One thing a lot of people fail to mention about house sitting is that sometimes when you complete one house sit, you’re homeless before the next one begins. Luckily for us Shelly won three free nights at Gran Pacifica Resort in Nicaragua by simply filling out a survey and winning the grand prize. Pretty sweet, eh?
After a five-dog (and a little bit remote) house sit, we were so happy to have an opportunity to be animal free for a few days and have some time to enjoy each other. Funny thing was, we met two super-cool families from California and we ended up chatting with them by the pool each afternoon and into the evening.
During our stay Shelly opted to get a massage. By the ocean. How’s this for rest and relaxation:
She came back and her eyes looked like two pee-holes in the snow. I wondered if she was just going to fall asleep standing up she was so relaxed.
For dinner that night, we ate at Gran Pacifica Resort’s Sea Salt Restaurant for our Anniversary dinner. Both our birthdays and our anniversary fall within a 35 day period, so we often say “no gifts, let’s do something awesome”. Those awesome experiences have included: weekend in Collingwood, ON to enjoy a water spa and the Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster, an action-packed trip to Panama in 2012 (a seat-sale also helped), a fun-filled week in San Francisco, to name a few things.
Our last day was spent with a long walk on the three miles of beach, and another walk across the expansive property to check out some of the homes for sale in the complex. Happy hour in the pool followed with some communal snacks. And thanks to our new Cali friends, we got introduced to dried coconut – HELLO!
Anyway, by late afternoon many of us just sat watching the sun set over the Pacific while a few guys caught some waves just offshore from Gran Pacifica Resort.
It’s moments like those that I wish I was a surfer, or had some body-boarding gear to be out there, too. I think being out there with that setting sun and some tasty waves would be one of those moments in life where you have no problems. You don’t think about money, your job, travel plans, what to wear, etc. You’re just thinking about the next wave to catch.
On our ride back to Managua we had an interesting chat with Joe, one of the Gran Pacifica Resort employee’s that was heading back to the city as well. Having seen developments in Panama start with single homes and sit idle, remain mostly incomplete, or slowly chug along, we asked what was built first at Gran Pacifica. He said they started with the sewers, roads, sidewalks then the main hotel, focusing on the infrastructure first, then the homes after. It made sense to us! And they’re really into sustainable development too, so with Phase II starting up soon we may have to fill out some more surveys for a return trip to this paradise property!
Sometimes, house sitting can be a lot of work and is taxing on your mind, body and soul. Having a few days for yourself is something we strongly recommend after a longer house sit. And this three day experience at Gran Pacifica Resort was just what the doctor ordered.
Our life with less stuff has provided us with some great stories, and this was yet another experience that wouldn’t have been possible had we not sold all our stuff…or filled out a survey, for that matter!
Now go sell all your stuff