our new travel business

My mom has had an idea to start a travel business (I am leaving it unnamed by request). After we made our 2-person trip to Costa Rica to have her dental work done (much cheaper than American prices, but with suprisingly high standards of care) she wants to offer her experience to others, especially the many Americans who aren't very comfortable with the idea of international travel. Even after including her airfare (for both of us!), hotel, travel expenses, and then dental bill, she still calculates she saved $5,000 AND had important dental work done. She might have left her problems unaddressed because she wasn't happy with the cost of care in the U.S.

We (this propsed company) would make it easier for people to travel. When you're an American in Costa Rica, it's easy to have problems. We did. Badly at first. Especially money. As a tourist, you don't want to carry too much cash, but once you're in Costa Rica, getting access to your own bank account is very tricky. We can work that out. Also, we can set-up international calls.

A $6,000 U.S. bill would probably take a Costa Rican trip costing a total of around$3,500 (dental costs + airfare + hotel + agency fees + various travel expenses). That's a lot of money, but a two thousand dollars' savings is also a lot of money. And in the U.S. dental insurance doesn't seem to help very much, even if you are lucky enough to have it. The price might be much lower, because airfare can be as cheap as $58 sometimes.

It's a good idea, I think, one that helps her, me, Amber, all our family make money, but also helps any customer of ours to save a lot of money and have better healthcare because they can suddenly afford what they need. And with the idea of making money (having a honest-to-goodness job) while helping others out it something I like a lot. I bet you know some older people who can't afford their medical and dental, and are putting off things they really need. This is for them.

She has put together a website, just a few days ago.
I am impressed with how good it looks.

The worst part about the whole trip for me was the international travel, especially the airports, and feeling helpless and price-gouged by the airports. Once in Costa Rica, it really wasn't bad at all if you have money you can access.

We're still working on the prices a bit, but it is mostly final. We want to get a group together for April 22 to March 3rd. That's soon. A bit scary soon.