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🌿 Dispatches from the Jungle 🌿
A Queer Expat Blog for the Bold, the Curious, and the Deeply Alive
Welcome to Dispatches from the Jungle — a lifestyle blog at the intersection of queer identity, creative freedom, and midlife reinvention. I’m Waymon Hudson: a late-deafened writer, Broadway musical creator, and marketing futurist living loud in the jungles of Costa Rica.
This isn’t just a blog. It’s a digital campfire — a place for stories about joy, grief, surf sessions, messy growth, and gorgeous resistance. Whether I’m writing about life as a queer expat, the behind-the-scenes of building a Broadway show, or what it’s like to rewire your life at 45, you’ll find it all here. Raw, real, and radically hopeful.
Subscribe to read about:
🌈 LGBTQ+ life in Costa Rica and beyond
📖 Memoir-style reflections on healing, identity & reinvention
🧠 Marketing insights and brand storytelling with soul
🏄 Jungle living, dogs, and imperfect adventures
✨ The creative chaos of art, activism, and starting over
Ready for a blog that doesn’t just inform — but connects, uplifts, and sparks something real?
👉 Subscribe on Substack or explore the latest dispatches below.
🌟 Featured Posts🌟
🎭 The Broadway “I Am” Song: Claiming Power in Musicals
In every great Broadway musical, there’s a moment when the character doesn’t just want change…
They become it.
And then?
They own it.
If the “I Want” song is a whisper…
And the “I’m Becoming” song is a leap…
Then the Broadway “I Am” song is the landing.
Solid. Unapologetic. Full voice. Full belt.
Ruin Me Slowly by Waymon Hudson — A Deaf Artist’s Debut Pop Single You’ll Feel in Your Skin
I may be deaf, but this is what I sound like now. Ruin Me Slowly is the first single from my upcoming album Through My Skin — a raw, sexy, and emotional project you don’t just hear — you feel. Here's why I made it, and what you can expect.
Healthcare in Costa Rica — Public vs Private & Everything In Between
Costa Rica healthcare is one of the best in Latin America — affordable, reliable, and inclusive. From public care (Caja) to private hospitals, here’s how the system works, what it costs, how to access medications, and why many expats use both. Plus: LGBTQ inclusivity and why residency means paying into the system that supports you
All Posts
Broadway Dads & Dangerous Legacies: When Musicals Wrestle with Toxic Masculinity
What happens when Broadway tackles legacy, masculinity, and the fear that softness won’t survive? This post explores toxic father-son dynamics in musicals — from Falsettos to Speakeasy — and how love can still rewrite the rules.
Waymon Hudson
2 days ago3 min read
🌴 The Pura Vida Diet: Farmers’ Markets, Fresh Food Culture, and What to Skip at the Grocery Store in Costa Rica
Costa Rica food culture is fresh, affordable, and pura vida. Shop at ferias for fruit that puts the U.S. organic aisle to shame, eat $5 casados at local sodas, and stock up on Lizano sauce and tortillas. Skip overpriced imports and embrace gallo pinto, fresh coffee, and plantains as staples. Here’s how to eat like a local in Costa Rica.
Waymon Hudson
6 days ago4 min read
Broadway’s Soft Boys: How Vulnerability Became a Musical Power Move
Some of the most powerful male characters in musical theatre aren’t defined by bravado — they’re defined by their vulnerability. Their poetry. Their ache.
These are Broadway’s soft boys.
And I’m obsessed with them.
Waymon Hudson
Sep 213 min read
How to Be a Good Immigrant in Costa Rica (a.k.a. Don’t Be “That” Expat)
Moving to Costa Rica? You’re not just an expat—you’re an immigrant and a guest. From respecting pura vida to paying into Caja, hiring locals, shopping at the feria, and learning Spanish, being a good immigrant means giving back as much as you get. Do that, and Costa Rica won’t just welcome you—it’ll love you back. 🌴
Waymon Hudson
Sep 175 min read
🎭 The Broadway “I Am” Song: Claiming Power in Musicals
In every great Broadway musical, there’s a moment when the character doesn’t just want change…
They become it.
And then?
They own it.
If the “I Want” song is a whisper…
And the “I’m Becoming” song is a leap…
Then the Broadway “I Am” song is the landing.
Solid. Unapologetic. Full voice. Full belt.
Waymon Hudson
Sep 143 min read
Ruin Me Slowly by Waymon Hudson — A Deaf Artist’s Debut Pop Single You’ll Feel in Your Skin
I may be deaf, but this is what I sound like now. Ruin Me Slowly is the first single from my upcoming album Through My Skin — a raw, sexy, and emotional project you don’t just hear — you feel. Here's why I made it, and what you can expect.
