The following reflective essay was written by Caleb Whitfield, the second recipient of the ‘Agua de Sapo’ travelers scholarship by Unruly Travel. This grant is given to a LGBTQ+ traveler to fund a partial or full scholarship on an Unruly Travel group trip. This year’s recipient traveled to Finca Ganadito in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica to experience activities around sustainable living, community connection, and rewilding practices.
Souvenirs of the Soul: Keeping the Mindful Journey Alive in Costa Rica
The cold, metal legs of an office chair silently supported me as I stared down at the letters on my name tag: C.A.L.E.B.
25 years of spelling that name, hearing that name, responding to that name. 25 years of dreaming big dreams, reaching for the seemingly impossible, working towards goals that my younger self would often contemplate as I sat in front of my bedroom window.
World travel. Cultural immersion. Environmental conservation.
I wanted a chance to explore the world for myself, but just as importantly, I wanted to leave a positive mark wherever I went. This was my dream.
I held my name tag tightly, scratching one letter off at a time. It was 9:55 P.M. on a calm Monday night, and within the next five minutes, my supervisor and I would be closing down the store. A wave of varying emotions was washing over me as I was realizing this would be my last time doing so, the last time to make an announcement over the intercom, the last time to offer a smile and warm hug to one of my regular customers. A retail job may not seem ideal for many people, but amongst moments of growth and transition during a three year period, I very much viewed my workplace as a beacon of safety, a lighthouse waiting to guide me to shore when life’s waters were attempting to engulf me. The steady, familiar beep of the scanner had been a regular part of my life’s soundtrack, but during these last few minutes, those beeps represented a countdown.
In order to chase our aspirations, sometimes we must realize that committing to change is necessary. There is a common myth that deep exploration and travel requires a specialized degree, oodles of money, or a lifetime full of unmatched privilege. During my last moments though, as I counted my till down for the last time, the truth revealed itself: that an adventurous life attuned to nature isn’t a luxury reserved for a select few. It was waiting for me right at register three.
As I drove home on my last night, I felt gratitude. Gratitude for job security and employment at my other job that would finally allow me to take a step back from a two-position schedule. Gratitude for colleagues who surprised me during my last shift with yummy plant-based treats, a farewell party, and a sea turtle-inspired piece of wall art that paid homage to my upcoming adventure. Gratitude for a travel scholarship that was allowing me to, in four days time, take a step into the unknown.
Where the Clouds Meet The Canopy: Journey to the Osa Peninsula
The old adage tells us that, “The sky is the limit.” And sure enough, a few days later, I found myself soaring high amongst the clouds. My face was glued to the plane window as I watched the bustling streets of Nashville start to slowly fade beneath me. To say I was thrilled is a massive understatement. The prospect of my first international experience had me feeling overwhelmed and apprehensive, in the best way imaginable. I was about to be assisting with conservation work and learning regenerative farming techniques in the Osa Peninsula, the most biologically intense place on the face of the planet.
The Osa Peninsula, a stretch of untouched virgin rainforest in southwestern Costa Rica, is comparable in size to New York City and its broader metropolitan area. Within this small fraction of the Earth’s surface, around 2.5% of the planet’s biodiversity can be found, including: all four species of Costa Rican monkeys, two species of sloths, jaguars, tapirs, pumas, and the largest population of endangered scarlet macaws in Central America. I had found myself on my first Unruly Travel trip, led by incredible guide, Calen Otto, and I knew within the first five minutes that I was about to experience something incredible, something I dare say, life-altering.
I arrived in San José the day prior before meeting the unruly group I would soon view as my beloved rainforest family. I managed to navigate through the local airport and find my way to the hostel I would be staying at for the night. I checked in, closed the privacy curtain, and hit the bottom bunk like a sack of potatoes, filled with both joy and exhaustion. The next day, I would be meeting my group at the Tracopa Ltda Bus Terminal, located on Calle 5. Where is that you may be wondering? I couldn’t tell you – spatial awareness and wayfinding are not my strong suits by any means. Miraculously though, I somehow prevailed as I tend to do, and when recognizing two faces in the ticket line the following morning, a sense of relief and accomplishment flooded my nervous system. I made it. I arrived, in one piece, and was in a different country.
I was in Costa Rica about to embark on a six hour bus adventure. I was about to be on a boat travelling down the Sierpe River and its surrounding mangrove forests where crocodiles, caimans, and boa constrictors reside. I was about to be jostled and tossed around the Pacific Ocean while being transported to a remote coastal village nestled on the northwestern edge of the Osa Peninsula. I was about to personally assist with a biodiversity survey whose content would be used to document local activity and animal population data. I was about to witness baby sea turtles overcome great odds and enter the ocean for their very first time.
I was about to fulfill the dreams of my childhood.
Off the Grid, Into the Current: Where Connection Blossoms
If I hadn’t already bonded with fellow travelers beforehand, I certainly felt connected after the boat ride. Fierce hand-holding, words of comfort, and mutual glances of wonder-terror occupied our time as we made our way to Drake Bay (locally known as Bahía Drake). Upon arrival, we participated in a ritual known as a “wet landing,” meaning we waded through calf-deep ocean surf in order to reach the beach. With luggage in hand, rippling water foam between our toes, and with no dock in sight, we prepared for the next portion of our adventure.
Before loading into a shuttle van, we helped each other clean our feet with a communal towel, an act that quickly bred authentic relationships amongst us. You quickly learn that a lack of luxury inspires true support and allows for genuine connection. The simple, vulnerable act of looking after one another allowed us to wear the shared grime of the expedition as a badge of honor, and our collective effort to get clean transformed a mundane chore into a grounding experience. We, then, journeyed for half an hour through bumpy terrain on unpaved roads consisting of raw, sun-baked dirt tracks and loose gravel. We laughed, we chatted, we lived in the moment.
