CR365 - The Tribe

Talk is cheap, which is what makes it such a good place to start. These days, with forums like Twitter, Facebook, Squidoo and others, talk is dirt cheap. But talking leads to thinking, thinking leads to talking, and all that thinking and talking can lead to doing. And doing can lead to a real difference. That is the concept of the new "tribe" that I have dubbed Costa Rica 365. Why the name? Because it connotes time, as in the 365 days we have to do what it is we do each year. Time is a precious commodity. It is nothing to get too worked up about and here in Costa Rica, we don't. However, it is an undeniable fact of life that we each have a limited amount of it and therefore we should at least make the best use of this gift. It also connotes circularity, or a cycle, which to me in turn connotes connectedness. That is, we are all connected with each other and with our world. And that to me is the essence of sustainability and why it is important. Which brings me "full circle" (pun intended) to the true reason behind Costa Rica 365....to get people talking about sustainability. Costa Rica 365 is a forum for people to think and talk, talk and think and then do something different, something sustainable. Why Costa Rica? Well, first of all it is where I proceed from and thereby exerts a great influence on everything I do and say. Costa Rica has inspired me like nothing else has in my life. I was once inspired to be successful in business...to make a lot of money. That effort led me to a whole lot of strife. Living here has demonstrated to me that happiness can be found in a less consumptive motive of life. Rampant and self-centered consumerism is destroying our planet and us along with it. It infects everything we do and say and leads us down a road of self-destruction. In short, it is both unsustainable and non-fulfilling. So, I guess Costa Rica 365 is a way to promote ideas that are alternatives to that mindset, ideas that foster the growth and true fulfillment that comes from doing good for others, for our planet. I welcome insights and ideas and most importantly opportunities to actually get involved in promoting sustainability. In helping people and planet endure so that generations to come can also make the best use of their gift of time. This is our world, our chance and our responsibility. So let's start talking....it's free, but also invaluable!

365 Reasons to Make a Difference

But if you're asking, "where did the idea come from" that would be me, Costa Rica Guy (aka, Scott Bowers). Here is "my short-story" in case your interested...

One question that I frequently get asked is, how did you end up in Costa Rica? What's your story? I usually respond by asking them how much time they have. Since I don't believe I have addressed that question in this blog, here goes....caution: I don't recommend that anyone else out there follow the same route.....

I was practicing law back in the late 90's in Charlotte, North Carolina when I got the idea that I wasn't really cut out for the legal profession. I decided to get involved with a golf-related travel company in my home town of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. That didn't last too long, however, and I found myself in the non-enviable position of being jobless after having recently changed careers. After much soul-searching I came up with the idea of starting a company that would help small business owners with exit strategies. That company was called Live Oak Capital Advisors. Over the ensuing years I served as advisor to companies of all types from technology to manufacturing. One day, as fate would have it, I stumbled upon a deal with a privately-owned university in San Jose, Costa Rica (a referral I received from an attorney in Greensboro, North Carolina of all places). That was in 2001 and this deal brought me to Costa Rica for the first time. For some reason, the owner of the university (known at that time as Universidad Interamericana) took a liking to me and ended up hiring my small firm to help him find a buyer. Two years later the deal closed and Universidad Interamericana, with campuses in Heredia, Costa Rica and Panama City, Panama, became the property of Laureate Education (formerly Sylvan) of Baltimore, Maryland, a publicly-traded education company with campuses around the world. Since then Laureate has gone on to make several more acquisitions in Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras and as a consequence has become the major player in private education in this region.

During the course of the ups and downs in that deal many things happened to me both on personal and professional levels. On a professional level during the time spent here I began to notice that Costa Rica had the potential of becoming a tourism juggernaut in this region of the world. Therefore, I got the idea of launching a travel company which I still own and operate, Package Costa Rica. On a personal level I found myself, as a consequence of poor decisions on my part, divorced and homeless. So I moved to Costa Rica permanently to pursue life and love. And the rest, as they say, is history. I began Package Costa Rica in 2004 and since then we have brought well over 1,000 tourists to this country. I continue to remain wildly optimistic that we have barely seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of tourism growth in this country. Following the explosive tourism growth we have also experienced a real estate boom. That has been both good and bad. Good in the sense that it has brought much foreign capital to a country that needs it. Bad in the sense that uncontrolled growth, and some of it has indeed been "uncontrolled," threatens the very reasons that so many people are drawn to this country to begin with. That is, its unrivaled natural beauty and overwhelming biological diversity. I am now tapping my past experience in business, tourism, marketing, law and deal-making to assist those who would like to develop here, or transition to Costa Rican life. However, in my role as consultant I will seek to work only with those that possess a "sustainable" mindset in terms of their Costa Rica objectives. That is, "sustainable" in terms of sustaining the resources that make Costa Rica so special, its natural splendor and its people, so that generations to come will be able to enjoy this country in the way that I have had the privilege to enjoy it. You see, I may have come here in 2001 with nothing in common with the ticos (Costa Ricans). However, now I consider myself (as we like to say here) "mas tico que gallo pinto." That is, more Costa Rican than the typical meal known as gallo pinto that is served at almost every breakfast.

