It feels like only three days ago I that I didn’t even know any of these people and now I can call them my best friends.
Since the beginning of this trip we have experienced so much together, and through all the fun activities and the hardships we have created a rare and special bond. We act and look like a family now instead of just a random crew of Americans, Australians and Canadians (well, one Canadian).
This trip has been so much more than anyone who hasn’t done it can imagine and the end is even more challenging than the beginning. Right now I am sitting in the Mexico City airport writing this blog entry that should have been finished and posted yesterday. I am really glad I procrastinated on this one because now I can honestly tell you about the entire experience.
I think the easiest way for me to say this to anyone considering a trip like this would be, by any means possible – make it happen. Make it happen, you will never regret that choice.
This trip has been one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done in my life thus far.
Allow me to explain why. This was by no means a vacation. Yes, we did have fun 99 percent of the time, but we were also working or learning 100 percent of the time.
I know there were times when we were at our turtle project on the Caribbean coast and I was walking the beach in the pitch black, exhausted and sleep deprived, just wondering… ‘Why am I doing this? This sucks so much’, and counting down the days until we could finally leave. However, everyone else was there too and they were just as tired and sleep deprived if not more than me, and that is why I didn’t give up in the face of a challenge. I know that everyone else would say the same thing now too, but at the time we didn’t complain, kept our spirits up, saw all the positives that come from an experience like this and made the most of the situation.
I don’t think any of us would have been able to make it through that week without the rest of the “family”. We supported each other and I think our week long stay on La Playa Pacuare helped form the tightest bonds. Personally our turtle project was by far my favorite place we visited on our EDventure and also it is the only place I ever wished I was dead.
The most challenging things you do are always the most rewarding. Deciding to pack up and head out to a foreign country for 3 weeks with people you don’t know isn’t an easy decision, but it just may be the most rewarding experience of your life.
I’d like to also tell you a little about our 4th of July experience, which happened to occur on our last full day in our final destination, La Fortuna, Costa Rica. La Fortuna is a beautiful town shadowed by one of the most active volcanoes in the world. I had a kind of rough night’s sleep the night before, but I was probably just anxious for the 4th of July activities to come the next day.
We planned a big BBQ for the evening in celebration and I personally was really excited for some food without the usual rice and beans. We started off with a bang and headed out to this awesome national park where we hiked down a mountain, literally straight down a steep mountainside. It’s not very far but it is vertical and this is through the tropical rainforest. There are trees that have fallen over the path which is hardly a path, it’s more like a few uneven bricks and steps carved out of the natural rock. None the less it was a great 20 minute trek being fully immersed in the intense nature of the Costa Rican rainforest and at the bottom is a massive waterfall where we had a delicious lunch and enjoyed the crystal clear refreshing water.
I could go on and on about the waterfall, the mountain, and the rainforest. It was amazing; everything you would expect. Like I said it was our final full day, but looking back on it now, I don’t think any of us realized it.
Everyone was so happy, laughing and enjoying the atmosphere and good company, we were now a family and everyone around could see it. At this point I think after all we have been through, the challenges we have faced and conquered, the things we have seen and done together and individually, any one of us can succeed at anything we want to do.
I speak for myself but I’m positive everyone else would agree that this trip has empowered and inspired us all to believe we can achieve anything.
Dean
