga, meditation and putting our mind at ease :D Love you too!
Casey & Dan, So sorry to hear of the robbery,I hope your safe, we miss you so!!! Love, Mom
We are glad to say we are both safe and we’ll see you soon in December :D
Ugh, how crappy that happened to you guys. Glad you have something as amazing as Blue Osa to look forward to in the midst of dealing with everything!!
Rika recently posted…New Tourist Visa Procedures on Roatan
Our stay with Blue Osa really could not have come at a better time. It is so unfortunate, but we still have a lot to look forward too :-)
Wow, so sorry to hear this!! I’m in Panama City now and heading to Colombia in a few days via the San Blas islands, although I have no immediate plans to go to Bogota (returning instead to Medellin which I am absolutely in love with). A friend of mine lives and works in Bogota and has also been robbed in the past. I just can’t believe it happened in broad daylight–in front of police!–and they were still able to get away with so much.
Glad you are able to focus on the positive anyway, my travels in Central America have been less than kind to me as well so I know it’s not easy! Keep your heads up, the retreat in Costa Rica should do wonders for your spirits! Best of luck!
Leah recently posted…Friday Snapshots: Beach Scenes in Bocas del Toro, Panama
Medellin is a fabulous city! We love it there as well :-) I’ve heard San Blas is incredible and I can’t wait to read all about your experience Leah!
I like your positive thinking even after a very horrible time which I’m terribly sorry to hear about and I wish I could do something to help. I hope that your time in Costa Rica, of which you have dreamed so much about, will help you two to relax and put this horrible story behind. Keep focus on the positive things as you are already trying to :)
Franca recently posted…The Cube (and Quirky) Houses of Rotterdam
Thanks so much Franca! We are really looking forward to our time in Costa Rica and we still have a lot to be thankful for :-)
So sorry to hear about the robbery, but keeping the faith that they’ll track down your stuff. And I cannot believe it’s been almost a year since we met in Costa Rica! Time has really flown past this year…
Bret @ GGT recently posted…NORWAY: Climbing Nigardsbreen Glacier- A He Said/She Said Story
It has been quite the year! Who knows where we’ll meet again :D
Oh guys, I am so sorry to hear about your recent ordeal. When I read your opening paragraph, I thought to myself “What could be worse than getting your camera stolen in France?” and then I read on… You know that I know firsthand what a horrible violation it is to be robbed and how it can really throw you for a loop and make you feel like there’s no point getting out of bed for the foreseeable future. I think in these situations it can be such a push to find the silver lining, but at the very least, you two are safe (it sounds like with three guys against you, it could have easily gone to a much worse place…) and you didn’t lose anything that couldn’t ultimately be replaced. Obviously there is a huge violation of trust and replacing your gear will sting given the cost of it all, but you are safe and you will move past this. I think that Blue Osa is exactly the right place for you guys to be right now—having some time to feel safe & secure and just completely recharge and destress is probably the best you could hope for right now.
Sending good thoughts and positive vibes your way!
Steph (@ 20 Years Hence) recently posted…Chewing the Fat with the Cultural Xplorer
Thanks so much Steph! We are very thankful that we weren’t physically harmed and while we are definitely feeling the sting, you’re totally right that Blue Osa is exactly the kind of environment we need to be surrounded by.
Aww guys, I’m so devastated for you and sorry to hear you got robbed! I was thinking about what a nightmare that would be only the other day.. Exciting news about your return to CR though, and good luck with yoga teacher training Casey!
Charlie recently posted…A City of Portraits: Street Art in San José, Costa Rica
We’re very excited about yoga teacher training! It’s sure to be a great and enlightening experience :D
I really admire you guys for moving on and keeping positive (you’re certainly entitled to freak out) Sounds like your next destination is a perfect place to rest and recover and I can’t wait to read about it. I’ve been debating doing a yoga teacher training but probably in India or Nepal… since that’s the continent I’m on but I’ve heard really good things about yoga in Costa Rica
Rebekah recently posted…Beauty, China and a Sad Feminist
Costa Rica is such a special place for a one month immersion. Surrounded by nature and practicing with the rhythm of the waves crashing on the beach. It’s incredible. A yoga teacher training in India or Napal would be amazing too! We are looking into maybe going to India for a bit in 2015. Let us know if you decide to go for it, we’d love to hear all about it :D
So sorry! Just keep remembering that bad situations like that are usually a sign of something amazing just about to happen. Enjoy the ultimate Yoga experience. See you somewhere on the road :)
Thanks Mag! We’ll see you out there :D
Hey guys sorry to hear of your troubles but happy you are getting to do your yoga training. Don’t know if you ever heard about it but on the college visit trip for Kat to NY we had all our technology stolen, phones lap tops etc. so we feel your pain. We just had to keep reminding ourselves it was just stuff and we were all ok. Same for you two, happy you are both ok. Perspective is everything. Love you!
That’s so terrible! It’s never a good feeling when you get violated in such a way. But in the end it is stuff that can be replaced and we still have our health. We are keeping our thoughts on the present and looking forward with optimism :D Love you too!
What a great time is ahead of you. I’ve just started practicing yoga on my own with a hrlp of youtube videos. But would be interested to know if you have any online resources to share with a yoga beginner like I am. On another subject, what do you use to backup your photos & documents online? Enjoy Costa Rica!
Hi there Vera! We are actually working on constructing a site right now called YogaAroundTheGlobe.com It’s currently in early stages of development, but it will have loads of inspiration and resources for wandering yogis of all levels. If you’d like you can head over to the website to subscribe and we’ll shoot you an email when it’s ready (likely early 2015). As for backing up files we use a program called backblaze.
Thanks, Casey! I’ve just signed up for your e-newsletter.
I know you don’t want it mention necessarily, but I have to say I’m so happy to hear you two are SAFE! & great you had things backed up. Have fun at Blue Oso sounds like you needed this break.
Rachel of Hippie in Heels recently posted…This is India! (twenty)
Thanks so much Rachel! Blue Osa is exactly what we need now :D
Sound like your trip to CR is perfectly timed. I could think of worse things than, “waking up at 4:30am every morning for meditation”.
The view looks breathtaking.
Great for you in focusing on the positives and I wish you luck in getting your gear back.
Gregorio recently posted…First Year in Costa Rica Lessons – Part 2
Dan, I am a friend of your grandma’s from church and I, too am a fellow photographer. I love your work as it helps me to see and love places that I will never get the chance to see. Casey, your descriptions are amazing and I appreciate your challenges and your overcomings! Please stay safe and continue with your adventures of our beautiful world.
I love your positive attitude, Casey! That alone will make you one hell of a yoga instructor :-)
Heather recently posted…Awed by Autumn in Riga, Latvia
Hi there,
Amazing experience. Few days ago I have started meditate and in the beginning I was sceptic. Now my lungs are bigger, now I understand Bruce Lee when he said “And be water my friend”, so many good things started to happening in my life. I am so glad I have discovered it and hopefully it will go even better.
Thanks for sharing!
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Wow, that’s amazing! I’m so glad you’ve started practicing this amazing lifestyle. All the best as you keep going! It’s inspiring to hear how meditation has powerfully impacted you. It’s such an essential part of life. :-)
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