Before I had even realized, we had arrived at Finca Ganadito, the regenerative agriculture farm and eco-village we would be stationed at for the duration of our stay in Costa Rica. We were only a short walking distance from Ganadito Beach, in the Puntarenas Province. We found ourselves in an unspoiled rainforest with the largest settlement in Drake Bay, Agujitas, only having an approximate population of 1,000 individuals.
No ATMs. No traffic lights. No paved roads. No fast-food chains. No big-box stores. No sidewalks. No storm drains. No mailboxes or central post office. No formal street names or house numbers. No hospital.
What we found, instead, was the rhythm of nature.
Nightlife there is defined by the sounds of frogs and insects rather than large bars or entertainment venues. Morning calls from howler monkeys ring throughout the region rather than train whistles, car horns, and sirens. When looking to the sky, you see pairs of scarlet macaws rather than advertisement billboards. You trade convenience for independence, speed for intentional living, material excess for simplicity.
Tiny Flippers, Massive Futures: The Race to Rewild the Sea
Moon rays danced along the boisterous waves, illuminating our path as we searched for olive ridley sea turtle tracks, distinct zig-zag patterns (comparable to wide tire tracks) that are left behind in the sand as females hunt for the perfect nesting location. Finca Ganadito participates in this conservation effort in order to protect these vital nesting grounds and support local marine ecosystems. Volunteers and staff relocate nests to a protected hatchery in order to shield eggs from both natural and human-related threats. Led in part by biologist Rob, the initiative is maintained through community commitment and the devotion of countless individuals including full-time assistants Lilly and local Tico, Felipe. Their goal is to integrate marine protection with broader land and forest stewardship. The initiative has now assisted with the release of over 20,000 baby sea turtles, and I feel honored to know that I was present for the release of 75 of them.
To suddenly find yourself face-to-face with a mother sea turtle, a mere few inches away, must be one of the most surreal experiences a human being can feel. As I was crouched down, grains of sand sticking to my leg hair, it was as if I had been transported to a dreamlike state. There I was, in a primordial wilderness and under a star-filled sky, collecting eggs from a sea turtle who was actively laying and preparing her nest.
Not every patrol and hatchery experience was accompanied by clear skies and nest-findings, though. Other times, we found ourselves soaked to the bone, our socks saturated with rain water. Lightning bolts occasionally twirled around us dramatically as thunder barked viciously at us. Sometimes our clothes would be oozing with a mixture of sweat and oil, strands of slimy hair sneaking their way into the corners of our mouths. Sore arms, achy legs, sun-burnt feet (I learned the importance of sunscreen during this trip): these realities are also a part of the conservation world. Hand-in-hand, the highs and the lows blend seamlessly together in order to create a beautiful tapestry.
Scraps of Wisdom: Nourishing the Land, Feeding the Soul
In the following days, we also learned how to create soap, milk, and oil out of coconuts and upcycled materials. We gained an understanding of the surrounding ecosystem and created compost and natural fertilizer from elements found directly in the wilderness around us. We were taught how to collect data and craft a biodiversity survey whose recordings will further be used to help protect the many species that exist throughout the Osa Peninsula. We even practiced personal journaling techniques as a way to combat the temptation of excessive technology use and the constant busyness buzz so many of us are accustomed to in our present-day world. In the blink of an eye, the fellow travelers who I recently called strangers had become a support system, a new guiding light on a spectacular journey.
The soundtrack to that journey? Deep chimes of a frog orchestra. A gentle breeze blowing faintly above the tracks of a sea turtle nestled into the sand. Clusters of coconuts dangling playfully from branches as they clink together. Hummingbirds zipping through the humid air in a geometric line. A location blissfully out of reach for resorts and cruises. A place where dirt roads and boat-only access uphold the wildness of the wild. I’ve only ever heard this song in a region where local communities, rural farmers, and international volunteers work together, proving that human presence can heal an ecosystem rather than mindlessly destroy it.
Tourists want to escape life; travelers want to embrace it. In the heart of the Osa Peninsula, we not only witnessed a different way of living, but we chose to step directly into it. We, as an Unruly Travel group, are certainly travelers at heart.
Travelers of A Rewilded Future: The ‘Agua de Sapo’ Scholarship
The ‘Agua de Sapo’ scholarship provided me with an opportunity to fully immerse myself into new, uncharted waters, giving me the chance to leave behind the standard comforts we often find in modern society in pursuit of the unfiltered rhythm of the rainforest.
As a forever traveler, my next step is to bring the perspective, wisdom, grit, and impact of the journey back home. My desire is to carry my adventurous, intentional spirit with me into everything I do next.
Because the adventure doesn’t end when we unpack our bags.
The journey doesn’t come to a halt when we return to our home base.
The quest to experience life doesn’t diminish in importance just because we have found ourselves in our typical routines.
As corny as it may sound, I do fully believe that life itself is the ultimate adventure. Each day is an opportunity, a new beginning, a fleeting moment in time where we get to actively decide who we want to be. Maybe the greatest adventure of all is simply a life well-lived: a life filled with joy, laughter, community, kindness, patience, and generosity.
Whether I am cleaning toilets at a rest area during a twelve hour work shift or taking a cross country road trip to work at an organic blueberry farm, I hope I always choose to view life as the incredible adventure that it is.
Whether l am transporting an eight-hundred pound pumpkin donation (in my Prius) to a farm animal rescue sanctuary or coloring mermaids with my baby niece. Whether I am mopping dirt-encrusted floors or zip-lining in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Whether I am making memories with friends and chosen family or taking a moment to simply appreciate my own company. Every moment, every high, every low, every laugh, every tear; they’re all part of life’s great expedition.
The journey is far from over; in fact, it has only just begun.