Nature of Costa Rica

It's no secret that Costa Rica is my favorite country that I've visited so far.  The main thing that I loved about Costa Rica was being surrounded by so much nature!  The variety of different plants and wildlife that we saw at the biological station alone was incredible and we were able to see even more in Manuel Antonio.  Today, I wanted to share some of the amazing sights we saw and were able to capture in Costa Rica, including a Toucan, which was way harder to spot than you'd think. 

5 Places I'd Love to Return To

I have seen these posts floating around Blogland recently and I just couldn't pass by.   While there are still SO many places that I still want to visit, there are few I dream about going back to.  Some that I'd love to re-experience as an adult and some that I want to share with Josh.

I fell in love with Colorado during my visit in 2005 (I can't believe it's been almost 10 years!!).  I was only 16 at the time so I was at the mercy of my parents.  There were so many things I wanted to do but I couldn't because they were in charge.  We never really went into Boulder, we didn't see any sites in Denver and I would have loved to do more exploring in RMNP.  I planned on going to school at my Uncles Alma Mater, UC Boulder, but it was way too expensive for me.   I would love to take Josh out there and do some exploring with him, and do it our way.

This should come as no surprise.  I think about Costa Rica daily - it's such a beautiful country with such diverse wildlife and amazing people.  While I'd love to go back to Manuel Antonio NP and San Vito for a day or two, there are so many places in this beautiful country that I'd love to explore such as, Arenal and Monteverde Could Forest.   This is a place I'd definitely love to take Josh to.

Barcelona was one of my favorite cities that we visited in Europe.  While I had a great time there, we had very little free time to explore - most of our day was planned out.  I would love to explore on my own and see more of what Barcelona has to offer.  I would also love to fill up on Paella and Tapas!!  I am hoping to take a cruise out of here at some point - hopefully sooner than later! 

Josh and I both loved Savannah!  Unfortunately, we only had a short time to spend here at the end of our vacation.  We saw a pretty good amount in the short time that we had, but I'd love to go back and explore more of this beautiful southern city.  I am also dying for another Leopolds Ice Cream!  I also think it would be so neat to do a ghost tour!

I was fortunate enough to be able to see so much of Italy while I was there including Rome, Assisi, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Florence.   While I would love to return to each of those places, I would also love to see more of this beautiful country.  Top of my list is Venice, Milan, Verona, Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi, and Siena.  Honestly, I think I could spend a full month here and still not see everything that I want to.  I know I will return to Rome within the next few years because Josh is dying to go there.

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone Part 2

Way back at the beginning of the year, I talked about adventurous things I've done that have gotten me out of my comfort zone.  I have had this post in my drafts for months and completely forgot about it.  So, today I want to talk about other situations (mostly social situations) that made me uncomfortable but that had such an impact on my life.

Living with a host family in France
This was a scary experience for me at first.  I was very nervous when I learned that I would be spending a few days with a French family, especially since I didn't speak a word of French other than the key phrases I learned before the trip.  It was a little awkward at first but ended up being one of my favorite experiences in Europe!  It was such a great learning experience and Miti was definitely an interesting lady, we ended up having a lot of fun!  I wrote more about my homestay here.  Kara (pictured below with Miti), a girl from my group, was with me during my homestay, so we helped each other out quite a bit.  

Visiting the Elderly in Chicago
I am very uncomfortable around old people especially if they are ill.  Don't ask me why, I just am.  So when my youth pastor announced what we would be doing one evening while in Chicago, I was petrified.  The only thing that made it better was that we were going in groups of four. We were to go up to the upper floors of JPUSA's building and talk with the elderly who lived there.  This ended up being a great experience.  After being told to go away by several people, one old man finally agreed to talk to us, his name was Lenny.  I don't have anything written down about this experience and no photos, but it's something I'll always remember.  We walked into his room and he had a TON of dolls, which seems like an odd collection for a man, but every doll had a story.  We actually ended up staying longer than we had to because his stories were so interesting.   Lenny had stories from all over the world and definitely added to my love of travel.  This was a great lesson for me in respecting and learning from my elders.

Working with children who didn't speak English
 I always get a little nervous in a situation where I'm around a lot of people who don't speak English.  With adults it's not too big of a deal but kids sometimes don't understand that you don't know what they're saying. Though it did get a little frustrating at times, our few hours working with the kids in Costa Rica was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  The kids were so eager to learn and so excited that we were there.  After teaching them some English, we played games and had snacks with them and had so much fun.

All of these experiences turned out to be amazing and totally life changing.  I wouldn't change any of these experiences for anything.

Blogtober: My Heart is in Costa Rica

Today's Blogtober topic is Best/Worst Vacation. 

Even though my trip to Costa Rica wasn't technically a vacation, it was a volunteer trip, it was still the best trip I've been on to date.  It was also the trip where everything travel wise went wrong.

Costa Rica is such a beautiful country with amazing people.  I am so glad I got to experience it and to stay at Las Cruces Biological Station.  We learned a lot about the plants and wildlife in the area and got to hang out with some pretty cool elementary school kids and do English lessons with them.

We also had a free day where we hung out on the beach at Manuel Antonio NP and went on a canopy tour in Quepos!  Best experience ever!!

The trip was amazing, I'd go back in a second.  However, we did not have a good time getting there or getting back.  Our flight from Dulles to San Salvador, El Salvador was delayed which made us miss our flight to Costa Rica.  We spend 6 hours in the airport in El Salvador which only has like 4 terminals so it was super boring.   Then we had to stay overnight in San Jose because of storms in the mountains.  Once we got on the road the next morning, everything was fine. 

