The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply. – Denis Waitley

Waking up in a pool of sweat, and a slight mixture of sand, I find myself stuck on the top bunk again rolled up like a hot dog as the sides of the mattress curl up around me. Convinced that we have found the worst beds in all of Central America, or at least very close, it’s 6:45am and I am just thankful that I didn’t crush Lindsay in my sleep as she lays below me in a contraption of thin metal and scraps of wood to form our current sleeping death trap. The furnace room, that is our dorm, was intolerable from the moment we entered to it, and the excitement in the air to leave this rundown establishment owned by an older American couple that treats their local staff horribly motivates us to begin packing up for our 10:30am departure. Cramming into a Toyota Land Cruiser for the five-hour journey to the southern coast of Nicaragua and the highly touted, San Juan del Sur, the ride becomes more crowded as the driver announces his wife will be joining us, which also includes her friend as well. The vehicle that seats seven has been transformed in typical fashion to fit nine people and our final destination cannot be reached soon enough.