So there you have it, my Costa Rica story. This story appears in relatively the same form on my Costa Rica Guy site, a site I am in the process of revising. Stay tuned for more!

365 Reasons I Love Costa Rica

Well there are textbook definitions one could turn to. Rather, I pondered the question for myself and this is what I came up with (I encourage all tribe members to do the same personal pondering)....

This post is apt to be one of those cathartic ones that has me "thinking out loud" (in written form) and trying to answer a question that has been bouncing around in my head. That question this morning is, what does sustainability really mean? I think that is important because I tend to see myself as some sort of sustainability guy and in order to be that person I believe it is necessary to have a firm grasp on what it is that I'm talking about. Because it order to be a "sustainability guy" one must "act sustainable" and I am not sure I always do that all that well. Maybe that is because I have yet to succinctly define what it really means, for me. I did a quick Google search on the term and Wikipedia defined it like this: "Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of well-being, which in turn depends on the well-being of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources." Wikipedia went on to say that "sustainability has become a wide-ranging term" Boy is that an understatement! These days you have "gurus" using the buzzword "sustainability" to address a whole host of human activities, like tourism and development. In fact, Costa Rica is looked upon as a model country when it comes to sustainable tourism and development. But on a personal level, what does it really mean to me? I believe it has everything to do with interactions and impacts. That is, how I interact with other people, with the planet, and (I know it sounds a little weird) with myself and the collective impacts resulting from those interactions. According to Newton's 3rd Law of Motion, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Probably taking that notion out of context somewhat, it implies that our interactions result in impacts, on others, on our natural world and on ourselves (for example, throw a piece of trash out the window of your car and you have both an interaction and an impact, though not a sustainable one). If "sustainability" is the "capacity to endure" it then means that those interactions and impacts should be "facilitative" (as opposed to destructive) of endurance. On a human interactional level, it means helping others to be more capable of enduring, physically, socially, economically, and culturally. On the level of interactions with the natural world, it means conserving and nurturing growth, while doing as little harm as is truly necessary. On a personal level, it entails personal actions that nurture and promote physical, emotional and intellectual health and well-being. Now that I have a clearer definition it is easier to see where it is I am falling short of my goal of being that "sustainability guy." Nevertheless, I believe it is a worthy aim and I will continue to strive for it. One thing that is for sure, sustainability requires thought before interaction in order to produce the desired impact.

Above extracted from my blog.....

365 Reasons I Love Costa Rica

My last post addressed, or attempted to address, my personal definition of what it means to act sustainable. However, what is the goal, or the ultimate aim of sustainability? I believe only in knowing that can one truly bend the bow, release that arrow of ardent action and hit the true target. This post will therefore focus on the overriding question of "what is the goal of sustainability?" One thing is for sure, sustainability is not maintenance. It seems we are much more focused on "sustaining" inanimate objects that we are on living things. I would rather call actions geared towards sustaining the inanimate (the "Stuff" that was referred to in my "backpack" post) maintenance. Being a sustainability guy is not the same thing as being a "maintenance man." If you are a spiritual person with a belief in a higher power who is the author of all things living, you probably also hold a belief that things were created to be beautiful....to be healthy. Often human interaction and impact tends to diminish the healthy state that the creator had in mind. Why doesn't he (or she or it) just intervene? Let's leave that for a different post. Sustainability then becomes an attempt at managing our interactions and impacts in a way that promotes the health of living things......a healthy environment, a healthy body, healthy relationships.......get the picture? Of course, if you are not at all spiritual and would rather hold fast to a "survival of the fittest" kind of philosophy of life, then you probably don't feel much of a need to act sustainable. Because sustainability recognizes that the created world is connected and every part must play a role in sustaining it. You cannot just sit back and expect that living things will sustain themselves and if they fall short, well it was just meant to be. That all that really matters is my own personal level of comfort and the fact that people are starving, animals are becoming extinct, rain forests are disappearing, and the planet is overheating (yes, even despite the current cold snap in the Northeast) just doesn't enter into my personal picture. But the hard fact to realize is that oh yes it will, eventually! If that's the way you see things, then fine, I am not here to judge, but just to make a point. And the point is that sustainability is about being concerned that our interactions and impacts promote the health of living things. And in so doing our spiritual health is also dramatically improved.