freelance forever

"...freelance travel writing has been devastated by the internet..."      -http://travelwriters.blogspot.com/

Treading pathways through this rural village near Arenal, Costa Rica I take in the surroundings with admiration for this beautiful, bittersweet reality. I am struck by this local mother/wife/aunt waiting for her purchases from the "good luck" supply store.  As her fatigue shows while she gently drapes herself along the store window, I wonder how lucky she really feels.   

These ones change the mood for a moment.  I cross paths with them a few footsteps walk away from the woman at the supply store.  They make me feel good.  Their smiles are sweet.  Looks of content and happiness in a world so different than my own.  They look like they feel lucky.  What do they know that I don't?  What do they know that the woman at the supply store doesn't?

My time in the small village is up and I head back to San Jose.  Here it is again, the smile.  An adorably bubbly, perfectly pink-clad darling greets me in a sunny outdoor cafe, bustling with tourists.  Is there something different about this smile?  What is going on in this mind behind this cheeky grin?  Does she feel lucky, too?  What does she know that I don't know?  What does she know that the woman at the supply store doesn't know?  What does she know that the other smiling children don't know?





To think of the stories that would be lost if we lost freelance travel writing forever.