Generated by All in One SEO v5.0.0.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # The Way Home Seeking Peace and Wholeness ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://briangordon.ca/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Hello Victoria! Our House, Sanji, and More!](https://briangordon.ca/2025/12/22/hello-victoria-our-house-sanji-and-more/) - We were back! We spent about two weeks in Victoria and still didn’t get to see everyone we wanted to see. We did spend time with the grandkids and some friends, and we’re so sorry we still missed some of you. It was a busy time…and I don’t think we’ll be back in the summer - [Life in Cali](https://briangordon.ca/2025/10/08/life-in-cali/) - Seeing as we'll be living here, I thought people might like to. have a better idea what it's like to live in Cali! This is obviously from my perspective, your mileage may vary. Climate Cali is hot, but not Cartagena or Puerto Viejo (Costa Rica) hot. Those places can be brutal and the heat can - [Cali Will Be Home](https://briangordon.ca/2025/02/19/cali-will-be-home/) - After looking and looking and looking - near Victoria, Canada, all over Costa Rica, and through some parts of Colombia, it makes the most sense and seems to be the best fit for us. We’re going to end up with family in Victoria, Florida, Switzerland, and Cali, so it made sense to be close to - [Christmas in Cali](https://briangordon.ca/2025/01/08/christmas-in-cali/) - It's been awhile! We've been busy with not much time to look until after Xmas. We have narrowed the search to the west of Cali or Manizales. The west has areas at higher elevation and so noticeably cooler. Today will be 32C in the south of Cali and probably a few degrees cooler in the - [Holiday Fun - and Salento!](https://briangordon.ca/2025/01/08/holiday-fun-and-salento/) - Wilmer and Islena hosted three family get-togethers over the holidays: December 21st, 24th, and 31st. As usual, each was awesome in its own way. The first one was the most elaborate and biggest, and Islena had arranged two different bands - videos below. Some people came from far away! Cousin Miguel came from Cyprus, sister-in-law - [Why Colombia?](https://briangordon.ca/2024/10/29/why-colombia/) - We chose Colombia because A is a Colombiana, we have numerous relatives here, there is great natural beauty that we want to live in, and we can afford it. Here are some comparisons based our 6 Cs. They don't include health care but should. Canada's health care system is in trouble. Adriana lost her doctor - [Cali - COP16 Biodiversity](https://briangordon.ca/2024/10/29/cali-cop16-biodiversity/) - Well, we're still in Cali, obviously! That's not a bad thing, though we are struggling to get out and check out nearby places to settle like Manizales and Santa Teresita. A and I have each had personal things to attend to, and now Cali is hosting the UN COP16 Biodiversity conference. [Most people have heard - [Back to Colombia](https://briangordon.ca/2024/08/16/back-to-colombia/) - People have been asking for an update, so here's a quick one! (That's us with curious foal who was born earlier that day.) We were in Canada but returned ahead of schedule due to family issues in Colombia. We spent a week with Brian's mother and a week in Victoria seeing the grandkids, then rushed - [Cali and Canada!](https://briangordon.ca/2024/07/08/cali-and-canada/) - We’re back…. I’m writing this sitting in Victoria. We’ve come back to spend a few short weeks with family and friends. From oldest to newest: Cali We were just settling into our apartment and Cali…and it was time for our trip to Canada and Florida. We were really enjoying the walkability of our place - - [Cali and Environs](https://briangordon.ca/2024/06/01/cali-and-environs/) - A month has flown by since the last post! We’ve been enjoying Cali, I must say. As long as you avoid the traffic, there are lots of nice areas. Speaking of traffic: Cali has ridiculous traffic speed limits. We recently visited Dapa, a town near Cali, and got a speeding