Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Best Land Tour
VACATION BUGGY
DON SEGAL
We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.
Hilaire Belloc
“When you start a business you want to create something that stands out like a surfer in a
school of dolphins,” says Don Segal of Vacation Buggy. And nothing is more exotic look-
ing than the custom buggies that his company drives around Manuel Antonio and into the
rainforest. With them Don and his team have created something unique that really shows off
Manuel Antonio and its off-the-beaten-path surrounding area.
Don understood from a young age that to get somewhere you had to work hard. Coming
from a family that wasn't well off he went to work as a teenager to buy himself the things
other kids took for granted. “My first job was as a bus boy in a restaurant, at the age of 14,”
he remembers. “I lied and told them I was 16. I had to ride my bike to work but I started
making money on my own. A pair of blue jeans was my first purchase and a stereo was the
second.” Don studied business in college and went on to a lengthy career in marketing, sales
andmanagement inthemedical industry.Heleftafternearly20yearstostartupafoodtreat-
ment company, and after selling that began a chain of tanning boutiques.
“At that time my kids were in high school,” Don says, “and instead of giving them
money every weekend, I chose to create a business where they could work. It wasn't long
before that business was being bought up by a larger chain, and Don was again looking for
the next challenge.
Don and his wife Sabrina wanted out of the California lifestyle, and began to look
abroad for an option that would better suit them. Sabrina had a friend in South Africa and
they impulsively bought a lot there but quickly realized it was a mistake. It would take
friends and family two days to get there, so who would ever visit?
Costa Rica was more practical and they'd heard great things about it. Sabrina is a gour-
met cook and finding the right place with proximity to a beach, good produce and a warm
community proved difficult — until they stumbled upon Manuel Antonio.
“We fell in love.” Don says. They bought a local vacation rental property, expanded it
and offered a distinctive touch — an on-site chef. As the business grew they became more
involved in property management until they felt they could sell up, invest and semi-retire in
their tropical paradise. Unfortunately it wasn't to be.