Waymon Hudson
Sep 123 min read
Healthcare in Costa Rica — Public vs Private & Everything In Between
Costa Rica healthcare is one of the best in Latin America — affordable, reliable, and inclusive. From public care (Caja) to private hospitals, here’s how the system works, what it costs, how to access medications, and why many expats use both. Plus: LGBTQ inclusivity and why residency means paying into the system that supports you
Waymon Hudson
Sep 103 min read
The Broadway “I’m Becoming” Song: Inside Musical Theatre's Big Transformation Numbers
From hesitation to liberation, the Broadway "I'm Becoming" song captures the moment a character stops asking for permission and starts stepping into themselves.
If you’ve ever belted ‘Defying Gravity’ in your car with full vibrato and zero shame…
You already know exactly what I’m talking about.
Waymon Hudson
Sep 73 min read
Residency in Costa Rica: How to Stay Legally (Without the Border-Run Headache)
Residency in Costa Rica isn’t just paperwork — it’s the key to living here sustainably. From digital nomad and retiree visas to LGBTQ protections, here’s how to stay legally, pay into the system that supports you, and trade border runs for pura vida runs.
Waymon Hudson
Sep 34 min read
🎭 The Anatomy of a Broadway “I Want” Song — Featuring Something’s Brewing from Speakeasy
In musical theatre, there’s a moment — usually early in the show — when a character steps into the spotlight and tells us what they long for.It’s not just a song.It’s a roadmap. A key to their soul.
We call it the “I Want” song — and it’s the heartbeat of any great musical.
Waymon Hudson
Aug 313 min read
Thinking of Moving to Costa Rica? Cost of Living, Rent & Reality Check
Thinking of moving to Costa Rica? 🌴 It’s paradise — but not without a price tag. From rent in San José to beach town budgets, utilities, and even $8 peanut butter, here’s what expat life really costs. Before you pack your bags, get the real breakdown on living the Pura Vida lifestyle.
Waymon Hudson
Aug 274 min read
Meet the Characters of Speakeasy: A New Broadway Musical 🎭✨
Speakeasy: A New Musical brings the hidden queer history of 1920s speakeasies to life with a bold Broadway vision. Packed with jazz-fueled rebellion, forbidden love, and found family, this new Broadway musical reimagines Romeo & Juliet in a dazzling underground world where resistance, identity, and joy collide.
Waymon Hudson
Aug 243 min read
Moving to Costa Rica: Why I Chose Here Out of Anywhere in the World
Costa Rica wasn’t my escape. It was my alignment — a country that chose peace, protects nature like it’s Beyoncé, and lets me live openly as a queer expat. If you’ve ever wondered ‘Could I move to Costa Rica?’ …this is your sign.
Waymon Hudson
Aug 205 min read
🧠 Yes, I’m Deaf. Yes, I’m a Communications Professional. No, It’s Not a Paradox.
I’m a communications executive.
And I’m Deaf.
And no, this isn’t a paradox.
Communication is not about sound.
It’s about presence. Intention. Story. Emotional accuracy.
It’s about making people feel heard — not just heard by you.
It’s just a different way of listening.
Waymon Hudson
Jul 242 min read
Why I Wrote Notes from a Sissy — and Why We Need Queer Memoirs More Than Ever
I wrote Notes From a Sissy to reclaim my story — with sass, scars, and sequins. Queer memoirs matter now more than ever.
Waymon Hudson
Jul 214 min read
From Corporate Strategy to Broadway Scores: Thriving as a Queer Multi-Hyphenate Creative
Marketing exec by day, Broadway writer by night. I don’t juggle roles — I braid them. This is what being a multi-hyphenate looks like.
Waymon Hudson
Jul 193 min read
🎭 What if Romeo & Juliet Fell in Love in a 1920s Queer Speakeasy?
What if Romeo & Juliet fell in love in a queer speakeasy during Prohibition? Speakeasy is my jazz-drenched, emotionally charged musical about love, rebellion, and found family in 1920s Chicago. It’s bold, defiant, and unapologetically queer — with a score that swings and a story that roars.
Waymon Hudson
Jul 176 min read
The Dogs, the Jungle, and the Joy: My Costa Rica Queer Expat Life Reboot
What do burnout, a jungle surf town, and three small rescue dogs have in common? They saved my life. This is the story of how I left corporate chaos behind, rebooted my queer joy, and wrote a Broadway musical with parrots screaming in the background.
Waymon Hudson
Jul 143 min read
The Anti-Hustle Queer Expat Life: How I Left Burnout Behind and Found Joy in the Jungle
After burnout, political exhaustion, and being harassed for being gay, I left the U.S. and moved to Costa Rica. I didn’t quit working — I quit the grind. What I found was queer joy, jungle stillness, rescued dogs, and a life that finally made space for me to breathe, create, and be fully myself.
Waymon Hudson
Jul 113 min read
A Queer Love Letter to Drag, Broadway, and Big Feelings
My queer love letter to drag, Broadway, and the big feelings that saved my life — and now fuel the stories I write.
Waymon Hudson
Jul 103 min read
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