www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Are you bored at the airport waiting for your flight? Why not play the STM (spot the monger) game? I've engaged in this activity for about ten years now. How good are you at spotting the mongers from the passengers either departing or arriving to/from the other flights? Of course the only real way to grade yourself is to see them at the DR that night. I've actually gotten to the point where I can STM perhaps 75% of the time.
A few tips (these people are most always NOT mongers)...
1. businessmen
these people usually carry a briefcase, and are dressed 'business
casual', i.e. dress slacks/Dockers and a buttoned dress shirt or a
polo shirt
2. surfers
this group are in their early to mid-twenties, and might have a
Billabong t-shirt on. While they might monger, their primary
purpose is to surf
3. eco-tourists ('tree huggers')
these people almost always carry a backpack (most mongers don't
carry a backpack)
4. newbies
these people are easy to spot (they appear lost, and are 'clueless')
5. Asians
not many mongers in CR are Asians
6. sport fishers
this group is the hardest to discern. Most often they will have
some sort of fishing shirt on, and are headed to Jaco or Quepos.
While they may participate in mongering, their primary purpose
for the trip is indeed fishing.
7. anyone carrying a map (mongers don't need a map...can you say
Del Rey?)
Did I omit any tips? Try the STM challenge on your next trip...your success rate should improve over time.
Try it sometime and see how you do!

_________________
"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)

Back when we were connecting in San Jose on LACSA, we'd hurry out to the taxis and run into town to Arte y Sauna, hop back in the taxi and run to our connection.

I think you're approaching this game entirely backwards. The game is not SWINTM (Spot Who Is Not The Monger). Perhaps you left this out because it is so obvious you didn't think it needed to be mentioned, but the Number 1 tip is actually to look for the travelers that are single males over 40 (occasionally with 1-2 buds but almost NEVER with female companion or family w/K*ds). Once you've drawn THAT distinction between travelers you can play SWINTM among the single males over 40 and the STM with everyone else.

Of the former group, barring some obvious exclusionary clues (such as the ones you mentioned), those guys are almost ALWAYS mongers (at least to one degree or another). Of the latter group very FEW are mongers (though many of the guys might want to be when they see those single guys with their hot young chicas later in the trip). Of course, there are exceptions on both sides and they're not usually not so easy to spot (e.g. guys like Dave who goes on mongering trips with his wife who also likes to play, or older guys who really ARE just going to CR to fish). I suppose if you're lucky enough to spot those exceptions correctly you should get EXTRA points.

You also should get extra points for being able to spot YOUNGER mongers (like JMac). Its easy to assume that ANY guy traveling to CR alone (or perhaps with other guys) will do some mongering but that is not ALWAYS the case. Some of the younger guys MIGHT try out a little mongering while they're there, but there are plenty who consider themselves "ABOVE having to pay for sex" (as perhaps they should be at that age). These guys are mostly in the "surfer dude" category but you also get some of the backpacker tree-hugger types in there too. And these guys are more likely to try to score with non-pros (locals or perhaps even more likely fellow young gringa tourists).

One last comment: be very careful about using stereotypes too strictly. Apparently I'm one of those supposedly rare exceptions to "#3" on GT's list since I'm a backpacking "chica-hugger" (although I do go off for my share of tree-hugging too). My first few trips were done with the more tradional suitcase with wheels, but I've found that the good ol' backpack is just the most sensible form of luggage for 3rd world travel (getting on/off buses, dealing with cracked uneven surfaces, keeping weight down, etc.), but thats a subject for another thread.

I can always spot another guy doing what I'm doing. Most of them are traveling alone, over 40, more than likely wearing cargo shorts and a white sneakers, a little pudgy, and balding slightly. Thats instant monger identification.

Sorry Prolijo, you would be one of the ones that I would pick !!! I do play this this game but mostly in the customs line ...looking for someone to share a taxi with....the easy way to find out if some one is going for our hobby is ask them where they are staying....I have sat next to all types of people and they ask....which beach do you go to ? do you have family there ? how many times have you been there ....before I would answer 20 or more then you could see them size you up in their mind ...what you were coming here for....so now I just say this is my second trip and offer any answers they might have... by the way Prolijo are you going to make the 8/11 trip with Pete ? would love to have you part of that crew .....Lion King , I just had a few friends come back from Sosua and the news is that the New Garden did some new work on the restaurant and some of the rooms , they had a great time and it was a buyers market (it was before but what I was told the girls were chasing them)

Granted, the majority of mongers probably are over 40, but I would not rule out the guys 20 to 40. As you know, there are indeed plenty of mongers in that age range. Regarding sterotypes, there always are exceptions.

