Costa Rica 2009

Costa Rica

July 2009

I was twenty seven years old in 2009. I had yet to ever take a real vacation. Little did I know that taking a trip to Costa Rica would irrevocably alter the course of my life.

My Aunt is originally from Costa Rica. My Aunt, Uncle, and two cousins travel down to Costa Rica every year in the summer to visit family. In the past they have offered to show me around if I ever wanted to come down, and for whatever reason I never took them up on their offer. That year I finally did. I bought my plane tickets and flew down to spend two weeks, at the end of July and first part of August, with them. I stayed in family homes and avoided tourist trap locations. Some of the trip highlights included several days lounging around at a beach cottage, a zip-line canopy tour, hanging bridges hike through a forest, visiting a volcano, and bungee jumping off a bridge.

I had a fantastic time. The travel bug had bit, and bit hard. Once I returned home I immediately adjusted my priorities, and started making plans for future trips abroad. I am immensely glad I took that trip to Costa Rica. It took me outside my comfort zone and showed me a whole new outlook on the world. I evaluated my goals and decided I would rather have experiences and memories than material possessions. Since 2009 my focus has been on my bucket list, and less so on acquiring things.