Last week I traveled to Costa Rica and back in a six day whirlwind trip with my friend Corrie.
It was our version of a business trip - the purpose being to check out a property on which we plan to host a couple of week-long retreats focusing on yoga and coaching.
During our six day trip, a great deal did not go as planned.
I am somewhat joking when I say that almost everything that could go wrong did, but the statement isn't far off the mark.
Between missed flights and bad weather, closed roads and a ridiculous rental car, no street signs and difficulty navigating, language barriers and miscommunication, we had a good number of close calls and mishaps in our few days in country.
Even coming home was difficult for both of us.
My luggage was lost and Corrie's connections were delayed.
Yet...
I'm not complaining.
In fact, I had the best time! Corrie and I laughed hard every day.
Our adrenaline was high and the trip was an adventure.
It was as if we were flying by the seat of our pants the whole trip, and in truth, we usually were.
This is the beauty of becoming the traveler.
The step outside daily routine, structure, and predictability brings, to me, a heightened experience.
When I travel, particularly in a foreign country and as a budget traveler, I am in the flow.
I have to be! I'm not in control of anything and there's not much to grab on to beyond whatever I am observant of in the moment.
How am I going to get from this town to that? Not sure, but I'll be figuring it out! What are they saying? Not sure, but I picked out a few words, and if I try intently, I bet I can communicate what I really must.
What is tomorrow going to bring? I have no idea! And in that alertness and presence, I am in trust.
I trust that all will be well.
I have no choice but to trust.
It's a reliance on the Universe that gets me very clear, very fast.
And, I open up to the moment and to what it might bring.
This trip brought many unpredictable gifts.
There was the afternoon on a spit of sand outside the beach town that we couldn't get to because the road was washed out.
On that beach, I played in the waves with 10 year old Manuel, and then started a game of catch with coconuts washed up on the beach.
I usually avoid a game of catch, but that day I started it! There was the morning of horse-back riding with Efrain in which we suddenly found ourselves in a pasture herding cows.
It didn't take much to catch the hang of twirling the rope and whooping away as any good cowboy might.
And the cows did what I directed! There was the hike in the rain, the accidental splits I did in the river, the daily treks in muddy boots, the coconuts, guava, and macadamia nuts fresh off their trees, the tequila toast in a local bar, the amazing meals Vivian served us, the work of finding fishing worms, and the multiple stilted bilingual conversations in which we stopped to ask for directions.
All moments in which I felt joyfully alive and present.
And then there was the moment on the last day that I learned that there was a breaker switch to flip for hot showers, when I'd thought the farm only had cold water! How did I miss that? And, that's what I love - The unpredictability and the fact that the Universe takes care of me, wherever I am! And so again, I come home remembering...
go with the flow, allow the joy, be in the moment.
All is well.