Border Crossing Bingo: Phantom Forms, Fees, and an Immigration Officer Riding Shotgun
Crossing from Costa Rica into Nicaragua sounded simple enough—until we discovered mysterious immigration forms, exact cash fees requiring pristine U.S. dollars, and a 1-kilometer trek between border buildings under the blazing sun. After obsessing over paperwork that nobody ever asked to see, we finally made it into Nicaragua…only to discover our Easy Ride driver had picked up his girlfriend along the way—and she just happened to be wearing a Nicaraguan immigration police uniform. 😂 Another border crossing successfully conquered, with a little travel absurdity thrown in for good measure!
We Asked AI How to Cross the Panama-Costa Rican Border. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? 😅
We thought we were prepared for our overland crossing from Panama to Costa Rica—we researched the border, consulted ChatGPT and Gemini, printed our paperwork, and had transportation lined up. Naturally, none of that went quite as planned. From a border crossing that had apparently moved two miles down the road, to negotiating a taxi we didn’t realize was taking us on a round trip, an unexpected malaria test, and somehow gaining an hour along the way, our journey from Boquete to Uvita was a perfect reminder that in Central America, sometimes the best travel plan is simply to show up, figure it out, and enjoy the adventure.
Montenegro: Country #60…We Took the Bus Everyone Complains About…
One more day closer to meeting up with our Kansas City friends in Croatia THIS WEEK! Over the past month we’ve been making our way toward Croatia almost entirely by bus 🚌, and today we crossed from Albania into country No. 60—Montenegro!
Before booking, we read the reviews for Old Town Travel—the only bus company operating this route—and let’s just say… expectations were low. 😅 The reviews warned us about unwritten luggage fees, major delays, overbooked buses, drivers chain smoking in the bus, passengers being left behind at pitstops, border chaos, and general travel mayhem.
We couldn’t help but wonder… would our experience live up to the reviews? 😂