_________________
"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)

Understood, GT! I'm just saying Spotting-The-Monger when he's a single guy over 40 (whether he's wearing cargo shorts and is pudgy and balding or not) is so easy that it can't be worth scoring many points in this game. OTOH, with the younger mongers it is FAR less straightforward, so if you guess those guys right and see them later at the BM you have to give yourself many bonus points. And if you catch a guy ditching the wife you saw him with just a few hours earlier at the airport, that should be worth the win (for the both of you, unless he gets caught)

Shit, try and be a single guy under 40. Everybody in the house knows your going down to party.


Cujo

_________________
"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

I like to play the STM game on flights coming into Costa Rica

_________________
heredia porn king

I have never had any success in playing that game , or at least that I was able to verify) although I have had far fewer flights to CR than many of you gents. I do recall on my first flight down with two buddies (also their first trip) the flight attendant asked what we were doing on our visit. While a more brazen (?) individual may be more forthcoming, I believe I said zip line tours or some nonsense (I had read about alternatives to the gulch here and thought it sounded plausible). She told me it would be wonderful, the country was beautiful. I paid for my drink, and she moved on. Still haven't seen that countryside.
After Super Bowl weekend '08 some guy kept asking me at SJO (food court) questions. How long I had been, where did I stay. I figured he was a monger playing this very game. Wrong. I shut down that chat and finished my pizza. Or maybe he was just trying to verify me and my boy for his own game of this?

Hold on big boy. I've never met you, but I think you told me you have Latino roots. So therefore you might be considered a Tico or native to the country. I'm under 40, Peruvian, and look like I'm going to party, but in my world I'm hoping everyone thinks I'm going to see my aunt...

BB

That raises an interesting question. I imagine most of us play it coy with the obvious but inquisitive "civilians" (such as flight attendants, or the church group missionary woman in the seat next to you). But what about suspected fellow mongers playing the game on you? Do you fess up or do you still play it coy unless you're reasonably certain they're in the game too?

Personally, whether I think they're also in the game or not, I try to keep my mongering-related conversation down in public areas where nearby "civilians" are in earshot. Its sort of like how I feel about dressing like a tico out on streets of SJ. We may not be able to fool any one who gives us careful consideration, but there is no reason to remove ALL uncertainty about what we're really there for or, worse, call undue attention to ourselves by shooting our mouths off in such settings where other disapproving ears may hear. Its not about being ashamed about what we do. Its about unnecessarily raising awareness of our hobby amongst those outsiders and feeding in any way the moralistic outrage that threatens what we do. I have no problem with an obvious monger quietly going through customs or chatting with the eco-tourist next to him how he travels so regularly to CR because of a love of the countryside and a desire to find retirement property (yeah right). After all, there is not much you can do about being a single male over 40 and some people are going to figure it out no matter what you do. Where I do I have a slight problem is with a guy who exercise absolutely no discretion, but will obliviously, openly and loudly discuss with his buddy next to him or even some guy he just met about the hot young chica puta he banged his last night there while mothers are standing right behind them covering their K*ds ears. Its because of guys like that that places like the Prez feel they have to change their chica policies and its because of the international PR image it helps foster for CR that so many ticos, like Laura Chinchilla, argue that gringo mongering needs to be curtailed.

=======
BTW, Cujo, younger mongers can at least more credibly claim to be there just for the surfing or pretend to be backpacking eco-tourists. Also most people do not as quickly suspect younger guys having to pay for sex since they have more non-pro pick-up options open to them than with old farts.

Yes I'm Latino but I hardly look like a tico. Although I get the "wand" treatment every once in a while by DR security

I take enough shit from immigration as it is. My name gets me pulled to the side %75 of the time I travel..

Cujo

_________________
"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

Prolijo-

Couldn't agree with you more. So many guys are insecure and have to announce that they got laid or worse say that they got laid and then degrade women. It's like playing sports and making a good play. There's a way to tell stories with the guys and still come off like a cool fella. Then there are the guys who think it's cool to beat their chest and mouth off to everyone about the play. Nobody likes that guy.

And really, do we have to brag in the airport loudly??? I mean, when you go to the SL there are limitless good fellas to have a drink and discuss the stories of the evening. Ahhh well. I guess with everything there are cool guys and then there are idiots.

Still its great to play the game and spot the players in the airport. I try not to talk to anyone. Put the ipod on and keep to myself. If there is a hot chica next to me...I tend to not have the ipod on as much.

BB

The article referenced here has nothing to do with this topic; the picture does--spot the STM in it.
www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/travel/26heads.html

Tough challenge, wasn't it? Ho ho

_________________
"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