The Making of a Staycation Guru
Always turn your face towards the Sun and never stop baby stepping towards your best possible life!
The feeling of warm sunshine on your skin, carefree bliss of wearing whatever you like. Colour, glorious colour and fragrant scents wafting on heady breezes.
Summer.
I have ALWAYS had a passion for Summer -everything about it. The heat. Sunshine. Being able to freely go wherever I want without the layers and bulk of cooler weather.
Being born in Canada, I have done all the things Winter. Childhoods on snow hills. Ice skating and simply being put to play outside on a typical -25 Canadian winter day. I was not impressed and asked my parents why they had moved from the islands of Greece to this ridiculous country..haha. Its true lol While I love many things about Canada, the weather 8 months of the year isn’t one of them. My ultimate plan to never see a snowflake.
I started travelling when I was young and got a taste of island life that would later become my life. My parents would take us to visit family in Greece for 2-3 months at a time.At the time, I’m not sure I loved these trips but they opened my eyes to far distant lands with dreamy aquamarine waters. A different way of life where you could chase Summer long after the icy grip of Winter had come to Canada.
It was some time after my teenage trips to get back to travelling. When my daughter was about 8 years old, I started taking week long trips away. After a few years travelling, I began noticing that people just seemed happier on vacation. The smiles were bigger, the eyes sparkled with delight and everyone was SO ALIVE & HAPPY. Sadly all those amazing things faded when people returned to their respective homes..warm on not. That gave me an idea!!
Why couldn’t everyone live like they were on vacation all the time? Live with daily enthusiasm and look forward to enjoying what life had to offer right around them!!
That was the day that the concept for Burlington Beach Rentals came to life. Somewhere where I could help people enjoy all the things they loved about being on vacation.
Well it took a 11 years of persistence, writing letters to random people I thought could help bring my dream to life. Finally in 2012, my idea gathered traction and I got in touch with the right people and a great opportunity presented.
I took a giant leap into the unknown and launched my dream business on my hometown beach in May 2013!!
We offered boat rentals and those wonderful beach umbrellas and loungers by the water. We even had a beach store with you basic needs!
Over the years, I brought back more ideas from my travels and soon I had a full service Staycation resort offering awesome Summer Staycation classes to the community!
- Paddleboat / Kayak/ Stand up Paddleboard/ Canoe rentals
- Beach & SUP Yoga classes
- Learn to SUP classes
- Full Moon & Solstice Yoga events
- Full Moon Social & Glow Paddles
- Beach Massage
- One Day Retreats
- Assorted Guided Paddles & more added annually.
There is no better feeling that seeing the sparkle of happiness in peoples eyes after taking a class, enjoying a paddle on the water or taking part in one of our awesome events!!
While I love all paddle sports, Stand up Paddling in particular is my favourite and I adored that it allowed so many to have fun on the water. BBR adopted the SUP culture early on and most of our events are based on this equipment.
I got certified as an instructor and have gotten such joy from introducing people of all ages and abilities to this sport <3
While I worked 12-14 hour days and gave up my Summer to work at my little Staycation paradise… this also gave me the opportunity to EXPLORE & chase Summer on the off seasons!
Being a child of Summer and highly allergic to Winter, I took this as a sign to diligently work towards travelling longer for less!
Over the past 10 years I have mastered the art of solo back packing, cheap travel and scouring off the beaten path glorious Summer weather destinations. My first longer solo backpacking adventure was 2.5 months
when I finally made it to Asia and lost my heart <3
I’ve always wanted to start a travel blog to share my adventures chasing Summer but it wasn’t until 2017 that things aligned and the universe made it clear I was meant to do more!
My new expanded dream is to share my passion for chasing Summer all over the globe and help others live their best life. Now living my own dream on the beach and helping others do the same in one of my favourite spots on the planet. I’ve created curated and AWESOME packages to help others easily travel to Drake Bay while experiencing the best of the best. I also run day experiences and help others plan their custom adventures to the area.
I now work on Take Me to summer most of the year until my little Staycation paradise thaws again in Canadian Summer. That way I get to help everyone make the most of Summer fun ALL YEAR LONG ! Summer life is the best life…don’t you agree??
If you have dreams, NOW is the time to go after them. Time moves faster than we hope and I’m here to help you make the most of your Summer adventures!
Here comes 2020
So who knew the world would lock down and a plague would take over the world in the early parts of 2020. I was travelling in Panama when word of the virus started circulating and ultimately changed life as we knew it. During that chaotic time, I escaped back to my beloved Costa Rica and my newest favourite area of the country, the magnificent and remote Osa Peninsula.
I ended up staying here and falling more in love with the little village I was in while I waited to be transported back to my Canadian home. During my time in the village a business opportunity presented itself. After I was safely back home and had the Summer to think about life and current events, the decision was made to relocate for a portion of the year and call Costa Rica my second home!
Now having lived in the village for 3 partial years, I am totally in love and living here on the beach in the middle of Jungle heaven for 8-10 months of the year. I run Take me to Summer featuring beach rentals, experiences and classes. My all inclusive adventures have been a HUGE hit and dates are now available for 8 months of the year. I have also have the pleasure of making so many great friends with the locals enabling me to experience the real culture and gain knowledge of every nuance and part of life in the jungle.
With my previous experience and licensing is Real Estate in Ontario Canada, I have also created a database of most of the amazing private homes, lots and commercial properties for sale in the Osa and particularly in Drake, Having the inside track makes a huge difference in being able to find and offer properties and a new life for those looking. As of Spring 2022, I along with my amiga Kim Michaud who has been a resident here for 35 years; have partnered to form a real estate portion of Take me to Summer. We also work with another company based in Zancudo which is across the gulf.
No matter what you need, when it comes to Drake Bay..I can help <3
What‘s up for 2024? I’m taking a year off from Drake & heading to the other side of the World!
Time 
sure flies when you’re having fun and 3 years have passed in a blink! After setting up my business in Drake Bay and making sure all my clients will be looked after, the time has come to wander back to one of my other favourite places in the world! Don’t worry, all trip participants will still receive full support via whatsapp 24/7 when your travelling. My friends and amazing operators in Drake have promised to take extra good care of my clients while I’m away.
So follow me to South East Asia and Indonesia this Winter! We will be going to my favourite spots and exploring all the natural wonders. Whether you are looking for destination advice or perhaps somewhere to retire, I will be talking about all the things and sharing updated details to help you create your best life too.
Make sure to subscribe to my social media channels and watch the website for current blog posts. Life’s short. Always say yes to adventure
