Prologue

When it was suggested to write a journal on your travels, that a well recorded one could be one of the best souvenirs you take home, I had no idea how accurate that description would be.

My time in Costa Rica was absolutely mind-blowing.

I saw things, met people, and had experiences that I will never forget.

It was the first time I'd ever travelled without the company of my family, and my first time venturing into a developing country.

Being the poorer country that it is, my access to the Internet throughout my trip was somewhat limited.

As a writer, I find it somewhat therapeutic to be able to write down my thoughts, to record a stream of consciousness. In that sense, I guess I have been taking my blog quite for granted.

Maybe it's something to do with vanity, how Erica tells Mark in The Social Network, 'you think every thought in your head is so clever and original that you can't not share it'.

But for the past five weeks, I have been putting pen to paper in an attempt to record my thoughts during something that was far more extraordinary than my typical, everyday trashy life.

And so even part-way through my journey, I realised that this journal had become my substitute blog.

Therefore, since anyone who returns from a holiday is inundated with the question "How was it?!", I decided that I will let you discover the answer for yourself.

And with that, I'll allow you to wait and see, to read the diary that was Tino's Travels.