This is one of my many pathetic attempts at looking “tough” for the camera. As you can see, failure abounds.

To achieve a “tough” look in a photo, the subject must:

1. Be “tough” (Fail)

2. Be surrounded by “tough” scenery (Lush tropical plants, Fail)

3. Pose by a “tough” vehicle, such as a tank (Small SUV, Fail)

I’ll get ’em next time.

About the photo:

This lil’ beast in the photo handled remarkably well over a few of Costa Rica’s “roughest roads” (a debatable observation, Lonely Planet). She might be small. She might be a manual, bare bones piece of machinery. But she packed a punch around muddy corners and up slippery inclines.

Kids like me from the country have a significant advantage when it comes to driving treacherous backcountry routes. You city slickers pay way too much attention to the threat of oncoming traffic, clinging to your side when you should utilize the entire playing field. You forget that there are no rules of the backcountry road, besides the obvious “don’t hit the other guy.”

Me? Well, I felt like I was back home driving Dukes of Hazzard style. If I had a dime for every eye roll my wife produce while I was driving this thing, I would be a very rich man.

Anybody else love driving in the country, especially in foreign lands?