Two years ago, I boarded a plane to Costa Rica with a backpack full of excitement, uncertainty, and a vague hope of “doing something good.” I had no idea I was stepping into a journey that would reshape the way I see the world, and my place in it.
My route took me to a place where the air felt different, not just in climate but in consciousness.
For a month, I lived and volunteered on a remote turtle conservation project. The days were humid and long, the nights filled with the sound of crashing waves and the glow of stars I’d never seen from home. I patrolled beaches, monitored nesting sites, and saw baby turtles take their first, fragile steps into the ocean.
But it wasn’t just the turtles that transformed. It was me.
Living with limited resources taught me how little I actually needed. Every drop of water, every reusable container, every shared meal became something sacred. I watched locals care for their land not out of obligation, but out of love – a deep-rooted respect for nature that was embedded in everyday life. “Pura Vida.” There was no fanfare. Just quiet, collective responsibility.
I watched a market vendor wrap fruit in banana leaves instead of plastic. “Why waste what grows?” she smiled. That sentence lodged itself somewhere in me, deeper than I expected.
And slowly, I changed.
Re-learning how to live, unlearning habits I’d never questioned. I stopped buying convenience. I carried my water bottle like it was sacred. I started seeing everything as connected – the tree outside my window, the meal on my plate.
Now that I’m home, I realise that roots and routes are not opposites. They are intertwined. We carry our roots wherever we go, but it is through our routes – through movement, exposure, and exchange – that we understand how to nourish them better.
What I learned in Costa Rica has laid the foundation for this next chapter. My time there didn’t just show me how others live, it challenged how I do. How can I live more consciously, not just during a volunteer project, but every day?
I’ve been searching for ways to reconnect with that version of myself.
I’m going to Fiji with open hands and open eyes. I want to give, but more than that, I want to exchange. Overjoyed, to be offered a confirmed place on the youth development and empowerment programme – I want to support young people in finding their voices and strengthening their futures, while also continuing to develop my own.
Roots and routes. My roots were shaped by that Costa Rican coastline. And now, they’re expanding. Stretching across oceans, settling into new soil,
In Fiji. A new culture, a new purpose, and new people who will no doubt teach me even more than I expect.
I won’t arrive as someone who thinks they knows everything, but as someone who knows the value of not knowing.