ticket somewhere in Cali from - [Cali! Again and For Awhile](https://briangordon.ca/2024/04/26/cali-again-and-for-awhile/) - We've been back in Cali for about two weeks. The plan is to use Cali as a base to explore other areas of Colombia such as Medellin and the Coffee Area. So far, with Islena's help we have an apartment that we'll move into this weekend or soon. If interested, here's a video of it! - [San Jose - Our final week in Costa Rica](https://briangordon.ca/2024/04/19/san-jose-our-final-week-in-costa-rica/) - Never say never. We may be back, but for now we're exploring Colombia. San Jose once again impressed. I would live there. The traffic (and therefore pollution) can be bad, but it can be avoided by living in a nice, walkable neighbourhood and driving off-peak hours, if necessary. This time we stayed in an AIrBNB - [Puerto Viejo, Goodbye - for now?](https://briangordon.ca/2024/04/11/puerto-viejo-goodbye-for-now/) - We spent 6 weeks in Puerto Viejo and came to the very difficult decision that it may not be for us or the business, after all. Never say never, and we may return, but here’s why. The Town of Puerto Viejo Little Puerto is growing by leaps and bounds, but the infrastructure is not. The - [Puerto Viejo - the first week](https://briangordon.ca/2024/04/09/puerto-viejo-the-first-week/) - We arrived in PV on Friday night after a six hour trip from San Jose. Google says it should take 3:42, but…we got stopped for about 40 minutes by traffic issues, and things always take longer here. On the plus side, our view while stopped was a waterfall. Puerto Viejo continues to grow - every - [San Jose - much better than expected!](https://briangordon.ca/2024/02/28/san-jose-much-better-than-expected/) - Every guidebook I read said not to bother with San Jose - too much traffic and crime, not much to see. International Living focuses on other areas of Costa Rica as ex-pat retirement destinations, for the most part. So our expectations were low, so to say San Jose exceeded them doesn’t mean much. What has - [Cali! Until Now](https://briangordon.ca/2024/01/29/cali-until-now/) - We’ve been in Cali since early December, enjoying the less hot weather and the amenities a big city has to offer (mostly restaurants and some shopping). Adriana’s brother Dinar and his family - Jennifer, Samuel, and Daniel - paid a ‘surprise’ visit. They had been in Medellin and then came to Cali for a few - [Costa Rica to Cali, Colombia](https://briangordon.ca/2023/12/04/costa-rica-to-cali-colombia/) - Manuel Antonio / Quepos Thursday, November 30: After Navide spent some time in the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area, they thought we should see it, too, so we spent a day there…and agreed it is ‘on the list’ of potential places to resettle. So far, we have Puerto Viejo and Manuel Antonio on that list. As you - [The First Few Weeks in Pura Vida](https://briangordon.ca/2023/11/25/the-first-few-weeks-in-pura-vida/) - iWell, it’s been a few fast weeks. Some things have been experienced and learned. :-) Here they are. Puerto Viejo Navide (Natalia and Davide) arrived mid-September in Puerto Viejo, which they both love for its community. PV is on the Atlantic or Caribbean coast. Some great learnings occurred: Puerto Viejo was hotter than they had - [Costa Rica Tidbits](https://briangordon.ca/2023/11/27/costa-rica-tidbits/) - I thought a post showing some things we’ve seen and experienced might be fun. First, so far, no sloths or snakes sighted, but many other creatures and things! This Toucan was eating berries from the tree outside a restaurant patio we were sitting at. I zoomed in with the phone, so not great quality. This - [The Journey has Begun!](https://briangordon.ca/2023/10/30/the-journey-has-begun/) - Natalia and Davide have been in Costa Rica since mid-September, Adriana arrives this weekend, and Brian will be there mid-November. It’s been a lot of work and a lot of giving up of things - we spend a lot of time and money choosing those things. It’s also hard for B&A to leave Victoria, a ## Pages - [Inspiration](https://briangordon.ca/inspiration/) - Each of the four of us has been inspired by different events and people through our lives. Some of the ones who motivated us to quit jobs and do our own thing are below. A common theme is wholeness: we have each tried various remedies and found there is no ‘one thing.’ Diet is very ## Recipes - [Post Tweet](https://briangordon.ca/uo-recipe/post-tweet/) ## MailPoet Page - [MailPoet Page](https://briangordon.ca/?mailpoet_page=captcha) - [mailpoet_page] - [MailPoet Page](https://briangordon.ca/?mailpoet_page=subscriptions) - [mailpoet_page] ## Categories - [Uncategorised](https://briangordon.ca/category/uncategorized/) - [Our Journey](https://briangordon.ca/category/our-journey/) - Posts, including photos and videos, of our voyages from the working world in Switzerland and Canada to living life fully in Costa Rica. ## Tags - [Climate](https://briangordon.ca/tag/climate/) - [Trump](https://briangordon.ca/tag/trump/) - [USA](https://briangordon.ca/tag/usa/) - [covid](https://briangordon.ca/tag/covid/) - [journey](https://briangordon.ca/tag/journey/) - [adri](https://briangordon.ca/tag/adri/) - [costa rica](https://briangordon.ca/tag/costa-rica/) - [victoria](https://briangordon.ca/tag/victoria/) - [family](https://briangordon.ca/tag/family/) - [friends](https://briangordon.ca/tag/friends/) - [community](https://briangordon.ca/tag/community/) - [Uvita](https://briangordon.ca/tag/uvita/) - [Puerto Viejo](https://briangordon.ca/tag/puerto-viejo/) - [Dominical](https://briangordon.ca/tag/dominical/) - [Platanillo](https://briangordon.ca/tag/platanillo/) - [6 Cs](https://briangordon.ca/tag/6-cs/) - [rooster](https://briangordon.ca/tag/rooster/) - [Manuel Antonio](https://briangordon.ca/tag/manuel-antonio/) - [Capuchin](https://briangordon.ca/tag/capuchin/) - [monkey](https://briangordon.ca/tag/monkey/) - [cali](https://briangordon.ca/tag/cali/) - [colombia](https://briangordon.ca/tag/colombia/) - [Quepos](https://briangordon.ca/tag/quepos/) - [surfing](https://briangordon.ca/tag/surfing/) - [beach](https://briangordon.ca/tag/beach/) - [Sanji](https://briangordon.ca/tag/sanji/) - [avocado](https://briangordon.ca/tag/avocado/) - [Cartagena](https://briangordon.ca/tag/cartagena/) - [dancing](https://briangordon.ca/tag/dancing/) - [Miami](https://briangordon.ca/tag/miami/) - [Samuel](https://briangordon.ca/tag/samuel/) - [Daniel](https://briangordon.ca/tag/daniel/) - [Natalia](https://briangordon.ca/tag/natalia/) - [Fair](https://briangordon.ca/tag/fair/) - [Manizales](https://briangordon.ca/tag/manizales/) - [san jose](https://briangordon.ca/tag/san-jose/) - [escalante](https://briangordon.ca/tag/escalante/) - [san pedro](https://briangordon.ca/tag/san-pedro/) - [central valley](https://briangordon.ca/tag/central-valley/) - [El Cameleon](https://briangordon.ca/tag/el-cameleon/) - [Punta Uva](https://briangordon.ca/tag/punta-uva/) - [Caribe](https://briangordon.ca/tag/caribe/) - [Caribbean](https://briangordon.ca/tag/caribbean/) - [Medellin](https://briangordon.ca/tag/medellin/) - [Pereira](https://briangordon.ca/tag/pereira/) - [Armenia](https://briangordon.ca/tag/armenia/) - [Finlandia](https://briangordon.ca/tag/finlandia/) - [Dapa](https://briangordon.ca/tag/dapa/) - [dentist](https://briangordon.ca/tag/dentist/) - [Canada](https://briangordon.ca/tag/canada/) - [Elk Lake](https://briangordon.ca/tag/elk-lake/) - [Grandkids](https://briangordon.ca/tag/grandkids/) - [COP16](https://briangordon.ca/tag/cop16/) - [Biodiversity](https://briangordon.ca/tag/biodiversity/) - [crime](https://briangordon.ca/tag/crime/) - [Polio](https://briangordon.ca/tag/polio/) - [smallpox](https://briangordon.ca/tag/smallpox/) - [oligarchy](https://briangordon.ca/tag/oligarchy/) - [vaccines](https://briangordon.ca/tag/vaccines/) - [idiocracy](https://briangordon.ca/tag/idiocracy/) - [Salento](https://briangordon.ca/tag/salento/) - [feria](https://briangordon.ca/tag/feria/) - [lomas del viento](https://briangordon.ca/tag/lomas-del-viento/)