Learnings and Self-Learnings - Costa Rica

This story is dedicated to Sara.

Costa Rica has become a popular tourist destination. Anyone I know who’s travelled there - or knows someone who’s travelled there, has only great things to say about it.  So when Sara suggested that we do a trip there, I was all in!

I had all kinds of ideas and perceptions about what Costa Rica would be like. Big mistake!  I knew that it was a popular destination for surfing, it was lush and green, that the beaches were still relatively untouched since it wasn’t rammed with resorts like some other islands ... I knew it would be paradise on earth… 

We decided that instead of staying at a big resort, we would do an eco-friendly trip.  We planned our trip to Mal Pais, located in the Nicoya Peninsula on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. 

Nicoya Peninsula, Mal Pais 

We booked a nice-looking eco-friendly lodge and had visions of us surfing and swimming in magnificent beaches and spending time with locals and hippies living in laid-back and charming villages.

We flew into San Jose Airport after a long and hectic flight from Vancouver. By then, we had been on 3 different planes, running from gate to gate.  We were tired and eager to get our vacation started.

We had to take a tiny hopper plane from San Jose to the Nicoya Peninsula.  Little did we know, that flight would feel like the flight of death. We got caught in a tropical rainstorm and our teeny tiny plane fought to stay in the air.  There were about 8 passengers in total and all of us were completely still and silent, no one dared to catch anyone else’s eye.  Thankfully we survived that flight and I’m here to tell that story!

A thus begins my story of learnings and self-learnings.

Costa Rica is lush and green – Yes.  That's because it is a rainforest and it rains for most of the year. As it rained for most of our time there... several of our plans were cancelled as a result.

Costa Rica is a popular destination for surfing – Yes.  Primarily for expert surfers.  Not for beginners like me.  I was so incredibly excited about surfing in Costa Rica that I felt the disappointment at not being able to surf during the entire trip.

Costa Rica has beautiful untouched beaches – Yes.  If fact, they are so untouched that there are massive rocks all along the coast and the waves are so rough that you can’t swim in them… or surf.  Unless you want to risk having one of those massive waves throw your body into one of the massive rocks along the coast.

Now don’t mistake me on this.  Costa Rica is stunning, and you’ll see that I’ve attached some pics to show just how beautiful it is.  

But my big learning was that I should never travel to a foreign place with set ideas and perceptions about what it will be like.  This is sure to lead to disappointment.

It’s always best to travel with an open mind and flexibility to adapt.  Absorb the geography, sights, people and culture for what it is, not for what you want it to be. 

I went to Costa Rica with a specific agenda of things I wanted to do and see, but nature had other ideas. I was grumpy, moody, kinda negative and failed to experience the wonder around me while I wallowed in my self-pity that my vacation didn’t turn out “the way it was supposed to.”

One afternoon, we were trapped in our eco-friendly lodge due to a torrential downpour.  We had no TV or other means of entertainment, so instead we had a long discussion that ultimately led to one of my most meaningful self-learnings yet.

Sara (a woman’s studies and psych major) exposed something about me that no one had ever told me and I couldn’t deny.  The truth shook me to the core.  I’m judgemental and rigid.  My idealism drives me to think that things should be a certain way (ie. vacation) and if people and nature don’t comply with my ideas, I immediately close myself to the person/moment/experience, etc.

Now I’m happy to be able to tell you that this trip happened in July 2010, so I’ve made a lot of progress since. I am continuously working at becoming a less judgemental person.  I’m working to become more open to life’s experiences (including people) and flexible to accommodate changes.

Because of my learning and self-learning experiences that week, I would say that Costa Rica is one of the best vacations I’ve had.  Had the trip not taken the course that it did, my less than attractive attributes may not have been exposed and I would not have learned those critical things about myself.

Since then, I’ve travelled with an open mind, willing and ready to embrace whatever experiences lie ahead of me.