So Much Sweeter

Remember when we had this moment? It was ecstasy. Our first international backpacking trip lay before us: A new country with untold adventures on the horizon! Those feelings lasted for all of twenty minutes until our brakes gave out.

This is Brock standing in the middle of the road with the tourist bus we ran into, waiting for the police to arrive.

We contemplated going home right then and there. The first twenty minutes of our vacation had already cost us thousands! (Our deductible was $1200, but we had to pay for damages to the other car, too.) And lo, there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

But then we thought: Hey. WE'VE MET OUR DEDUCTIBLE. Meaning we could beat the CRAP out of our little Korean import for the next seven days with no further monetary consequences. The brakes were working again, so we hit the road. (The fact that our car looked like beater may have worked to our advantage--rental car thievery is rampant in CR, but ours was so thrashed that I'm sure it looked local, haha)

It was a grand adventure, but now the memories are so much sweeter because . . . *drumroll*

That, my friends, is justice. We got every penny back!

Mad props to Brock. He spent weeks compiling the claim of all claims to send to Visa. A few weeks ago, we stuffed everything into a bulging envelope and mailed it off--photos, our rental contract, the car's accident and mechanical history, our written testimony, the written testimony of a local mechanic who explained the brake failure, etc. Not a stone was left unturned.

Talk about a payoff. (Literally and figuratively.) Pura vida, baby.