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It may sound pretty random but at some point in 2022 someone told me “Oh, Costa Rica is great for surfing” – And just like that, that country was stuck in my head, although I didn’t have a clue about it. But the more I looked into it the more I wanted to go. So I decided to quit my full-time job once again to go and “travel more”.

Bear in mind, that when I quit, I did not have any plan and actually stayed in Europe for another 6 months. I was thinking that for flying so far away, I would have to stay there at least a couple months and see whatever I wanna see over there so it would be worth spending all that money on a flight ticket. So my thoughts started to wander and at some point I decided that I will go to Costa Rica and then continue on a trip to South America, as I also really wanted to see Peru.

After I made a little Excel sheet about “Best months to travel South America” to give myself a little orientation on when to be where – I decided to start in Costa Rica in January 2023.

So about a month before I wanted to be there I realized it was about time to find a place to volunteer and book my flight to Costa Rica. Through Worldpackers, I did find a volunteering experience pretty soon and I was stoked about it. Three weeks on a farm in the middle of the jungle harvesting some pineapples, sugar cane or exotic fruits. My mom’s jaw dropped when I told her about my plan and that I would really be going. Time kept passing and at some point it was reallyyy time to book that flight – as I’ve been watching prices go up over a couple of weeks already.

I thought as soon as I book that flight it will be SURE that I will travel halfway across the world to a country I’ve never been to and don’t speak the language of. I really wanted to go but I was also scared if that would just be the craziest idea ever? So I think you see why I postponed buying that flight ticket for quite a while.

Anyways, at some point I was finally booking that flight that I initially saw for 450 €, now for 750 € but whatever, I knew I was going to stay there for a while and it would be worth the money right?

I was ready to go… until I started to think about the jungle too much and looked at the volunteering description again. I found out that there is no electricity and no running water, of course apart from the fact that you could encounter any animal possibly living in the jungle. So I thought maybe this was a bit too hardcore for my very first impressions of Central America – I cancelled that experience and was now left with a flight – but without a place to volunteer.

I reapplied to other opportunities and a few days later I had found another position, doing Social Media tasks for a hostel in Costa Rica. The position didn’t have any reviews, which was kinda unsettling at first, but after I had a video call with the owner, I confirmed the trip.

Finally, I had my flight booked, had a volunteering spot confirmed and my backpack was already packed in my mind as I just came back from Tenerife.

Now I was really ready to go. I was super excited and super scared at the same time. A couple days before my flight I just freaked out. I couldn’t imagine how it would be halfway across the world on my own in Costa Rica without knowing a word of Spanish. And don’t even mention safety. Before leaving I was so scared to get robbed, kidnapped or whatsoever, just because I’m going to Latin America.

But some googling helped to calm me down. I found out that Costa Rica is statistically the safest country in Central America and therefore I thought it is actually the best place to start. A little less worried I started putting together all the information I needed about 2 days before my flight. Everything seemed fine and ready to go – until I realized my flights were not connected – which made the journey itself a little bit more complicated.

When I booked the flight, I specifically wanted one that doesn’t have a layover in the United States, because all my options only had a 2 hr layover, and this would simply be impossible when having to go through immigration (At least that’s what I thought lol I’ve never been to the States at that point).

Anyways I chose my flight from Vienna to Madrid to Dominican Republic to Costa Rica. I knew the flights were not connected meaning my luggage wouldn’t get checked through. In the Dominican Republic I actually had to spend a night there so I would definitely have enough time for everything. However, the layover in Madrid was only 2 hours, so very soon it was clear that I would NEVER be able to get out of the airport, wait for my luggage, check it in again, go through security AND be at my gate on time all within max. 2 hours. And I realized all of that not even 24 hours before my flight to Madrid.

At this point I was going crazy and was so afraid that I would miss the long distance flight and in consequence would have to wait in Madrid until there’s another flight I can afford (cause obviously, I always book cheap, so I didn’t have any insurance in case I would miss the flight nor an option to change it to another date).