When she was three years old, Erin Van Rheenen's parents moved the family from Portland, Oregon, to Lagos, Nigeria. This two-year stint would be the first of Erin's many extended stays outside of her home country. Since then she has lived in Oaxaca, Guatemala, Ireland, Quito, New York, and Costa Rica.

Erin earned a B.A. in Latin American Literature from the University of California at Santa Cruz, an M.A. in Fiction Writing and English Literature from the City University of New York, and a certificate of advanced Spanish proficiency from Universidad Catolica in Quito. She has published essays and stories in venues such as Fiction, The Sun and the Los Angeles Times. She has won many writing awards, including the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society prize for best new novel; she is at work now on a new novel, set in Costa Rica. She has taught writing in many places, including at City College of New York and in the San Francisco County Jail.

Erin recently released an iPhone/iPad app, Costa Rica Trip Ideas.

Check out her blog and her sister site, Miss Move Abroad.

Some of Erin's Costa Rica-related articles available online:

Escape to Costa Rica's Alcatraz

Ping Pong Death Match in Costa Rica's Playas del Coco

The Amazing Race Visits Costa Rica

Costa Rica Can Still Surprise (about a collision with a manatee)