What Slowing Down in Costa Rica Taught Me About Life and Travel
I didn’t go to Costa Rica to scout hotels. I went to slow down. No itinerary to optimize. No back-to-back tours.
Just space—a month carved out for presence, rest, and recalibration.
It felt radical.
As a business owner, a mom, and someone used to designing experiences for everyone else, choosing to pause was both unfamiliar and deeply needed.
Here’s what I learned.
White space isn’t wasted space. In fact, it’s where most of the clarity came from. It wasn’t in the planning or the productivity—it was in the mornings with coffee and no agenda. The unhurried walks. The dinners with my people, no phones in sight.
Being present is harder than it looks. Especially when your default mode is doing. But presence—real presence—is a muscle. And once it activates, you realize how much life you’ve been missing in the margins.
Rest reveals what the hustle hides. In stillness, I could finally hear what mattered. The small shifts I want to make. The ideas I’d shelved. The way I want to feel in my life—not just what I want to achieve.
It reminded me why I do what I do.
Because while I love planning stunning, high-touch trips with seamless logistics and wow moments, what I really care about is designing space for transformation.
That moment of stillness on a game drive.
That conversation over dinner in a place where time slows down.
That feeling when a client says, “I didn’t realize how much I needed this.”
That’s what I want more of—in my work, in my life, and for the people I serve.
This sabbatical wasn’t about checking out.
It was about checking in—with myself, with my family, with the kind of life I want to be living.
And if that kind of travel—transformative, thoughtful, and grounded in what matters—speaks to you?
I’d be honored to help you design it.