One the way home flight wise everything was fine.  We had to spend 6 hours in El Salvador again but this time it was scheduled.  When we got back one of the vehicles had a flat tire.  So the other drove half the group home while the rest of us waited for AAA to come.  Then when the other vehicle was on the way back to pick up more of us, they got into an accident.  Everyone was OK but her car was totaled.  I guess the travel Gods wanted us to stay in Costa Rica.

So, I guess you could say that Costa Rica was both the best and the worst.  I look at it as the best though because now looking back, everything that went wrong (minus the accident) is kind of funny.

Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone

This quote appeared here as one of my favorite quotes.  I love it so much because I find it to be so true!  Some of my best and favorite experiences involved getting out of my comfort zone!  So, over the course of two or three post I want to share some of my favorite experiences which involved me getting out of my comfort zone!  This post will feature adventurous things and the next post (or two) will feature things that just made me uncomfortable but were totally worthwhile!

Before I get into this post about some adventurous things that I've done I think I need to explain my weird relationship with heights.  I wouldn't say I'm afraid of heights, but I also wouldn't say that I'm not.  I'm OK in things like tall buildings and planes but I get scared when I don't feel that security.  That is the fear that I've worked hardest on and I feel like I've come as close as I will to overcoming it - heights still make me uncomfortable but it doesn't stop me from doing things I think would be amazing :)

Parasailing in OCMD

I had been wanting to go parasailing for a long time, I thought it looks like so much fun!  The opportunity presented itself in 2007 during my Senior Week trip to Ocean City, Maryland.  I was all about it and my friend Kristin decided to join me.   We made reservations before we got there for the highest you can go (80ft) and were so excited to get out on the water!  Though it wasn't as thrilling as I thought it would be, it was definitely an amazing experience!  It was so neat to see Ocean City from above and come down to have our toes dipped in the water!  It was also a relaxing experience - you truly feel like you're moving super slow!

Repelling in Italy

In Assisi, Italy we spent the day with an amazing group of New Zealanders with a company called Full On.  One of the most amazing experiences of that trip was being able to repel down a 100ft castle wall that was not open to the public!  Only Full On used it and they only worked with P2P.  Three people went at a time and I volunteered to go in the first group of three.  I was completely freaked out when they made us hang over the wall for a picture before beginning to repel!  Once I was at the bottom I was so proud of myself for volunteering to go first and for making it down without panicking!  It was one of the coolest experiences of my life! 

Zip-lining in Costa Rica
This was the single most amazing thing EVER!  While in Costa Rica we spend most of the time working, but we had one free day to do something fun and were given a few choices.  Everyone thought zip-lining would be the best and it most definitely was!   The entire trip through the canopies was about an hour and a half.  Also, at the halfway point there was a larger platform where we stopped for drinks and a rest and it had amazing views (pictured below).  It was a little scary at first but it ended up being one of the best experiences of my life!  and we saw so much wildlife!

Jumping Off A Rock Quarry in VA

Look up East Jesus in the dictionary and Louisa County Virginia will be pictured right there.  My ex lives there and several times over the summer we'd illegally off road up to this quarry in the middle of nowhere.  There was an area where you could jump into the water and climb the rocks back up.  The drop was probably about 30 feet.  It took two visits before I finally jumped but I'm so glad I did!  It was super fun and the water felt so good!  No matter how hard we tried, no one ever touched to bottom and we have no clue how deep it really is.   The picture below is his friend diving in - I was never that brave!

Extreme Sky Flyer at Kings Dominion

I have been going to Kings Dominion since I was in middle school; it's one of my absolute favorite amusement parks! Every time I went I really wanted to go on the Extreme Sky Flyer but it cost $40 per person or something and I never had the extra money.  So, before Josh and I went with our friends in 2011, I made sure that we had the extra money to do it.  It was one of the most terrifying and awesome 5 minutes of my life!

The Time I Jumped Off a Bridge
This was the most random thing ever.  Me, my best friend Alex and one of my coworkers at the time, Sasha decided to go swimming in Broad Creek by Sasha's house.  We found a place to swim near this bridge and set up our stuff.  Then we see these guys up on the bridge and watch them jump into the water.  Of course, me and Alex had to go talk to them.  They told us what to do and one jumped on either side of us the first time.  We had so much fun, we decided to do it again!  I think the drop was around 25-30 feet.  What started out as hitting on some guys turned into one of the most fun days I had all summer - especially since Alex moved away at the end of that summer :(

White Water Rafting in PA

 I was  in like 6th grade or something when we did this and have no pictures and my memories are scarce but I do remember having a good time and being scared shitless at the same time!  Though I enjoyed it at the time, I don't think I'd ever do it again.  I am glad that I gave it a try though and I do have a few fun stories from that day. 

Rock (Wall) Climbing
For some reason this was super scary to me.  I am so glad I did it though!  I had a blast the day that I learned and I lucked out in going to a University that had a rock wall in their gym!  I definitely took advantage of that!

 
That Time I Rode a Bike For 30 Miles
I guess that's just what you do in Maine.  This bike ride was very hard at times and there were definitely some interesting things that happened which I will talk more about when I do a post on Maine.  It was very difficult but super rewarding at the end!  Oh, and that picture below was taken a little more than halfway during our lunch break - we don't normally look like we wish we were dead.

 
Upcoming Adventures
This upcoming November, Josh and I are planning to do a canopy tour while in Honduras (I believe)!  I am so excited to do it again and for Josh to experience it.   Our other excursions include swimming with dolphins and "scuba diving".  We also plan to skydive this upcoming year.  We have been talking about it for a while but it was never the right time, but I think after the wedding would be the perfect time!