Back in 2010, I had been accepted as an intern at a wildlife sanctuary on the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. I would spend 6 weeks of my summer break assisting with the care and rehabilitation of the animals. More on that insanity here. 

THIS post, however, is about my decision to spend the week before my internship traveling around Costa Rica with my Mom. We started in San Jose and quickly took off to Monteverde, La Fortuna, Santa Elena, and Alajuela. If you’ve ever traveled with family members, you know how stressful and exhausting it can sometimes be. Luckily for me, my Mum is much more adventurous than many other adults I know, and because of this, I’d say our trip was a huge success!

She stuck it out through the heat, the language barrier, some rough transportation, and yes—even stayed in youth hostels. What a rockstar!

 The Highs

• Tours and Sightseeing. Between zip lining through the jungle canopy, wildlife viewing from hanging bridges, catching a glimpse of lava tumbling out of Volcan Arenal, a random nighttime hot springs stop, and everything in between, we definitely made some amazing memories and had a ton of stories to share back at home. There were many-a-jealous relative. On top of all of our fun, we felt even more lucky when, for whatever reason, on three accounts of tours, we showed up to meet the guides and discovered that we were the only people in the group!

• Chance Moments. In solo travel, when you experience an unbelievable occurrence or a magical moment, you often wish someone were there with you to revel in its awesomeness. When you can share a moment like this with your Mom, it just makes the whole trip feel that much more special. On one of these “private” tours of ours, we were on a guided walk through the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve and our guide was talking about the wildlife we might see. He mentioned the fact that we would be extremely lucky to see a Resplendent Quetzal, a bird that so many scientists, biologists, and animal lovers in general come to see here. As soon as he said this, one flew by and landed in a tree right near us! At the end of our walk, we were interrupted by a rowdy troop of monkeys throwing sticks down at us. Our guide looked up and immediately got excited. As he was rushing us along the trail to avoid getting struck in the head by a flying branch, he shrieked “Those are spider monkeys! I haven’t seen spider monkeys here in over fourteen years!” So happy to have gotten to share these neat occurrences with her.

• Growing Together. This trip opened our eyes to a lot of new things. For me, it was my first time staying in hostels and traveling without a large group at hand. For my Mom, it was navigating a language barrier. We were both down to try new things whether it be food, activities, or modes of transportation. Pushing our limits and learning new things together really made us proud of ourselves and each other.

The Lows

• Aunt Flow. Let’s just get this one out of the way, guys—menstrual situations happen. ‘Syncing up’ happens. Wanting to punch anybody that tries to hold a conversation with you when you’re flat on a bed stuffing your face with chocolate happens. Girls, if you and your Mom (or other female travel companions) are comfortable enough to tell each other if and when you’ll be PMSing…good on ya. You’ll be prepared ahead of time for any attitudes. If you’d rather jump off a cliff than talk to your Mom about this kind of thing, at least store the possibility of this being a mood-changer in the back of your mind and try to keep your cool if attitudes do arise.

• The Heat. Speaking of moods…I usually do much better handling the heat than I do the cold. The humidity is a different story. And when you travel with another person instead of flying solo, it’s not just your own mood you have to take into consideration. When our bad moods did happen, it was almost always mid-day when the heat was at its worst. We were so easily affected by each others dispositions which would range from passive to annoyed to flat out grumpy. It’s extremely important to spend some quality alone time whenever you start to feel yourself getting irritated, and really try to look at the reasons you think your mood is turning sour. “Am I hungry? Thirsty? Too hot? Did I sleep okay last night, or was I kept up again by those lunatic monkeys?”

• Bye Bye Boys. Let me first just say that I’ve never been one of those boy-crazy girls. In middle school when all of my friends started going gaga-eyed over each other, sneaking makeup into their lockers and doodling hearts into their notebooks, I was much more interested in whether or not we’d have italian dunkers for lunch and if I should tell my parents that the mouse I snuck into the house in my sleeve had escaped. But when a few college-aged guys invite your college-aged self to a bar one night, and you say no so as not to leave your Mom hanging out by herself, you feel slightly weird. You don’t want “your mommy” to be your reason for not going out at night, but you would also feel horribly guilty and awkward just peacing outta the hostel with a group of guys you just met. If you are boy-crazy, or even just looking to hang out with people closer to your own age for a bit, it might help to plan a couple activities you can do separately. This way, you can both get out and do your own thing, meet some interesting (possibly cute) people, and then come back and share (most of) the details.

The Downright Surprises

• Realizations. Before this trip, I thought I knew my Mom pretty well. Growing up, she often took my younger sister and I on hiking trips or on road trips to zoos and beaches. I knew she had traveled a lot in the past—way before I was born. But I never really saw her in her element. I never fully understood before then that she is the reason I have such a desire to see the world and take on every adventure possible. Until this week-long stint, I was actually pretty clueless on who she was as a whole. I now see her as not just my Mom, but as a strong, free spirited, incredible woman with a history of adventures of her own. A persons child-like wonder and wild soul might be hidden in working a 9-5, raising a family, and juggling other adult responsibilities, but never do they disappear with age. Through travel these things are ignited and awoken again, and I’m glad I got to see that rise in her.

• Closet Adrenaline Junkie. Ok, so I had to settle for a ziplining tour that was one level below the adrenaline pumping tour I had wanted. But the tour she chose was still quite a surprise. She was actually willing (and excited!) to take a fairly adrenaline-filled tour that included a 90 foot rappel and a Tarzan swing between zip lines. It also included an option to go ‘superman-style’ on the last zip! Which she did! Also, we have a photo of her being pushed off the Tarzan swing ledge, and a photo of myself being pushed off the ledge, and I’ve gotta admit that it was my facial expression that revealed impending death.

• I Would Do This Again. At the end of our week, with new bug bites and sunburns, we said our goodbyes at the airport as my Mom awaited her flight home and I awaited the shuttle to my internship. I was looking forward to taking this trip with her beforehand, but I had no idea it would turn out to be this fun. So when asked if I would ever go on a trip abroad with my Mom again—Yes. Hands down. (Next up, Morocco, Mom? *nudge nudge*).

Now clearly I can’t speak for anybody else and I don’t know your own personal relationship with your own Mum, but I can say that y’all might be downright surprised by the outcome of a little mother daughter getaway!

How do you feel about taking a trip with your Mom?

Does it sound like a fun and enjoyable escape? Or would you rather be forced to use dial-up internet for the next month?

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