www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Have you seen some of the airport police Ticas? DIOS MIO! This last time out, one was so hot, that I purposefully stuck some coins in my underwear going through the metal detector a couple of times hoping for a frisk.

With your luck Brother Orange, she'd call over her gay male colleague to do the frisk. Ho ho.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Fellows spend a extra $100.00 and get on their frequent flyer list. They do a back ground check on you put a little sticker in your passport which identify you. When you come home from a trip you use the same machine that the pilots and air hostesses use. The machine gives you a little sticker. All you do is hold it up and walk thru immigration and custom. I have it and it work. No one ask me any question where I am coming from. Just a welcome home and have a safe drive home. That’s all I get. Plus no waiting in line..

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"THE TRUTH IS' EVERYBODY IS GOING TO HURT YOU. YOU JUST GOTTA FIND THE ONE WORTH SUFFERING FOR"
Robert Nesta Marley

I just say " seeing a girlfriend" and thats it. 21 times through customs and not one stop, one asked where she lived and that was the toughest it got. Damn now we are all going to be saying the same thing just killed my secret. I think chasing chicas would probably work as well...they really dont care about that at all its human.. what they care about is how you respond to the questions and if you look like you have something to hide. So if you feel guilty about mongering and the toys in your bag then you have a higher probability of being pulled to the side, but you havent done anything wrong so relax

Santa’s Bro, great to read you again. Hope all is well with you my friend. I agree that you always tell the truth, don’t carry illegal stuff and don’t try to be friends. They are not your friends and don’t want to be your friend. They want scalps.

One time I took some Turrialba cheese back for my son in California. Got to IAH, picked up my bag and as I was proceeding to the little check-out booth an agent came over and said that I was randomly selected for a secondary screening. “Randomly selected! don’t Bull Sh*t me! You saw some cheese wrapped in aluminum foil on your X-rays. It is legal to carry cheese back into the U.S.”

He had no sense of humor and didn’t particularly like it that I knew he was full of it and he liked it less that I told him he was full of it. But he won! He screwed with me for a long time. Nearly missed my flight.

I wound up re-packing my entire bag all over again because everything was taken out and examined. Moral of the story, keep my mouth shut, do not volunteer anything. Simple straight forward polite answers. Let me tell myself again -- KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT!

Costa Rica has marketed itself hard and successfully as a world center of medical/ dental tourism. At last count it has 128 world record fish caught in her waters (according to the IGFA--International Game Fishing Association) and anything less than a record is catch-and-release. 23% of the country is National Parks or otherwise protected including one of the few cloud forests in the world. It's a world center for seismic activity, all of which are different. Catching my drift here? You don't have to lie, just misdirect and let the facts carry you through (love the seismic activity when I take her back to the hotel, don't you? And as we've been informed, sex causes amnesia--a form of cloud forest of the brain).

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Creative excellent post my friend.

I just returned from CR this week, and was asked the purpose of my visit. I stated that I have a girlfriend in CR. He then asked what her name was. I responded with her full name (first, maternal, paternal). It was the name of a chica favorita that I have known for eight years. He then asked when her birthday was. I said "I have no idea'. He then said "you have no idea when your girlfriends birthday is?". I suppose I should have made up a date on the spot, but decided to tell the truth. He then proceeded to scrutinize me further. With my past 'record', and my many visits to CR, my passport is going to set off a 'red flag' the rest of my life. Incredible.

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

How about this one GT -- I am studying volcanos – so many eruptions, so little time.

Sorry - that one was really sick.

An agent in Miami upon my return to the USA from CR took a special interest in my travel routine and asked me why I had visited Costa Rica.

I told him to visit a very special lady. He pulled me aside kind of like a dutch uncle and suggested I explore the fiance visa options. 6 months visa with an option for a 6 month extension.

I thanked him sincerely for his kind advice, but suggested that bringing her here (USA) would ruin everything. He seemed to understand fully and let me go on my merry way with a dutch uncle wink and nod.

On my return to the States I was given the once over and then asked what I was doing in Costa Rica? I replied looking at real estate. The man in charge said " Glad to have you back in the States" made my day!

I have never had the bad luck of some like Steven. But i was on the high risk list for several years pre -911 and one year after. I was told by the interviewer I had a "dirty" passport. I had work visas and multiple entry and exit stamps from 5 countries. The feds seemed to have no problem with my Japan and Taiwan stamps and visas. Even had no issue with the China permits.But they were not happy at all with my Indonesia KITAS visa and the multiple entry and exit stamps from Malaysia. I always had a full pat down and baggage search.But as I politely reminded them, I was just a humble English teacher and US citizen making the world a better place.

Same thing happened to me last week when I returned into Orlando. I was in CR for two days. (Tu-Th) I was asked the purpose of my visit, what did I do, how much money did I carry and where did I go. I had one suitcase and nothing to declare. Seems the officer put an S on my declaration form. The second officer asked pretty much the same questions only he told me to go to the inspection line. I guess the four stamps on my passport for the past year told them somthing different. Fortunatly I used everything I took with me and discarded anything else that might be incriminating. While they searched my luggage this guy asked, who did I see, where did I go, what do I do, where do I work, how much money was I carrying, did I have a gf, why don't I get her a visa etc...I just told them yes, no, maybe, whatever..luckliy I was on my way in about 45". I had my dirty clothes in a clear plastic bag into which I put my liquids in a ziplock bag and for some reason he saw they were dirty clothes and never bothered to look in there. We'll see what happens when I return in April.

I agree with the brother's comments about the global entry program. I am based out of houston and whether coming back from cr or asia through iah it makes clearing customs alot faster. You are still subject to a random search but as of yet i have not been flagged for one.

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Wingman? I don't need no stinkin' wingman