I've pretty much always felt that Steemit was more about the connection of people and ideas, less about the $.  OK...not gonna lie, I thought it would be cool to earn crypto for making posts and curating content. I mean Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram doesn't pay me; and there's even a threat now of being censored if they don't like what I say and post. I'm about a week or two away from my 1yr anniversary, and the one thing I can say that really excites me is the amazing people that show up in your field of awareness. I've met so may cool and interesting people each with their own style and way of being- it's truly a gift to be witness to it all!  
![20180909_210521-min.jpg](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmabfdNPuAbTcuhCD4M6Yj9tRrQkYR5MpsiR1NRQGzVe8P)

I had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica for work again and let @raserrano know what the plan was. I had met @raserrano in Costa Rica before (https://steemit.com/busy/@jrb450/my-adventures-in-costa-rica) and, being the amazing networker, he lined up another Steemian @flauwy for a lunch. 

These guys are Steemit all-stars in my opinion and take Steemit to the next level. @rasserano is a talented coder and helps others gain traction within Steemit via his welcoming bot @tuanis. He's also committed to raising awareness and consciousness on the environment through @treeplanter. @flauwy is a prolific contributor in the ecosystem and has, among other things, created the 1Up curation system. See more about it here: https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@flauwy/changes-and-insights-to-the-1up-voting-mechanism.
One thing that impressed me about @flauwy was the depth of understanding he articulated about the Steemit Ecosystem. He has tons of awesome content you need to be checking out! I was both blown away and inspired by these guys and have immense admiration and gratitude.

This is @raserrano:
![20180908_165629-min.jpg](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/Qma9ydrRySECUp48RkXfB6FHpeYVrgTKybcDh52LBrqdjy)

This is @flauwy:
![20180908_165633-min.jpg](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmT1cbFQtFKZcKgZ8G6MV4ZvbqRYFJwijNYzPdN589DG94)

PURA VIDA!