So I was sitting here thinking

So I was sitting here thinking as the TV blared in the background for noise to fill up this cloned suburban house in Virginia I’m staying in, thinking to myself why it was again that I left Costa Rica.

The first time I ever traveled to Costa Rica I was 12 years old. I knew nothing of Costa Rica except that I wanted to go to the rainforest and that a teacher of mine had gotten stuck in a mud pit that went up to her waist… up to her WAIST, and it was in the rainforest! That was it, I saw those pictures and I HAD to go. It was everything I wanted, mud, adventure, and the rainforest! I mean all those pictures I had seen of monkies and dart frogs! I could ACTUALLY experience it.

I told my mom that day about the trip that the man from the conservation place came in and told us about. I didn’t have the money to pay for the trip and not only that you had to write an essay to even get chosen to go. She burst into tears literally and said that she wanted me to apply.

The day came when they read out the names of the people who were chosen and I was not. I was crushed. My teacher pulled me out into the hallway to tell me though that I had been chosen to go to Belize. That year, i went to Belize.

The next summer, though, the trip to Costa Rica was happening again and this year, I could go on any trip that I wanted. Costa Rica here I came.

When I got off the plane in Costa Rica, I immediately fell in love. I believe in love at first site and I don’t think it has to be with a person. I also believe that you can finally be home even if you’ve never been there before. I was finally home but the biggest heartbreak would come when the time had passed and we finally had to go home. I had never seen beaches as beautiful, rainforests as amazing, animals as incredible, or met people as friendly. I thought would never recover from the heartbreak of having to leave until one day…

A series of what I thought were unfortunate events led me to have a check in my hand from the insurance company for my back that they said would never be better. I was 19 years old and I supposedly had a back like a 40 year old. So. I have a check. I have a bad back. I work in an outdoor store and am constantly outfitting people for their adventures to Costa Rica. I could tell people what to expect as if I had just been there. Costa Rica had never left my mind.

So I have this check, and I start to think. Costa Rica. I got online, I booked my ticket and made reservations with the surf camps around Costa Rica. I took 3 months off and was just going to surf and rediscover Costa Rica. But when my plane landed in Atlanta, I actually got cold feet about having all of these plans. I got online and cancelled every single plan I had. I panicked.

I arrived the next day in Costa Rica and was extremely excited. I got my luggage and stood there, I suddenly realized that I had no hotel, no ride, no plans. I stood in the airport and was suddenly afraid! What have I done! I am completely alone in a country 3000 miles from home and I don’t know one single person! To my right was a booth for Costa Rica Tourism. I told the lady that I had no where to go and I wanted to go to a hostel. She handed me a brochure and told me to go to this hostel. I gave the brochure to the taxi driver and off I went.

I remember the first breath of air I smelled as we drove away from the airport. And the mountains, how green they were. The red cabs and the white trucks that were all around. The motobikes. I was home again and I knew that. Home.

As we got to the hostel the area looked familiar but not completely. As I crossed the street to get to my hostel, I saw the Greek relief statue in the corner of the roof. This was the EXACT same place I had spent so many nights in-between adventures the last time I was in Costa Rica. I didn’t recognize it right away because all of the trees that were there, in Los Yoses, were now gone and only the name remained. I couldn’t have felt better about the choice I made and every worry I had just vanished.

Little did I know that when I would check in, this place would be my home for the next 3 months.

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