PURA VIDA!
Solo Trip in Costa Rica
It was January 2021, and we were deep in COVID.
Christmas had just passed and my brother overdosed and survived on Christmas Day right next to me as we were taking a picture. Watching someone you love come that close to not being here stays with you. It sits in your body. It shook my whole family and there’s no ignoring reality after that.
A few weeks later, I went on a ski trip for my best friend’s birthday. I was supposed to relax, have fun, be present. Instead, my mind was everywhere else. I couldn’t stop thinking about my brother. I was in the middle of breakup — questioning myself more than the relationship. I couldn’t shut off work and the panic of being out of office for a few days. Even in the mountains, I felt stuck in survival mode and unable to enjoy a trip that should have been so much fun.
That’s when it became clear that I had to make a change.
A few days after I got back, I walked away from a six-figure corporate job. I had more money than I’d ever had, but I was unfulfilled. From the outside, it looked like success. Inside, I felt disconnected from myself and the life I was living. I was exhausted and running on E, from holding it together, from moving forward without ever stopping to ask what I actually wanted out of life.
So I decided to get away. I booked a solo trip that was leaving in five days. My passion for hiking, waterfalls and the ocean, led me to one of the most beautiful countries in the world! 2 and half weeks sounded like a great amount of time to escape, get some R&R and take some time to myself to reflect on what I want out of life. I researched a little and determined the Pacific side of Costa Rica was where I wanted to go. It seemed more rustic and had plenty of waterfalls! The days leading up to it felt exciting and emotional, made even more real when I couldn’t find my passport.
I found it the day before I left.
I went to Costa Rica alone because I needed space I couldn’t find at home. I needed quiet. I needed to feel something other than survival mode. Being there stripped everything back— no expectations, no distractions. Just me, my thoughts, and the reality I had been avoiding.
I packed a few self help books (Greenlights, Untamed and Single is your Superpower), a journal that I wrote in multiple times a day and I kept my phone on airplane mode so I only used it for photos (and occasional directions).
Costa Rica didn’t fix everything. But it helped me remember myself and it changed the direction my life was going.